Reddit mentions of Essential Dictionary of Orchestration: The Most Practical and Comprehensive Resource for Composers, Arrangers and Orchestrators (Essential Dictionary Series)

Not that this doesn't belong here per se, but you should also post this over on r/OrchestrationHub. You might get a better answer.

My answer to your question would be: a mixture of both.

My favorite book when it comes to orchestration and topics like this would be The Essential Dictionary of Orchestration. It has everything a composer or music enthusiast would need to know about just about every orchestral instrument out there, including timbre and mood-creating descriptions. It's a fantastic reference tool. (I know it looks like I'm advertising for something but I'm serious; worth every penny.)

I'd recommend this book. I don't have this particular version, but the one I've had I've used for years. It's a great quick guide to stuff like this. It won't replace a better orchestration book that covers considerations of extended technique and volume by range, etc., but you can keep it handy to always be able to figure this stuff out. Honestly, if you're curious about these kinds of things you could open your mind a huge deal just thumbing through it and getting a better ideas of how various instrument work and the notation that they might use that you're less familiar with. The first page of a given instrument or family will have range, sounding range and the transposition (octave displacement as well.

> Add the E flat clarinet to the piccolo if you want some extra punch/piercing/volume.

Does anyone really want "extra punch/piercing/volume" from a piccolo?

> Add the oboes or clarinets to the flutes if the flutes sound too thin. Consider doubling these in octaves. Harmony can serve a similar purpose and provide a different timbre than exact doubling.

Writing flutes and clarinets/oboes together definitely brings the flutes closer to the sound of the reed instruments. I'd think unison is the best bet. Octave doubling is an effect all its own, and shouldn't be used without purpose. However, if done, doubling should occur over the highest voice or under the lowest voice.

> Clarinets and violins or violas can sound almost identical if scored creatively. They blend very easily.

In my experience, clarinet gets masked by strings if they're in the same register. You're the clarinetist, though. What's your take?

> These are just a handful of ways to spice up your sounds. There are infinitely more, and you'll just have to experiment with them to figure out what you like.

"Experiment" is a strange word to use for an expensive ensemble that requires a lot of manpower and a huge amount of skill to write for. Assuming OP even has access to an orchestra, I would be incredibly surprised if the conductor or any of the musicians tolerated repeated experimentation with bad orchestration that wastes their rehearsal time. Better and cheaper is to get a couple of books on orchestration (Rimsky-Korsakov, Piston, Adler, Gerou/Black), do exercises, have a composer who knows what they are doing critique said exercises, and study the shit out of scores. And no, sound libraries are not the same thing as a real orchestra.

>Don't underestimate the value of letting an instrument stand on its own though. Don't double everything or else you'll get a machine instead of an orchestra. That said, the best way to figure out what sounds good is to pick up some scores you like, listen to them while you read, and figure out what sounds you like.

Solid advice. Overscoring is the most common mistake of composers unfamiliar with the orchestral medium.

But here's the thing - years down the road, after you've written a bunch of music, you'll look back on this and probably not want to have it performed. You'll say "Wow, I can't believe I used to write music that sounded like that". I'm not saying that to imply that it's bad music, I'm saying that because that is the progression that all composers go through. When you finally have an opportunity to have a large work performed, you're not going to want it to be something you wrote long ago when you were a college student just starting out, you're going to want it to be something fresh that uses your most up to date musical skills.

Also, you don't have to take an orchestration class to learn how to orchestrate, you just need to study scores and get an orchestration book. I highly recommend starting with this pocket orchestration book, which is very cheap and contains most of the basics you need.

Well, it depends how far into it you're looking to get. There are entire college courses on orchestration, i.e. the art of writing for one or more instruments to get a specific sound/effect. On a more basic level, which will work well for many of the ones I linked since they're already quartets, you can just assign parts that fit the range of the instrument - make sure you're transposing them!

http://andrewhugill.com/manuals/ranges/brass.html <- this is a nice chart of the ranges for most common brass instruments, and includes both the written pitch and the sounding pitch. It definitely is written with professional players in mind, though, so on the high and low ends it's a bit... overly generous. If you can spend a few bucks this book is a much better guide, I think, and covers every instrument you'd be likely to come across, ever!

http://www.abrsm.org/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t19096.html <- that's a good read as well, starts to get into some other concerns when writing for brass (like leaving space for breathing, for example).

I don't know what your level of experience is with music in general (or brass in particular), so these might not be a ton of help. Google is your friend. You can find the equivalent of a college education on most any subject you choose, you just might have to dig around a little and get it from multiple sources.

Good luck! Let me know if you have more specific questions, I'm not a masterful arranger but I've done a few charts when we needed something easy to read. A good first step is just to start doing it and learn as you go.

there's a little tiny book here http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Orchestration-The-Series/dp/0739000217 ... it's really little but addresses the range and sound OFEVERYINSTRUMENTEVER. good luck

There is this [cute little book] (https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Orchestration-Pocket-Size/dp/0739000217/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499767811&sr=1-1&keywords=Essential+Dictionary+of+Orchestration)
Ranges, transpositions and essential characteristics (eg tonal quality at various registers) of just about any instrument you're likely to have to work with.

There are even some occasional "scoring tips" (ie reasons or circumstances for using specific instruments), but in general this is just a handy reference book, not a study course on arranging.

If you need to brush up on notation details for scoring it has an equally pocket-sized companion on [notation] (https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Music-Notation-Pocket/dp/0882847309/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ESK6G4YW8W4T157XMEAE)

Essential Dictionary of Orchestration

Ok that helps! There is a book that the Minnesotan composer Carl Schroeder said I should get, that I think would benefit you too! It's around $6 give or take on amazon, and here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Orchestration-The-Series/dp/0739000217/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_z
There are others in the series that would help too, but this is the one I suggest. It has a list of many many instruments, both standard and non-standard, what the timbre is like, the range of the instrument, among other things. It's not really a good read, but more of a reference to go to. As for general orchestration. Do what I do (sometimes) just combine random instruments together, have them play together. Plug it into some software and see how it sounds. After awhile you get a sense of what works together and what doesn't. For example, flute and oboe sound nice. Clarinet and bassoon go well. Horn and Viola section are pretty decent. When high together, viola and cello sound very cool. All those sorts of things. If you say you've been listening and listening to music, then unfortunately I'm going to have to say you've probably been listening to them wrong. Get a score to read off of while you listen and highlight passages you find intriguing and find why it is. Is it the instrumentation? The melody? A combo of both? Best of luck, my friend!

Try it out. Dive in, see what works, what doesn't. Back it up with theory. I'm fond of these as resources:

• Principles of Orchestration: http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Orchestration-Dover-Books-Music/dp/0486212661
  
• The Study of Orchestration: http://www.amazon.com/Study-Orchestration-Third-Samuel-Adler/dp/039397572X
  
• Essential Dictionary: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Orchestration/dp/0739000217
  
• MIDI Orchestration: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-MIDI-Orchestration-4e/dp/0240814134
  
  Find scores you enjoy, and study those. Harmonics, counter-point, instrumentation, melodic structure, and so on. I'm particularly fond of James Newton Howard scores, and Jeff Atmajian's orchestration work on his projects. Like Ravel? Start there and become really intimate with Ravel and his scores and techniques.
  
  That said, I'm also happy to orchestrate something for you. PM'd you.