BEND with the WOODWINDS! How to write for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon (SOLO + ensemble)

After Claire Wickes’ takeover, Alex Lamy picks up where she left off in her last video, diving deeper into the woodwind section of the orchestra. He offers important details to consider when composing for the flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, and the bassoon. And after breezing into how to combine the woodwinds with other instruments, Alex arranges his piece “Robin on a Winter Morning” for a wind quintet-viewers of this channel might already be familiar with this melody from our Virtual Orchestration strings competition!
Virtual Orchestration is a collaboration between Berklee College of Music (Boston, USA) and Orchestral Tools (Berlin, Germany).
▬▬ Table of content ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Introduction
0:30 - Principles of good writing
1:46 - Writing for flute
3:28 - Writing for oboe + cor anglais
5:16 - Writing for clarinet
6:56 - Writing for bassoon
8:02 - Arranging for the woodwind section
9:40 - “Mercury” from “The Planets” by G. Holst
13:11 - Example from “Orchestration hacks”
15:19 - Woodwind quintets
16:36 - “Robin on a Winter Night” arr. for wind quintet
Assets used in the video :
Notation of the musical examples :
1. Daphnis et Chloé - II. Pantomime 1912, by Maurice Ravel
s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/us...
2. Symphony No. 9 (Op. 95), II. Largo 1893, by Antonín Dvořák
s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/us...
3. Symphony No. 2 (Op. 27), III. Adagio 1906/1907, by Sergei Rachmaninoff
s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/us...
4. The Firebird Suite, Berceuse (Lullaby) 1910/1919/1945 by Igor Stravinsky
s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/us...
5. The Planets (Op. 32), III. Mercury 1914 - 1917 by Gustav Holst
s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/us...
Audio Recordings :
Holst, The Planets
Interpretation : National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Michael Francis (conductor)
License : Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
Notes : Jack Singer Hall, Calgary. Recorded 2015 Aug 09
Link to recording : imslp.org/wiki/File:PMLP33488...
Video creation credits:
Script / video concept 📜 : Alex Lamy, Eduard Flemmer
Music 🎶 : Alex Lamy
Camera 🎥 and Editing ✂️ : Fabián Barba Hallal
Motion graphics 🎨 : Michael Logar

[@StubbornPoint]

This channel is so high quality in both information and production quality. Thanks for sharing this with us! I wrote my first 8 bar wind quintet right before watching this and the part about how the oboe dynamics vs register is the reverse of the flute really helped me to fix mistakes in my score.

[@YuvalRon]

This stuff is priceless.

[@robinbergstrom977]

The clarinet is absolutely amazing in the piece the showcase in the end of the video... Magnificent.

[@LukaGroulx]

Loved to see examples presented with true masterpieces!

[@alessandrodacconti7026]

This lesson is the best till now, at least in my irrelevant opinion

[@JakeEufil]

Same here.

[@joelance]

I've written a duo for oboe and bassoon, that I am thinking about changing to clarinet and bassoon to expand the timbral range. But maybe not. I'm very sporadically working on a wind quintet. It's one of my favorite ensembles to play in (as a horn player) - so lithe and fun. When writing for full orchestra, I often struggle with what to do with the 2nd oboe. I don't usually want 2 oboes in unison, and other parts are also always covered by 2nd flute, the clarinets, etc. This video gave me some good tips on how to treat the doubling to handle that issue.

[@eosborne6495]

I swear, anytime I am stuck on a composition and thinking, “damn, what can I do with the [instrument family]?” this channel hears my plea and arrives with the exactly right video just when I need it.

[@alexlamymusic]

What do you want next week then? 😂

[@eosborne6495]

@@alexlamymusic well since you ask! Most of the videos online about arranging for strings talk about chorale writing for triads. I’ve been really hoping someone would do a video about orchestral chord voicing when you’re dealing with jazz chords, cluster chords, poly chords and stuff like that.

[@cherrysound]

Very useful video! Thank you so much! 👍🏻

[@phaeraofficial]

I really enjoy this channel! 🎉 Thanks a lot!

[@joegrint6280]

Thanks Alex - very interesting!

