Orchestration Taxonomies
This project aims to develop several taxonomies related to the practice, perception, and discussion of orchestration, with the long-term aim of each taxonomy being useful as a tool for analysis and teaching. The taxonomies currently being developed include:
Perceptual effects of orchestration related to auditory grouping principles (led by Prof. Stephen McAdams)
Orchestration techniques discussed in treatises and taught in orchestration classes (led by Prof. Denys Bouliane)
Emergent perceptual and affective qualities of instrumental combinations or sound-processing techniques and their cultural associations
Instrumental playing techniques, particularly extended techniques used in the contemporary music repertoire
Functional orchestration related to musical aims of composers ( Prof. Fabien Lévy)
The aural sonology approach to sound-based (as opposed to interval-based) music (Prof. Lasse Thoresen)
and further explorations of the role of timbre in formal and harmonic analysis, text analysis of treatises and transcribed interviews with composers, orchestrators and conductors, and audio signal analyses of timbre.