Orchestration 1

Posted by Michael Moyes

Michael Moyes is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Baylor University, where he studied Piano Performance and Business. Michael has performed Piano as a soloist, in a combo, and accompanied by full Orchestra. He is currently working towards his Master Certificate in Arranging and Orchestration from Berkleemusic. You can hear some of Michael’s music on the Berklee Music Network.

What do the films Crimson Tide, Pirates of the Caribbean II, and Inception have in common?


Besides all being scored by Hans Zimmer, they all include elements of MIDI orchestration. MIDI Orchestration is the art of sequencing a piece with virtual instruments with the goal of making it sound like real musicians are performing it.

Since full Orchestras are hard to find (and expensive to hire), I took
 with Ben Newhouse this past Summer term to try and learn how to do this myself.

It quickly became clear that the days of 8 bit midi music a la Super Mario Brothers (NES) are gone; samples are very sophisticated now! When presented with 3 different orchestral audio examples and asked to pick out the one that was created with midi orchestration, I guessed wrong. A bit deflated, I asked around and a couple of my esteemed Berklee colleagues also couldn’t tell which production didn’t have live performers.


The audio samples and DAW technology available today allow composers without the luxury of a full orchestra at their command to compose and produce professional orchestral music. I purchased the East West Gold Symphonic Play Orchestra (at the discounted student rate) and worked with it extensively throughout the 12 week course. Other great libraries like Kontakt, Vienna Symphonic Library, and Garriton Personal Orchestra are also great libraries that can be used in the course. This brings up Ben’s second golden rule of Orchestration…

Rule 2: Use the best samples available.

In MIDI Orchestration, the samples are your performers, and you want performers who will make your music sound great. Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is a great composition, but it will not sound like one if performed by your local middle school orchestra. Similarly, your latest masterpiece will not sound like a great piece of music if sequenced with the General MIDI bank on an average keyboard.

Just as you aspire for your piece to be performed by the New York Philharmonic, you should aspire for your MIDI orchestrations to be created with the best available samples.”

Orchestration taught me how to effectively write for each section of the orchestra so that my compositions could be played by a true full orchestra or produced digitally using modern technology.

Here is a project of mine so you can get an idea of what you may be creating:

 The course is perfect for students who know how to read/write music and are familiar with using a DAW to sequence their music. Having a love of classical and film music from composers like Bartok, John Williams, Danny Elfman, or anyone else is plus! if you want more information…Berkleemusic’s online winter term begins January 10, 2011.
Find out more at  or contact a Student Advisor:

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