The sounds are, of course, what you first notice in an orchestra class. Chairs scooting into place, bows knocking against hollow wooden instruments as students set up, sheet music rattling as it’s adjusted on stands.
Once the rehearsal is in session, the sounds change. Pitches rise and fall as a teacher leads students through a piece incrementally, sometimes producing a screech and other times a carefully melded unison. Tough passages soften under fingers as they become more familiar with the notes’ choreography.