Orchestration and Re-Orchestration: A study of combinations and contrasts

Oct 16

ODESSA

Orchestration and Re-Orchestration:
A Study of Combinations and Contrasts

Haute école de musique (HEM) de Genève, Switzerland
October 18th and 19th, 2019

In three recording sessions taking place at the Haute école de musique (HEM) de Genève in October, 2019, different orchestral extracts were recorded so as to study several facets of orchestration and acoustics, such as timbral equilibrium and contrast. These excerpts were drawn from re-orchestrations of pieces in the repertoire (made by students in HEM orchestration courses), examples of original then re-orchestrated tutti chords from Rimsky-Korsakov’s treatise, as well as examples created by the cutting edge timbral analysis software, Orchidea (creatively interpreted by a graduate of the HEM). As with the first ODESSA project at the Université de Montreal, researchers from the Hochschule für Musik, Detmold used an acoustic camera to measure orchestral balance and sound distribution. The two days were video documented and feature interviews of the participants and researchers.

Recordings

We are pleased to present to you the first series of recordings made at the HEM as part of the Swiss research project e-Orch. One of the main purposes of these recordings was to research two of the most important aspects of orchestration: simultaneous and successive balance and contrast. Follow this link to see the extensive microphone setup (coming soon). Or follow these links to various studies: