A Taxonomy of Orchestral Grouping Effects Derived from Principles of Auditory Perception
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Abstract
The study of timbre and orchestration in symphonic music research is rare, and few theories attempt to explain strategies for combining and contrasting instruments and the resulting perception of orchestral structures and textures. An analysis of orchestration treatises and musical scores reveals an implicit understanding of auditory grouping principles by which many orchestration techniques give rise to predictable perceptual effects. We present a novel theory formalized in a taxonomy of devices related to auditory grouping principles that appear frequently in orchestration practices from a range of historical epochs. We develop orchestration analysis categories based on concurrent grouping cues that result in blended combinations of instruments, sequential grouping cues that result in segregated melodies or stratified (foreground and background) layers on the basis of acoustic (dis)similarities, and segmental grouping cues that contrast sequentially presented materials and contribute to the creation of perceptual boundaries. The theory predicts orchestration-based perceptual structuring in music.
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