On Jun 5, 2007, at 3:11 PM, shirling & neueweise wrote:
Studio orchestra (big band with strings and percussion)
i need numbers of instruments for the ensembles.txt file... and
what percussion? drumset? vibes? anvil? thundersheet? toy piano?
Voice (Since this setup is so often used in conjunction with a solo
voice or solo instrument, this might be a good staff to have in the
default. Once again, placement is a matter of tradition, as it can go
top, bottom, or above piano. Top is probably a good starting place.)
Alto sax 1
Alto sax 2
Tenor sax 1
Tenor sax 2
Baritone sax
Trumpet 1
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
Trumpet 4 (all Bb instruments)
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Trombone 4
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drum set
Percussion (I would go with the generic percussion, as this
instrument is likely to change a lot, and it is commonly congas or
tambourine, or possibly vibraphone or timpani. This order is a matter
of taste and convention, as studio orchestra kind of straddles
classical and show/jazz traditions. Maybe two staves, pitched
percussion ("mallets" by default) and unpitched percussion (generic
percussion by default) would be good, as it is easier to remove an
instrument than to add one and make sure it is in the right order.
Mallet parts in jazz band usually go above or below the guitar, but
in an orchestra score they should go with the percussion. It's all a
big confusion!)
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Contrabass
Jazz piano trio (piano, bass , drums)
Jazz guitar trio (you get it!)
i rarely look at jazz charts, but isn't a quartet more common?
would alto (or tenor?) sax be the most common top instrument?
just to confirm, is [sx/tpt, pno, bs, dr] the order in the score?
Yes, that is the most usual order in jazz scores.
I have built these already, but mostly my projects use such widely-
differing instrumentation that I generally have to create or tweak
each new project from zero.
yeah but you could use an ensemble that is close and add/change the
instruments, wouldn't that be quicker?
Yep, that's why I built a jazz trio, and I add the solo instrument in
the Setup Wizard to make a quartet. Alto sax, tenor sax, trumpet,
trombone and voice are all common lead instruments, so I figured that
it doesn't make much sense to create one of each of these when it is
so easy to add one instrument. It's a bit of a pain (only a bit
though!) to create custom quartets when EVERY instrument comes from a
different category. The Setup Wizard will add a solo instrument in
the correct placement above the rhythm section by default.
Trumpet+tenor quintet is as close to a standard instrumentation as it
is possible to get, which is why I suggested it. if you create it
from scratch, the Setup Wizard puts the tenor above the trumpet,
which is not usual for small groups; the order should be according to
register (lead on top, usually trumpet).
Can you share which instruments have wrong transpositions or
clefs? I don't write for the variety of instruments you do, so I
have never seen a wrong transposition
that's just not true, chris, and you know it! actually you were
the one that confirmed to me a couple of years back that the bass
trombone is not an 8ve transposing instrument.
An error like that would surprise me, so I checked, and my
FinMac2007c Maestro Default file gives all correct transpositions for
all the available brass instruments in the SmartMusic SoftSynth,
including bass trombone and contrabass trombone (both non-octave
transposing instruments.) Same results for the Garritan Personal
Orchestra Finale Edition brass instrument set as well.
My memory of that exchange was that the composer was unclear on
whether it was transposing or not, wasn't it? Or it was unclear on
the score? Or maybe Finale did it wrong in those days, but in any
case it is correct now.
Christopher
(did I keep it under four pages?)
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