String Arranging
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Earlier this year, I completed a string arrangement for a client who commented that he liked the way that every ‘verse’ of the strings had changes and variations in it. He said that many string arrangements he’d heard had made use of ‘cut and paste’ with the same string parts returning in an identical way later in the track. This struck me as quite odd as it hadn’t occurred to me to ‘cut and paste’ anything in a composition or arrangement - when you have a 3 or 4 minute pop song, the whole thing grows naturally and will benefit greatly from variety in all of the writing, a theme can develop with variation and add real interest to the track, even if it’s low down in the mix. Changes between sections can be subtle but ideally need to keep some continuity (rather than introducing a brand new melody every time).
In classical music, a composer would usually take the opportunity when a melody returns later in a piece, to transform it with different use of instrumentation but retaining the clear melody or theme which had occurred earlier on. The idea of a later section being ‘cut and pasted’ has an anti-climactic feel for the listener - if this technique is used too often, the music becomes predictable and unmemorable.
With modern music writing software, there can be a tendency to simply highlight a given area and with the click of a mouse, repeat it later on in an unchanged form. Although that might seem like an easy option, it may not be using the full potential of the strings which could have enhanced the track far more with a little creativity.
Tags: adding strings to a pop track, creative string parts, cutting and pasting music, music notation, Orchestrating for strings, string arranger, String Arranging, Vaughan Jones string arranger, writing for strings
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Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Many violinists, violists and cellists have experienced the joys of playing a concerto with an orchestral reduction which has been written for the piano. Often, this is a more fulfilling experience for the string player than for the pianist. Part of the reason is because the reduction of a complete orchestral score to a piano part inevitably leads to ‘un pianistic writing’, but another reason is that tremolos (or tremolandos) are exceedingly hard to play on a keyboard instrument. They are sometimes written for virtuosic effect but the rapid depression of a single key is not practical, therefore the notation changes the tremolo to a rapid oscillation between two pitches an octave apart.
In reverse, there are many phrases that sit comfortably under a pianists hands that might be incredibly awkward when transferred to a stringed instrument which is tuned in fifths. An example of this could be rapid, slurred semiquavers that occasionally jump from an upper string to say, two strings down. This may fall within an octave hand span, yet the effect of rapidly jumping two strings could be clumsy and disrupt the flow of the music, even though it’s technically playable.
As many of the great composers knew, writing for stringed instruments well often involves ‘open strings‘ and writing within the key signatures which naturally suit the instruments. Any key is possible but as an example, the key of D major would project better than that of Db major. The reason for this is that there are more resonating notes in D major than in Db. To give a brief explanation, when played perfectly in tune, any G, D, A or E on the violin can be made to ‘ring’ and resonate more than other notes. As an example, the note A in the first position on the E string is an octave above the open A string and when played in tune can be made to ‘ring’ with the other string in sympathy. The same is true of the note A on the D string (the same pitch as the open A string) which is a very strong note on the violin with it’s ability to resonate with the open string and therefore a really meaty and rich sound can be produced on this note. On the piano, most notes in the middle register of the instrument have more or less an equal tendency to resonate (although I am sure there are many subtleties and differences between them). The ruling principle is not necessarily which key signatures sound strongest but which are easiest to play in terms of hand position. The point is, what sounds easy and right on a keyboard is completely different to what sounds natural and best on a stringed instrument.
When writing for strings (e.g a string quartet), the importance of using counterpoint (where each instrument has it’s own independent melody line that enhances and complements the others) is very possible on a piano, but for those writing chords it’s essential that each instrument in the string section has a line of melody which could be played in it’s own right and still sound musical. When writing chords, which notes are assigned to which instrument (whether violin, viola, cello or double bass) can make a huge difference to the overall sound and flow of the track.
Tags: composing for strings, counterpoint for strings, hire a string section, session string players, string arranger, String Arranging, strings arranged, synth strings, transcribing synth strings to real instruments, writing for sampled strings, writing for strings, writing for synthesised strings, writing string parts, writing strings for keyboard
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Throughout history, many composers have been primarily keyboard players yet have still written magnificent works for stringed instruments. They were able to do this by leaving the keyboard behind and gaining such a profound understanding of how a stringed instrument works that it was as if they were highly accomplished string players themselves. Many were associated with or had close friends who were famous performers and often concertos were written with help and collaboration from a specific player. One famous example would be the Brahms violin concerto which had much input from the Hungarian virtuoso Joseph Joachim. The point behind this is that the great composers took a lot of time and often went to great lengths to gain knowledge of the workings of an instrument they did not play themselves.
The big problem with scoring music for say, a string orchestra on a piano or other keyboard is that the writer will be necessarily limited by their hand span. Therefore, chords will be written that feel comfortable within the span of the keyboard players’ hands, but do not necessarily relate to the end product when played on stringed instruments. This is particularly true when strings are incorporated into a larger track where they are only one element within the whole. Here, the spacings of the strings need to be measured against the existing harmonies and textures within the track - it may well be that in a certain passage, low cellos and violas are accompanied by very high violins leaving a massive gap in the middle. This would be perfect in a song which had a thick middle register, but if the pitch of the track suddenly changed, the strings would need to adapt and move with it so as not to leave a gaping hole in one of the registers. Potentially if this was written on a keyboard, the composer or arranger may be limited by the way their hands naturally fall so intervals of e.g a major 10th which could be exactly what the music needed might not be written as it was awkward for the hand span of the keyboard player.
