v.lossity wrote:@itroitnyah Well Im not so sure. For example when I opened up my first strings plugin and started composing melodies and stuff, it was very intuitive for me, but when I started with brass which I have next to no experience with, it was much more difficult to figure out what sounded good, what were common uses for brass, how they are used, etc, etc. Plus, having played viola, I know many different timbres that can come out of strings. There are many more than just pizzacato, staccato, legato, sordino, and spicatto! Up-bows sound different from down-bows, the tip of the bow sounds different than the bottom, etc etc etc.
@Forza Soundfire Viola power! I have noticed I spend a lot more time trying to make interesting harmonies for violas and other middle voices, even if they end up blending into indistinctness
I'm going to talk about both of these comments and then some. Fair warning.
First up, you know next to nothing about brass, I gather. One way to get an idea for what sounds good on brass (and I have played trombone mixed with tuba and euphonium for 8 years, so I would know) is to listen to some classical music. You may want to start off listening to solos performed by each instrument to get an idea of what each is capable of. From there you can try brass ensembles (the quintet or sextet seems to be the most popular, being comprised of tuba, trombone, euphonium, horn, and trumpet--a nice blend) to hear how parts tend to interact. Then from there full-blown classical masterpieces. Listen to how the brass works in the context of an entire orchestra. I would consider the ensembles to be an optional step, but you really should get an idea of 1) what each instrument is capable of and 2) how they fit into an orchestra sound.
And concerning your second point: I have noticed in every musician I have ever seen that people tend to favor the first instrument/instrument family that they learned when composing (and conducting, for that matter, when live performers are involved). This can be a bad thing, as you yourself have pointed out. Though when done properly, this can lead to a unique sound and is part of what sets you apart from other producers and composers.
And one last point I'd like to make: I have played piano for over 10 years now, and it definitely has helped me immensely in everything musical that I've ever done. Playing trombone in the school band for 8 years has also taught me a great many things about how a group should sound, including orchestras.
On that note, let me segue a bit here: if you are going to produce orchestral music, people like me will expect you to use the full orchestra sound. I do apologize in advance for sounding a bit elitist here, but this is the honest truth. Nothing annoys me more than people producing orchestral music who obviously have no idea how to write for an orchestra. I've heard too many songs that outright ignore an entire instrument group. As much as I love the song "The Wicked End" by Avenged Sevenfold, the orchestral interlude bugs the living
crap out of me because there's zero woodwinds. And Tsyolin's "Wooden Overture" almost completely ignores the brass section, which is especially troubling to a brass player such as myself. So while nobody expects to you come out guns blazing with epic symphonies, people like me really love orchestral producers who manage to pull of that difficult "contemporary orchestral/classical" or "cinematic" sound rather than the "I just pirated EWQL Symphonic Orchestra" sound.