.

Our reason for supplying the above information is mainly in order to
direct attention to the small proportion of wind (and especially of
brass) instruments, and to warn the amateur conductor not to admit too
large a number of cornets and trombones to his organization, lest the
resulting effect be that of a band rather than that of an orchestra.
If there are available a great many wind instruments and only a few
strings, it will probably be better to admit only a few of the best
wind instrument players to the orchestra (about two cornets and one
trombone) and to organize a band in order to give the rest of the
players an opportunity for practice.[26] It will probably be necessary
for the conductor to warn his wind players to aim at a more mellow
tone than they use when playing in a band, in order that the brass
tone may blend with the string tone. In the case of the reed
instruments, this will sometimes mean a thinner reed in orchestra work
than is used in bands.

[Footnote 26: In making plans for the organization of a group of wind
instrument players into a band, it should be noted by the conductor
that here the entire harmony must be supplied by the individual
instruments (no piano being used) thus making it necessary to have
alto, tenor, and baritone saxhorns in addition to cornets, clarinets,
flutes, and trombones. The tuba is also almost indispensable, while
the inclusion of two or three saxophones will greatly increase the
mellowness of the effect as well as providing an additional color to
make the tonal textures more interesting.]

[Sidenote: TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS]

In dealing with any ensemble group that includes wind instruments, the
conductor must master the intricacies involved in the subject of
_transposing instruments_, and although this book is not the place to
get such technical knowledge as was referred to in the introductory
paragraph of this chapter, yet perhaps a brief explanation of the most
important points will not be wholly out of place, since we are writing
more especially from the standpoint of the amateur.

By a transposing instrument we mean one in the case of which the
performer either plays from a part that is written in a different key
from that of the composition, or that sounds pitches an octave higher
or lower than the notes indicate. Thus, _e.g._, in a composition
written in the key of E-flat, and actually played in that key by the
strings, piano, _et cetera_, the clarinet pa