Writing an orchestral score is an intimidating process, which requires an in-depth understanding of each instrument in the orchestra. Luckily, we can use modern sound libraries, so everyone is free to try it out for himself. But what are all the instruments within an orchestra, their role, and how are they used in modern scores? If you’re starting with composing music or if you want to tip your toes into the wild ocean of epic soundtracks, I created this guide so that you can begin right away with your first orchestrations.
In modern epic orchestral scores, the strings form the composition’s heart, providing the score with a warm harmony and quick melody phrases. For more punch in the massive statements, the brass section adds powerful swells and heroic soring motifs, while the percussion register focuses on heavy impact and a forward-driving motion. Many additional instruments, like pianos, hybrid sound sources, ethnic instruments, and even choirs, are used widely.
The core of modern soundtracks is formed by the orchestra, which evolved to today’s massive scale over the last hundred years. Depending on the score, it can roughly be divided into a string section, a brass section, the woodwinds, percussion, and a “mixed” register with all the nice stuff like choirs, ethnic instruments, digital sounds, etc.
Now let’s take a look into each of these groups to understand their role inside the score.
Table of content
- 1. Strings
- 2. Woodwinds
- 3. Brass Section
- 4. Percussion
- Choirs and Vocals
- Digital Sound Sources
The sole purpose of this short motif is to show a basic form of orchestration. Great scores tend to have a unique arrangement, allowing them to dive deeper into a certain feeling or atmosphere. The purpose of this track is to implement all the instruments listed here. But for now, let’s listen to the theme before we go deeper into each section.
The strings usually form the foundation of every musical track featuring an orchestra. They are highly versatile, can cover every range from the baseline to the high-pitched melodies, and have a lot of possible articulations. Strings tend to blend in really nicely with the rest of the orchestra because of their pure and vibrant sound.
On top of that, fast notes perform way better on the strings than on a brass instrument. This provides us with a ton of possibilities to use them in any range. Ostinatos are a repeated structure found in every epic orchestration, commonly performed on strings.
Notice that strings have access to a wide repertoire of articulations like staccato (short played), pizzicato (plucked), tremolo (vibrant), or legato (connected long notes). A good implementation of these brings out the full potential of the strings.
Double Bass
We can find up to eight (!) double basses in a standard orchestra to create a strong bottom baseline. We need that many because the deep string sound needs to come up against the brass and percussion section.
The role of the double bass is to support the harmony, create rhythms, and add its rich tone to the orchestral mix.
Cello
The cello resembles the tenor voice in the string family and usually plays an octave higher than the double bass. Its unique, beautiful warm sound is often used for a solo queue (Game of Thrones), but its everyday job is to form the track’s harmony by building up the chord structure in the lower range.
Viola
The viola is my personal favorite of the strings family for its gritty sound and dark timbre. It’s simply a bigger violin and is used to cover the harmonics in the mid-range.
Violin
The violin is the highest-pitched strings instrument in the orchestra and has been used widely since its invention in ~1550. All the other string instruments are based on the design of the violin.
In the orchestra, two violin sections are used; the first violin plays the melody, while the second violin enriches it by playing the harmony on the higher range.
Double Bass
The double Bass usually follows the roots of the individual chords. The low register can become messy really quick, if to many harmony notes and quick patterns are used. Longs stretched notes are a common form to write for the bass, with simple rhythmic patterns.
Cello
The cello is used to cover the lower harmonic frequencies. Similar as the bass, it follows the root notes, but can play a chord consisting of octaves and quints as well. I try to implement the quint when possible, to give the chord a richer sound. Try to stick with octaves and quints.
Viola
In the mid-range, the viola shines with a beautiful timbre. In this stage, we can try to implement more complex rhythmic patterns or expand the chords by adding thirds.
The viola is also suitable to perform counter-melodies or to support the main phrase.
Violin
The violin is the lead-instrument in this section. The first violin plays the melody, while the second violin provides us with the harmonies in the higher range. This frequency range allows us to implement fast notes, additional notes and a far more complex structure in general.
The woodwinds have a long history and were among the first instruments built by humankind. They play a significant role in orchestras around the globe, especially when it comes to melody and countermelody.
The woodwinds are a quiet register in comparison and don’t have the punch composers nowadays are looking for. This leads to the modern composition, where woodwinds often are canceled out entirely.
