Overview of Symphony Orchestra and Wind Band as different Entities of Music - Dissertation Example

?A direct look at symphony orchestra and wind band in terms of practical musical issues Overview of Symphony Orchestra and Wind Band as different Entities of Music Music has been described in a lot of ways and with a lot of unique identities. To some people, the world cannot do without music and to others music is the food for the soul. Some people think music is all around us and in everything that we do. There are those who also think collectively, music is a spice that gives the world its sweet piece of aroma and taste. But for however one perceives music, it could just be right to admit that there are thousands of factors that go into the creation and formation of music than mere coincidence. Music is actually created and this is what makes music an art. Talking about the creation of music, mention can be made of the different elements that come together to make the formation of music complete. One of such adorable elements that always stand out in the composition of music is ensembles. The kind of ensembles present and how they are used to form or create music also goes a long way to talk of the kind of music we have. Largely, the presence of different ensembles and how these are put to gather to create music would bring two major groups of music to bear and these two groups are symphony orchestra and the American wind band. There are many who have thought that because these two groups primarily end up in the creation or composition of music, there should actually not be any need differentiating them but that is technically not correct (Forest, 2008). This research paper therefore tries to take a direct look at symphony orchestra and the American wind band in terms of practical musical issues that differentiate them and that account for reasons why composers make a choice between writing for orchestra or band. Difference in Instrumentation Instrumentation remains a major phenomenon in the discussion of the differences between orchestra and band. Typically, the instrumentation refers to the assembly of musical ensembles or instruments available to the two types of musical composition (Diamond, 2009). On a larger scale, orchestra is often thought to be with a standard instrumentation; a concept that is largely absent in the American wind band. Without implying that a band does not need all the ensembles in an orchestra to function, a band, can well function without a fraction of most of the ensembles that are needed in a typical orchestra. For this reason, orchestra is generally seen as a more standardized instrument based outfit than a band. This is very much because unlike a band, an orchestra can just not function properly in the absence of most of the so called standard instrumentations. In the count of ensembles rather than individual players on a band and an orchestra therefore, it would be true to say that an orchestra is a larger musical outfit than a band. It would also be true to say that an orchestra is a well organized musical outfit than a band. There are some music historians who even believe that in terms of differences in instrumentation, an orchestra is a more professional body of music than a band. Young Composers (2008) for instance writes that ““Wind Band" is a large ensemble consisting of many woodwinds, brass, and percussion.” He further states that “a "Wind Symphony" could be considered a larger or more technically skilled ensemble, with additional instruments, more players, and with a repertoire more difficult, expansive, and varied.” Organization There exist major differences between orchestra and band that result from their organization on a typical musical stage. Given a very typical musical show, the kind of technical organization that will take place within the orchestra is totally different from what will be experienced for a band. Most often than not, the differences in organization emanate from differences in instrumentation. As it has been indicated earlier, the types of instrumentation used in orchestras are totally different from those used in wind bands. For this reason, the stage organization and the conduct of these two musical outfits are also different. For example in an orchestra, the different groups of instruments such as violin, brass and horns are all grouped as sections. Each of these sections would subsequently have a leader known as a principal. Because the American wind band does not have as many instruments as an orchestra, there certainly does not exist some of these organizational similarities when musicians are on stage performing. Still in terms of organization, the variations in instrumentation between an orchestra and a band create a situation whereby composers also organize their music construction in different forms when writing for orchestra as compared to writing for the American wind band. For instance, when a composer writes for two violins, the same piece when played by an orchestra would have to get exactly two violinists playing those pieces but in a band, as many violinists can play the piece meant for two violinists in the two different forms in which the pieces were written (Diamond, 2009). The organization in composition of music is therefore different in a symphony orchestra as exists for a wind band. Purpose of Music The purpose of using either a symphony orchestra or the American wind band has a very tall history that dates back to when the various forms