Playing Instruments As A Composer

I started learning the violin when I was 9 years old and still play every now and then these days. I’m not a great violinist, and when recording a score, I will 98.5% of the time bring in any of the ridiculously talented violinists the LA music scene has to offer.

Knowing how to play is, however, very beneficial as a composer since it gives me a much deeper understanding of violin techniques, including extended techniques, fingering, bowing/slurs, positions, how close to the bridge or fingerboard I want a passage played, mutes, articulations, and an endless list of other factors that go into string writing, which one can best understand by playing the instrument. It’s, of course, great to study orchestration texts, but I’ve found that studying and playing an instrument gives much more depth in understanding.

Sitting down to a sample library that lets you choose legato, pizz, staccato, spiccato, harmonics, etc. and then press a key is great, but it’s detached from the reality and real potential of an instrument. It confines you to what the sample library includes while also making any passage seemingly possible, which might not actually be possible with a real musician (such as difficult string crossings, double stops that are impractical, etc.).

Since then, I’ve added other instruments to my tool belt, including the flute which I’ve been studying for the past 3-4 years. Writing for woodwinds seemed simple enough, I read Korsakov’s orchestration book as well as some others. Once I learned to play the flute, it completely changed my understanding of wind writing. Similarly to what playing the violin did to my string writing: it made me realize how impractical certain passages are, or which trills are or aren’t possible or which alternate fingers help or sound better in certain situations, while also exposing me to aspects of the flute that I didn’t really understand well before, for example woodwind harmonics, pitch bends that are or aren’t possible, etc.

Aside from those, I’ve played bits of other instruments here and there on my own scores: guitar, piano, percussion, etc. Again, there are so many incredible musicians in this town that put a universe of quality into a single note beyond what I can, but writing for instruments with the first-hand perspective of someone who plays the instrument I think makes a world of difference.