Arrangement can traditionally be defined as any adaptation of a composition to suit a medium other than that in which it was originally written, while at the same time retaining the general character of the original. The word arrangement itself is often used interchangeably with transcription, although the latter carries connotations of elaboration of the original, as in the virtuosic piano transcriptions of Bach’s JS Organ by Franz Liszt, Italian composer-pianist Ferruccio Busoni and others.
In general, arrangements can be divided into 3 types, namely vocal arrangements, instrumental arrangements, and mixed arrangements. In composing or making an instrument, one must know its social structure which starts from the intro and ends with the ending, and it is also important to know arrangement techniques such as rhythm, melody and harmony.
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Arrangement
Arranging a musical composition involves reworking a musical work so that it can be played with a different instrument or combination of instruments than the original. For example, a song written for one voice with piano accompaniment might be arranged so that it can be sung in several parts by a choir, or a violin piece may be arranged so that it can be played on clarinet.
The person who makes the arrangement may be the composer himself, or perhaps someone else. In the history of music, composers often publicized their compositions by saying that the music could be played or sung on a variety of musical instruments.
For example, when English composers published madrigals in the late 16th century, they often stated that they could be sung by cantors or played on the violin (“ apt for voices as for viols ”). In the Classical music period a composer could publish a sonata, stating that the sonata could be played on a violin or flute or recorder.
This helps sell more copies, as violinists, flautists, and record players may want to purchase the music. In a sense, this is not actually an arrangement, as no changes were made to the music.
However, when violin or cello music is arranged to be played on the violin, some changes may be necessary because the violin may be played in a different key, or some chords may be more rigid than the original. This is an arrangement.
Popular works such as The Flight of the Bumble Bee by Rimsky-Korsakov can be played by almost any melodic musical instrument: violin, xylophone, tuba, etc. These are all arrangements. When a choral and orchestral work is printed for the use of the choir members, the orchestral part is printed on two staves so that it can be played on the piano for practice. This is another type of arrangement.
In the history of music, many composers have created arrangements of music composed by others. They do this to learn musical compositions, as well as to be able to play them on other instruments. For example, Johann Sebastian Bach arranged four concertos by Vivaldi so that they could be played on the organ.
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Understanding Arrangements
Arrangement is the rewriting of a composition with different instruments from the original work, so that a transcription (transfer or copy) is needed which will regulate the process of changing the tone of an old song or accompaniment to a new one, without changing the characteristics of the original song.
Understanding Arrangements According to Experts
The definition of arrangement according to experts includes:
- Collins Dictionary , Arrangements are a form of planning and preparation that you make so that something happens or might happen, before there is an agreement we make with someone to do something.
- Big Indonesian Dictionary , Definition of arrangement is the adjustment of a musical composition to the voice of a singer or other instrument based on an existing composition, so that the essence of the music does not change.
- Ministry of National Education Language Center (2008) , the definition of arrangement is changing a song to suit the desired composition; the appointment of songs or music from a certain type of expression to another type or composition of expression.
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Arrangement Type
There are 3 types of arrangements, namely:
1. Vocals
Each song can be composed with a special vocal arrangement, namely in two or four voices, but the easiest way to compose a vocal arrangement is to compose a song arrangement in two voices. When preparing a song arrangement in three or four voices, there are many requirements that must be taken into account.
To get better and more satisfying results, after the song arrangement has been prepared, try singing it together. If it is still not good or unsatisfactory, you can try again to arrange the song arrangement until you get good and satisfying results.
2. Instrument
Preparing instrument arrangements is different from preparing vocal arrangements. In compiling an instrument arrangement we must adapt it to the musical instruments used. The more complete the musical instruments we use, the more variations we can create.
When composing an instrument arrangement, we must be guided by the science of harmony and chords. Parts of a musical arrangement are called sheet music in Dutch), partitura in Italian, parte in English, parte 4 in French.
In general, in instrumental arrangements, the score is played alternately, whereas in vocal arrangements all the scores are all sung at the same time.