However, they can play a huge role by enlarging the individual melodic statements and shifting the tone of the melody. They are very useful to separate individual phrases. With more instruments on our hands, we can create a much wider variety to the orchestration so that we can control what’s in the fore- and background way easier.
Due to their natural high range, they perform best in the melody and counter-melody sections. For example, the scores by John Williams show perfectly how they enrich a melody. On the other hand, the more modern Hans Zimmer Tracks often don’t feature them at all.
Basson
The Basson is a lovely warm-sounding deep-pitched instrument and forms the main bass voice of the wind section. Instruments like Bassclarinets or Basssaxophones can also play quite deep notes, but they aren’t featured that often.
Like the oboe, the Basson has a reed as a mouthpiece, which gives us the typical sound of this instrument. Compared to the related oboe, the bassoon has a less nasal tone and can therefore play incredible solo voices and is superb to all other winds in this category. But when accompanied, it gets swallowed quite quickly, especially in higher registers. Bassoons are often combined with cellos, which are dominant over the Basson. A common technique is to double up the Basson, not to overtone the cellos, but to really add body to the phrase. Once the orchestra grew in size, the basic orchestral complement went from two to three and nowadays four. The last one usually doubles on the contrabassoon, an even deeper pitched variation.
Clarinet
When we are talking about modern orchestration, the clarinet is, in my opinion, the instrument that lost most of its showtime. They have a warm sound and are very subtle instruments. Clarinets work perfectly in the harmonies for quieter parts of the score and have a very playful and childish-sounding timbre. They often get used in family adventures and have access to astonishing fast-playing phrases.
The clarinet is a very agile and versatile instrument and has the most homogeneous range of any of the woodwinds. It’s equally efficient in lyrical broad and fast virtuosic phrases.
Oboe
Without a doubt, the oboe has the most individual personality of all the woodwinds. It has a thick, warm and prominent sound in its lower range, and gets thinner but clearer towards the higher range.
In modern scores, the oboe is a frequent choice for solo parts, due to its signature sound. Up to three oboes aren’t seldom in a big orchestra, accompanied with an English horn. When doubling the oboe to have more punch, you need to be careful about the articulation that naturally occurs as a result. In this case, the melodic line will be overshadowed by the oboe and its unwanted rhythmic articulations.
Flute
The flute comes in many diffrent sizes but is most commonly used to cover the highest ranges of the entire orchestra.
It can play long stretched, intense melodies with sweet timbre in the lower range. It lacks a bit of carrying power in this range, but it has a clear and brilliant sound in the higher register. This clear sound is especially useful if you need a counterbalance to heavy brass sections.
Now let’s listen to the instruments in this motif:
Basson
As our bass in this section, the basson follows the root note and provides us with a rich-sounding foundation to be built on. It only plays in the first half, so I have the possibility to fill the gap with other instruments to make it less repetitive.
Clarinet
I used the clarinet to cover the mid harmonics as well as a part of the melody. Since violin and flute are higher pitched in the melody line, the clarinet is an excellent solution to stretch out the melody in the mid-range.
Oboe
Similar to the clarinet, the oboe adds texture to the melody and is used to perform the answer to the initial call of the theme. To let the oboe stand out, I used it as a solo instrument for the melody line exclusively.
Flute
I tried to add as much contrast as possible by stretching out the theme’s spectrum with a higher-pitched instrument. Therefore, the flute is reduced to the theme’s answer, so I have a diversion in pitch and structure.
Richard Strauss, a famous classical composer and conductor, once said:” Never look at the brass section – it will only encourage them to play louder.”
The pure force of the brass section can easily crush the entirety of the orchestra into little crumbles. This for sure is one of the main reasons for the heavy use of these instruments in modern compositions, especially since huge colossal statements are a wanted effect.
To compromise the power of this section, a clear and balancing orchestration is key.
Very quiet parts are tough to control for the brass section; they perform best in intense louder parts.
Tuba
The tube is the bass instrument inside the brass section, and covers the lower range of the spectrum with a rich but soft sound. It blends in very well in the brass ensemble.
The role of the tuba is not only to provide a strong bass line but also to act as a counterweight to the strong trumpet and horn segment.
As with all bass instruments, the lowest notes can perform best in slow moving basslines, while its upper range let them be way more fluent and active.
