Percussion

Hey guys,

I've wanted to start writing for more instruments, and i notice theres one thing missing; percussion.

I have absolutely no idea what to do when writing for percussion - i've just about got the hang of a timpani but i'm not sure what to do for additional percussion like triangles, wood blocks ect... does anyone have any tips for writing for this?

Thanks,

Well, this is where an orchestration book comes handy. Also, looking at other people's scores will be immensely helpful.

Generally, there are a few different ways you can write for percussion. If it's just one percussionist, you can write everything in one stave, and indicate with a box above or below the note (wherever there is space, but preferably above, and if it's crowded, a line attaching the box to a note would be helpful) what instrument is to be played. For tuned percussion (i.e. timpani, glockenspiel, the *phones, cowbells etc) you use the appropriate staves and ranges, but for unpitched instruments you can use a one-line stave (triangles, snare drums etc), or a five-line stave with relative registers (e.g. if you wrote for four woodblocks you would say that each space of the stave is a woodblock, in order of ranger: highest to lowest).

However, recent scores ask for a number of instruments to be played by one player, and the changes between the instruments and rhythms that are called for are quick and difficult to depict in one stave, so it's not rare to find scores where one player has a group of staves to play (each stave being a different instrument or set of instruments) and the rhythms are cross-staved to make it clearer to the performer.

I haven't got any examples right now, but if you look at Messiaen and Varese, they both have large percussion sections, and Varese is considered the first composer to write a piece consisting entirely of percussion instruments (his Ionisation, for 8 players) (or 9, I can't remember).

But yeah, an orchestration (or notation) book would be great, because it would talk about each instrument, its abilities, how it's played, and how to write for it.

Thanks very much that's cleared up some stuff :)

I'm starting A-level music in september so i guess an orchestration book could come in handy, can you recommend a good one please?

Thanks again,

The underlined "orchestration book" in my previous post is actually a link to a previous post of mine replying exactly on that question (and there are other suggestions on orchestration books by other people too, in that thread). That's why I hate the links being the same colour as normal underlined text... :angry:

lol sorry i didn't realise that :P

thanks,

nah, ti's fine :P it's not your fault :)

Oooh! If you can get your hands on it, try to look through How to Write for Percussion by Samuel Z. Solomon. It contains everything about the logistics of writing for percussion (from what each instrument can and cannot do, a craaazy chapter on notation options, what instruments you can expect and which you can't, which percussion set-ups will work and which won't, etc.) It also mentions a lot of examples so you can listen to exactly what Solomon is talking about, and has a few scores in the back with comments telling what the percussionist will do/think when they see such-and-such in fron of them. It goes into a lot more detail, and really gets you into the performer's mind than any orchestration book (that i've come across) does. Then again, it is just for percussion of course, so a general orchestration book would be helpful for you, too. Cheers and happy percussion-ing!

Contemporary Percussion, by Reginald Smith Brindle, is a book that approaches it more generally yet you could still find details about writing for percussion in it. its written mainly for composers.

I'm trying to write a song using a drumset, but I don't know how to write that. I want to use a crash cymbal, snare drum, bass drum, hi hat, and two toms. How would I construct a staff for just those instruments?

I'm trying to write a song using a drumset, but I don't know how to write that. I want to use a crash cymbal, snare drum, bass drum, hi hat, and two toms. How would I construct a staff for just those instruments?

A suggestion, in glorious Microsoft Paint (sorry), follows:

- Drums are round noteheads; metals (in this case cymbals) often have "x"-shaped noteheads to make them easier to distinguish at a glance (sometimes triangles have triangle-shaped noteheads as well). With bass and hi-hat in the same space, it would be necessary (but you don't need to have them in the same space)

-I put the the b.d. and hi-hat pedals at the bottom, since they are played by the feet.

-Put a "+" over closed hi-hat notes and an "o" over open ones

-This all depends on your set-up. Bottom to top of the staff should correspond to left-to-right on your setup.

P.S. The differently-sized notes are the result of my poor Microsoft Paint skills, not anything important... Sorry again for the lack of classiness.

I'd definitely move all the drums up a space. Bass drum should be where the low tom is in the image (first space), snare should also be a "third" up, in the fourth space. The toms can be in between like they are. If there are only two, they should be on spaces as well--if there are more, we're reaching the territory where people don't always agree (what I've said up to now, I'd say, is not that territory).

The hi-hat pedal in the image is in the right place, but I'd suggest putting the hi-hat (sticks) right above the staff (high G if it were treble clef), and other cymbals on or above the first ledger line. Several cymbals in general are either placed each on their own pitches above the staff and explained in a legend, or placed less rigidly and explained in text right in the part. For instance, you could consistently put ride on the first ledger line and the crash above it (explained in a legend but not in the part), but you could also write the ride on the same pitch as the hi-hat, and just write "ride" in the part where appropriate.

General guidelines: Drums have filled noteheads, cymbals have crosses. Things played with your hands have stems up, things played with your feet (bass drums and hi-hats) stems down.

-This all depends on your set-up. Bottom to top of the staff should correspond to left-to-right on your setup.

I disagree. The setup is up to the drummer--your job is to write the music in a way that makes sense, and the best way to do this is to adhere to common practice. The fact that top-to-bottom correlates with left-to-right (not vice versa) is a coincidence (and doesn't work if you take the cymbals into account!), considering that (with the exception of the hi-hat pedal, which isn't all that common anyway) it's all actually laid out by approximate pitch, like you'd usually do with any percussion on a staff.

Thank you that was really helpful. Its for a small band peice that I'm writing for a friends rock band...

If we're thinking Treble Clef, FACE are the spaces.

The following also use normal noteheads:

F needs to be Bass Drum

A needs to be Floor Tom

C needs to be Snare Drum

E needs to be Hi Tom

The Hi Hat/Ride Cymbal need to be the next space, which would be G on treble clef, with an x notehead. You can just say 'Closed Hi-Hat' or 'Open Hi-Hat' if it's the same, and then use the '+' (closed) or 'o' (open) signs to indicate any changes

The lines are used for other toms (normal noteheads) and the higher lines would be used for cymbals, with x noteheads.

The most important thing is that you label things. These are the standards, but if you choose to do things differently, label them, and remain consistent.

Ok that was really important. That helps since most things that I look at are written in treble treble clef.

Well, you really should use the percussion clef for most nonpitched percussion. I've seen older scores where the bass clef is used, which is fine if you can't get the percussion clef (which is shown in that MSPaint example.)

Would I use it if I was writing for a drum set though? I normally write everything out by hand.

Would I use it if I was writing for a drum set though? I normally write everything out by hand.

uhh... yeah it doesn't make a difference whether you right by hand or use notation software--just make the clef a box instead lol

Hey if you all have like "how do performers like to read percussion" questions, feel free to pm me or something--being a percussionist and all ;)

snare should also be a "third" up, in the fourth space. The toms can be in between like they are.

A needs to be Floor Tom

C needs to be Snare Drum

E needs to be Hi Tom

Touch

All comments were very helpful, thank you.