Customer Reviews

Essential Dictionary of Orchestration

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a great quick reference for anyone who composes music. Includes info on just about every instrument you can think of. Each listing has all the essential facts about the instrument, including written range, sounding range, and special characteristics. Well worth the six bucks.

A good little dictionary giving you comprehensive information about Weston, often orchestral instruments. Information includes instrumental devices, ranges and what within music that instrument is best suited. However, the writers do warn it is in pocket-dictionary style which means it should be used as a quick reference. They suggest studying a larger book for detailed analysis about each instrumental grouping. This book is about the instruments, not necessarily about how best to orchestrate particular difficulties, for example, or about collective writing... The essential dictionary of Orchestration is a pocket dictionary giving you practical, easy-to-understand advice for the beginner or the un-familiar. The illustrations clearly show how certain types of effect should be ideally written with useful illustrations depicting meaning. This is a very useful book, with a great deal of instruments (from violin to the harp, percussion to the bass flute...). It also explains the basics of MIDI. Perhaps a little over-priced - you still can't really go wrong!

I figured, gee it's just a few bucks, what the heck.

Well, this is one book which doesn't look to spend much time on the shelf. It's not exhaustive (it tends to be focused on the basic european instruments so includes e.g., violins, brass and guitars, but omits the cuatro, ney, sitar, etc.) but seems to be error-free. It won't necessarily obviate occasional discussions of capabilities of the instrument with a player, but is quite handy nevertheless. This is exactly the book that I wish I had twenty years ago.

This book has a LOT of information, especially for the price, and its convenient size makes it easy to keep near the computer and the keyboard while one is working on an arrangement.

However, it is so poorly organized that I almost gave it only three stars; it's somewhat alphabetical order (but only somewhat), it's not in commonest-in-the-orchestra order, it's only vaguely grouped into a few related clumps. For example, the bowed strings come first - logical enough. But within their section, they are in this order: Contrabass, Viola, Viola d'Amore, Violin, Violincello (Cello). OK, that's alphabetical within section, but makes no sense in terms of what people would actually want to use. Next after Bowed Strings are Clarinets, Double Reeds, Flutes... yes, that's alphabetical order - IF you think of regular orchestral strings as specifically Bowed Strings, and IF you think of Oboes and Bassoons as Double Reeds and look them up that way.

Recorders are included under Flutes. As if that's part of "essential" orchestration. And the double reeds include Heckelphones. Hello, anyone who is going to write for a heckelphone these days is going to be using a far more specialized reference than this book.

After flutes come Fretted Strings - starting with the Banjo. Another item I wouldn't have said was "essential" in a book on orchestration. Then after Fretted Strings are Harps, Horns, Keyboards - starting with the Accordion. Then: Non-Pitched Metals. Now, honestly, is that the phrase you'd think of first in order to look up percussion equipment? After all the various Percussion categories, we get to Saxophones, Trombones, Trumpets, Tubas. Why do each of the brass get their own section, instead of being grouped as Slide Brass and Valved Brass? And why, if double reeds are going to include Heckelphones, doesn't the tuba section include Helicons and Serpents, let alone the frequently-used Sousaphone?

Best way to use this book: invest in stick-on colored tabs, to make it easy to find the most common instruments and to be able to flip right to the index, which is the first thing you're going to need.

Although many thick, expensive text books are available covering this same information, this book provides enough information to be useful, but not too much to change it from a reference to a study text. It thoroughly covers techniques of each instrument (what each instrument can do), their range, how they sound in each register, technical considerations, and how they are generally used inside of the score. As other reviewers have pointed out, this text is indespensible.

I'm an amateur composer, so I'm not completely familiar with all the instruments of the orchestra. This "dictionary" will now become an essential part of my composing, and will help in writing correctly for each instrument.
I highly recommend it to all those out there who are composing for a hobby, and need a guide to the range of orchestral instruments.

This is a fantastic book - IF it suits your purposes. If you already have a massive textbook on the subject of orchestation (e.g., the Cecil Forsythe book) this book would potentially be redundant. However, used as what it claims to be - a concise, literally pocket-sized desk reference for the working composer or orchestrator - it is easy-to-use and informative. It contains basic information about every instrument, including ranges, transposition, tone color, tricks and special notation, impossibilities for players, and occasional scoring/arranging tips. For a novice like myself, it's very informative when read cover-to-cover; for an experienced orchestrator, it might still be handy for quick checks. Either way, highly recommended!

Falo aos meus colegas arranjadores, músicos e regentes: muito bom esse pequeno dicionário de bolso. Bom, bonito e barato... e indispensável para os alunos. Coloco como material de minhas aulas de arranjo e orquestração a partir de agora.
I speak to my colleagues arrangers, musicians and regents: very good this this little pocket dictionary. Good, beautiful and cheap ... and indispensable for students. It is material for my classes of arrangement and orchestration from now.

I'd give it ten stars! Anyone interested in writing, arranging, composing, orchestrating, or just a curious musician should own a copy of this book.

It covers over 150 instruments giving the general/practical range as written and transposed, plus it gives the tonal/dynamic qualities of each register and where they might be used (e.g.each string on stringed instruments, chalumeau/throat/clarino on clarinet). It covers general information about each instrument (construction, special attachments, general considerations).

It covers technical considerations with specific characteristics for each instrument to help you avoid writing something a player would consider stupid (e.g. low B-Bb slide positions on trombone, low C-Db trill on flute). It also has scoring hints for each and within their families.

It covers all sorts of articulations/mutes/effects etc, what they sound like, where to use them and how to write them (e.g. velvotone mute/'doit' articulation for trumpet, flutter tonguing on flute, string technics). Also, there is information on harmonics for stringed instruments and pedal tones for trombones, french horns et al.

It has an amazing section on percussion instruments. Composers have always looked like idiots to a percussionist because they hadn't the slightest idea how to write for them. You will know how if you use the info in this book (and be admired by the 'battery').

In short, if this book sold for $200, it would be worth it. At $100 it would be a bargain. BUT at 6 bucks, why haven't you bought it already??

p.s. while a bit confusing a first to find an instrument, however, with about five minutes of use you will understand the reasons for the arrangement of material in the book by families (you would not want a coronet at the front and trumpet at the back of a book). The table of contents explains it. Plus there is an alphabetical listing of instruments with page #'s at the back of the book.

This is the greatest, smallest, more concise, most useful resource I have ever found to assist with scoring and arranging questions. Every instrument is addressed, complete with scoring tips, idiosyncratic abilities, range, timbre in each part of the range, how to notate, transpositions, etc. In a tiny book! I have a $200 text that is not as good as this little thing. If you want a good tool for orchestration, this is it.