[@KennethGonzalez]

These last two videos have been great! WOW 😀 Very thankful for the entire series. It's all been quite helpful and enlightening for me. Thanks so much!

[@caseyfulton6932]

Great episode! Especially regarding the dynamics and strengths of their ranges. You could do a follow up episode on woodwind articulations like staccato vs legato because of the beautiful variety of sounds.

[@user-us3qw6ed4k]

Robin on a Winter Night is beautiful, presented in a wonderful arrangement, you've utilised the palate of the quintet to its fullest. Your piece truly added a sparkle to the evening, thank you.

[@alexlamymusic]

Thank you! 🙏

[@ZayaMillis]

I love this channel! I would love to see a breakdown about choirs. Like, how they are used with the orchestra and also on their own.

[@alexlamymusic]

I would also love to make that video! 😊

[@jona8659]

woodwinds are the superior section

[@alexlamymusic]

Strings outnumber them in a fight though 😅

[@MrKmusic7]

Great video and explanation as always! Could you clarify on which Eb Clarinet you're using? Are you using an Eb Soprano Clarinet or an Eb Alto Clarinet? Thanks!

[@alexlamymusic]

It’s the higher, sopranino. Especially as the Alto is less common, it’s not usually referred to as “the Eb” 👍🏻

[@Zaz_Prod]

Pourrais tu nous faire des tuttis sur les articulations please?

[@shubus]

Alex gives us another very useful video. Most of what I've learned on instrumental combinations comes from score study--and nice to see some of my favorites highlighted. I must say it is treat to see some examples in SCORE and not the key editor. I can instantly see what's going on in a score while looking at the key editor is much like Rorschach test to me

[@alexlamymusic]

Totally agree. Score study is the real ways to get to grips with this, especially if you’re not proficient reading music - you have to force yourself to get better and make it make sense! (I still take time transposing if I’m out of practice…) I like the piano roll, and it works for some things, but looking at a whole piece and overlapping parts can only really be done with the score.

[@MealsBeast]

Is there a book to quickly reference to see the ranges, dynamics, uses etc.. for orchestration? I know of other orchestration books but they are huge mammoths that go into great detail, i'm talking just like the slides used in this video

[@alexlamymusic]

Somebody else may know of one and chime in here, but I don’t really. That’s a big reason why we wanted to make these videos and have something people could access quickly and re-use as a resource. Maybe now that we’ve done Winds, Brass, and Strings we can find some time to combine them into a document. But until then, I have the rimsky-korsakov book as a pdf and I tend to use the search function to quickly get to wherever I need.

[@MealsBeast]

@@alexlamymusic a pdf would be fantastic! I have just looked up the book you mention, wow that's huge! Thanks for the reply. I found a small hand held orchestration book by David black. But there's something about seeing the keyboard layout for the ranges that really helps me, since most of us compose in front of a computer

[@bentrapmusicteacher]

I think you missed something pretty important -- it's not just wind quintets! At least in the USA, most wind players spend many years playing in concert and marching bands. There's a *lot* of wind and percussion music there, and plenty of genuine masterworks within the repertoire as well.

[@alexlamymusic]

Hey Ben! I think I said exactly that, didn’t I? 15:23 - marching bands, wind bands, symphonic wind bands, and the implication after is that winds and Perc are also often together, just as the brass and Perc are. You could go on the hunt for passages of well known works featuring unaccompanied wind writing, there are even some great bits just within The Planets (Neptune, for example), and it’s not like they’re bad examples, but it’s still true that you don’t really get music written for woodwinds alone. I mean, even wind quintets aren’t all winds! 😅

[@bentrapmusicteacher]

​​@@alexlamymusicYou are absolutely right, I am braindead tonight. I think I lost my attention at the moment you pointed to, snapped back in a moment later, and somehow translated "woodwinds" into "winds" in my brain in spite of, you know, the context of this video. Sorry about that. I clearly need more sleep! Nice video, btw. I subscribed. 😊

[@brucealanwilson4121]

Where do the Saxophone & Sarrusaphone come in?

