Advice on Orchestration learning packages

[Dave Whyte]

Ive been looking at Truespec's website and am considering buying their downloadable 'writing for strings' package...the price is reasonable enough but theyre also recommending buying their Professional Orchestration Vol 1 book aswell...Ive already bought the second book(Orchestrating the melody within the string section)but may have to go back a notch or two!
Anyway,my first question is have any of you bought these packages/books and if so what are your comments?
Secondly,how did the midi files work with 1) your sequencer and 2)EWQLSO
Im using Cubase 4 and EWQLSO gold if its any help.
Cheers D

[Dave Whyte]

Wow,its quiet out there!....

[Altauria]

Hello there!
I have the Orchestrating the Melody within the String Section (2A). The book is incredible and invaluable. Keep in mind, though, that it is not a teaching tool in the same way as, say, the Adler or Kennan. Those are more instrumentation tools (I would suggest reading through those first - and, of course, listening A LOT).
I had actually started reading the aforementioned Peter Alexander book as if it were a standard method book (you know, start at point A, continue to B, to C, etc....). That was a bad idea, as it is not laid out as such. It's sort of like a quick reference guide with intelligent side notes. I believe Mr. Alexander explains this in his Preface/Intro, but who was I to listen! Reading through the first chapter I found it a little helpful, but not so fulfilling.
Once I started composing and having orchestral sounds and colors in my head, I then decided to return to the book to look at examples of what I thought I was imagining. Not only did it justify my orchestration decisions, but it expanded upon them as well. The beauty of it all is that the book is organized in such a way that I didn't have to go painstakingly searching through the dozens of scores on my shelf. The key here is, though, you should probably understand how each string instrument works and sounds in their various ranges.
I would HIGHLY recommend Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration to begin with. Some people may disagree with this because of its conservative, opinionated, and somewhat self-promoting nature, but it at least gives you SOMETHING. That is, he will tell you how each string on the violin will sound, and how each register on the clarinet will sound - and not in a safe academic way. Just like anything else, a highly subjective and flawed opinion of a thing sometimes gives you more perspective towards the general truth than a completely objective without-exception explanation.
I hope this helps!

Brian

[justinhaupt]

Samuel Adler's book on orchestration is invaluable and comprehensive. Get it.