July, 2010
Friday, July 30th, 2010
The celebrated Italian Violinist and composer Guiseppe Tartini (1692-1770) has been credited in discovering the phenomenon of an audible ‘third voice’ when playing double stops (two simultaneous notes) on stringed instruments. These have been called ‘combination tones’, ’sum tones’, ‘difference tones’ as well as ‘Tartini tones’.
As an example, if one were to play an open ‘A’ string on the violin simultaneously with a C# on an ‘E’ string (an interval of a major 10th) in a loud and projected manner, a third ‘voice’ would be clearly discernible (that note being an ‘A’ an octave below the ‘A’ string). As the violinist adjusts the tuning of this major 10th, so the ‘third voice’ also changes pitch. There are numerous other double stops that produce a similar effect. The reason behind this acoustic phenomenon is tied up with the harmonic series and some pretty complicated physics which means that the mix of harmonics from the lower and upper note have many matching components and therefore a missing fundamental is heard. It is like the effect of a shadow and is sometimes called a ‘ghost note’.
This all ties in with a second phenomenon known as ‘binaural beats’ but referred to by string players as either ‘the beat’ or ’sympathetic vibrations’. Where a string player tunes up their instrument, it can be observed that they play two strings simultaneously and then adjust one of them until they are completely happy that the two strings are resonating in tune. What we are actually doing is using the pure interval of a 5th (which all violins, violas and cello’s are tuned to) to pick up any subtle differences in tuning. This is done by listening out for the ‘beat’ which is an audible vibration (again taking the form of a third voice) which is rapid when the perfect fifths are impure, slowing down as the interval becomes gradually more in tune before finally stopping altogether when the notes become perfectly in tune. Although string players tune in perfect 5ths, this is the interval (when considering the whole history of different temperaments or tuning systems) which doesn’t tally with a perfect octave and therefore can cause tuning issues within the string section or orchestra.
Tags: Binaural beat, combination tones, difference tones, ghost harmonics, ghost notes, Guiseppe Tartini, shadow notes, sum tones, sympathetic vibrations, Tartini tones, third voice, tuning a violin, tuning stringed instruments, unequal temperament
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
This weekend, we were asked to record the strings on two songs for a talented singer songwriter who is producing her own album of melodic ballads. As over the previous two weeks I had been arranging the strings on both tracks in collaboration with the artist, I was really looking forward to recording them and hearing how they would sound on live strings. Although the Sibelius software that I use for arranging can give me a pretty good idea of how the parts will sound, it can’t really add any of the feeling and sensitivity that we do when we’re playing on acoustic instruments.
The arranging had been done to a brief and a couple of Sibelius versions had gone back and forward via email until our client was happy. One of the tracks required intricate writing with a view to having an 8 piece string ensemble (like a string quartet but thickened to two players per part). The other song already had synthesised strings in the mid range which needed to be replaced with the real thing and expanded to really open the song out. In this second song, it was important for the string parts to really enhance the track without getting in the way of the melody or other instrumentation, so as I was writing for a 48 piece string orchestra, the arranging had to have a very light touch with the ability to have richness and power where necessary.
We started the recording session at 4pm and didn’t finish until after midnight! Although the session had taken longer than anticipated, the results sounded stunning and we’re very much looking forward to hearing the final mix.
Tags: adding strings to a track, getting the most out of live strings, how to write string arrangements, orchestration, singer songwriter, string arranger, string parts for a singer, writing for string orchestra, writing string parts for a pop song
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Monday, July 26th, 2010
This weekend was quite full with two separate recording sessions of a contrasting nature. In the first, I had been given the brief of arranging and notating some string parts for a dance track and on Sunday we went into the studio to record these. The track itself had a strong and catchy riff and some very contemporary sounding vocals, all superbly mixed and produced, so my job was to add strings which would be complimentary and supportive, without in any way detracting from what was already in the mix. All together there were 10 parts to be added for various stringed instruments and as such, the range of writing covered overall about four octaves (although not simultaneously!). Sometimes, the strings lay beneath the track adding a rich body of sound and expanded near the end of the track, allowing the music to naturally open out and reach a climax with a catchy hook in the strings - this adds a completely different dimension to a track which is hard to achieve by electronic means.
