Heya and thanks for have answer ^.^

@clamnectar, i agree that is subjectif and i kinda can do whatever i would like to. But i try to make a setup who wouldnt chock to much people who are not used of none ordinary positions.

@Samplin, i agree about the description for the diferent pics and for the timpani case.

At start i wanted make the same one as the 1st pic but after listen diferent music it wasn't what i wanted, or like i said i having my monitoring not making sound like it should. I have think about make a setup but i wasn't sure if it can work well. Here the setup i have think :

                       Gong/Cymbal/Triangle    BassDrum     Timpani     Tubular Bell  Snare  Vibra/Xylophone/glockenspiel             

                                                        French Horns           Trombones   Trumpets   Tuba

                                           Piano            Clarinets     Bass Clarinet  Bassoons   Contra Bassoon

                                                   Harp         Flutes     Oboes     Piccolo   English Horn

                                                                     Violas                                    Cellos/Basses   

                                                       1st Violins                        I                               2nd Violins

I have think about that position but i am not sure the balance will be that good. From diferent music i have listen most of time i found the trumpet was sounding a lot on right side.

Feel free to say me what you thinking about it nd thanks a lot for the help ^.^

concerning the strings this is almost a german seating that you apply. the german seating rather looks like that:

                                    Basses

                                        Celli        Violas

                             1st Violin                    2nd Violin

your setup will probably work as well, but it will sound a little awkward, because it´s not usual to seat the strings like that

generally speaking, the german seating is suited better for pieces with elaborate counterpoint and the american seating for elaborate harmony.

edit: a further suggestion... i think, it is more reasonable to swap the seating of trumpets and trombones, so that the bass- and tenor instruments of the brass are together. furthermore i don´t think it is a good idea to intersect the woodwinds. keep the flutes together, don´t put the oboes in between flutes and piccolo. and therefore also keep the oboes and the english horn together. usually the piccolo is played by a "normal" flutist who switches instruments during the piece... it is very unlikely that a flutist will change places ;) even if there is a dedicated player, the balance will be much better and natural sounding, if the groups stay together. it is of course not prohibited to seat the players like you did, but as far as i know, noone does so... but if it works and you like it, well... don´t bother and keep it...

@aural said:

concerning the strings this is almost a german seating that you apply. the german seating rather looks like that:

                                    Basses

                                        Celli        Violas

                             1st Violin                    2nd Violin

your setup will probably work as well, but it will sound a little awkward, because it´s not usual to seat the strings like that

generally speaking, the german seating is suited better for pieces with elaborate counterpoint and the american seating for elaborate harmony.

edit: a further suggestion... i think, it is more reasonable to swap the seating of trumpets and trombones, so that the bass- and tenor instruments of the brass are together. furthermore i don´t think it is a good idea to intersect the woodwinds. keep the flutes together, don´t put the oboes in between flutes and piccolo. and therefore also keep the oboes and the english horn together. usually the piccolo is played by a "normal" flutist who switches instruments during the piece... it is very unlikely that a flutist will change places 😉 even if there is a dedicated player, the balance will be much better and natural sounding, if the groups stay together. it is of course not prohibited to seat the players like you did, but as far as i know, noone does so... but if it works and you like it, well... don´t bother and keep it...

Say Aural, Thank you for posting the German seating arrangement.  I write a lot of counterpoint and I've noticed that my counter melodies get lost in the American seating.  I've noted your string set up but, if you have the time, I would appreciate it if you could elaborate on this seating arrangment as it applies to the rest of the orchestra, winds, Brass, etc.

I think the German seating would be better suited for my work.

Thank you

the seating of the winds does not really differ from the american seating... it also depends on the conductor´s taste, but a possible seating is that:

                                             Percssion                 Timpani

                                   Horns           Trumpets       Trombones/ Tuba

                       Basses    Flutes  Clarinets        Oboes   Bassoons

                       Basses              Celli                     Violas

                                1st Violins                                 2nd Violins

depending on the space available and the taste of the conductor, the clarinets may stt behind the flutes and the bassons behind the oboes, between horns and trumpets. i also think some people like to seat flutes and clarinets in a row and behind that oboes and bassoons, yet i don´t particularly like that. matter of taste.

actually the german seating is displayed in one of the graphics. it is the second from the bottom. but as i said: depending on the available space and the taste of the conductor, that can vary a little.

