Short Score to Full Score

Up to this point, I had been writing this piece in a quasi-short score. I would put all flutes on one line, all clarinets on one line, etc, etc. This was a great way to get my ideas down quickly and easily, as opposed to the rather intimidation full score, but with the amount of material that I have accumulated and how far I am into the writing phase a short score seems somewhat detrimental to the compositional process.

There are a number of elements that I had not even previously considered (or at least not in any great detail). Doubling is one is these elements. The way I composed in my short score was just simply melody with underlying harmony, not thinking about balance between the two. I would take the flutes and give them the melody, then give, say, the chord underneath to brass. In the conversion process I might find that just the flutes don't quite break through that chord that the brass has the as much as I wanted, as they are largely outnumbered. Being able to look back and say “I'm going to double that melody in the trumpets” is rather important to the compositional process, and I somehow miraculously neglected to think about it before the switch!

The major thing that I hadn't considered that much was counter-line. With the short score I was using being spit up by instrument, there were far fewer parts to work with so I would focus on getting down what I needed (melody, harmony) and most of the time forget about a counter-line or counter-melody. When looking at the full score, there are just so many more opportunities for this. You can, for example, give first flutes and clarinets the melody, while the seconds take a counter-melody. The sheer number of instruments makes it easier to create counter-line. Another aspect is that it is just easier to actually see where counter-line would be appropriate, as you can see how every individual line interacts with each other.

Overall, I feel the switch to full score at this point in the game was a great idea, as it has given me a bulk of new opportunities to revamp previous material as well as coming up with new material, and finishing the piece!