Contrasting Band and Orchestra

While band and orchestra are somewhat similar, there are many key differences between them. As the top oboist in the top band at my school, I am given the opportunity to play in orchestra as well as band. Wind players are much more exposed when playing in a symphonic orchestra. Usually, there are multiple players on a part in a concert band. In orchestra, there is typically one person per part, while some instruments do not even have multiple parts. This forces wind players to create a louder, more confident sound than they are used to playing with. While it might seem nerve-racking, this ultimately increases the player's skill level. They will more than likely begin to transfer this improved, confident sound to concert band. As a result, this increases the overall level of quality sound the band produces.

One of the largest differences between band and orchestra instruments is the way you produce sound. Wind players use their air to make sound vibrations, whereas string players run their bows across the strings to make them vibrate, also creating sound waves. Breathing and controlling your air stream is extremely important in making a wind instrument sound. Musicians must be able to find the correct balance of air pressure and intensity in order to produce notes. Sting players, however, concentrate solely on the technique used to drag the bow across the strings. There are many ways to make the strings vibrate, the most common being plucking, bowing, and striking. This results in an advantage for string players. While wind players have to practice very conservatively in order to not wear out their lips too much, string players can play for hours on end before reaching even the slightest fatigue.

There are many different types of instruments in band. These can be broken down into three sections: woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Woodwind instruments include flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and saxophones. The brass category, on the other hand, consists of trumpets, french horns, trombones, baritones, and tubas. The percussion section can include many different types of odd, uncommon instruments only needed for a few specific songs. However, almost all percussion sections include a snare drum, bass drum, suspended or crash cymbals, timpani, marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, and bells. The range of instruments is much smaller for orchestra. A string orchestra includes violins, violas, cellos, and basses. A symphonic orchestra incorporates all the band instruments except saxophones into the orchestra. The reason they are excluded is because their sound is too similar to those of string instruments to be needed in a full orchestra.

The types of music played by an orchestra and band may be the same or it may differ dramatically. Some music is arranged just for string orchestras, like famous symphonic work by Mozart, or just for marching bands, like the marches of Sousa. Other compositions are made for orchestra and band alike, with the individual conductor deciding which musicians will perform which parts.