So, ever hear of a Berimbau? Perhaps an Erhu? How bout a Pipa (no not Kate's sister)?
The commonality for all of these instruments, at least to me is that I hadn't heard of them 6 months ago. Alright, maybe the Erhu, but a Berimbau?
One of the joys of being a composer is that you occasionally get to work with instrumentation you've never heard of before. Personally I had no business picking up a Pipa, but after I included that in the full orchestration piece of music the texture changed imperceptibly... but it did change nonetheless.
I can't remember where I read it, I think it may have been Eric Persing giving an interview, maybe Nick Phoenix; in any case it's an interesting idea.
In western music orchestration, we are used to the regular standbys. Full orchestra composed of strings, winds, percussion, and sometimes choir. Oh and don't forget the piano player.
The suggestion was this though: try replacing some of your instruments with some exotic counterparts. Instead of a baritone or French horn, Try the German Alpenhorn. Replace a commonly used bass drum with an African floor drum. The point being while these instruments sound a little bit like their Western counterparts, they aren't an exact match. By introducing new textures, some of them of which are perceptible, some not, you can see if there are certain world instruments that were give you a different timbre to your orchestrations.
If you do try this, I'd be interested to hear what you replaced and how it sounded and sat in the mix.
Till next time,
Jack
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