VISUAL ORCHESTRATION #1

SPECTROTONE COURSE

Span of Orchestration
Ensemble Tone Colors
About
In Arthur Langeʼs original documentation, he recommended dividing the string section into three
registers, similar to Gevaertʼs. These were (using MIDI Note Numbering): Low (24 to 60),
Medium (55 to 76), and High (69 to 100). As you can see there was some slight overlap. The
middle register contains the greatest number of tone colors while the low register is mostly
purple and blue while the high register is mostly confined to yellow and white.

Langeʼs Observations:
Because of this great mixture in the register, there exists a tendency for this mixture to obscure
a single tone color in that register. In other words, it is a solid body insofar as timbre is
concerned. In this state it may be considered the core of the string ensemble.
The high register, being more pure in tone color values, creates a definite contrast to the
middle register. However, the low register, although also more pure in the tone color values,
creates a lesser contrast to the middle register. Nevertheless, there is a great contrasting
difference between the high register and the low register.
Itʼs therefore obvious, that melodic and contrapuntal lines written in the high register naturally
emboss themselves (stand out) against a middle and low register background, because of purity
and definition of tone color.
To produce such a definition, when the musical material is exclusively confined to the middle
register, it is necessary to assign the melodic or contrapuntal material to one contrasting tone
color. Itʼs also possible to achieve such definition by assigning the material to a unison of all the
tone colors in the middle register, thereby embossing the material by sheer amplification of
timbre against a high or low register background.
In a simple composition, which consists of melody, bass, and inner harmonic structure, an
orchestration will balance itself out if each of these departments are equally represented. The
three departments, melody, bass and inner harmonic structure, essentially belong to three
different registers:
Melody: Upper register (White, Yellow, High Green)
Inner harmonic structure: Middle Register (Orange, Red, Lower Green, Upper Brown, Blue)
Bass: Low Register (Lower Purple, Brown, and Blue)
If each part can be confined to one or two tone colors, itʼs preferable to use close combinations.
The next choice would be to create complementary tone colors.

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Ensemble Tone Color Combinations Table

Type Combination Type of Contrast Ensemble Combinations

Perfect No Contrast White-White, Green-Green,

Orange-Orange, Purple-
Purple, Yellow-Yellow, Blue-
Blue, Red-Red, Brown-Brown

Close Very Little Contrast White-Yellow, Yellow-Green,

Green-Blue, Blue-Purple,
Yellow-Orange, Orange-Red,
Red-Brown, Brown-Purple

Complementary Contrasting White-Green, Yellow-Blue,

Green-Purple, Orange-Brown,
Red-Purple, Red-White

Remote Very Contrasting White-Blue, White-Purple,

White-Brown, Yellow-Purple,
Yellow-Brown, Green-Brown,
Green-Purple

All course videos and supporting PDF documents are under Copyright.
©2012 Peter Lawrence Alexander. ©2016, 2019-2022 Caroline J. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.
References and links to external products and resources are the property of their respective copyright owners.

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