Trombone
The trombone is in its core a very big trumpet, and performs in a similar way. This includes the wide tonal and dynamic range, as well as a strong and effective sound throughout the entire possible range.
This makes them very versatile and a perfect solution for doubling up with other instruments.
The most common variants of the trombone are the tenor-trombone and the bass-trombone. Whenever you hear an enormous colossal deep brass sound, you can be sure to be listening to a group of euphoric bass trombones. No other instrument can perform with such power in the lower register as these instruments.
Horn
The famous french horns are one of the most dominant instruments in modern action-driven scores. Eventhough the horn has a mellower sound than the trumpet, it has enough power and clarity to overcome nearly every other instrument combination. It is therefore a very effective solo or lead instrument in its higer range, but also a very good accompany for harmonic phrases due to its tonal quality in the middle register.
Trumpet
The trumpet covers the soprano range of the brass section, which means it is the highest-pitched instrument and is therefore often involved in the lead and melody line. This instrument has an incredible capacity to perform not only high notes but also has a very distinctive sound with a huge dynamic range. Fast staccato trumpets are a widely used effect in scores (“Indiana Jones Theme” by John Williams).
Tuba
The tuba is used to create a broad brass foundation for the introduction of the theme. It follows the root notes to avoid messy overtones.
Trombone
The trombone not only covers the harmonics of the theme, it also performs as a support for the melody in the first half. The answer is open to other instruments, so the melody is not covered by the trombne at this point.
French Horn
Soring french horns are used to implement the powerful brass sound in the theme. While the answer is covered by the trumpet, the french horns are focusing on the initial part.
Trumpet
The role of the trumpet here is to act as a balance to the french horns in the answer. Similar to the flute, this creates a contrast in pitch between the theme’s call and its answer.
This group differs from the rest of the orchestra, as its primary focus lies in the rhythmic side of the score. Additional to the standard orchestral equipment, a lot of ethnic instruments found their way into the ensemble.
Percussive instruments can be divided into a tonal and an atonal group. While tonal instruments like timpani or xylophone are able to play melodic phrases, the atonal instruments aren’t tuned to a specific pitch, like drums and cymbals.
The constellation of a heavy percussive hit is layered in the same way as a huge orchestral chord. The bottom line is covered by low-pitched drums, while the mid and high range is covered by snare drums and cymbals. A specific ambient is a key to any good score, and for percussive instruments, the possibilities seem to be endless. The basic pattern doesn’t change, but the single instruments can be swapped out to form a wanted tonal color.
Cymbals
In this group, a lot of diffrent equipment pieces can be found. They range from small finger-played cymbals to the huge orchestral Piatti, massive-sounding crash cymbals, and gongs.
A lot of bells and tubular sound effects can be performed. Crash Cymbals and Gongs usually mark the height of a melodic phrase, with a cymbal roll to announce them.
Low pitched drums
Next to the Gran Cassa, Taiko drums are a crucial part of action-driven scores. They provide us with a deep and massive hit and can perform basic rhythmic ostinatos as an ongoing engine for the track.
But you need to be really careful not to overdo it; or the nice pattern can become a messy low rumble very quickly.
Mid- and high pitched drums
Similar to the structure of strings, woodwinds or brass, the more complex patterns are performed in the higher range. A basic snare drum is a good allrounder, but the marching sound is not always a wanted effect. A lot of different drums, like toms, frame drums, or banjos can be found in this section.
You should try to find an instrument with a character you like for your score. Snare Drums immediately change your score into a military marching experience, and banjos make everything sound like a jungle safari tour.
Timpani
These huge instruments not only cover a lot of space on the stage, but they also fill it out inside the orchestral character. Timpanies can be used as a sort of base drum, but can also be used to follow the harmonies.
Timpani rolls are a widely used effect for lower intense ambient, but they can – combined with a crescendo – become a very powerful raiser.
Mallets
In theory, the term mallet refers to a lot of instruments inside the percussive world. But today we use this term to describe a specific group of tonal percussive instruments, build by staves. This includes the marimba, the xylophone, the glockenspiel, or the vibraphone. They can cover an extreme range, similar to a piano (which, in theory, is also part of the percussion section). Therefore they can be used as a doubler, to perform melodies or harmonies. Whatever you plan to do, they can do it. The glockenspiel is one of the most used mallet instruments and is an excellent addition to the flute.
