Arranging

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What is arranging?

People ask me what arranging means and I tell them that it means that an arranger will “arrange” music so that it can be performed. At that point I realize that the person is staring at me like I just arrived here from Alpha Centari. So, let me try another approach:

Arranging is basically taking a song or piece of music that someone has written and putting it into a form that can be played or sung by a singer, vocal group, band, orchestra, etc., starting with simple things like picking a good key for a singer.

In a nutshell, when I arrange, I’m taking someone else’s music and presenting it in a different way to hopefully get a different result and an interesting new feeling.

My Process

When I approach a new arrangement I generally will stay close to the original melody, for many obvious reasons (such as people like to know what song they are actually hearing), but I might take liberties with the chord structure, style, tempo and overall ‘feel’ of the piece to present it in a different way.

For instance, I might take an up tempo song and turn it into a ballad with strings and woodwinds, making it a brand new piece of music. Of course there are a zillion variables such as the singer’s style, or the style of the instrumental group, but normally I just try to take a different approach to the overall piece of music.

I also like to write little repetitive phrases that musicians call ‘hooks’ and set up a counterpoint to the song and add to the overall interest of the performance. This I usually will do in the intro and use it at the end of phrases to keep the listener’s interest. It is also useful when you modulate and change keys and it gives a nice reference point that a listener will sense even it they don’t know why.

Musical Style

I try to vary the use of the orchestra sections and combinations of instrumentation. Maybe I will use a ‘bed’ of strings the first time the melody is stated and then perhaps I will add brass pops and hits to punctuate as the song develops. Sometimes I will use a background vocal group the way I use strings sections, again to keep things interesting and to help build the form of the piece. There are endless choices in a good arranger’s bag of tricks.