I thought it was about time that I attempted my first orchestral piece. And so I present to you… “The Sweet Shop”.

So far this piece has gone through two iterations: the original piano composition, and the above orchestral demo. Each one took me about a week to write. However, the orchestral demo is not the finished version.

The orchestral demo has 12 instrument parts, but I’m not sure how many players will be needed on each instrument. One problem with writing orchestral music is that the size of an orchestra can vary greatly. When writing for film, then the size of your orchestra very much depends on the budget, and the size of the orchestra, impacts how you write the music. There are certain techniques in orchestral writing that require a larger orchestra and so employing them with a smaller orchestra won’t deliver the sound you’re after. These issues are to do with orchestration, an area where my knowledge is pretty limited. However, I’ve just started a home study course on the subject, which coupled with some rewriting will allow me to further shape and develop my piece.