Here are some interesting musical concepts that we took away from Mastering the Craft Episode #2: Sleeping Beauty Valse (Waltz) by Tchaikovsky.
Let’s look at the breakdown of the initial Tutti Chord:
Since it’s in second inversion I think that’s why there are more Fifths than Roots (Plus there are strong instruments/sections on the Root). Normally you would have a lot more Roots than anything. Also, notice how few thirds there are. The string section is playing the root spread throughout (Except the Bass). It’s pretty common to dedicate an entire family of instruments to the root of the chord when playing a tutti.
The cornets are playing two F’s surrounding the Bb and D in the Trumpets. This voicing technique is called Enclosure. It’s used in the Brass section, but it’s even more important in the woodwind section because the winds don’t naturally blend very well because of their extreme differences in tone color, or timbre. Lastly, the Bass note, which is the Fifth, is played by the Contrabass (bass instrument of the Strings), Tuba (bass instrument of the Brass), and the Timpani (the equivalent of the bass instrument of the Percussion family), the rest of the instruments are all playing in their best ranges. You typically wouldn't write tenor instruments below bass instruments and soprano instruments below alto instruments because that wouldn't give a proper balance to the chord.
Here are some techniques that will create a nice separation between melody and harmony so that they don’t run over each other or blend together:
Unique rhythmic structures: For example steady eighth-note rhythm in the harmonic figure and a melody without a steady rhythm.
Unique articulations: Tremolo, pizzicato, staccato, legato etc.
Unique pitch range or register: If you’re writing multiple lines that are intended to be heard separately, you should be mindful of the register being used. Two lines in the same octave are most likely going to blend together and may even become confusing for the listener (there are exceptions of course, but just be mindful).
Unique Tone Colors. The difference in tone color of an oboe compared to a cello, or a harp compared to a trumpet will help you different textures stand apart.
Blending two or more of these together is ideal.
Another idea that can help create focus in an area is to play one section (say harmony) first, and then on the repeat bring in the melody. This new sound will now stick out a bit more to the listener as our ears are always drawn to new musical ideas.
Now let’s look at this brilliant Woodwind flourish
In this case, it’s an arpeggio, but could also be a scale run. Film score composers commonly refer to this as ear candy (Flourishes are common in Harp as well).
When you listen to this background texture it is very well separated from the foreground melody. To help separate this aurally from the melodic line, there is a rest on the downbeat, a staccato marking on the first note, a slur marking on the next two notes with another articulation on the 4th note, and a slur to the last note. While the articulations change a lot the rhythm remains steady throughout (Steady rhythm being the biggest factor that keeps a texture in the background). The melody is much more fluid/smooth (More long-held tones and slurs) with pitch and rhythm changes throughout. The Woodwinds are also just playing the chord tones of the harmony.
When you listen to it these woodwind parts really liven up the background texture which is very important because this is a repeat of what we heard earlier. If you don’t change anything it will start to get boring for your listeners so this is a fairly simple but very effective way to keep things exciting!
Beat Frequencies:
When playing a line there will be audible differences if you add a second player of the same type to a part. The most profound changes seem to happen in the clarinet unison. You can hear what is known as “beat frequencies,” or the slight differences in intonation, between the two instruments. This gives a very odd sort of wub-wub swelling up and down of the amplitude of the note being played.
If you play guitar like I do there is a cool test of this you can try. Take to strings in unison, such as the high E and the B string with a finger on the 5th fret so both strings are playing E. Then, very very slightly detune one of those strings and play them together. Instead of listening at first, pay attention to your thumb on the back of the neck. You will feel a steady pulsing through the neck. This is the beat frequency. That pulsing will be fairly noticeable when doubling certain instruments, especially the clarinet. This is why you typically see most clarinet parts in thirds or octaves. If it is a background texture, or if it is a run with Flutes and Oboes or some other combination, then unison doubling is fine as this will blend in with the other instruments. Unison doublings like this are avoided more often when it’s just those 2 instruments playing the line. You can also add a third instrument and this ugly effect disappears and starts to take on more of a pleasing chorus effect.
Pedal Tone:
A technique that serves to strengthen the harmony by providing a continuous, and solid foundation to the music. This pedal tone is sustained through chord changes or contrapuntal movement. The most common pedal tone is in the bass, but a pedal in another voice is certainly possible. The Tonic or Dominant tones of the key are by far the most common tones used for a pedal point. The dissonant chords against the bass that arise will sound quite nice if there is a logical succession of motion back to the chord that shares a chord tone with the bass tone.
Orchestral size vs Orchestral weight:
Orchestral size is in reference to how many registers or octaves you are playing in at one time. This could be a small size of one octave or large size of textures and doublings across 5 octaves. Orchestral weight is how many different instruments are playing each line or note. In the Tchaikovsky example, the tutti chord that is played has a large size (6 octaves from Contrabass to Piccolo) and a decent weight to it. It would have a heavier weight to it if more of the doublings were in the same octaves (if the same notes were played, but the size decreased down to say 4 octaves).
In the following example, if we had 60 instruments in the Orchestra, and they were all playing this chord together (Tutti), then the first chord would have more Orchestral Weight and the second chord more Orchestral Size.
What was interesting about Sleeping Beauty was that on the downbeat you would see the Low Brass (Tuba and Bass Trombone) play in octaves on the downbeat, but then join together in unison on the next note. This is to give more Orchestral Size on the downbeat, and less size but more Orchestral Weight to the rest of the measure. This is very common in the Orchestra. If you keep the bass instruments playing low bass notes the whole time it's get's very heavy and a bit muddy. This technique clarifies and strengthens the bass note on the downbeat and gives more space for the rest of the music afterward.
Measured vs Unmeasured Tremolo:
Tremolo markings are notated as a slash through the stem of the note or a slash above a whole-note which has no stem.
1 Slash across the note stem (or above a whole note) divide the note in half. So a Slash through a quarter note stem means to play two eighth notes.
Two slashes divide the note into fourths. So two slashes through a quarter note means to play steady 16th notes.
Three and four slashes are an unmeasured tremolo that instructs the player to play as fast as possible. For instance, a Cello player would move the bow back and forth at a very rapid but unmeasured rate.
Some interesting uses of the Timpani:
In the introduction, the Timpani tremolo is faster than the bass tremolo in the Sleeping Beauty score we looked at. This is an interesting mix of rhythms on the same pedal tone. Also, notice the different rhythms in measures 17-20 of the Timpani. The pedal tremolo ceases, and a new rhythm is used to accent certain parts of the harmony. This gives us a break from the droning pedal, which will lose its effect if used too long, and introduces some nice variation.
Comments