One of the most challenging aspects of arrangement to a beginner (and even some more experienced producers) is changing the tracks energy level. So you may find that moving from a busy section of your track to something a little more chilled present some stumbling blocks.
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If any of you follow my tutorials then you’ll know I have started a few different series dealing with key subjects. In this series I’m taking a look at various aspects or arrangement using modern DAWs.
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Even the best track can be let down by bad arrangement. Let things slide in this area and you’re in danger of losing your listeners’ interest. Often getting things right in this area is down to lots of small touches. It really is all in the detail.
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Unless you frequently experiment with a wide variety of musical styles and genres, it can be easy to fall into musical habits or patterns that prevent your songs from sounding fresh – or worse – can cause many of your songs to sound the same. Overuse of simple on-beat or off-beat basslines is one way that artists might falter in crafting a more compelling or unique song. With this tutorial, I’d like to offer some suggestions and inspirations for introducing new variety and flavor into your basslines. By experimenting with a variety of styles and approaches, you can breathe new life into old tunes, as well as create new tunes built from exciting new foundations.
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As great as pretty harmonies and soaring melodies can be, sometimes you need a much more raw and chaotic effect. If you’re scoring a chase scene you might want to have quick sharp stabs at unexpected and random times. Or perhaps you’re working on a free jazz album and want to give every player complete freedom to blurt out whatever musical idea comes into their head.
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“In modern recording one of the biggest problems is that you’re in a world of endless possibilities. So I try to close down possibilities early on. I limit choices. I confine people to a small area of maneuver. There’s a reason that guitar players invariably produce more interesting music than synthesizer players: you can go through the options on a guitar in about a minute, after that you have to start making aesthetic and stylistic decisions. This computer can contain a thousand synths, each with a thousand sounds. I try to provide constraints for people.”
- Brian Eno
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Logic Pro has some very advanced tools when it comes to scoring. In this tutorial I’m going to show you the basics of getting started with the Score Editor by building a basic song sheet. Don’t worry, you don’t even need to be able to read music!
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This screencast looks at an ongoing project that is now near completion. This stage looks at how to create different kinds of fills to introduce new instruments. It also shows how a little programming can help introduce new sections of your track.
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Finding a set of sounds that work well together can be difficult. In Reason, it can be a laborious effort to create a combination of instruments, record some MIDI on each and then play them back. In this tutorial, we’ll look at a trick you can use in Reason to allow you to hear playback from multiple Combinators in real-time from your MIDI controller.
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The world of sample libraries has grown tremendously in the past few years, giving composers wide-ranging options for creating sweeping scores that incorporate fantastic sounding vocal effects. Choral sample libraries, such as EWQL Symphonic Choirs will even ‘sing’ lyrics that you write!
But there are some situations that call for a more unique approach to vocal treatment. When a choir or multiple singers are not available, composers turn to software to help them achieve their goals. This tutorial will focus on using Logic Pro and several of its plugins to create a multi-layered vocal treatment that might be appropriate for ambient, new age, or soundtrack work.
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