Favorite ensemble

What is your favorite ensemble to write for? Generally, I find myself more drawn to writing chamber music. What about you?

Ideally, I'd write for a FULL jazz orchestra (5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 2 horns, 3 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, piano, guitar, bass, drums)

Lately, I discovered the joy of writing for a stripped-down jazz ensemble: 3 saxes, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, bass, drums.

Also, small jazz combo tunes are a great challenge - usually I write for two horns (tenor sax, trombone) and rhythm section.

Fun stuff.

Orchestra and Band. The bigger the better!

Jazz band's fun too, but haven't done much recently with it.

the good old string quartet.

Bigger ensembles intimidate me, but only a little. Ten players is the most I've written for. :(

Voice, piano, bass, drums. Maybe throw in a sax.

Full orchestra for me, definitely.

Small chamber - I find it easy to create more interesting soundscapes

or electronic - i love my Logic....

I've had the good fortune of playing in a couple of very nice brass quintets this summer (me on tuba). The experience was phenomenal. This came at the time where I had just started to enter the realm of really composing music.

Every since then, a brass quintet (Trumpet x2, Horn, Trombone, Tuba) has been my "go-to" ensemble. When I fiddle around on my keyboard, I will usually use the Church Organ setting which resembles a nice pipe organ, so, technically, pretty much all of my brass quintet pieces could be easily playable on a pipe organ (and sound good, too!).

If any of you have heard a real pipe organ played, you will know that kind of sound. Many of my compositions have that organ-sound in mind, and I just cannot get enough of it.

Did I mention that I love the works of Giovanni Gabrieli and that of Robert King? :toothygrin:

When writing for pit orchestras, I always feel that I can get the most done with this instrumentation:

Flute I (Piccolo), Flute II (Tenor Sax), Oboe (sometimes doubling English Horn) Clarinet I, Clarinet II (Alto Sax), Bass Clarinet (Bari Sax)

Trumpets I, II; Horns I, II, Trombone

Violin I (with divisi), Violin II, Viola, Cello, Bass (sometimes doubling Electric)

Harp, Piano (Celesta), Drums/Percussion

However, with other writings, I like to stick with small chamber ensembles.

It would suck to just write for one type of ensemble. I don't think I have any favorite ensemble. Maybe voice and piano.

When writing for pit orchestras, I always feel that I can get the most done with this instrumentation:

Flute I (Piccolo), Flute II (Tenor Sax), Oboe (sometimes doubling English Horn) Clarinet I, Clarinet II (Alto Sax), Bass Clarinet (Bari Sax)

Trumpets I, II; Horns I, II, Trombone

Violin I (with divisi), Violin II, Viola, Cello, Bass (sometimes doubling Electric)

Harp, Piano (Celesta), Drums/Percussion

However, with other writings, I like to stick with small chamber ensembles.

Looks more like a Paul Whiteman jazz band than an orchestra.

Flutes don't double on saxes in orchestras.

Looks more like a Paul Whiteman jazz band than an orchestra.

Flutes don't double on saxes in orchestras.

Winds do some weird doubling (tripling, quadrupling; some of the instrumentation I've seen is nuts for a wind player) in pit orchestras for musicals.

I played Viola for Wizard of Oz, our Reed II was doing Flute, Clarinet and Bari Sax. It drove me mad thinking of all the other winds he possibly played. =P

Winds do some weird doubling (tripling, quadrupling; some of the instrumentation I've seen is nuts for a wind player) in pit orchestras for musicals.

I played Viola for Wizard of Oz, our Reed II was doing Flute, Clarinet and Bari Sax. It drove me mad thinking of all the other winds he possibly played. =P

Yes. But I wasn't talking about a pit orchestra. I was referencing a full standard concert orchestra.

Anywho, for all intents and purposes, a pit orchestra is a jazz orchestra. 5 reeds with about 246,495 instruments between them, 4-7 brass, 1-2 perc., and a few strings, usually 8 Vls., 4 vlas, 2 vlc., 1 bass. Add piano/keyboard and you have a 30 piece pit band reday for broadway.

My favorite ensemble is:

Clarinet, harp, piano, 2 accordions and an electric bass guitar.

I have written a variety of pieces for this ensemble and I love the restrictions of the ensemble, but as well as the options to make very colourfull music.

I think it is hard to talk about doubling in a standard orchestra when you throw in saxes.

Why? Saxes are 98% of the time played by separate sax players in an orchestra. And the other 2% of the time, they are clarinet players.

I like flute orchestras - maybe with a harp or an organ thrown in too :toothygrin:

I almost always write for concert band. Orchestra is a pain.

Sometimes I go for brass ensembles and stuff. Good times.

Looks more like a Paul Whiteman jazz band than an orchestra.

Flutes don't double on saxes in orchestras.

Winds do some weird doubling (tripling, quadrupling; some of the instrumentation I've seen is nuts for a wind player) in pit orchestras for musicals.

I played Viola for Wizard of Oz, our Reed II was doing Flute, Clarinet and Bari Sax. It drove me mad thinking of all the other winds he possibly played. =P

I'm pretty sure MusicallyMotivated is referring to Pit Orchestra i.e. musical theatre... ;) Woodwind doubling is an absolute necessity - you have to play them ALL! Hell...even brass players need to double - to work musicals in this town I'll have to polish up the bass-bone and tuba chops ;)

Hmm, maybe I should consider a life as a musical theatre musician... I could certain polish up the skills on a enough of my instruments to pull off some doubling and tripling and quadrupling. :w00t:

Anyways, my favourite ensembles to write for are brass choir (possibly brass band, but haven't actually written for that yet) and full concert band... with lots of brass texture. Also full orchestra is fun when I can figure out what to do with the strings... I tend to gravitate more to using winds as my primary artillary. When writing for orchestra or string orchestra though it's usually with a solo instrument (usually anything other than a string, I hate strings.)

My least favourite ensemble is probably the string quartet or piano trio, I've yet to figure out how to write for those.