Heya,

Thanks aural for your description it make a lot of sence and confirm what i have can see on diferent live i checked on youtube.

I have listen lot of diferent music and watch diferent live and here is a partial setup i thinking to use all are free to say what you thinking about it. For the moment i don't know yest where i will put the snare i thinking on right side but need think about it more.

                           Tubular Bell   Triangle/Cymbal  Bass drum

                               Xylo/Vibraphone/Glockenspiel  Timpani                                    Trombones  Tuba

                                    Piano   French Horns Clarinets B.Clar    Bassoons C.Bassoon Trumpets

                                              Harp       Piccolo     Flutes            Oboes  English Horn

                                                         2nd Violins                                    Violas

                                                 1st Violins                                                Cellos/Basses

I think it should sound better than my 1st idea but look like right side got less instruments for now so i need check what i can put on right side for have an better balance btw both side.

Thanks again to all who helped and glad to see it can help some others to ^.^

well, i like to position the percussion like that:

chromatic percussion (all sorts of mallets) on the left side, then cymbals, gongs, triangle, snare, bass drum, timpani

so it might look like that:

mallets   gongs/cymbals   snare   bass drum  toms   timpani

Heya aural,

Thanks again for share with all your infots on position. I am going to try a setup and come back with a test for you guys can say if it working or not. 

Gilles

I saw a concert this week with the 2nd violins on the right. Drove me nuts. I like V1-V2-VA-VC-CB left to right. 

it depends on the era the piece was created in.

mozart, for example, should be played with the german seating (VL2 on the right, VLC next to VL1)... the music was written for this seating and it wouldn´t make any sense to play it utilizing another seating... it looks weird, because nowadays you most of the time see the american seating... but unfortunately that seating is also used in pieces where it is not appropriate (i.e. stylistically or because of the era and therefore ignoring the composer´s intention).

there is music that sounds better with the american seating and there is music that sounds better with the german seating. the music is the important thing, not the seating of the musicians... the former determins the latter.

Heya all,

So i am back with my setup :X i panned most instruments i using and also made 5 diferents Depth. I still have some weird stuff i need to figure out like the timpani when not adding the convulation reverb is panned left/midle and when adding it, its more right/midle. Also the cymbal having a weird sound sometimes so i will check why. the setup is :

TubularBell  Triangle/castanet  Cymbals/gongs  Timpani    BassDrum  Tambourin/Snare

                    Xylophone      Vibraphone     Glockenspiel                                            Trombones   Tuba

                         French Honrs     Clarinets    BassClarinet    Bassoons  Contra Bassoon  Trumpets

       Celesta/piano/Harp                     Piccolo       Flutes       Oboes     English Horn 

                                             Violins2                                                          Violas

                       Violins                                                                                                     Cellos/basses

Here an exemple using that setup. Its the imperial march i using it for can compare easier. Its far to be good but still working on diferents things. http://gilles.costard.free.fr/Musique/ImperialTestSetup.mp3

I will try improve more this week ^.^

hi gilles.

sounds good so far. the only thing i would change in the setup are the trumpets. to my taste they are a little too far on the right. i would seat them left of the trombones right behind the bassoons

cheers

s.

Heya aural,

Thanks for have take the time to check ^.^ I guess its going to be a taste war because i don't like much when trumpets are to close to the midle :X but maybe i have to much pan them to right i still working on improving it so might be back later with new stuff :P

Thanks again ^.^

OP, you might want to check out this site with actual photos of scoring sessions in Hollywood since you were mostly interested in scoring. It shows most of them in the "American" layout with Cellos on the right and violins on the left. 

http://www.scoringsessions.com

Heya,

Thanks for the link its really interesting! And for what i have see its most like i though so i will keep how i did for now and will see depending on the composition if need to move any instruments.

Gilles