3. Mixture
Mixed arrangements are a mixture of two other types of arrangements, namely vocal and instrumental arrangements. In compiling a mixed arrangement, the technique used is to combine two existing types of arrangements.
In general, mixed arrangements emphasize the vocals, while the instruments function to accompany and enliven so that the resulting arrangement is better. To control the balance in presenting the arrangements that have been prepared, you need a leader, namely a conductor or conductor
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Arrangement Structure
There are several elements that form the structure of an arrangement, including:
- Introduction , namely an element that has an important role in the song arrangement. Not only as an opening, introduction or usually abbreviated as intro, it also acts as a organizer for the entire song.
- Chorus , namely a repetition of the song.
- Interlude , namely the preparation from verse to next verse in a musical composition,
- Variations, namely changes in melody in songwriting. The principle of variation applies when a composition’s theme reappears.
- Vamp , namely a simple introduction or accompaniment phrase or chord movement towards the ending.
- Ending , namely the last part of an arrangement.
Arrangement Technique
Budidharma in Firnando Sabetra (2012:11) states that in preparing arrangements you must understand the techniques which include:
- Rhythmization technique , namely a technique for developing new rhythm patterns to give rise to new ideas.
- Melodyzation technique , namely the technique of changing and adding notes to a melody, appreciating narrow intervals or contracting wide intervals.
- Harmonization techniques , namely other possible harmonic backgrounds, which must be written down first or tried directly with instruments so that you can create a more mature arrangement.
How to Make Arrangements
Creating a song arrangement should attract listeners with its dynamics, sound changes, transitions, and sequence of elements. The reason it’s difficult to create interesting arrangements is because there are a lot of track-dependent decisions we need to make for each element in the track we create.
By using one simple technique, we can create interesting song arrangements for whatever genre we are working on.
The technique is to map the different parts and elements of a song we like to the same style or genre as the arrangement we are working on. Here are some steps we can take in making an arrangement for a song:
1. Choose an interesting setting
The first step is to choose a song that we think has an interesting arrangement. Then import this song into your DAW ( Digital Audio Workstation ). Once we’ve done this, start placing arrangement markers at the beginning of each part of the song and label them. Place a marker at the beginning of the intro and label the marker. Then place a marker at the beginning of the verse and label it. Repeat this for the entire song.
That will be the framework for our arrangement. We will now have a specific part of the arrangement mapped out. It’s important to note that we need to synchronize the BPM ( beats per minute ) of the tracks we import to the host BPM DAW or the arrangement markers will not be accurate. So if the track we are importing is at 100 BPM, make sure to change the BPM of our DAW to 100.
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2. Map the song
The next step is to map out the song elements for each part. Doing this will allow us to see where certain elements come in and out of the arrangement. To do this, create a midi track for each element we hear in the music mix.
If we hear drums in the mix, create a midi channel and label it drums. If we hear background effect , create a midi channel and label it background effect . Do this for every sound in the track we imported. This may seem like a tedious process, but it will be very rewarding in the end.
3. Use midi clips
Next, go through each part of the song and place midi clips as long as that element plays on the track. If our drums play for four bars in the verse, place a midi clip of this length in a specific part of the arrangement. Repeat this process for every sound we hear in each part of the arrangement. Again, this can be tedious, but we will reap the benefits if we are willing to work hard.
Now when we start a song, we can use the mapped track as a guide for where elements can go in our song and where certain parts can go. This arrangement technique is effective because it will help us discover what elements will go together well and why they go together well.
We might think that this arrangement technique looks like just copying and pasting arrangements. This is not true. Utilizing these techniques gives us a framework that is proven to work. When we use these mapped tracks to fill out our own songs, the elements will sound completely different sonically and musically.
In addition, we don’t have to fill in the arrangement exactly as we map it out. If that lead guitar doesn’t seem to fit a particular part of the arrangement, we can always place it somewhere else in the arrangement.
This is the article that we can present to all groups. Regarding the meaning of arrangements according to experts, types, structures, techniques, examples and how to make them. Hopefully this provides insight for those of you who need it.