of these two musical outfits started. With reference to the American wind band, it is known that this is the first form of musical outfit in comparison with symphony orchestra (Appiah, 2001). History therefore has it that the playing of bands were started on very low key such as during entertainment season, playing at hospitals, playing at funerals and playing during other informal occasions. Famous kings and queens also adapted the play of live band for recreational purposes. These have continued to be the core purposes that surround the playing of wind band up to today. The purpose of play also has influenced the kind of music played by bands. Generally, bands will play to entertain people and so will be more biased towards playing music that easily move people move their body parts in the forms of dance (Forest, 2008). With the coming of symphony orchestra music however, there seemed to be a lot of academic diplomacies attached to the purpose of playing orchestra music. In most instances, orchestras were mounted for strict academic performances that went with the award of marks. His history also seem to have affected the purpose of playing music in orchestra whereby music is generally played as an exhibition of musical target and intelligence rather than for entertainment purposes. In recent times however, there has been the fuse of orchestra music into Western classical music, jazz ensemble and popular music. But even in these cases, one sees clear distinction between the orchestra music and band music as that the latter would easily be linked to purposes of entertainment whiles the former will be linked to purposes of relaxation. Acoustical differences between the American wind band and the Symphony orchestra As explained earlier, though the prime necessity of both the American wind band and the symphony orchestra are to produce music, there exist some major differences between the two. One of these major differences comes in terms of the acoustical differences between the two forms of art. The first and most obvious cause for the differences in acoustics has to do with the fact that in the two forms of music performance, different numbers of acoustic producing instruments are used. For instance, in the symphony orchestra, there are more strings used than in the wind band. It is common to find all of cellos, guitar, violins, violas, harps, piano and double basses in a symphony orchestra but some of them may be absent in a wind band. The second point that leads to acoustical differences between American wind band and the symphony orchestra has to do with the fact that the differences in the acoustic instruments lead to a musical blend whereby there is always a degree of in-harmonicity in the tone of music produced (Faherty and Aaronson, 2010). Why composers make a choice between writing for orchestra or band Based on the acoustical differences between the American Wind Band and the Symphony Orchestra, “different players also select strings of certain tensions because of their perceived qualities such as brightness and loudness” (Faherty and Aaronson, 2010). Up to this point of the research paper, much insight has been made on what makes symphony orchestra and the American wind band unique in their own ways. Indeed, these two forms of musical platforms are highly unique in their own ways and it is just right that they are not absolutely the same thing; else there would not have been any spice of diversity. It is important also to note that among composers who write for various musical groups, there are a number of factors that influences their decisions on which of the two – symphony orchestra or wind band to write music for. For instance composers or writers who want liberalism in their approach to writing music would generally settle for the American wind band rather than orchestra music. The reverse is true for sophisticated and academic oriented writers who would want their music to be followed in certain strict and adherent manner. Another factor also has to do with the number of instruments a writer may want to represent in his or her writing. Music writers who are more in-tune with the sound of many instruments as against few instruments will certainly settle to make a choice with symphony orchestra as against wind band. Those who would want to remain straightforward would also opt for wind band. Finally, the purpose for which one is writing his or her music would also affect the choice of either writing for an orchestra or a band. To conclude, it is important to emphasize that the choice of music writers to either write for orchestra or band may have nothing to do with the abilities or talent of the writer but typically based on the factors discussed such as purpose of music and preference for instrumentation (Appiah, 2001). REFERENCE LIST Faherty, M and Aaronson N. L., 2010, Acoustical differences between treble guitar strings of different tension (i.e., gauge). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (impact factor: 1.52). 10/2010; 128(4):2449. Appiah K. G, 2001, Lingo Music and the Origin of Symphony Orchestra, New York: United Experts Limited Diamond, R. A., 2009, Music for Life and Life for Music, London: Shalom Press Limited Forest G., 2008, Music Study for Beginners, New York: Torrents Publication Limited Young Composers, 2008, Orchestration for Band: a companion course - Intro [Online] http://www.youngcomposers.com/t14918/orchestration-for-band-a-companion-course-intro/S [May 30, 2012] Read More