March 20, 200818 yr After reading Dante Alighieri's Inferno, some of these melodies popped into my head. This is my first composition for a full ensemble so I would love any criticism and comments. This, and my other compositions can be heard at PandaSneeze, Citizen of ACIDplanet.com Thanks large.MUS
March 20, 200818 yr Not bad for your first large ensemble piece! They can be very tricky to write. I've read Dante's Inferno as well, and this piece certainly sounds savage. Orchestration tip: Try splitting your woodwinds up like this (it should give you more options if you want to get a little bit more daring): Piccolo Flute 1 Flute 2 Flute 3 Oboe 1 Oboe 2 English Horn (maybe?) Clarinet 1 Clar. 2 Clar. 3 Bass Clarinet Contra clarinet (maybe?) Alto Sax. 1 A. Sx. 2 Tenor Sax Bari Sax Bassoon 1 Bassoon 2 Contrabassoon (maybe?) Another tip: when you have a "pyramid effect" like the one that starts in measure 31, you might try making the woodwinds go faster. For example: Brass enter: 8th-notes (as you've written, but maybe with a few accents here and there, or on off-beats to spice it up a little) Bassoon, Bass Clarinet (?), Bari Sax enter: 8th-notes (same thing) Tenor Sax, Alto Sax 1, 2 enter: 8th-note triplets in the tenor sax, straight 8ths in Alto Sax. 2, triplets again in A. Sx. 1 Clarinet 1, 2, 3 enter: Clar. 3 on triplets, Cl. 1 and 2 on 16th-notes Oboe, Flute, and Piccolo enter: Oboe 2 on triplets, Oboe 1 on 16ths, Flute/Picc. on 16ths You might also want to add a accel rather than a rit in order to make it sound a bit more frantic (if that's the effect you want). Also, the score order is a litle odd. Usually, the score order for a band looks something like this: Piccolo Flutes Oboes/Eng. Horn Bassoons Clarinets/Bass Clarinet/Contra Clarinet/Contrabassoon Alto Saxes Tenor Sax Bari Sax Trumpets French Horns Trombones Euphonium Tuba Percussion (this includes pitched and unpitched percussion) Sorry if this seems like a lot! It took me forever to figure it out when I wrote my first large ensemble piece. Keep composing!
