2024 the best composers of all time review

Price: $12.99 - $10.38
(as of Dec 03, 2024 16:20:16 UTC - Details)

At last, an orchestration book tailor-made for the classroom musician on a budget. Any teacher, student or professional musician, whether a composer, orchestrator, arranger, performer or enthusiast will find this thoroughly comprehensive dictionary full of the most needed information on over 150 instruments. Designed for quick and easy reference, the Essential Dictionary of Orchestration includes those much-needed instrument ranges, general characteristics, tone quality descriptions, technical pitfalls, useful scoring tips and much more!

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alfred Music; 2nd ed. edition (October 1, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0739000217
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0739000212
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.5 x 5.75 inches
Reviewer: Nessa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book in small package
Review: I was somewhat skeptical when I purchased the hard copy. One review said it was small--they might have underestimated: this book is tiny.However, it fits wonderfully in my purse as it is scarcely larger than my wallet.HOWEVER: this tiny book is packed with very useful AND very accurate information.I purchased it because sometimes I compose or arrange for instruments I don't normally do on a regular basis, and I am sometimes unsure. For example, the slide positions on the trombone--just where do those partials begin, and where does the tenor and bass trombone differ. The harp--I have written extensively for this instrument, but it is always good to keep up with current or alternate practices that I might not have learned.Strings: this book covers the gamut of techniques.IF you are a thoughtful music professor, I recommend you require this book for your class rather than one of those $100+ books, and fill in the broad scope with your lectures.IF you are a student, go along with what your professor requires, but carry this tiny book with you at all times.:-)Nessa

Reviewer: Bill Tarman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Everyone should have this book!!
Review: I'd give it ten stars! Anyone interested in writing, arranging, composing, orchestrating, or just a curious musician should own a copy of this book.It covers over 150 instruments giving the general/practical range as written and transposed, plus it gives the tonal/dynamic qualities of each register and where they might be used (e.g.each string on stringed instruments, chalumeau/throat/clarino on clarinet). It covers general information about each instrument (construction, special attachments, general considerations).It covers technical considerations with specific characteristics for each instrument to help you avoid writing something a player would consider stupid (e.g. low B-Bb slide positions on trombone, low C-Db trill on flute). It also has scoring hints for each and within their families.It covers all sorts of articulations/mutes/effects etc, what they sound like, where to use them and how to write them (e.g. velvotone mute/'doit' articulation for trumpet, flutter tonguing on flute, string technics). Also, there is information on harmonics for stringed instruments and pedal tones for trombones, french horns et al.It has an amazing section on percussion instruments. Composers have always looked like idiots to a percussionist because they hadn't the slightest idea how to write for them. You will know how if you use the info in this book (and be admired by the 'battery').In short, if this book sold for $200, it would be worth it. At $100 it would be a bargain. BUT at 6 bucks, why haven't you bought it already??p.s. while a bit confusing a first to find an instrument, however, with about five minutes of use you will understand the reasons for the arrangement of material in the book by families (you would not want a coronet at the front and trumpet at the back of a book). The table of contents explains it. Plus there is an alphabetical listing of instruments with page #'s at the back of the book.

Reviewer: "Bo-Diddy"
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very useful reference book!
Review: This is an excellent little book (and I do mean LITTLE... the book has a wealth of information, but it's tiny, like pocket-sized!) to reference when creating film scores or other orchestrations. The instruments are grouped together for ease of navigation (e.g., percussion, stringed instruments, horns, reeds, etc.). The book details the ACTUAL range and the SOUNDED range of each instrument, and it has some really uncommon/bizarre instruments listed! It's really nice that the sounded range is included, as instruments vary in timbre and thus play in a different register, so the same note on the same staff can sound different. I use this book frequently when I'm writing various orchestrated sections of film scores. Use this as a reference book only. It doesn't go much further than that. Quite worth the money!

Reviewer: Dalton J. Fitzgerald
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best Price for Handy Basics
Review: This is a fantastic book - IF it suits your purposes. If you already have a massive textbook on the subject of orchestation (e.g., the Cecil Forsythe book) this book would potentially be redundant. However, used as what it claims to be - a concise, literally pocket-sized desk reference for the working composer or orchestrator - it is easy-to-use and informative. It contains basic information about every instrument, including ranges, transposition, tone color, tricks and special notation, impossibilities for players, and occasional scoring/arranging tips. For a novice like myself, it's very informative when read cover-to-cover; for an experienced orchestrator, it might still be handy for quick checks. Either way, highly recommended!

Reviewer: swerd
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A very helpful tool for any composer!
Review: As a composer and an organist, I'm not too well trained in the area of orchestration, so this book is helpful in filling in the gaps in my background.

Reviewer: Filtgtr
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An excellent and handy guide that I use all of the time!
Review: Accurate, affordable, and handy size to fit in my workspace. I use it all of the time to check my orchestrations.

Reviewer: Ricky Fox
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: How many times has anyone really
Review: Been orchestrating a piece, and pulled out this book for reference? Really? Since high school? Since college? C'mon. But it's great to have "just in case". It's not kid friendly, so there goes that idea. And you might as well buy it, you already own every other book on orchestration but still haven't a clue as to the range of an oboe.Of course I gave it five stars, it's a dictionary of ORCHESTRATION. Unless its encrypted with satanic verses, what could possible be bad about it? Misinformation? Pretty difficult in this Internet age to get the basics wrong. You will never open it anyway, because you will never need to. Trust me. It's all available on google anyhow.

Reviewer: Buff
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Um livro prático, completo e conciso.

Reviewer: paolo ugoletti
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: pratico ed efficente

Reviewer: MesaMonke
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Bra lite bok om hur orkesterns olika instrument fungerar och deras omfång. Info om skriven not och hörd not.

Reviewer: linda cooke
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Was great thank u

Reviewer: Nahuatl
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Una guía rápida y de bolsillo para cualquier aprendiz de composición, rápidamente se pueden consultar los rangos de los instrumentos, entre otra cosas.