August Game Audio Club - Woodwind Quintets!
Details
We’re going to have a special Game Audio Club session this time around where folks from the VGMO community will come in as our sit-in woodwind quintet. We’ll have a chance to create a woodwind quintet piece, and they will sight‑read our scores (play them without practicing beforehand). Afterward, they’ll give us feedback about what works and what doesn’t for their instruments.
This is important because outside of DAWs, we need to think about real human players performing on real physical instruments. Their feedback is extremely valuable for becoming better at writing for acoustic instruments and eventually for full orchestras. I will also record the sessions so everyone has reference material afterward.
I’m providing a resource page for anyone who isn’t familiar with writing for woodwind quintet or using engraving software. We will be making actual scores for the musicians, so you’ll need an engraving software—software that lets you create physical sheet music. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on Dorico or Sibelius, there is a free option I personally use called MuseScore, and I’ve included links to the download as well as MuseScore’s official video tutorial list. That alone should get you off to a good start, but if you have any questions about anything specific, feel free to message me privately on Discord or via email at lazcomposer@gmail.com
If you’re not familiar with the woodwind quintet: it consists of flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and—surprise—French horn, which is not actually a woodwind instrument. For this event, you can write for the full quintet, but if that feels overwhelming, you can also write for any solo instrument, any duo, any trio, or any combination of the five instruments. Do whatever feels comfortable. I want this to be a learning opportunity no matter what level you’re coming in at.
I’ve also added examples of woodwind quintet music. I’ve always been a huge fan of the remake of Link’s Awakening, which uses many woodwind‑quintet‑style pieces. Not all of them are pure quintet, and some include extra instruments like snare or electronics, but they’re still great examples of woodwind writing in video games. I’ve also provided examples of classical woodwind quintet pieces.
On top of that, I’m including videos on how to write for woodwind quintet, how to write for woodwinds, and how to write for French horn. I’m also providing note‑range charts for each instrument, since we need to think about physical limitations—computers can do anything, but real instruments cannot.
Feel free to create new original works, or you can arrange an existing piece for woodwind quintet if that feels more manageable. Whatever angle you want to take is totally fine. I really wanted to give people a chance to do something different—something most folks wouldn’t normally have access to outside a university setting or without a ton of fame to get live recordings in a giant Hollywood studio. Please keep the piece to at most 3-5 minutes. You can of course do much less than that, but please take in account that we need time for everyone to get a chance to have their piece played.
Please get the finished score and separate parts to me by no later than Thursday 8/6 at 7:00pm. I need to print them out for the musicians at least a day before.
If anybody has any questions about anything, just let me know. I want this to be a comfortable and exciting learning experience for everyone.