Does a viola that plays low notes sound like a cello that plays high notes?
I am in the middle of writing a score and I stumbled across a problem. I want one of the violas to double the melody an octave lower, but some notes are out of the range of this instrument. I was thinking about repleacing the said viola with a cello to get rid of the issue, but then comes the qestion from the title: wouldn't the sound be different? I the Musescore there is no difference between the two, but I have doubts that it is the case in the real life. What do you think?
Comments
Think about it. a cello is always going to have a deeper tone than a viola, playing the same pitch. On the other hand, depending on the situation, you might want this effect.
Were you writing this score to be played by real musicians, IRL, or as a synthesized score?
If the former, then obviously you can't write notes below the bottom range, because they won't be played. You have three options: 1) give the line to the 'cellos, or 2) give the line to the violas, but when it goes below the C, then either a) omit those particular notes, or b) transpose them (and only them) up an octave. All three solutions have long histories in the practise of orchestration.
I see that you are writing this in 3.6.2--it will allow you to write, and will realize, notes that are outside of the instrument's range (and I have done this purposely on occasion, to achieve a particular playback sound); although as you have noted, the string tone is pretty consistent througout the entire range, from low cello up through high violin. If you open this with 4 and MuseSounds, the celli and violas will sound more differentiated (as IRL), but MuseSounds will just not play notes that are outside of the instruments range. (Or so I've found.)