Essential Dictionary of Orchestration: The Most Practical and Comprehensive Resource for Composers, Arrangers & Orchestrators

by Dave Black, Tom Gerou

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!

Genres: Music, Reference, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Milan B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it is what it says it is - a dictionary, a reference. Surprisingly useful even to a beginner like me, my main grip with it was the ubiquitous phrases "comprises of".

Just kidding, the main downside was a lack of photos or illustrations of instruments. I'm forever angry at the book for describing flexatone as "a metal vaguely in the shape of S" and then having to reconcile that with internet image search results.

One minor downside is the alphabetical sorting. For example, a section on trumpets starts with a bass trumpet, which contains brief descriptions of specific uses of the instrument, but then only a few pages later, a "generic" trumpet is described together with its characteristics, which then apply to bass trumpet. It's not a big deal as, again, it's a reference book, not a step-by-step guide, but I feel like there are some usability improvements to be made.

Big plus: fits into my winter jacket pocket.

[Jesse Langeveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very usefull little book for every composer, arranger or orchestrator. Some small parts of the book regarding practical range is debateable but still it is a must have.

[Mills College Library]

781.374 B6273 1998

[Carlos Fabbro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty damn boring but I learned a thing or two about the accordion.

[Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep this book at my desk when composing, it’s the perfect quick reference for any orchestration question that crosses my mind.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for any musician looking into orchestral arranging. I used this as a reference tool for my dissertation at university and also a module on arranging and couldn't have succeeded without it!