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From the eyes of a pianist: One thing I feel you have not considered in your orchestration is the fact pianos have a sustain pedal. One thing clearly lacking is the sense of prolonged chords over an active line. In the video you linked, it has the pedal markings in place, so you can reference where Price does that. This is another key reason why your orchestration sounds empty. How to orchestrate this? As one example, I am going to link this video by Alex Heppelmann: https://youtu.be/sTZCFa7B6BA?si=vI-hAEGclgkSde-V Disclaimer, it is 27 minutes long, however, it's very thorough describing how to take a piano melody and use the orchestra to create some ideas of a piano sustain pedal. In my personal style, I will use the horns to sustain the harmony on long tones, while the strings pulse the harmony similar to what a piano score would do. If not this, I would swap the roles. The melody in this case, would be featured in woodwinds, another instrument family, or lead/solo instrument. Good luck to you and if you want to see some sample notation, let us know! This Fantasie is a very wonderful piece and I find it is so conversational. It really feels like an orchestra notated in the piano and in my opinion is an excellent piece to showcase the capabilities of the piano and a performer.

Hi to all, This week I decided to revise and extend my orchestration of Ravel's piano menuet in C# minor. The original is very short, and I thought a longer orchestration would work better. Haven't put the slurs in yet, as it's still a work in progress. Hope you enjoy! Menuet in C sharp minor (Ravel orchestration) #18 (midi).mp3 Menuet in C sharp minor (Ravel orchestration) #18 (score) #5.pdf

About 3 years or so, on and off. Started with my own works; but in the last few months I began orchestrating lesser known pieces by famous composers.

Hi @BlackkBeethoven The first PDF file that you've uploaded doesn't seem to be working, so I have to pause the YT video to compare your score to the original piece. I think you've chosen a very difficult piano piece to orchestrate. I am assuming it was your choice to orchestrate whatever piano piece you wanted since you say you like Florence Price so much. I could say more about your choice given that you knew you only had 4 minutes to work with and the piece is over 7 minutes long - but it's too late to bother about that now. This piece is difficult to orchestrate because of the many florid fioraturas/roulades that it contains. But there are things you could do to facilitate them throughout the orchestra. First, since the fioraturas in the beginning go all the way from the very high range to the moderately low, I would have made sure to give those to the strings since they have a more homogeneous sound throughout their range. So I'm surprised to see that you have just the Flutes/Piccolo on that part - that part is very thinly scored and isn't utilizing the full body of the orchestra. If I had my way with that part I would have given it to the woodwinds and the strings doubling each other + harp. I'm guessing you don't have harp. You've retained the piano staff in this score even though the piano doesn't play anything. I don't think you should have the piano play anything in this orchestration because it would most likely serve as a crutch to fill in holes that your orchestration should fill. Speaking of holes - in measure 6 you have the trombone start the low melody but then it's not continued for some reason. You score the melody more fully without fragmentation in measures 8 - 9. Throughout this whole introduction you really underuse the strings and I think for that reason the piece doesn't sound fully scored. Those are just my first impressions of the introduction of the piece. Good luck in your final and thanks for sharing!

It seems very well orchestrated. Not over orchestrated and much clearity. Nice work. May I ask. How long have you been orchestrating for? I am also practicing orchestration but recently took it more serious. My only critique would perhaps be to use more extended techniques maybe? Like harmonics, Divisi, Mutes, Double stops and triple stops etc, play more around with textures maybe. But it's not really necessary. it's really good as is.

Hey everyone, Just survived the rough draft reading for my orchestration final… and whew, it told me exactly where the holes are 😅 Next Wednesday is the graded final reading session, and that’s it for the semester. I’ve got 4 minutes total to work with, and I want to make every second sound as full and grandiose as humanly possible. This is where you all come in: I need feedback. and LOTS of it. The thorough, measure-by-measure kind. The more detailed, the better. If you’ve got thoughts on: • Range issues (too high, too low, awkward spots, etc.) • Fullness/balance (where can it sound bigger, richer, more epic?) • Orchestration ideas (doublings, color, texture, part-writing tweaks) • Any “this feels empty, fix it like this” moments • And especially help with how to CADENCE/land the piece from where it currently is (I’ve got a strict 4-minute cutoff, so I need a strong, convincing ending) I got feedback from the players today, and these are their notes: Strings want to play more Not as full-sounding (too many breaks where someone plays something, then the next measure it completely switches -- more feathering) Sustained tones for low brass and low strings More dynamic/articulation markings Viola wants more Chord into big run at the beginning needs to be smoother and more grand - I was thinking of having more people play, then thin it out as the piece "begins." And most importantly...Florence Price is one of my favorite composers, and I want this orchestration to do her justice. I've attached the full score, a recording from the reading session, and the PDF of the original piano piece (marked with where I've reached so far) FANTASIE NEGRE.pdf Fantasie Nègre - ORCHESTRATION FINAL.pdf FANTASIE Negre (Reading Session).mp3

Thank you - you are the best 😁

Yes, just give me a few to write it in this case.

You know, few things have had more impact on my harmony than these sorts of unusual modulations with "chromatic slippage," as I sometimes call it! I also like to just let whatever stepwise chromaticism I have in the bass and melody lines help me determine what chords might be possible when I add the middle voices. Anyone who listens to my music also knows I don't always prepare modulations, but like jarring transitions sometimes! Thought of one more thing: I've been looking into late Faure, as in his final work the String Quartet in E Minor, and he is a master of that sort of thing, though I don't want to obscure tonal centers so much, I still like to bang out plain triads. Gabriel Fauré - String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 121