WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COMPOSER AND AN ORCHESTRATOR?
for soundtracks the answer depends on a number of factors, mainly who the composer is but also timescales and contractual agreements. in general, at very least the composer gets the music to the point where it is synchronised to scene, with all the main musical ideas 'noted' and the expression/mood clear. the orchestrator then takes whatever the composer has produced and turns it into a complete and correctly written-out piece of music (e.g. for the instrumentalists to play). this tends to apply mainly to the orchestral instruments, hence the word 'orchestrator'
the level of creative input from the orchestrator themself varies considerably - as far as I am aware John Williams produces fairly complete instrumental parts which his orchestrator edits and produces the final manuscripts from, whereas other composers (perhaps relying more heavily on computer technology / midi etc. for their work) work with orchestrators who take decisions themselves about which instruments play which notes and even create new music parts themselves
up to now i've tended to compose as well as orchestrate my own music (i lean towards Ennio Morricone's view that artistically one side can't be separated from the other), however i have no problem collaborating with another orchestrator and with tight timescales in place this could become a necessity
for soundtracks the answer depends on a number of factors, mainly who the composer is but also timescales and contractual agreements. in general, at very least the composer gets the music to the point where it is synchronised to scene, with all the main musical ideas 'noted' and the expression/mood clear. the orchestrator then takes whatever the composer has produced and turns it into a complete and correctly written-out piece of music (e.g. for the instrumentalists to play). this tends to apply mainly to the orchestral instruments, hence the word 'orchestrator'
the level of creative input from the orchestrator themself varies considerably - as far as I am aware John Williams produces fairly complete instrumental parts which his orchestrator edits and produces the final manuscripts from, whereas other composers (perhaps relying more heavily on computer technology / midi etc. for their work) work with orchestrators who take decisions themselves about which instruments play which notes and even create new music parts themselves
up to now i've tended to compose as well as orchestrate my own music (i lean towards Ennio Morricone's view that artistically one side can't be separated from the other), however i have no problem collaborating with another orchestrator and with tight timescales in place this could become a necessity