PARTI | BACKGROUND AND BASICS 2 Ranges and Sound Characteristics i An arranger needs to know the ranges within which instrumentalists can play comfortably as well as the qualities of the sound from one extreme to the other. The chart below shows, the overall technical range for each instrument; the limits of the practical range are marked by vertical arrows pointing to darkened note heads. Throughout the range, the chart also describes sound quality and the useable scope of dynamic levels. Range and Sound Characteristics Chart 1 Flue 2 aa = PPP Peet mp mf tf ff c i “The beak ‘Awkward fingering: rapid passages that croos and Fecross tis aoa ao a problem. ee ee “Chateau eit, “Trot ones, weak lear, bihe Prerong shi teh, Becoming tn “clan eget ef pomp vif tif ass Claret The breake Same problems as above. as ‘Some bass clarinets have the low Eb kay sounding PRE ow C Ful eh, ark becoming tn “hiner se pet pomp tifMODERN JAZZ VOICINGS Bb Soprano Sax acs Se 2 writen 2s ts) a — : = eae rt si aren scund cut iocotsh mores restive Big. pojecing Thin ft pet wf oo Eb Ato Sax i —2 ta) — ef oe Some als have Fey 2 i ote the) vaning FSS = & cs ee. See ee Teste eit Pett met 7 [Bb Tenor Sax 1 1 -—2 —— ome tenors have FH Key ap exnsny PE === é te S Not as hard as alto, oN Rich to thin, very AGREE cn eringin ch La Th, et ocx Py ma Pi >i a a) Bb Barone Sox : bs iter C—O @ Se bars have Fey ee Many partons have he Yow Atoy . == sounding BE a SS Becoming est “Tan, bute Fen andieundabortie Ren Dendeble "expressive ™pSf wef et of SfPART! | BACKGROUND AND BASICS Bb Tenet to ee sounng = Cn, Parsing, pontatin ona “tS oma.tag Reet i coo 4 m5 sae Pe if ot Sf f Bb geben ? ee ten =—— 2 —ba——_ ——— sounding + ——"* ‘Very rich, mellow ‘Becoming thinner and constrained, Fu, dr, sonorous (sonar ay hn rump) enaang Pont tf on nF (French hon) i wen me 25. sondeg BE = = = “Pol nen? fect rore Bight Perea, encase) aw am tonaie pense eee of of a a —— 1 Sniy —— eee a ow, dark Centered, Clear, metodcaly Pedaltones These oles unavalable sprond sound low sound exprasswve Bright Penetrating Py So ee we wy wtMODERN JAZZ VOICINGS 1 1 — vwiton 8 RE zat oat = 7 ‘Focused, “Foundation” Clear, sonorous, Becomes thinner and penetrating, raceme TSO Cou commi, Seanen et PS PP Sf _s Pf ee (Six open =~ & —, —_.- ze eA wowan fBE = =¢ => é = ——- Ss ora beer underunding ofthe guitar's capability to play and vice cont, const The Jace Se of Tl Farow by Steve Roch, The Advancing Gutanst, by Mick Goode. or Exershing About Guitar Chord by Wilt Serge gece ! oe ‘ing G D A E 2s Dark, very broad, Subdued qulty Mellow fo briant Strong canying power: bight Viole oar open, songs) C G D sounding & ‘eriton ato lt = oS (eounaing Ines cn Foreboding, dark ich, warm Gn bendable Nasal piercing call (Four open stings) C D writen & EE Sourcing = Fale, Neutral blendablo Very expressive, warm and brillantPART |_| BACKGROUND AND BASICS a se E A D wien — BE 2 ——— oo ‘Some basses have a ‘tn ow-c) sing a sounding Fich, but thinning Calo-tke, gtr aun orae = =) = bar feng bul bondale Vey a wna —— 2—_ 2 written & = = cat SS Own Ph bande ete 7 1 1 wet be poy Va Bright, harder to Nenprletng Fen, om popctng nde col prtatng > iP "i 6 mae 3 as Non-projcting, worant PP mp Fic, blendabe PP SfMODERN JAZZ VOICINGS Voie Tene 1 ! 2 weg ae 7 Scunang = f= s+ sng = : ark Fin ory exoressive gt, projecting, tin PP-mp on, PS | 1 — my writen & Sounding Dark, thin Ful eh Increasingly bright ight. penetrating thin eP-of pif ey ‘Most men are baritones. They can sing a low E, but the sound is usually too thin. Vee: Bae t ___——bs ween & Toning = ‘ory ar, rant Fen tur, expressive Brot, ponvating, in Pe pp Sf ef SEC De ECE MRE TNS TR BE RE ST Synthesizer There are two reasons for including synthesizers or samplers in an orchestration. First, through emulation of other instruments, synthesizers can fatten an otherwise small orches- tra, In this case, you should write “idiomatically.” in a style appropriate to the instrument you are emulating, Second, synthesizers may offer timbres you could not otherwise find, Many synthesis techniques are available, including additive, subtractive, physical model- ing, and FM. If you are not a programmer and are unfamiliar with synthesis, work close- ly with your synthesizer player to get the sound you want. Keyboard Magazine and simi- lar publications are good sources of information. iT}