Another problem with arranging strings on a keyboard is that notes are necessarily depressed in a vertical direction as the keys are pushed downwards in a percussive way because the piano is a percussion instrument with ‘attack and decay’ in each note. This is not what is replicated on say a violin where the sweep of the bow and swing of the fingers can often take place in a more horizontal fashion, so a midi file played on a keyboard which is notated exactly for strings may end up with gaps between each chord that are not in keeping with the natural life and movement that strings would normally have. On a stringed instrument, a note can come out of the silence and fade in softly, growing and swelling before fading away - you cannot replicate this on a keyboard because on a piano, the note is always at it’s loudest at the beginning when it has just been played. Whichever instrument the composer writes on, they need a good knowledge of articulations and markings that are specific to stringed instruments, otherwise the music will lack detail and not come ‘alive’ when played. This can end up being a waste of resources as top session musicians are called upon to perform undetailed music that doesn’t lift the track as intended.
Perhaps one reason that synthesised strings (even the very expensive libraries) can sound so artificial is not necessarily the poor quality of the sampled sound but the fact that they have been composed and inputted by someone who is not thinking like a string player.
In the next blog I’ll be writing more on this subject as many people don’t realise that so much more can be achieved with strings when the composer gets away from the keyboard or midi and starts to think like a string player.
Tags: arranging strings from a midi file, notating strings from a midi file, sampled string libraries, string arrangements, string arranger, thinking like a string player, violinistic strings, writing for sampled strings, writing for strings on a keyboard
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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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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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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
On my violin, I’ve got a very useful addition which makes life easy for me and speeds up work in the studio. This addition is a tailpiece with four built in ‘fine adjusters’. These are small screws which violins traditionally have only on the E string (the viola on the A string) and change the pitch of the string by small amounts. By moving them clockwise, the string becomes sharper in pitch and to tune ‘down’, the screw is rotated anticlockwise. Of course, bigger adjustments on stringed instruments are usually done with the pegs, but when it’s only a small distance required, fine adjusters are perfect!
I find that when the weather is slightly muggy making the strings go out of tune regularly by small amounts, or if humidity builds up in the studio I can rectify the tuning in a matter of seconds - this is also useful in concerts where a player doesn’t want to interrupt the flow of the work by tuning extensively between movements and in pretty much every situation they are time saving and beneficial - I am a big fan!
So why is it that when I mention the subject of ‘fine adjuster tailpieces’ to fellow string players, I often get a snigger, a sneer or they think I’m joking? I have even heard a player say that he has been taught that the fine adjusters affect the tone or sound of his viola detrimentally. This is simply not the case in my opinion as the tone comes from the individual player and their musicianship. I believe the prejudice comes from the fact that beginners violins often come equipped with a tailpiece and four fine adjusters so they are associated with children. There is the feeling that having them means that somehow you are deficient in your ability to tune your own instrument - strange isn’t it? I am looking at a photograph of a very great violinist called Alfredo Campoli and I can clearly see four fine adjustments proudly adorning his violin and I can also confirm that he was no beginner and had one of the most distinctive, beautiful tones of all.
Tags: fien adjusters, how to tune a violin, humidity and tuning a violin, string playing, tuning a violin, tuning stringed instruments, tuning violin, violin pegs, violin tailpiece
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
A couple of days ago I spoke to a composer who is looking for strings as part of his composition for three short films. He’d spent a lot of time working with very high quality string samples but felt that when it came to staccato bowings and phrasing, there was just something missing that gave sampled strings an unreal quality.
What differentiates an outstanding string player from an average one (as well as sampled strings) is his or her ability to really sing through the instrument. All the best players ‘phrase’ so the listener can really hear the whole direction of the music, like hearing a whole sentence rather than a series of single words. When the phrasing is done beautifully, the bow seems to disappear and instead of hearing a succession of ‘down’ and ‘up’ bows, there is a feeling of seamlessness with no apparent breaks in the sound. When this happens, the instrument can really seem to glow.
When phrasing is coming through, it can have a very individual sound for each player and with the very best musicians, it is possible to tell exactly who is playing from their unique sound and characteristic tone. This is rather like recognising someone from their speaking voice or accent, but it is the way they use their speaking voice that makes a person sound so individual. If one has a distinctive voice but talks in a monotone, this will be less recognisable than a person who injects real vitality and variety into their speech. A couple of months ago, a composer sent me an mp3 of some of his work that he’d had recorded by a really good cellist - on listening to it, I recognised the cello sound as being played by a woman I had been at college with 20 years ago and when I queried it, he confirmed that it was her.
In order to convey convincing phrasing to an audience (or studio microphone), the player must really project it with clear definition. Without using the word ‘exaggerate’ there must be a level of commitment and passion that clearly conveys whatever the performers intention is.
Any half measures will strike the listener as bland or uninteresting. There are many excellent players who are so concerned with accurate intonation and note perfect playing that they risk sounding ’safe’ with little or no phrasing to characterise their playing. This is often evident in good string quartets who display excellent ensemble and great tuning but don’t inject their playing with enough character and inflection.
In the studio, the best way of a string section sounding really impressive is for all of the players to phrase at the same points and really feel the music together. No sound sample as yet can achieve that human soulfulness that gives real strings their ability to move the listener.
Tags: arranging for sampled strings, Arranging for strings, composing for sampled strings, composing for stringed instruments, good phrasing for strings, hire a string section, hiring string players, musical intelligence, musical phrases, musicianships, phrasing strings, real strings, sampled strings, session cellist, session strings, string phrasing, violins
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