<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent beginner's textbook and overall reference
Review: (6th Ed.) Although I've played classical piano for a long time, I'm a beginner in this aspect of music. This book provides a fantastic, detailed survey of the entire symphony orchestra for those who don't know an English horn from an oboe; however, it seems like it's one of those handy books you will refer back to for a very long time: - basic introduction to various configurations of orchestras
- all the instruments individually described & photographed
- idiosyncracies, limits, abilities of each instrument
- the realistic note ranges of each instrument
- scoring for sections (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion)
- excerpts from real scores demonstrate techniques
- some important aspects of color/blend/orch.texture
- arranging for school orchestras, smaller groups
- contains small suggested assignments and listening refs. Personally, I am using it as a reference for working with a sampler-based orchestra, to give me better insight towards creating more realistic arrangements and mockups.
Rating:
Summary: The perfect and professional guide to writing for orchestra
Review: Having used this book for many years I continue to be impressed with its thoroughness and the scope of its musical examples. No composer can live without it, and it surpasses all previous books on the subject
Rating:
Summary: very good entry level book
Review: I should first point out that no book can teach you orchestration. You learn to orchestrate by orchestrating and listening to the results at performances and rehearsals, noting carefully the reactions of your musicians. (Write for musicians, not for instruments.) Most of us have little opportunity to do so, unfortunately, but we can learn a great deal by studying orchestral scores (analyzing and following along at concerts and with recordings.) We can also consult books. I recommend this book for beginning orchestration students, but I recommend especially Cecil Forsyth's "Orchestration" (to which this book occasionally refers) and Walter Piston's "Orchestration". I also recommend George Heussenstamm's "The Norton Manual of Music Notation" (you'll need to know how to make your scores readable), Walter Piston's "Counterpoint" (Rimsky-Korsakov says that the essence of orchestration is voice leading), and, by the bye, Jeff Burns's "Pentatonic Scales for the Jazz Rock Keyboardist".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!!
Review: I'm a universitary professor and I found that Mr. Kennan did an excellent job in this matter. Highly recommended for music students and professional musicians in general. The chapters dedicated on the subjects of scoring for each section of the orchestra are a jewel.
Rating:
Summary: It's a very good book,excellent for transcribing piano music
Review: No he leido otro libro de orquestación que trate con tanto detenimiento el problema de la transcripción de musica de piano a la orquesta. Ademas la explicación de los tipos de texturas orquestales es muy buena. Lo unico que lamento es que no haya una version en espagnol.
Rating:
Summary: Still the standard
Review: With a new updated edition appearing every few years, this book still manages to maintain its place as the standard for entry level orchestration. Along with the basic need to know information, you will find it packed with musical examples of each instrument as well as in context with relative sections and the entire orchestra. Also there are suggested assignments and suggested listening at the end of each chapter. This is invaluble in assimilating and applying the vast amount of information presented here - especially if you don't have access to a live orchestra. Any aspiring composer or orchestrator should consider this book a "must have" - pick it up, you won't regret it.
<< 1 >>
| 
