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I'm an amateur composer interested in purchasing a high quality orchestral sample library like Garritan Personal Orchestra. The problem is that I plan on composing a piece for my schools concert band, and I can't decide between Garritan's "Personal Orchestral" or the "Concert & Marching Band" sample libraries: https://www.garritan.com/

I am in the process of reading Rimsky Korsakov's "Principles of orchestration", so it would be ideal to have a high quality virtual orchestra. I would still use the concert band library for other projects, but I plan on pursuing film/video game composing as a career, and these typically use orchestral sounds. I also just enjoy orchestral music more in general.

Advice from composers/musicians who have experience in both the orchestra and concert band would be greatly appreciated. Do most of the orchestration principles apply to both groups? Would writing one concert band piece while learning orchestration for the orchestra be confusing. Thanks in advance!

I also play the clarinet and alto saxophone.

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Samples can be dangerous. First and foremost you need to remember that you’re writing for real people, and that should always be your end goal. If you have limited experience, samples can distort your perception of balance, texture, and response throughout register. There are also many things that can’t be played back, for example, if I specify a passage on violin to be written played “sul G”, it won’t make a difference for playback.

It often seems like every young person wants to be a film composer, and it makes sense because what other access would they have to what composers do? The film market is quite crowded and chances are it’s not actually what you think it is. Same thing with being hung up writing for Orchestra. They’re big and political and bloated and often too afraid to program new things. Writing for orchestra is an incredible and rewarding experience, but don’t do the classic amateur thing and romanticize film scoring and orchestra sound. I have more to say on this but I don’t want to digress too far here.

Samples can be great, but if you don’t have the real world sounds in your ear they can mess you up. Use whatever you have. The only real difference between the libraries you mention is strings, which sound okay even with terrible MIDI and saxes which always sound terrible without exception.

Regarding orchestration texts, there are much, much more current things you should be reading such as the Adler and the Blatter texts. Also do yourself a huge favor and get the Solomon book on percussion.

jjmusicnotes
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  • Thanks for the advice. Maybe, once I finish my first decent score for a full orchestra I'll have it recorded by the "$99 Dollar Orchestra". –  Dec 28 '17 at 02:17
  • Also, when I said "pursuing film/video game composing as a career" I wasn't implying getting a degree and going all out on it; I'll probably end up working a day job while composing in my free time with the hope of one day composing for high profile media. –  Dec 28 '17 at 02:24
  • Well, unless you dedicate your life to the pursuit of creation, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find yourself in a high-profile situation. Few musicians ever have the luxury of being so derelict and creating so much with so little effort. – jjmusicnotes Dec 28 '17 at 04:42
  • I wan't implying that "composing in my free time" meant composing frivolously; I'll just be incorporating my dream into a reasonable lifestyle. Hans Zimmer started out in a rock band, John Williams didn't score a movie until he was 26, and Beethoven started out as an assistant organist. Hell, the Brandenburg Concertos sold for $24 dollars after Bach's death. There are two types of composers: the realists who go to music school and spend their days pointing out your counterpoint errors and the ones who compose for hours on end into the late night until they are satisfied with their work. –  Dec 28 '17 at 16:52
  • And btw, I knew the difference between an orchestra and concert band... What I was wondering was whether arranging music for band while studying orchestration would be confusing. –  Dec 28 '17 at 17:18
  • @GreenPlasma I am sorry to see that your understanding of composition is so binary; there are many more types than the ones you describe. Williams scored television before film, and Bach was famous as an organist during his lifetime; all but forgotten after he passed if it wasn't for Mendelssohn. I know composers who toiled in film for decades before finding success elsewhere. Sometimes you don't have a choice. The type of ensemble doesn't matter: everything is orchestration. Orchestration is the craft, the act of doing. You will learn no matter what you do. Just make sure you hear it live. – jjmusicnotes Dec 28 '17 at 20:40
  • THAT WAS MY POINT EXACTLY!; following your passion means things can turn out differently than planned, which can be good. This is why I'll follow my desires, which DON'T include: spending lots of money on a music degree and moving to Hollywood. Thanks for the advice, but I don't agree with your pessimistic artistic views. Dreams motivate people; mine motivates me to compose with hope that my music might one day be enjoyed by other people (it isn't bad now though). I was implying in my post that film would is my preferred medium for music, not that I'll risk everything for it specifically –  Dec 29 '17 at 02:57
  • @GreenPlasma This is good dialogue but will have to be my last comment here as these comments aren't intended for discussion. Some of my views might seem pessimistic, but they are colored with life experience; I live this and do it; I know the work involved and I know better than most the surprising turns a career can take. Just don't want you to be hurt b/c of inexperience. Never stop writing and never, ever apologize for your music. If you want it, work. Cut your teeth on student / low-budget films and then go from there. Work as an orchestrator / copyist. Do it everyday. – jjmusicnotes Dec 29 '17 at 06:17
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I have both libraries and have used both. The same principles apply with two big exceptions: first, the lack of strings in the band, and second, the difference in percussion instruments. There are minor differences: the band has things like alto clarinets and the whole family of saxes but usually lacks bassoons or oboes.

Allocation of lines to instruments is the big difference. No basses or celli or bassoons to carry the bass lines (although some bands have bassoonists and oboists.)

ttw
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