Why does an orchestra have many people playing the same instruments? How does it add to the overall performance?

Question

Why does an orchestra have many people playing the same instruments? How does it add to the overall performance?

In: Other

Answer 1

Generally, the main reason is that having more instruments playing the same part creates a richer sound, but there are multiple reasons that vary for different instruments.

For example you have three trumpets, and they often play different parts (different melodies that harmonize with each other) but they can also play the same part, then that melody will usually be heard over the rest of the orchestra.

Now, the instrument that there are the most of in an orchestra is the violin. There are usually around 30 violinists. They are usually only divided into two parts (but can be divided further) so you often have 14 instruments on the same part. One of the reasons is as I’ve mentioned richness, but another is that brass instruments like trumpets are so much freaking louder than strings so having more strings creates a more balanced sound.

Edit: typical number of violins.

Edit 2: clarity