Instrument Blending

[Michael Willis]

In my current project I've been experimenting with doubling up instruments (or otherwise blending their sounds). I'm curious about what opinions other people here have about which instruments blend well with each other.

Some blends seem fairly obvious: flute/clarinet, oboe/cor anglais/bassoon, horns/trumpets, trombones/tuba. These are just same-category instruments combined with each other: woodwind with woodwind, brass with brass. Strings obviously blend very well with each other, and also seem to easily blend with just about everything else.

I've also considered blending instruments that are adjacent in the traditional orchestra seating arrangement, for example doubling the flutes with the horns seated directly behind, scoring them an octave apart. I haven't actually tried this much, but I'm assuming that there's a good reason that certain sections tend to be seated next to each other.

What instruments have other people found that blend well together?

[Paul Battersby]

You might find the following lessons from "Principles or Orchestration" to be useful. These lessons deals with combining various instruments from different groups.

Lesson 9 - MELODY - Different Groups of Instruments Combined

Lesson 10 - MELODY - Different Groups of Instruments (Cont.)

Lesson 16 - HARMONY - Combined Groups - Wind & Brass

Lesson 17 - HARMONY - Combined Groups - Wind & Brass (cont.)

Lesson 18 - HARMONY - Combined Groups - Strings & Wind, Three Groups

[Mattias Westlund]

Yeah, the Principles of Orchestration is definitely worth checking out, though it's over 200 years old and a thing or two might have happened since then so I wouldn't follow it slavishly.

First of all: if it sounds good to you, just do it. There are no hard fast rules to my knowledge and I often find it refreshing when I hear people using seemingly odd combinations of instruments to great effect (hi Nayrb!).

But from the top of my head:

- Soft horns can be blended with everything. With other brass, of course, but they can also add warmth and body to both strings and winds.

- Flutes go well with violins. Either for doubling in the same octave or an octave higher for that extra soaring brilliance.

- Bassoons and oboes in octaves is a standard combination, but I also find that bassoons and clarinets sound good together in the same manner.

- Clarinet historically means "little trumpet", but looking at modern orchestral instruments I actually found that oboes and trumpets share a more similar timbre, and can be used together quite effectively, at least if the trumpet is playing in its softer dynamic range.

- Low harp notes, as well as low piano notes, are excellent for fattening up and adding attack to low strings. The harp adds definition whereas the piano can sound outright menacing.

- Harp and solo flute. They're two of the most ancient instruments of the orchestra and they go beautifully together.

- Bassoons and horns, if played softly, can work well together for creating a warm, rich and wide sound if you have a traditional seating.

- Cor anglais and cello are also a good match, they have a sort of similar sombre sound.

There are countless other combinations as well. As a rule of thumb it should (IMO) be a question of what sounds right for the part at hand rather than whether combining instrument A and B is "correct" or "normal".

[Nayrb]

I've actually been looking for Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles... The links that Paul provided above are really quite useful, especially in that they are annotated with a modern perspective. I'm sorry I somehow missed this thread for so long.

I've been trying to bone up on instrumentation as I've finally gotten around to starting my "master template." One thing that has come up and has been presenting a bit of a challenge for me is getting the dynamic relationships of instruments right. Samples pose a unique challenge in that volumes, inherent dynamics, and so forth, can all vary widely across libraries. I know it seems like common sense, and I tend to think my ear is decently attuned to these sorts of things, but relative volume in my music has always been an area in which I've known there is a lot of room for improvement. The above links are useful in that respect and provide some good insight into relationships between instruments both in solo form and in sections.

I totally agree with Mattias, though, that one should think with their ears and do things that sound good. Taking a leaf from RK's book is by no means a bad place to start experimenting, though. I might be getting a bit too obsessive over it in my current work on my template, but I think understanding relative volumes is a key element in figuring out good ways to blend timbres. It will certainly help with placement and z-depth, too, I bet.

[Samulis]

Horns + Violins 8va or unison are very frequently used, as is flute + violins and trumpets + violins 8va
Bass Clarinet + Contrabassoon or Bass Clarinet + Contrabasses or Bassoon + Cellos is common
Oboes and high Trumpets/Piccolo Trumpets can be used interchangeably or in close harmony for an interesting color- baroque oboes sound a heck of a lot like baroque trumpets
F horn blends with both woodwinds and brass very well, due to having such a round tone

Keep in mind the clarinet is a 'compound' instrument with the 'chalumeau', 'clarion' and the 'altissimo' registers, thus it has three general tone areas (low, mid, and high). Other instruments demonstrate similar behaviors, such as different strings on string instruments, the metal-wound low strings on harps, and trigger notes on tenor trombones with F-triggers. Brass instruments and some other families also demonstrate significant blending differences across dynamics. These different areas may blend differently with other instruments in different ways, so experiment with unison, close harmony (3rds, 6ths), and wide harmony (octaves, 10ths, 13ths, etc.) to see what comes up. For example, basses blend much better 8vb cellos rather than unison, harp or vibes with glock 8va is a nice combo, low cor anglais might blend well with a trombone (or cello as Mattias recommended) a 3rd or 6th below.

The general rule is to keep experimenting, try a few combos until something clicks.

Here are some test ensemble blends I created using VSCO 2 CE demonstrating various unisons and intervals-
https://instaud.io/C9m
(apologies for the clipping)

[Terry93D]

I find browsing through the Orchestra Sounds blog archive yields fascinating combinations. For example:

• Horn and two bassoons, in the right range, can simulate a horn trio. (Mendelssohn, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.')
  
• Alto flute and bassoon in unison creates a unique, haunting sound. (Ravel, 'Daphnis et Chloe'.)