Ellis's interest in expanding the possibilities within big band instrumentation is obvious on even his first Orchestra release, 1966's "Live at Monterey". Inspired by his experiences with Latin bands, Ellis expanded his rhythm section to two drum sets, three double-basses, at least two auxiliary percussionists, piano, and organ. On the song "Turkish Bath" from "Electric Bath" (1967), bassist Ray Neapolitan doubles on sitar. His horn sections were often a fairly typical mix of trumpets, trombones and saxophones, although he later added a tuba and French horn to augment the brass section, and sometimes had the saxophonists double on instruments like flute, oboe, clarinet and saxello.