Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer, 2nd Edition

6 Writing and Sequencing for Vocal Ensembles

 

 

6.1 Introduction: General Characteristics

Most commercial composers, arrangers, or orchestrators will, at some point in their career, have to write for singers. Unlike instruments, they are much harder to replace with digital samples. If necessary, the easiest context is when all that is needed are some ambient voices singing on syllables such as “ooh” or “ah.” Today there are certainly many choir samples that can produce this effect. But, when lyrics are to be delivered in a convincing and expressive way, singers become essential.

When vocalists must be hired, there may be several contexts to consider: the soloist, the duo, the trio, the quartet, or the choir. Theatrical productions often ...