Learn Instrumentation NOT Orchestration

Okay, that was just to suck you in, there is a lot of wonderful things to learn in orchestration, but my point is that if you truly know the instruments, you can create your own way of combining them, saving "orchestration" for your own artistic contribution.

It's like being a chef. Find out all the properties of the ingredients, learn the basic types of combinations, then see if you can create something new with that understanding, something you know people will love.

The best book on instrumentation is bar none:

Alfred Blatter
"Instrumentation / Orchestration"

Just to set the record straight, there is hardly any amazing orchestration tips in here. But what he does do is give you an understanding of the basic orchestrations possible, just like a chef being taught how to make a chicken noodle soup. And on the Instrumentation side, this book is de facto ... giving notation for all kinds of instrument idiosyncracies and ranges, sound qualities, and all of his descriptions I can testify are just what he says. They truly come out as he describes.

And finally there is no substitute for hands on learning. Make sure you create your share of instrument experiments so you can find out the truth for yourself.

Remember, Bernard Herrmann wrote 1200 radio shows before doing his first film "Citizen Kane".