These instruments bridge the gap between the brass and woodwind sections. The soprano saxophone is occasionally used as a solo instrument, making for a fully voiced saxophone choir. The saxophone family usually includes four altos, a tenor sax or two, and a baritone saxophone. Saxophones: Here's something you won't usually see in an orchestra. Sometimes, a piece calls for the contrabassoon, which can play even lower than the average string bass. With so many registers, the clarinets mirror the strings in the orchestra.īassoons: The bassoon family grows in the concert band, with two to four players making up the section. ![]() ![]() The standard B-flat clarinets in the concert band are often joined by the higher E-flat clarinet, a couple of bass clarinets, and the contrabass and contralto clarinets. They have a wide range, from low, reedy textures to shrieking high notes. Often split among three parts, there might be up to 16 players. (Don't worry - they still get to solo!) The section is small, usually only two or three players, with one player on the English horn, whose darker tone bridges the gap from oboe to bassoon.Ĭlarinets: Clarinets are the engine of the concert band's woodwind section. Oboes: While the oboe in the orchestra is often used as a feature or soloed instrument, the oboes in a band contribute to the entire woodwind texture as team players. This army of shiny silver contributes to the upper woodwind sound, and can play softly and lyrically, or with striking confidence and heat. The piccolo is used in the concert band, both as a solo instrument and as part of the flute section, often highlighting the top of the range. Woodwindsįlutes: The flute section is made up of four to 14 players, split between two parts. ![]() Let's go through the instruments of a concert band. Concert bands can control these sounds with incredible accuracy, as though an organist was simply pressing on a handful of keys and 70 musicians responded to the command. There are breathy, high-pitched sounds, as well as rumbling, feel-it-in-your-chest, low sounds. Think about it: Each instrument in the concert band (excluding percussion) requires air to be blown through it to create sound, in the same way that an organ blows air through its pipes. ![]() Many people feel that the concert band resembles a large pipe organ. If you're familiar with the wind section of an orchestra, you'll notice that the wind ensemble is basically an expanded version of that section, with a few additions. The main difference is the absence of stringed instruments in the band. The concert band does in fact have a long history, so it's unfair to treat the orchestra as a sort of musical standard-bearer.īut for comparison's sake, what exactly makes the concert band different from the orchestra? The time has come to discard the old idea that a concert band is an orchestra without strings relegated to the performance of utilitarian, inferior music.īecause of the orchestra's long history, many people compare what they feel is the "new" ensemble, the concert band, to the well-established orchestra. The need for a new library of original band music of artistic and imaginative merit became and still is the objective of all musicians who believe in the unlimited scoring potentials of the wind-percussion ensemble.
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