What is instrumentation?
When you're undefined your own music, it's important to think about the type of sound that you would like for each part of your music.
One of the great things about composing, is you can choose which instruments to use in your Creating or writing a piece of music.. There are hundreds of different types of musical instruments to choose from.
Choosing one instrument for a part of your composition is called instrumentation.
Layering or putting together groups of instruments within your composition is called orchestration.
If you've composed a Different pitched notes played one after another making a tune., think about the mood or emotion of your music and which instrumental sound best matches this.
A key skill for composing music
A key composing skill is understanding the sounds that musical instruments make and how they can combine together to create a sound, that you want for your composition.
A very good place to start is the instruments of the A large group of string, wind, brass and percussion instruments that all play together..
There are four main families in the orchestra.
Image caption, String
A violin is the highest pitched string instrument and a double bass is the lowest pitched string instrument found in an orchestra.
1 of 4
Each family has several different instruments within it, ranging from high How high or low a musical sound is. instruments - like the violin, to low pitched instruments like the double bass.
Watch: What do they sound like?
Each family of instruments makes their sound in different ways.
Explore these films to hear what some of the different instruments sound like and see how they are played.
Find out more about how orchestral instruments work by watching House of Sounds on ±«Óătv Teach.
Watch: Orchestration with Gerswin's Rhapsody
Orchestration is the process of combining different instruments together, within your musical composition.
There are lots of examples to listen to, but to get started, listen to this piece called Gerswin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
Pianist Lauren Zhang joins the ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This performance is from Ten Pieces Trailblazers.
In this performance, the clarinet plays the A piece of music or song performed by one person. line accompanied by instruments from the woodwind and brass sections of the orchestra.
Gershwin chose the clarinet to represent the sound of New York City 'waking up' in the early morning.
Even though this is a classical piece of music, you can hear the influence of jazz in how the clarinet, trumpet and piano are performed.
How can I start?
You probably won't have access to a large collection of orchestral instruments at home or in school. Remember, electronic keyboards and music software often include collections of instrument sounds that you can explore.
While they may not be quite like the real thing, they are a very good place to start practicing your instrumentation and orchestration!
Activities
Quiz
Bitesize Primary games. game
Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.
More on Creating Music
Find out more by working through a topic
- count3 of 12
- count4 of 12
- count5 of 12
- count6 of 12
