Falling into a common trap

As I have been orchestrating Night Sky I realized that I have been falling into a common trap.  There are sections of the piece in which I have been adding percussion almost as an afterthought.  Of course I intend to have the percussion play in these sections; however what plays and when is not planned out.  This is a common pitfall with composers.  It is much easier to conceptualize the brass section or how the alto saxophones will blend with the french horns than it is to realize how non-pitched percussion will complement the rest of the band.

This mindset is easy to fall into.  Often percussion is something that gets pushed further down the to-do list.  How a composer uses percussion is as important as how a composer uses the clarinet section.  I have heard pieces where the percussion is clearly an afterthought.  The writing seems forced, as if the composer forgot to use these instruments throughout.  Fortunately, I do not believe that my music has turned out this way.  There are many sections especially in the last third of the piece that is composed around specific percussion elements.

Another issue I have had when composing out the percussion parts is remembering what instrument goes with what part.  This is an easy problem to remedy.  I need to take a few minutes and create a percussion chart that I can reference as I compose.  In the end the chart is needed for the instrumentation list, so it is something that I will need to do anyways.  I just need to take a moment and write it up.