Homogenous (String) Voicings

Homogenous (String) Voicings When you want to create a homogenous sound for example in the string section, take care that adjacent voices don’t exceed an octave. This is just a rule of thumb and sometimes, voice leading etc. justifies for larger gaps but in general,...

Music Mix for “Smartphone” Use

Music Mix for “Smartphone” Use In current times, you can not expect that your music will be listened to under ideal conditions (e.g. in a cinema or good speaker systems) but many people watch media and listen to music in less ideal situations. Of course...

Writing for Mallets

Writing for Mallets When writing parts for mallet instruments that need the player to hold two mallets per hand (like marimba/vibraphone chords) it is very tricky for the players to rapidly play passages that include constant switching between “black and white” and...

Close Mic Sound Characteristics

Close Mic Sound Characteristics The sound of orchestral instruments is heavily influenced by the room it plays in. With some instruments, the interaction with the room is essential. For instance the French Horns which always project to the back of the room and bounce...

Cluster Voicings

Cluster Voicings Cluster voicings are another possibility to add interesting harmonic structures to your music. As opposed to “normal” clusters that stack minor OR major seconds, cluster voicings follow a certain scale structure incorporating only notes of the current...