Strings Playing Big Chords

Hey everyone

I have written a nice sounding string piece and some parts have 6-8 notes with big 7/9th chords and a few of the notes in multiple octives. I wrote it using a string ensemble patch so I didn't have to worry about what instruents played what, but now I want to redo it writing it properly for the seperate stringed instruments but I'm struggling to spread the big chords out.

I like the chords the way they are so I don't want to have to take some notes out. How do you spread huge chords across the strings? I'm struggling to decide which strings should play multiple notes. At the moment I'm doing it from a sound direction perspective, so for example if I want it to sound thicker to my left I'll assign more notes to the violins. There must be a better way about deciding which instruments should play mutiple notes? I'm tempted to just scratch scoring for sepeate strings and stick to full string ensemble patches, seeing as it's easy to play huge chords. But I am trying to learn orchestration and would prefer to be able to score for the strings seperatly.

Thanks for your time

Here's a basic idea. Basses should probably be kept to divisi in 2, Cellos and Violas up to 3-4, Violins up to 5. But if you want a thinner, airy sound, you can use divisi in as many as you want. I played a piece with a divisi in 10 in violin 1 and 2, 8 in viola and cello and 4 in bass on a chord, and it sounded awesome! It all depends how strong you want the notes to be. And of course, they can play double stops too. It's all up to you.

for 8 notes, I'd say 1 for bass, 1 for cello, 2 for viola, violin 2, and violin 1 :)

Post a score of what you are trying to do

:blink: :headwall: <_<

What's your probelm? If I can make them sound better then there's no reason to avoid using them. I use high quality samples to make my music, I don't plan on getting it played by a real orchestra so I care much more about the actual sounds from my computer more so than the technical writing details. It's not like anyone is going to listen to stuff I write and notice and judge me for not doing things properly, as long as it sounds good. Trying to get the best sound you possibly can sometimes means doings things inproper, that's how it works in the sample world. I thought I'd try doing things proper for the sake of giving it ago, but if I can't get it sounding as good as simply stacking string patches then I won't bother.

Well, fair enough if you never intend to use real instruments, but it's disappointing that you've decided to pick yourself up and carry on walking having stumbled across a brilliant opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills in using the orchestra.

If something sounds right, then it is 'done properly'. We can suggest repertoire examples and guidelines for treating any particular problem but after that it is the composer's choice how to proceed. Please eliminate, by extreme force if neccessary, any notion you may have that us 'classically trained' musicians have a Big Book of How to Do Things the Good Ol' Fashioned Right Way whose sacred and indisputable text we regard as law during acts of creation. You will be judged for not doing thing properly only if what you write sounds naff.

I thought I'd try doing things proper for the sake of giving it ago

Please could this work ethic extend to spelling and grammar?

Well, fair enough if you never intend to use real instruments, but it's disappointing that you've decided to pick yourself up and carry on walking having stumbled across a brilliant opportunity to increase your knowledge and skills in using the orchestra.

If something sounds right, then it is 'done properly'. We can suggest repertoire examples and guidelines for treating any particular problem but after that it is the composer's choice how to proceed. Please eliminate, by extreme force if neccessary, any notion you may have that us 'classically trained' musicians have a Big Book of How to Do Things the Good Ol' Fashioned Right Way whose sacred and indisputable text we regard as law during acts of creation. You will be judged for not doing thing properly only if what you write sounds naff.

I thought I'd try doing things proper for the sake of giving it ago

Please could this work ethic extend to spelling and grammar?