Hear the Techniques
Click here to download an example track using these orchestration techniques. Guitars: Guild F-50, Guild D-66, Guild F-412NT, Ibanez AW, and '70 Fender Precision strung up with flatwounds. Acoustic mics include Earthworks QTC1, Earthworks OM1, DPA 4099G, through an Earthworks 1024 and a Focusrite ISA 428. Strings by David Henry, recorded in Nashville.
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When one thinks of the term “orchestration,”
visions of symphonies,
concert halls, and classical music often
come to mind. But there’s a lot more to it
than that: The art of orchestration can be
found in virtually every style of music out
there, and whether you realized it or not,
you’ve heard its various forms in many of
your favorite songs. In this article, we’ll take
a basic look at what orchestration is, its relationship
to the guitar, and how you can use it
in some of your own productions.
From Beethoven to Page
Although Wikipedia isn’t necessarily the
best place to turn for life answers, sometimes
it hits the right notes, so to speak.
And in this case, its definition of “orchestration”
isn’t bad: “Orchestration is the
study or practice of writing music for an
orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical
ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra
music composed for another medium. It
only gradually over the course of music history
came to be regarded as a compositional
art in itself.” That windy explanation expectedly
hints at its use in an orchestra, but it also
mentions that the writing can be applied to any
music ensemble. It can be
anything—from a
simple acoustic-guitar duet to the hardest, heaviest
detuned metal tunes. But understanding the
layers of orchestration can also help with production
and mixing of recorded music.
Before we talk about orchestrating guitar parts,
let’s step back for a basic look at the tradition
of orchestration. The term
orchestra is from the
Greek name for an area in front of a performance
stage that’s reserved for a chorus. Orchestration
itself is the practice of writing melody, harmony, and
arrangements for various instruments that date back to the earliest
ensembles. The job of an orchestrator and/or composer was
to decide which instruments played which notes—and with what
sort of dynamics—in every measure of a composition. Ensembles
started out small but grew through the centuries into chambers
and then into full-blown orchestras and symphonies of 80 or more
pieces with strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Add in a full
choir, and you could be composing for well over 100 people. That’s
a lot of writing. That’s a lot of orchestration.
Take a look at the layout of a typical modern orchestra in the image
below. Notice the way the strings are laid out from left to right—first
violins, second violins, violas, and cellos. The basses (usually called
“contrabasses” or “double basses”) sit behind or to the side of the cellos.
The woodwinds (flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons) sit behind the
strings. Then you have the brass (French horns, trumpets, trombones,
and tubas), followed by the percussion instruments (timpanis, snares,
bass drums, and cymbals) positioned at the rear.
With this in mind, think about how many times you’ve heard
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Listen to a good recording of it with
headphones (the London Symphony Orchestra’s is my favorite)
while you’re looking at the diagram above. Listen to how those powerful
string lines seamlessly interweave with the brass, woodwinds,
and timpani. In his orchestration, Beethoven wrote string lines that
move quickly from section to section—from violins to violas to cellos
to basses. These parts literally pan themselves in the stereo field
simply based on how the various instrument sections are placed on
the stage. This is the art of production in action hundreds of years
before recording-console panning knobs were invented!
Now think about the fact that most of the instruments Beethoven
worked with could play only one note at a time. We guitarists are
lucky to be able to play chords on a single instrument. That means
we have the option of approaching our instruments like orchestral
string sections—we’ve got bass (like an orchestra’s basses and cellos),
mids (violas and second violins), and treble (first violins). When you
think of your guitar like that, you realize that the various strings and
octaves can be used to layer and orchestrate powerful guitar parts.
Early guitar orchestration in the ’60s was often recorded with
multiple players performing their parts live in the same room. Back
then, engineers didn’t have the capability to record so many tracks
of layered guitar, so they recorded everyone at once. With the
advent of 8-, 16-, and 24-track recording, vast vistas were opened
to guitarists looking to explore orchestration in the studio. Brian
May’s work with Queen is a great example of this. Now, with digital
audio workstations (DAWs)—not to mention all the plug-ins
available to help you layer different tones—we have almost unlimited
ways to experiment.
A great example of this is how Jimmy Page layered his parts
in the classic Zeppelin cut “Ten Years Gone.” The song starts out
with a single guitar in the left speaker, with a bit of plate-style
reverb in the right. Then the bass plays along in the center until
the second guitar part appears in the right speaker playing a lower
octave than the first part. Then it breaks back down to the single
guitar in the left speaker again. Throughout the song, various guitar
parts come in and out at different pan positions—sometimes
in mono, sometimes in stereo. Some parts play octaves of each
other, and some play harmonies. By the end of the song, you can
hear at least six guitar parts intertwining with each other, covering
lows, mids, and highs. It’s a fine example of studio production
and guitar orchestration.