Quote: Original post by MattMcFarland
Wow brian you just made it sound overwhelming!! :) Maybe there are tutorials on the net.. I'll see what I can find.. thanks :)

Music is nothing to take lightly! Especially when considering orchestrating a piece of music for 120 to 160 instruments. (hehe) Needless to say, preparation is the most important step before writing an orchestral piece.

Here is a really good free guide that has the potential to help you out immensely.

http://www.musique.umontreal.ca/personnel/Belkin/bk/index.html

good luck.

I'm not very sure if you're really thinking into going to orchestral, but if you are, there's this free tutorial of the orchesta's instruments that is very helpful if you cannot buy a whole book. I certainly used it to some extent.

http://www.garritan.com/Orchestration_Tutorial.html

Quote: Original post by LongeBane
I'm not very sure if you're really thinking into going to orchestral, but if you are, there's this free tutorial of the orchesta's instruments that is very helpful if you cannot buy a whole book. I certainly used it to some extent.

http://www.garritan.com/Orchestration_Tutorial.html

Another nice reference on the net is the Vienna Symphonic Library's "Instruments Online" database. Navigation is a little clukny for my taste, but the info is good:
http://www.vsl.co.at/en-us/70/149/46.vsl

I'm going to assume you have a basic background in music theory (notation, harmony, etc), and you have knowledge of the instruments of the orchestra (winds, brass, strings, perc) and how they function. If you are serious about learning to write for orchestra, probably the best thing you can do is listen to orchestras. Choose some orchestral pieces that you really like and purchase both the recordings and the printed scores. This is easiest with older classical works since the scores are readily available and inexpensive.

Study how the composer used the orchestra to get the particular sounds you like. Pay special attention to what combinations of instruments are used at those moments and in what range they are playing. Then try to determine how you can adapt those techniques to your own composition. This is not a quick process, but it will definitely yield excellent long-term results. Studying scores of more experienced composers is the way many great orchestral composers have learned.

Another website that may be helpful with this strategy can be found here:
http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/%7Eahugill/manual/

If anybody is particularly interested, some some rather experienced fellow film musicians put together a list of what they considered their most influential or essential orchestra scores. I could dig it up and post it here if people would like to see it.

Muzo and Longbane, you guys were both extremely helpful!! Thank you!