HeckelphoneNYC

I have to use glock and/or vibes as the sound :(

Sib 7 was bad anyways...I'm keeping 6! It's not perfect but it's way better than anything else. The main thing is....no celesta sound :(

It's like a presidential election, and my views are the same: It's fun to look at, but you'll see when you see. (I voted for my category :musicwhistle: )

It might be a synth woodblock sound with added reverb.

I've doubled Bass and regular before. It's not an issue, as long as you give them about 30 seconds or so to switch. If it's mostly bass clarinet, then you should probably keep it as bass...but at the range you are talking about, maybe it should be regular. However, high bass clarinet is a unique sound, and it's not really louder than normal clarinet. I say if you only have it for a few bars, then don't, but for a more extended passage, keep it as what you wrote.

Ravel, Debussy, some of the Haydn, Elliot Carter 3, all Bartok, all Shosty, Sibelius. Also, Stravinsky wrote one which I also thought was cool.... AND Beethoven C# minor is the other. Shoenberg I like too..but I prefer the first ones. Out of all of those, my Favorite is Bartok 5th... I LOVE THAT! :D next probably Ravel.

Autoharp? What's autoharp?

Nice piece, I think you probably used under the max time for a solo celesta piece. After a while, it would probably get tiring, but this no. One thing I would say is be careful about repeated notes on a celesta. Any more than you have and it will probably get muddled. Again, glad to see it get some thought around here!

Someone recently wrote a celesta concerto for celesta and chamber orchestra- performed in Nashville, haven't heard it though.

The larger part in is in the lat movement of my symphony, adding tinkling to a large portions of the piece. Also as a chordal part with winds, in a soft texture. It works only because of the set-up of the piece... It's cool to know that people enjoy it!

Is there an age limit?

Hi all, In the symphony that I'm composing now, I realize that in all the movements combined, the Celesta part will probably be about 30 pages, extremely large for the instrument. I'm wondering who else likes to utilize this instrument in large ammounts, and who enjoys writing for it. I love the soft, tinkley sound that can be a great background, harmony, or melody line. It's a soft instrument, so it's tough to use, but I really think people should take more advantage of the instrument. Just my personal opinion. What do you think? Heckel

Here's a basic idea. Basses should probably be kept to divisi in 2, Cellos and Violas up to 3-4, Violins up to 5. But if you want a thinner, airy sound, you can use divisi in as many as you want. I played a piece with a divisi in 10 in violin 1 and 2, 8 in viola and cello and 4 in bass on a chord, and it sounded awesome! It all depends how strong you want the notes to be. And of course, they can play double stops too. It's all up to you. for 8 notes, I'd say 1 for bass, 1 for cello, 2 for viola, violin 2, and violin 1 :)

I agree.. however as a string player I will note a few things: Basses: try not to write very fast leaps! a semitone on a bass is huge. And double stops, unless using open strings (or 4ths, because then they are easy) are probably best avoided Cello: Double stos: no more than maybe a 7th...after that it gets tricky. Also, if tenor clef is used, don't go low in it, switch back to bass. Violas: Double stops are fine up to an octave or 9th...probably no more for an orchestra (though I can do a 10th). Also, stay out of treble clef unless it's for a passage more than a bar above E (10th up from middle C) Violins: Up to a 9th is fine for double stops. Try not to have really fast shifting (this goes for all instruments!) 8va is best avoided unless it's a really really really high passage. Also, try to spread the melody around. Don't give it all to the firsts!

I learned that critique of your music is one of the most important and helpful things in your music. If you take the critiques and use some of their suggestions (or a form of their suggestions) it often helps your piece, or helps you in another section of your piece. So, I usually try to look at it as helpful and try to find what I agree with and use it in a positive way :)