In this track, I reduced myself (with a sad percussionist-heart) to the very basics: Gran Cassa, Snare Drums, Timpanies and Cymbals.
Bass Drum
The bass drum covers the basic rhythmic aspects by announcing the major beats with rolls and forceful hits. I decided to not use the standard gran cassa and swapped it out for a short-sounding base drum with a short delay. This gives more clarity since additional SFX already have a very long fade out.
Cymbals
With swells and a cymbal clash, I tried to clarify the rhythmic aspect of the theme. They not only announce the individual phrases, but they also create a nice uplifting effect at the start of each phrase.
Snare
Since the rhythmic aspect of the theme itself isn’t very prominent, I needed an engine that keeps the wheels turning. This is provided by a basic snare pattern. You need to be careful though because it can make it sound like a military fanfare very quickly. Other options would be a drum ensemble or simple higher-pitched instruments like a tamburine or banjos.
Timpani
The timpani combine a lot of diffrent effects in the percussive group. They act as swells, provide a rhythmic beat like the base drum, and on top of that, they follow the harmonic chords.
Vocal lines interwoven into a broad orchestral piece is a widely used technique to form an uplifting climax. Inside a choir we find singers to cover all ranges, from bass to soprano. In a lot of libraries, you can find a divided man’s and woman’s choir. Even though you might think, that the men are providing us with the forceful sound, women really make the choir stand out. The male choir has a broad signal, the female choir, on the other hand, has a sharp and concentrated signal in comparison. This makes them cut through the orchestration.
As in any musical arrangement, the deep voices should be reduced to the bare minimum, to not make it a messy layer. This foundation in combination with an outstanding higher melody line creates a powerful room-filling soundscape.
The choir can not only sing in sustained (long), staccato (short), or marcato(powerful short) fashion, it can also sing certain words. Most libraries give you the possibility to add a prerecorded syllable. Once you experiment with these, you can see that some vowels perform better in powerful sections, and others better in sustained phrases. This is the reason, why most lyrics don’t seem to make any sense.
Single vocal lines, performed by a solo singer, need to be carefully embedded. The higher the pitch, the stronger the lower counter harmony needs to be and vice versa. Solo voices gained a lot of popularity in the last years inside trailer music, as nowadays’s trend implements the use of famous pop and rock songs, transformed into an epic and sinister way.
I used the choir once the theme gets repeated a second time. This gives a nice build-up feeling and is an easy way to diverse the theme so it doesn’t get as repetitive.
The female choir is following the high melodic elements, while the the males are performing as a foundation for the females.
Without a doubt, this is the most dominant change in the last thirty years when it comes to modern orchestral music. Every recorded sound can be modified and transformed into a completely new sound with the help of today’s audio engineering. Often, the result is utterly diffrent from its source, so unique structures, ambient, sound effects, and pulses can be added to the score.
The heavy use of digital sound sources leads to the term “Hybrid-Orchestra“, which consists of the classic orchestra and an extensive digital part. We can often find this type of orchestra in trailer music, but it’s also used a lot in film music, especially action-orientated pieces.
This is an example of how to convert a simple voice recording into a digital signal for a track. Because of the extensive orchestration of the theme in this post, hybrid elements are reduced to the percussion section.
How are such sounds made?
The process depends on the desired outcome. Heavy use of compressors, equalizers, distortion effects and pitch-shifters are being used most of the time.
To achieve the best (and easiest to do) results, I highly recommend using organic sound sources (recordings) because many overtones and noises in the background are beneficial to create a fuller sound.
You can find a ton of libraries in the market with ready-to-use hybrid sounds, but I encourage you to try it yourself to create your own signature sound.
Otherwise, I recommend Spitfire LABs, which is completely free and provides you with a huge amount of digital sounds.
Since the track is already quite full I didn’t want to add too much stuff, because the focus purely lies in the other sections. Therefore I reduced the SFX to a supportive role for the percussion section. Along with the cymbals, risers are a good way to introduce a new stand of the theme.
SFX-Swells
Similar to the cymbals and timpani, the SFX are used to create a dramatic transition to the next phrase
SFX-Hits
The hit of this SFX is quite powerful, but it has a very dominant and long decay. It is the reason why i swapped the standard gran cassa to a short sounding base drum.