Once you have wrapped up the songwriting phase of music production, the second phase is the “arranging” phase. Among every stage of audio production, the arranging phase is usually misunderstood and the most forgotten about. When that piece of work that you have been working on has a good beat but then seems to get repetitive, this in most cases ends up being a problem with the arrangement. At the end of the day, your arrangement is what keeps your piece of music interesting and it is important to make sure that it is in order. Your arrangement is considered the selection of instruments, audio, and sound effects and how they are “arranged”.
During the “songwriting” phase, when you have written a great verse and chorus, you shouldn’t play those clips over and over again. Instead, when you are arranging your plans, think about some kind of build-up that really has a really good synergy with your recordings. Also, having a wide variety of different instruments is always a plus; however, just because you add an instrument onto the track doesn’t mean that it should stay active for the entire song. The key is to synergize your bed-music, sound effects, instruments, and vocals all into one complete and seamless project. You are highly encouraged to experiment with different samples and combinations because experimentation is one of the most effective methods of learning to edit audio projects. The possible combinations that you can come up with are endless, but it should be noted that it is very important to keep the song moving forward. More often than not, even the smallest of additions on a moving track can add a lot to the listener’s experience, whether they realize it or not.
When it comes to arrangement, your audio project is separated into chunks called segments. Segments can usually be measured by feel, and from this, you can usually tell when a segment has overstayed its welcome. Again, I cannot stress how important it is to continuously add new additions to your track to prevent the audio from sounding repetitive and annoying to an extent. This issue can be easily avoided by continuously adding subtle additions to your moving track. Some of these additions can include adding new instruments moving in and out of the track, new build-ups of energy, or even additional vocals. These types of additions work by keeping your audience engaged and enhancing the overall quality of your project.
Finally, when I typically think about “arrangement”, I like to pick out a couple of elements in the project that I truly want to focus on and is what I really want my audience to hear. As you continue to work on your projects in the arrangement stage, you should ask yourself the following questions: What combinations can be used to make my project unique? Do I need to make additional changes to my project? While many times it is important to make your project as detailed as possible and continue to make additional edits, sometimes it is best to just leave your project alone. What kind of instrument combinations would you try? Are you interested in even more content, then like, comment, and subscribe!
I will catch you in the next one. Stay Classy!