Author: Paul Siskind
Subject: Textbook suggestions? Writing/scoring for Young Bands and Orchestras?
Hello Everyone: There are many publishers that will now take orders for "print-on-demand" copies of out-of-print books. In many instances, the publisher will even customize your run, to include/exclude chapters as you wish.
I'm pretty sure that a few years ago I spoke with the publisher of the White book, and that they offered a print-on-demand edition that was much cheaper than the used prices that other people have quoted from Amazon. I don't remember the details off the top of my head, and I'm away from my office for a while.
But I would recommend that you call the publisher, and ask if they would do a print-on-demand run for your course (if you decide to adopt it).
For higher-level general orchestration courses, I would recommend the Adler or the Kennan/Grantham over the White. I find the White to be rather skimpy on the details of instrumentation; assuming that your students might need an orchestration book in their personal libraries for reference for other projects later in their careers, the other two books are far superior as general instrumentation/orchestration books than the White.
However, the White has some good features that the other books are lacking:
1) As the title implies, it goes beyond instrumentation and orchestration to discuss *arranging* (as opposed to transcribing (although at a cursory level)), which the other orchestration books don't really discuss. (However, there are some good books about jazz arranging; the principles of *arranging* for a jazz ensemble can easily be applied/adapted to other media.)
2) It includes a chapter that has a good discussion (with good musical examples) about the scoring for the different functional layers within different types of textures. I've used this chapter in my basic theory courses as well as my orchestration and arranging courses, because texture is a topic that gets glossed over in most other textbooks (both theory and orchestration).
So, you might want to think about the specific short and long-term goals of your course, as well as which book might be most useful for the students to have in their personal libraries. As with any text, no single orchestration book will be perfect for your particular course, approach, etc.
(My own personal "ideal" orchestration book would combine the following: 1) Adler's thorough discussion of instrumentation (quirks and all), plus the excellent recordings of the examples; 2) the Kennan/Grantham chapters about transcribing from piano music, scoring chords for different sections, and scoring for high school ensembles; 3) and White's discussions of textures and the basics of arranging. Anyone wanna write it?)
...Paul Siskind
[...]
************************************************************** Dr. Paul A. Siskind Home: Professor of Composition and Theory Sweet Child Music The Crane School of Music, SUNY-Potsdam 69 N. Main Street Potsdam, NY 13676 Norwood, NY 13668 (315) 267-3241 (315) 353-2389 **************************************************************
Subject: Textbook suggestions? Writing/scoring for Young Bands and Orchestras?
Hello Everyone: There are many publishers that will now take orders for "print-on-demand" copies of out-of-print books. In many instances, the publisher will even customize your run, to include/exclude chapters as you wish.
I'm pretty sure that a few years ago I spoke with the publisher of the White book, and that they offered a print-on-demand edition that was much cheaper than the used prices that other people have quoted from Amazon. I don't remember the details off the top of my head, and I'm away from my office for a while.
But I would recommend that you call the publisher, and ask if they would do a print-on-demand run for your course (if you decide to adopt it).
For higher-level general orchestration courses, I would recommend the Adler or the Kennan/Grantham over the White. I find the White to be rather skimpy on the details of instrumentation; assuming that your students might need an orchestration book in their personal libraries for reference for other projects later in their careers, the other two books are far superior as general instrumentation/orchestration books than the White.
However, the White has some good features that the other books are lacking:
1) As the title implies, it goes beyond instrumentation and orchestration to discuss *arranging* (as opposed to transcribing (although at a cursory level)), which the other orchestration books don't really discuss. (However, there are some good books about jazz arranging; the principles of *arranging* for a jazz ensemble can easily be applied/adapted to other media.)
2) It includes a chapter that has a good discussion (with good musical examples) about the scoring for the different functional layers within different types of textures. I've used this chapter in my basic theory courses as well as my orchestration and arranging courses, because texture is a topic that gets glossed over in most other textbooks (both theory and orchestration).
So, you might want to think about the specific short and long-term goals of your course, as well as which book might be most useful for the students to have in their personal libraries. As with any text, no single orchestration book will be perfect for your particular course, approach, etc.
(My own personal "ideal" orchestration book would combine the following: 1) Adler's thorough discussion of instrumentation (quirks and all), plus the excellent recordings of the examples; 2) the Kennan/Grantham chapters about transcribing from piano music, scoring chords for different sections, and scoring for high school ensembles; 3) and White's discussions of textures and the basics of arranging. Anyone wanna write it?)
...Paul Siskind
[...]
************************************************************** Dr. Paul A. Siskind Home: Professor of Composition and Theory Sweet Child Music The Crane School of Music, SUNY-Potsdam 69 N. Main Street Potsdam, NY 13676 Norwood, NY 13668 (315) 267-3241 (315) 353-2389 **************************************************************