Hey guys :), I've been composing on and off for about 2 years and had some time recently to write something up for orchestra. It's a bit long at 14 min and I haven't yet finalized a score. Any comments would be great. Thanks!

Hey guys :), I've been composing on and off for about 2 years and had some time recently to write something up for orchestra. It's a bit long at 14 min and I haven't yet finalized a score. Any comments would be great. Thanks!

I'm not going to point to specifics, but I would suggest studying more on orchestration-- I notice that you're treating the instruments as if they will all be heard equally, which is typically not the case. For example, one will not be able to pick out a piano part out of a full orchestra, unless the strings are in con sord. at a soft dynamic (for most of the time). When studying winds and strings together, one should start with doubling as coloring (example: Violin I + Piccolo, Violin II + Flute, etc.).

A helpful site I used to start with orchestration was http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77 ; start at the first lesson. I must tell you, if you do study these or any other orchestration books, not to take any stylistic traits or rules too strictly; orchestrators of all periods of music, from Classical to Modern/Impressionist, all have their different orchestration traits. It is one of those things where one must not follow rules too strictly.

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely have a look at the lessons. I haven't included all the instruments in the orchestra in the piece as to get the basic ideas down first. I've been planning on reworking and adding parts to the piece but am unsure on what affect it would have on its coherency.