[@alexlamymusic]

They don’t 🤷🏻‍♂️ Saxes are still specialised, nearly always used solo, and any blends with the rest of the woodwinds are more advanced and are likely to borrow ideas from other contemporary styles. Sarrusophones are now nearly always replaced by Contrabassoons in orchestral works, and nobody seems to mind.

[@Gaby-Lopez]

At minute 17:44 the Clarinet in Bb (the second note of measure 37) sounds a bit strange to me, the image just changes and I can't distinguish it, is it a Bb?, thanks

[@alexlamymusic]

It’s an A 👍🏻

[@boriss.861]

You forgot to mention that the flute in Daphnis & Chloe is pitched 8va as shown on the score. Why the Piano Roll again?

[@alexlamymusic]

There is an 8va mark in the score, I don’t think I need to draw any special attention to it. Why the piano roll on a channel channel about programming with virtual instruments? We don’t see it until 14 minutes in, but when we do it’s because we have programmed music, and actually I think it does a good job of showing how things directly overlap.

[@anidiot4702]

ah yes, contrabasson. Every composer's favorite instrument to forget

[@Geocranium]

At 1:55 I think you meant to say "ballet" instead of opera

[@alexlamymusic]

I should have said ballet yes. Whoops! 😅

[@Geocranium]

@@alexlamymusic No worries, I only pointed it out because Daphnis and Chloe is bar none my favorite piece of all time!

[@Wannabewotan]

I actually arranged for Wood Quintet before: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3exZWedjqZ3ocU

[@jpsned]

6:20 "And you can hear the slight change in the clarinet from around mezzo-forte and above..." Actually, we can't hear it because you're talking over the solo. 🙂

[@alexlamymusic]

This comment applies generally to any clarinet part. The scores to all of these pieces are easily available, and I’d recommend listening through with the score to the whole work. Listening is the best way to learn about orchestration.

[@SirWhiteRabbit-gr5so]

There are real limitations on which keys the B-flat Clarinet struggles versus those the A Clarinet struggles.

[@clarinetguyuk]

There are limitations, but above a certain level, players will be proficient readers/players in all 15 keys (7 flats through 7 sharps). Pro orchestral Bass Clarinet players will often even be able to sight transpose old-style "A" Bass parts on a modern Bb Bass without too much issue. The "A" clarinet should only be used in orchestral/chamber works in where the concert key primarily sits between 2 sharps and 6 sharps (ie. written 3 flats through 3 sharps for the "A" Clarinet), the rest are all more comfortable on the Bb Clarinet, and in other settings (concert band, theatre pits, jazz bands) most players will only have access to a Bb clarinet.

[@liamclarinet]

I play clarinet in a pro orchestra for a living. Flutists, bassoonists, and oboists are expected to play in all keys on one instrument. We really should too. I look forward to the day that A clarinet falls into disuse.

[@Gnomes_]

Baffling that the video says "woodwind", but doesn't include the saxophone family. It's not the 1850's anymore guys, sax is an established classical instrument whether you like it or not.

[@alexlamymusic]

Why baffling? Sax is still extremely uncommon in orchestral use. When it is, it’s usually either a solo instrument or in a more specialised context. Thats a more advanced area than these videos we’re currently making, which focus on the basics for people starting out with orchestration.

[@sakonhon]

@@alexlamymusic They really aren't uncommon at all.

[@kingrobin6582]

damn it, Dvorak always gets me goosbumps with that EH solo

[@yichaozhang7933]

i'm the first viewer, hahaha

[@karayuschij]

The first to comment ;)

[@JesseWinslow]

Clarion* not clarino

[@alexlamymusic]

It’s either 👍🏻

[@user-wz3lq6ej5f]

Woodwinds are not difficult I found the brass are the most difficult one in the whole orchestra section.

[@ransbarger]

I didnt know Harry Potter was a musician.

[@alexlamymusic]

Fun fact, I'm basically the same age as Dan Radcliffe, and when the first HP film came out I had people actually stop me in the cinema thinking I was really Harry Potter!

[@ransbarger]

@@alexlamymusic All kidding aside, you are doing an outstanding job. Thank you.

[@liamclarinet]

Clarion, not Clarino. Trust me ;)