Do orchestras tend to have too many instruments?

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think of the classical music composer, for the orchestra, as being akin to a pipe organist with his array of different-sounding organ stops to choose from. there are different characters of sound- soft sounds, loud sounds, harsh sounds, gentle sounds, in several different pitch ranges, to choose from, these combinations are called registrations. the organ's manuals [lower accompaniment manual/keyboard, upper solo and great/swell] tend to have different registrations, with the accompaniment tending towards soft and smooth, with the solo manual playing a more incisively-toned registration, this is done so the central melody is not drowned out, it must be a clearly audible melodic line which the accompaniment parts support. similarly, a symphony orchestra composer writes symphony parts that break into harsh/soft/loud/soft/high-pitched/low-pitched, in various registrations, for the same reasons. remember that organs don't have volume controls per se, they regulate their volume via adding/subtracting speaking pipes, and sometimes via swell shutters in front of the pipes mounted in sound-insulated cabinets. a symphony orchestra's maximum volume is determined via the total number of players blowing their tops on command. sometimes a symphony orchestra will feature only some of the players or some sections, when volume and variety are not needed. pops orchestras subtract all the first-chair players, ultimate volume is not needed for most pops repertoire.

Most of the orchestral scores I've seen use strings a lot more than brass. Strings seem to be the default or neutral sound, brass used more sparingly for special effects. For example, the double basses play the bassline most of the way through. In loud passages with lots of brass instruments, the tuba and the double basses both play the bassline. More rarely, if it's a dramatic bit with just brass and no strings, the tuba takes the bassline on its own.

Viola v/s horn is an interesting one. They both get used for harmony parts a lot- the viola section does this pretty much all the time. Horns have a much more mellow sound than other brass instruments, so often they're the only brass playing. Harmonies for strings and horns sound warm and rich.

Melodies for just the violas are rare because their warm fuzzy tone doesn't carry well above the rest of the orchestra. They sound better with a clarinet, bassoon or horn playing the same notes to beef it up a bit. So often the answer is "use both"! Solo horn melodies are saved for special moments- it's a magical sound, but composers avoid overusing it.

Not sure how much this applies to film music- I've never laid hands on a printed film score!

Oh okay, I never thought of the viola as warm, but I was just going by film scores I've heard it in. For example, is this a viola here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCTPc2iRtr8&t=78s

The french horn sounds kind of like but I figure, why not use the viola only, and no french horn? Bot then again, here is a piece that seems to have both viola and french horn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PizqPoHWyas

Would it sounds better if the french horn was removed in the opening part, and it was just violas, or no?

the french horn untertoning the strings is essential for the somber mood as well as its graveness hinting at enormity [evil which happened].

Oh okay, I guess I just thought that if you have two instruments that are playing in such unison at such similar volumes and notes, that it feels like they are canceling each other out, compared to instruments playing together at different notes and pitches, if that makes sense?

the horn lives in a different timbre envelope than the strings, so they complement one another.

"Doubling" instruments like this is a standard technique. Rather than cancelling each out, they produce a stronger, more complex sound that has elements of both instruments. The main reason to avoid doing this is if you just want a solo for a particular instrument.

I've been a bit surprised by some doublings when I'm reading through scores. I hear something where I think it's just the first violins playing the melody line. In the score, I see it's actually first violins plus a couple of oboes, with a bassoon playing the same tune an octave lower. What I thought was just a really nice violin sound turns out to have a lot of help from other instruments.

Found a nice (and rather extreme) example of doubling here:
At 4.03 , a little tune for two oboes.
At 12.04, the oboes are playing it again, but they've been joined by 3 flutes, 2 clarinets, a cor anglais, four horns, all the violin, violas and 'cellos, and even a harp. All playing the same notes as those two oboes!

Oh okay I listened to it, and there are several parts where I feel like a lot of the instruments you just can't hear, and wonder if they are all necessary. This leads me to think to things:

1. Perhaps not every microphone on every instrument was able to project them all at the correct volumes that needed to be at, at given times, and thus a lot of is drowned out unintentionally.

Or 2. Not being able to hear everything is the point?

the human hearing mechanism may not be able to pick out the precise combination of each instrument, but sensitive ears can hear when they are NOT there.

Oh okay thanks, that makes sense.

When it comes to choosing instruments as well, should I go for sounds I like, or more for the effect you want? For example at 5:55 into this clip, they use a xylophone to accompany the strings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZ ... 1602358802

Or, here is another example of xylophone accompanying strings at 2:08 into the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3altR0wWF-4

However, I don't really like the sound of a xylophone that much. So would it have the same acompanyment effect to use a piano instead for example, or does it have to be a xylophone or something similar, to have that acompanyment effect that they are going for?

i think the purpose of the xylo was to indicate action or impending action which sharp percussions do pretty well. a piano would not have the same effect, too melodic.

Oh okay. Since I want something else other than the xylophone, would drums work to create percussion for action, the same way, or no?

it should be something that stands out sharply. perhaps a tin-foil-treated [honkytonk] piano?

Oh do you mean this kind of piano?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdD5oAhOgfs

this is long but in the 2nd half you can hear what it sounds like, this is closer-