Tags: adding string parts to dance music, real strings on a track, recording sessions, session string players, String Arranging, strings for dance music, Vaughan Jones string arranger, violin parts for a track
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Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Although some clients who require string parts arranging for their tracks just give the string arranger ‘free rein’ to compose the parts in their own way and send the file over for approval or amendments, there are many people who already have some idea of how they’d like the strings to sound and have started to put together some strings for their track using Logic or other software. When this happens, I am usually sent the finished track with some ‘guide strings’ in and asked to notate these ready for studio recording (a relatively simple job), or to make them sound more natural by adding some movement or spacing the chords to allow the strings to sound fuller and more rich. When synth strings have been played in on a keyboard, it’s always a challenge to give them the characteristic feel of a real string orchestra because fingers going down on a keyboard cannot move in the same way as fingers naturally move up and down a stringed instrument. There are also clients who simply send the basic chord progression that they’d like and ask me to create something more elaborate with the strings, rather like producing an elegant frame for a painting - simply embellishing the existing ideas with the finishing touches. An example of this could be a track where the strings have all been programmed in the mid range on sampled synths and listening to the balance of the track overall, the range of the strings could be expanded. Extending the range can give the whole track a feeling of a ‘lift’ and lend it a sense of climax that it couldn’t have achieved with synthesised strings in the middle register. It’s also a matter of taking into account where the range of existing instruments and vocal lines are, then putting the strings in the ‘gaps’, weaving harmonies around what is already there.
Tags: getting the most out of live strings, notating for strings, notating from a midi, notating string parts, Orchestrating for strings, professionally arranged strings, programming synth strings, string arrangements, string arranger, transcribing synth strings to real instruments, Vaughan Jones string arranger
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Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
When a string player refers to an ‘open string’ it means that one of the four strings is being played without the left hand fingers being involved or touching the string. The word ‘open’ is appropriate as the sound the strings make is highly resonant and pure in sonority. Pieces of music based on scales or arpeggios that derive from open strings have a powerful, projecting quality that allows the stringed instrument to resonate freely. It’s no coincidence that many of the famous violin concertos have been written in the keys of an open string (G, D, A and E on a violin), for example the Beethoven and Brahms Concertos in D major or the Mendelssohn Concerto in E minor. Bach wrote violin concerto’s in E and A minor and Mozart’s three most famous violin concertos were written in G, D and A major. One notable exception of a great Concerto that is not written in an open string key is Elgar’s Concerto in B minor but this is still a very strong key on the violin with an open D string present in a B minor scale. It could be said that this work has a more complex key character which Elgar would have chosen for a reason.
Boccherini (who was himself an accomplished cellist) used the keys of the open strings of C, D, G and A on the cello in several of his cello Concertos, however two very celebrated Concertos for cello are written in less likely keys with the Dvorak Concerto being in B minor and Elgar writing in E minor. Elgar’s choice of key is interesting because it relates to his choice of key for the violin Concerto (both being a fifth above the highest open string of the respective instruments). The Dvorak Cello Concerto is a bit puzzling because B minor may not project as well on a cello as say G major but then a B minor arpeggio also can include an open D string.
Open strings on a viola are C, G, D and A (being an octave above the cello) and Concertos for this instrument include works by Bartok, Hindemith, Walton, Telemann, Stamitz and Rolla. Telemann, Walton, Stamitz and Rolla followed the norm of writing for open stringed keys and made the best use of the wonderfully resonant sound of the viola.
In a string arrangement or composition for string orchestra, the use of open strings can have a striking effect as the simultaneous ringing of several open strings generates a marvellously full and resounding note. When a composer sits down with the aim of writing a work for string ensemble or solo stringed instrument, by harnessing the qualities of an open stringed key this can help the piece to be comfortable to play and utilise the benefits of open strings to the utmost.
