In this material, we will review with you the basic concepts without which it is impossible to engage in arranging, or rather, it is impossible to thoughtfully and intelligently create an arrangement based on the mutual complementation of the rational and the creative, which is the most promising and relevant way to work on any creative project.
“Arranging is the art of preparing and adapting a piece of music to provide it in a form other than the original.”
This definition can be called correct with a great stretch, if only for the simple reason that today very many musicians make arrangements in the process of creating a piece of music, so no adaptation is out of the question here.
As musicians, it’s important for you to identify the main features of arranging and use them to formulate the right definition to help you learn arranging.
What is the most important thing here?
You could say that the first task an arranger performs is to translate a musical idea from the tangible to the intangible, to create the flesh of the music, its texture. Here we are talking about creating instrument parts, choosing timbres, matching them, etc. Of course, there is already a certain minimum when working with an arrangement. For example, a melody with chords. But in any case, in the process of work, the arranger rethinks the musical material with the help of instruments, such as composition or instrumentation, and expresses his attitude towards this material.
The second stage is the composition of new elements and reworking of existing ones. That is, in this case, the arranger is also a composer.
The third. This is the embodiment of the chosen texture in a certain composition of the instruments, which can be designated by the definition of instrumentation or orchestration. Thus, we can formulate the concept of arranging as follows:
“It is the process of reinterpreting a piece of music created earlier or developing a musical idea in real time, in the process of which almost all the basic elements of the music can be changed.”
Arrangement should be distinguished from instrumentation, which is the arrangement of a work from one set of instruments for another, such as a piano part for an ensemble, and orchestration, which we can denote as the art of selecting timbres and writing parts for instruments of a chosen composition, originally for an orchestra (hence the very notion of orchestration), and today for any composition.
Arranging as part of the art of music can be said to be the ability to influence the listener’s perception with the help of the musical fabric, form and the manipulation of timbres.
In essence, arranging is building a house from blueprints. For example, you are given general instructions: you have to build 5 floors, 7 entrances, and occupy some area, the rest is your choice of how you implement this idea. If we give ten architects one project, we will get ten different results. We can say the same thing about arranging.
Describing the process of arranging linearly, you can think of it as starting with the composition and ending with the creation of the parts for the instruments. In between these two points are many processes in between.
In arranging, there are very often significant variations. Consider the most relevant processes that can happen to a composition during an arrangement:
- changes in stylistics,
- changes in the composition of instruments,
- overharmonization and the addition of chords,
- extension or shortening of melodies,
- the addition of counterpoint,
- changing and adding form.
It should also be said that the number of instruments one chooses for arranging has no bearing on the simplicity or complexity of the process itself.
Very often, beginner arrangers think that if they use few instruments, the arrangement will be simple, because, in their opinion, the complication is achieved by imposing a large number of instrumental layers. However, few instruments does not mean complicated orchestrations, and vice versa.
Two approaches to arranging can be distinguished:
- arranging someone else’s music,
- Arranging one’s own music.
The first option gives the arranger quite a few conditions and restrictions to adhere to. It can be compared to painting a picture. The composer creates the general outline, and the arranger fills it in with colors and gives it a unambiguous outline.
With the second approach, two options are possible:
- composing first and then arranging
- Creating the arrangement while composing the music
This approach can create the risk that you won’t be able to evaluate your music objectively, because the arrangement will override its artistic value. That’s why it’s often recommended to start writing with transparent, naked music, that is, music that is literally written down in notes for one or two instruments only. That way you can assess its artistic value and not overlap the elements that are most important with the arrangement, but only emphasize them.
When working on any arrangement, we have both changeable and unchangeable parameters. For example, elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and form can vary depending on stylistic and artistic goals.
If we compare a song to an empty room, then we can say that the task of the arranger is to furnish this room competently, comfortably and beautifully with furniture, add pictures, various fittings so that the room would be individual and reflect the inner world of the person who lives in it.