Beginner's Orchestration

Part 1 -- Getting Started & Explanations

A guide for beginners studying introductory orchestra, though the reader is also expected to already know the basics of musical notation.

I setup this guide as simply as possible, mostly geared to digital music production, but if parts are also useful for real-life it's here. Note I do not include full details, focusing mostly on what's good, and what's not, to avoid explaining explanations (which I feel is why music theory is hard, it's overdescribed).

Instead of memorising terminology, chords, arpeggios, etc., simply create your own consistent musical patterns, then add other instruments to your tastes. Free MIDI packs and MusicXML files, especially of composers from the past few hundred years, exist to help you. I've gathered all info from various sites and books, putting everything together as simply as I could.

In your DAW, you can pan heavier musical elements to the sides, gradually building up atmosphere with reverb, then after it settles down, focus a solo instrument without panning for basic cinematic music. If you have difficulty panning to a specific spot, set the instrument to mono so you can hear easier.

If there's anything you can't figure out, don't worry; move onto the next subject. What your eyes can't understand, your ears will hear. Music is auditory, not textual, so just listen!

You may need...

Cubase LE, a good free Digital Audio Workstation for MIDI; includes stock plugins for easy mixing and mastering
Dorico SE, the free music notation software by same company of Cubase; includes tutorials

Useful software:
Kontakt Player, a free and huge sampler with many instruments and sounds
Sam's Free Orchestra, runs with Kontakt Player
Berlin Free Orchestra, for SINE Player

If you're not interested in learning orchestration, preferring jumping into music-making, the easiest way is to remix video game music. There's plenty of MIDIs from Nintendo 64 and GameCube games, with multiple websites hosting them for download.

Drag and drop MIDI into your DAW, then add various instruments, placing each MIDI track into their associated instrument (unless otherwise desired). Learning by doing works well.

Cubase LE has stock mixing and mastering plugins, meaning you simply click on the mastering button, click on the default windows, and the basic mastering plugins appear immediately. Even if left at default settings, they will do a decent job. Spend a few seconds playing with the controls.

The default EQ also is fairly good. Once opened, click along the horizontal line to be shaped something like what I call the 'EQ face' which looks something like:

[v^—^/\]

(A downward scoop at the bottom left, a small upward point next, middle left alone, then a broader upward curve somewhere in the middle-right portion; adjust slightly to your tastes)

Do not compare expert orchestrations with inexperienced ones! Music is creation, not destruction of learning!

Sound

Vibration

This is frequency; number of frequencies / cycles per second is measured in Hertz; amplitude is intensity of vibrations.

Greater frequency = higher pitch; greater amplitude = louder sound.

Pythagoras discovered some of these acoustic laws.

Tones generate ascending vibrations, correlating with the pitch played by other instruments (Timbre); often represented as ratios. Timbral qualities are adjustable in your DAW via EQ and plugins, especially when you're using studio monitors (speakers with a flat frequency).