Tags: Add new tag, cello concertos, composing for strings, key signatures for stringed instruments, open strings, projecting string sound, resonating strings, viola concertos, violin concertos, writing for strings
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Saturday, July 10th, 2010
All the members of the family of stringed instruments (excluding the double bass) are tuned in fifths. This means that (including the note itself), there are five notes in between each of the strings and when musicians tune up these instruments, they tend to play two strings simultaneously as the perfect fifth is a very pure interval.
When composers or string arrangers write fifths, there are a few things that need to be borne in mind to make it feel more natural to the players. One example of well written fifths is in Vaughan Williams’s ethereal ‘Lark Ascending’ - there is a passage where the violin enters very quietly in a ripple of fifths. The composer had a good insight into the playability of this passage as it falls very naturally under the hand and doesn’t go beyond third position on the E string. It’s all a matter of remembering that on stringed instruments, there are only four fingers available (with three intervals between these fingers) and therefore if a run of fifths is written, a gap of more than four notes between any of the consecutive fifths when written rapidly may cause a problem for all but the best of players.
The trickiest fingers to play fifths on are the fourth fingers because these are generally smaller than the other three fingers and therefore can find it more challenging to bridge the distance between two strings (this is particularly the case on the violin between the G and D string as it is on the viola between the G and D and C and G strings). On the cello, such fifths might be played avoiding the fourth finger although I do know some cellists with such sturdy hands that they’d probably be capable of anything!
Another thing that can cause problems (again for all but the most virtuosic players) are sustained fifths, written higher than third position on the E and A strings of the violin. Here the strings gradually become more elevated from the fingerboard as they make their way towards the bridge. With a soft hand and a sweeping motion, fifths can still be played in tune at this register but when sustained may not consistently produce the finest sound, so if fifths are needed up this high, a pianissimo marking would be far more successful than asking your players to attempt this fortissimo!
The quality of a fifth is what we call modal. The modes were a system of scales which were superseded centuries ago by our major and minor scales and crudely relate to the white notes on the piano (although centuries ago the distances between these notes were subtly different due to unequal temperament). Fifths can give an ‘other worldly’ quality and were used by composers like Debussy and Ravel to give a nebulous and dream like feel to a piece. A clever use of fifths can also evoke a slightly archaic feel as they were such a mainstay of 13th and 14th century harmony.
Tags: Arranging for strings, composing for strings, fifths on a stringed instrument, playing fifths on a violin, string arranger, use of fifths in composition, writing for violin
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Monday, July 5th, 2010
One of the most important things to get right when arranging strings for a pop / rock / folk track is having the insight into how much or little to add and whether the ‘weight’ of the strings is appropriate to the qualities inherent in the track.
Strings should enhance, enrich and embellish a song, without dominating or being so fancy that the ear is drawn to them and away from the vocal line / other instrumentation. Sometimes writing less does add more and occasionally a sparse string timbre can be ideal to bring out the textures of a more subtle song - a bit like applying a hint of natural looking makeup rather than thick black eyeliner!
Occasionally a client will envisage a huge symphonic string sound that could be full in it’s own right but in the final mix could be moved back so that it sounds more distant while retaining the orchestral feel. A good example of this would be a powerful rock song or anything that already has lots of other instruments in it and can literally take the weight of a big string section. A string arranger has to think rather like an architect - if strings are applied too heavily onto a delicate song, then the overall structure of the piece can buckle.
In a lighter track, where the strings are going to be quite forward in the mix, they should weave between the vocal lines, rather than doing something elaborate at the same time as the vocal melody. Any intricate writing could occur between verses to add variety and life to the track and if chords are written, the spacings need to allow the melody line to breath. As an example, using lower chords or solo cello / viola parts can compliment a higher or female voice whereas a lighter, higher chord in the violins can frame lower melodic lines or give more of a shimmering effect over a track.
Tags: adding strings to a track, cellos, folk strings, hire a string section, powerful string sound, session musicians, singer songwriter strings, string arranger, string orchestra for rock music, strings for folk music, subtle string sound, the weight of strings, violas, violins, writing for violins, writing string parts for a pop song
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