How to better imitate the sound of other instruments in the orchestra?

[claireliii]

Recently I have discovered in my lessons that my teachers would oftentimes refers to the sounds of brass/woodwind instruments when explaining a piece, but I wish I had the ability to discover that myself. Are there any specific approaches thatI could take to diversify the sound of my playing?
I do not listen to orchestral music very often so maybe I should just listen to orchestral music more? What specific pieces/composers do you recommend that would help me get a better understanding of other orchestral instruments?

On the technical side of things, is there a summary for how should I vary the way I hit the keyboard when trying to imitate different sound?(e.g. strong and fast attack for brass instruments vs tender touch for woodwind instruments)

[ranjit]

One of the ways I think about this, borrowed from the field of sound mixing, is to consider whether the instrument has a "warm" or "cool" tone. Those with a cool tone tend to emphasize higher frequencies more, and with a warm tone tend to emphasize lower frequencies more.

If you think about what the timbre of an instrument actually means -- you have a fundamental frequency, and then you have various overtones of that frequency. These overtones can be more or less prominent. In a sense, what you are doing is intuitively trying to emphasize those overtones on the piano.

This isn't exact of course because musical perception is affected by a bunch of other things, but I think it's an interesting conceptual way of thinking about it.

You can use various kinds of articulation at the piano along with the pedal to try and imitate the attack of an instrument. Then, you can think about which frequency range on the piano you want to emphasize (for example, you might try high octaves with subdued accompaniment for a piccolo).

You should also look up videos of people who seem to be doing it successfully. Great artists steal. 

[brogers70]

I do not listen to orchestral music very often so maybe I should just listen to orchestral music more? What specific pieces/composers do you recommend that would help me get a better understanding of other orchestral instruments?

Yes, absolutely listen to more orchestral and chamber music. If you are working on Brahms, for example, listen to his symphonies and his small ensemble pieces. If you are working on Mozart listen to his operas and concertos; if you are working on Bach, listen to lots of his cantatas. Then, when you play something on the piano, think of how the composer might have orchestrated it, and imagine the sound of the instruments.

I don't think it's necessarily helpful to try to breakdown the sound of each instrument and try to find a corresponding "attack" on the piano. Just thinking about the sound of the instrument and using your imagination will do the trick. For example, one of many, many, think of the second movement of Beethoven's Pastorale sonata with its staccato bass line - just imagining the sound of a bassoon may help you find the specific degree of staccato that sounds best to you.

So, yes, definitely, the more instrumental (and vocal) music you listen to by composers of the piano pieces you are working on the better.

[dogperson]

I agree with Brogers. Keep it simple: familiarize yourself with the character of the orchestral instruments.  There are many introductory videos— I have linked one below. Think about how a given instrument would play it.  I don’t consciously think of a specific key attack, and would not find that useful. Let your ears and fingers do the imitation, keeping in mind you are playing s piano, which is, by definition, a percussive instrument.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr-l2m8twX0

[anacrusis]

Ultimately, your ear will need to be your guide, so listening to the different instruments and orchestral works and then trying to imitate the sounds on the piano is a good idea. I highly recommend playing chamber music in different ensembles as well to get more intimate familiarity with the different instruments, if that is an option.

Some of the tools at your disposal to accomplish the sounds:
- You can experiment with your touch and see what different base sounds you can get out of the instrument through your physical approach.
- You can use the una corda pedal and vary how much you press it down and see how it affects the sound. You can vary your forte and even fortissimo through using the una corda pedal.
- You have infinite possibilites with the right pedal, how much you press it down, how often you change it, etc. Examples: You can press it down barely 1/4 of the way or 1/2 of the way or fully, you can change on every note or every other note or on harmony changes or according to the needs of the melody, you can change it in synchronization with the notes or use syncopated pedal so you change it after the key has been pressed down, you can sort of vibrate it to filter away resonance without really changing it etc etc. And all these things can be mixed and matched according to your needs.
- In textures with chords, multiple voices, etc. You can vary how you orchestrate the chords, i.e. how strongly the different notes sound. You can play the top voice forte and the other voices pianissimo, or the top voice mp and the other voices piano. Or the top voice mf, bottom voices mp, and middle voices pp. etc etc. Experiment and see what effects you can create!


All of these and more are at your disposal to manipulate your sound.