Some points about individual instruments and groups:
- Flute: the lowest register should only be used when the orchestra is pian(issim)o. The middle and higher octaves get gradually louder and brighter. I like a combination of flute with trumpet (especially when muted) and oboe, with the flute(s) an octave higher than the others.
- Piccolo: the top note is usually listed as C, but I've written notes as high as D. A skilled player should be able to hit that high. In contrast, I like the notes of the often-ignored lowest octave, down to the low D (not many instruments reach C). They mix well with a solo flute in unison, but these should only be used when the rest of the orchestra is quiet.
- Alto/Bass flute: useful mostly in the lowest register, so again, should only be used in a very quiet environment. I use this when I want a "creepy" sound, like I do bass clarinet.
- Oboe: Even with the orchestra playing forte/fortissimo, this instrument can give some added edge to brass parts. It is not as delicate an instrument as it's often made out to be; its bright timbre can be quite penetrating. Unlike the flute, its sound is strong to the lowest notes. However, oboes (and double reeds in general) are the instruments I would least likely give quarter tones and other microtones (and I use these a lot, as you should know already).
- Oboe d'amore (in A): Will I ever use an oboe d'amore? Maybe I should just once...
- English horn (and bass oboe/heckelphone): like alto and bass flute, bass clarinet and contrabassoon, it's useful mostly for its low notes. It's use for pastoral-sounding or plaintive passages, best in a softer environment, is really cliché, so it should be used with more originality.
- Clarinet: It's really two instruments in one. The chalumeau register is ideal up to mezzo-forte. The clarion register really should be used as a kind of wooden trumpet. I like to beef up horn and trumpet parts in unison, maybe an octave higher. One should bear in mind the instrument's distinctive timbre--it's made up of odd-numbered harmonics. In atonal and highly chromatic music, I'd consider having the first clarinet in B flat and the second in A. This is also the best woodwind instrument for microtones, as the famous glissando in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue shows. For these, the Albert (Simple) system, as used in Turkish, Balkan and klezmer bands, may be a better choice than Boehm or Oehler. (This would apply to open-holed instruments, not so much the plateau-keyed bass clarinet.)
- E-flat clarinet: often called a "small clarinet", this instrument has a sort of "wobbly" intontation and a bit of a mocking sound (c.f. the fifth movement of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique). I like to double piccolo parts an octave lower with it. Also, I like to use notes in the altissimo register, but these can sound strident and there can be intonation problems.
- Basset horn (in F), basset clarinet (in A): I wish these were used more often. We usually only hear the basset clarinet in performances of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, K.622. Both these instruments have extensions to a written low C. Since these ultra-low notes use many ledger lines in treble clef, I may use a bass clef for these (basset horn sounding a fourth higher; basset clarinet a major sixth).
- Bass clarinet (and contrabass): Professional-level instruments have a low C extension, so I write parts down that low. Again, I may recommend bass clef for the lowest notes, and since modern instruments are always in B flat, they would sound a major second lower than written in bass clef. Though its distinctive sound comes through better when the orchestra is playing less loudly, it can beef up the sound of the bassoons and trombones/tuba. I like to combine it with contrabasson an octave or a fifth higher. (In the latter case, I use parallel fifths in the same way a "resultant" stop would be used on organ, or a power fifth on guitar in rock.)
- Bassoon: As Stravinsky proved to us all (with difficulty at first), the altissimo register can sound impressive. I may never really need a bass oboe or heckelphone in that case. As for the lower notes, this is where the instrument is strongest. I have bassoons playing in unison with trombones and/or tubas all the time for a nice timbral blend, like I have oboes add brightness to trumpets or horns. One more thing: I rarely use tenor clef. I prefer to use treble clef an octave lower. (C clefs are for violas, if you want my honest opinion.)
- Contrabasson: the lowest-pitched of all the commonly-used woodwinds. (If only there were such a thing as a "triple bassoon", a subcontra.) But I don't just use it for the first octave. It has a distinctive sound, a little like a baritone saxophone, in its middle range, and I like to exploit that. I probably wouldn't use notes above the high G though.
- Saxophones: the last-chair oboe and bassoon I'll usually have doubling alto/soprano and tenor saxes, respectively. Baritone or bass sax, and contrabass sarrusophone, may be used in lieu of contrabassoon. I combine alto and tenor saxes with strings in one of the movements of my Symphony No. 2 for a romantic sound (got that idea from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet)
- Horn: one of the most challenging instruments of all to play. And I like to challenge performers. I use horns in melodic passages far more than I do trumpet or trombone; I tend to emphasize the harmonic series more for the latter two. Because intonation and timbre is governed so much by the position of the hand within the bell, I write quarter tones and other microtones for horns very frequently. I also tend to use higher notes (since I assume double horns, F plus high B flat, are being used), as high as the D above the staff or so. As for the low pedal notes, I try not to overuse these, but I may use the fourth horn as a "second tuba" on occasion.
- Trumpet: I use B flat trumpets unless otherwise specified. The seventh harmonic, usually ignored, is going to be used frequently by me. I treat these as a B two-thirds tone flat or A third-tone sharp, which I write as B flat with arrow down or A sharp with arrow down. The eleventh harmonic is treated as a fourth a quarter tone sharp or a tritone a quarter tone flat (so backwards flats and single-vertical sharps are used). The highest harmonic I will likely use for trumpets and trombones is the twelfth, a high G above the staff for trumpet. Also, I may be using the third valve slide as a microtuning device.
- Trombone: As a matter of habit, I use two tenors and a bass (or maybe an alto, tenor and bass). The bass trombone may use a few pedal tones sometimes, doubling the tuba in unison as well as an octave or fifth higher (again, making power chords in the latter case). Naturally, trombones, like the violin family, are perfect microtonal instruments, but with limited technical speed.
- Tuba: I assume an E flat / low B flat four-valve bass tuba by default. Pedal tones, possibly well into the zeroth octave, may have to be played. I always use bass clef, non-transposing.
- Timpani: Four to six, one or two players. For a full set, and in a tonal/modal/maqamic situation, I like to tune them to a pentatonic scale in an octave range. For atonal pieces, things may get weird.
- Piano: I recommend using a Bösendorfer Imperial if possible, for the low C extension. (I know they're expensive.) Also, a second upright piano tuned a quarter tone (50 cents) flat should be placed nearby. I got the idea from Charles Ives, naturally. And one more thing: a piano also doubles as a percussion instrument. I got that idea from Edgard Varèse.
- Harp: I usually only use one, but two will obviously be needed if I need a full chromatic scale. (I don't like using any more instruments than is necessary.)
- Strings: the usual five-part ensemble. Since I'll often have the parts divisi, as I do the winds, that means as many as ten string parts (actually, probably only nine, since I may never divide the basses). Cellos and basses will often play power fifths. Obviously, these fretless instruments will be covering the lion's share of microtonal notes.
I'll make changes to this list over time.
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