Professional Orchestration Volume 1: The best orchestration book since Forsyth. Jerry Goldsmith Academy and Emmy Award Winning Composer Professional Orchestration offers more opportunities to see and hear the combinations which formerly could only be imagined. Bruce Broughton Emmy Award Winning Composer Every time I open this book I learn something new. Paul Thomson Synesthesia (UK)

 

 

Professional Orchestration 2A I would highly recommend this book to any student or working professional wishing to learn or expand their knowledge of orchestration. If you intend to work professionally the skills imparted by the studies presented here will be of enormous benefit and will give you a professional advantage for your entire career. Garry Schyman Award Winning Composer, BioShock

With Professional Orchestration 2A, Peter Alexander has done a very
good job of making the various doublings and unisons within the
strings section clear, so that you can readily understand what's going
on, even in some of the more complex examples presented. I was
particularly pleased to see a starting basic section on divisi with
enough information to get the reader thinking and listening, without
delving too much into the finer points.

I think that the choice of musical examples is excellent, and no
composer who wishes to write orchestral music should neglect to know
the scores for these pieces.

This book will be extremely useful, especially to sample based
composers, either striving for improved realism with their
orchestrations, or who wish to transfer their MIDI compositions to a
live ensemble, so I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Daryl Griffith
Conductor, Composer
Orchestrator, Young Visiters (BAFTA winner), Prime Suspect (BAFTA
winner), Harry Potter VI.

A great publication! You perfectly met the needs of so many musicians - it's an incredibly valuable source of knowledge! I like also very much its clear structure and the way you explain complex things. A "must" not only for students, but for every musician dealing with samples and "orchestral sound".

Peter Siedlaczek
Advanced Orchestra, Classical Choirs, String Essentials 2

The new book is amazing! It builds on the first book by adding more explanations, MIDI programming advice and film scoring concerns. I can't imagine a more exhaustive study or more organized collection of string writing. You can pre-charge my card for books 2B through 8!

Jeff Laity
Marketing Manager TASCAM

As a music educator and practicing composer, nothing is more important to the quality of a composition than the art of orchestration.  The subtle combination of instrumental timbres has the ability to make or break a score.  A properly orchestrated piece can evoke emotion and take the listener to another place.  It has the ability to transcend to a new plain; where beauty, love, agony and joy all co-exist in perfect harmony.

For me, orchestration has always been one of my strong points, cultivated over many years of score study and professional application.  There is nothing quite like the feeling one gets when standing in front of an orchestra, listening to a hundred musicians bring your hard work and labor to life.  It truly is a life changing experience. 

Peter Alexander’s book, Professional Orchestration 2A: Orchestrating the Melody within the String Section is a unique approach to the subject of orchestration. 

It focuses on groupings within the strings, instead of the traditional “This instrument sounds good with that one” approach.  It gives the reader the ability to understand how to accomplish the big, lush sounds of master composers such as Strauss, Mahler and Moussorgsky, without the need to scour countless scores and recordings.  The many full page orchestral excerpts and MP3 examples perfectly depict the technique that is being described by the text itself.

Another aspect of the book that I thought was unique and extremely useful was the incorporation of the “electronic orchestra”.  The diminished availability of professional orchestras and the proliferation of affordable computers and software have lead to the rise of the MIDI orchestra.  Software such as Garritan’s Personal Orchestra, Quantum Leap’s Symphonic Orchestra and Mark of the Unicorn’s Symphonic Instrument have opened up new and exciting possibilities for the professional and the hobbyist alike.  The book’s included scores and MIDI mock-up techniques give the orchestrator a chance to obtain true orchestral sound and color through practical exercises and real world applications.  This feature alone should make this book a must have for all musicians.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the text and attempting the MIDI mock-ups.  This book mirrors my own approach to MIDI orchestration and I find it a very useful tool.  I will recommend this book to anyone who is serious about their musical education and who wants to achieve the highest standards from their compositions and orchestrations as possible.  I can’t wait to see the next volume.

Jonathon Cox
Composer: Death4told,  Broken Oath
Lecturer of Music at Ohio Northern University and Muskingum College