My weakest part as a producer....THE ARRANGEMENT !

KlickBeatz

KlickBeatz

Predestinated.....
Yo,

everybody has some parts that he is somehow weak in, but the best thing to try to concentrate on the weak parts you have, recognise them and work on'em I think.
Now I dont wanna sound cocky at all but I think that I have some great melody ideas and chords, but when it comes to arrangement....bam...stuck like a hoe with no clinets in the middle of the night ;)
Anybody knows some tutorials, tips anything...cuz I think if I defeat this weakness I caould really move some things...!

Thanx alot
KB

I got some goodies for the best tips...
you can also get at me on AIM : Phlexter01

Thanks alot and all the best !

KB
 
When Layering your beat, record everything that's gonna on the climax of the record. The biggest part of the whole beat. Then do you're arranging work and subtract parts to arrange the rest of the beat.
 
The most important part of arranging is making the drumbs do more that stop and start...
8bar opening: 1st 4 no drums...next four/drum-snare only
12bar verse: add highs and extras(leaving out hook chime or whateva you use for intensity)...before the hook comes in drop out the drums and let the snare hit once before the hook starts going with all sounds going full blast...
Repeat for each section but switch it up to keep it interesting...
Using a variation of such will help your tracks sound on purpose and bring it to life by having more personality.
Do the same with your melodies and it will begin to take on a life of it's own...
 
Arrangement takes long time to learn properly. I needed the whole year of obsessive learning and making tracks just to get some catchy and acceptable arrangements to my cheesy pop songs. Make sure the intro really introduces listener to the track. There has to be more energy in every new verse and chorus which climaxes to the last chorus and calms down softly after that. Make sure to match the arrangement to the mood of the instrumental because it's the most important thing to do.
 
Arranging is a huge subject and I think it should have it's own section.

One method of arranging is to just loop the track, so that it plays constantly, and then play things over this until you do something you like.

Also, it is good to look at some pro-sessions to see how a commercial song is arranged. Sometimes instrument parts can be very sparce, like a triangle that plays only twice in the middle or a harmony on just one word.

Arranging is a huge subject though and it should get more airtime as part of the music making process.

EP
 
I use the same technique as the talked about above where you put everything in first and then take things out. Then once the song is finished, I go back over and carve out little drops here and there. Try muting tracks to see what sounds good with or without each other.

I think something should change every 4 or 8 depending on the situation.
 
i agree with wonderkid. The arrangement depends on the song. A lot of times u just know what to do regardless of the ´rules ´. But another method is to track out as you play and make the beat. Like when u have you drumloop ready, just loop for like 100 bars. And then u can add the main melody and start recording all the other stuff at the right positions. Like if know im going to have another isntr come in at 8 bars ill just record it 8 bars into the verse so that it will be arranged when i press stop.

If youre looking for like a songwriting/beats arrangement a general rule of a pop/rnb sequence would look like this: ( this is a starting-point of course )

Intro: 4/8 bars
Verse: 8 bars
Pre-chorus: 4 bars
Chorus: 8 bars
Post-Chorus: 4 bars ( usually this is sort of an instrumental part with just the beat going and the vocalist just gets ready for the next verse )
Verse: 8 bars
Pre-Chorus: 4 bars
Chorus: 8 bars
Post-Chorus: 4 bars ( To make smoother transition the post-hook is often placed here as well, but feel free to go straight to the bridge )
Bridge / Break: 8 bars
Chorus: 8 bars
Outro: .....

Some songs even have something that might sound like a 16 bar chorus with diff instruments and vocal parts separating two 8 bar sequences...
 
I think that one of the biggest disadvantages of working in a digital environment, is that DAWs teach you to create wack arrangements.

Somehow, the lines and grids suggest some mathematical precisity and it always ends up in a boring arrangement.

You only see lines, grids, bars and beats but forget that the end form will be something you listen to, and not look at. Paying more attention to what you hear than what you see can solve this problem.


It's funny because imo a DAW is the best place to create great arrangements, but it so easy that you forget about it.


It took me years to realize that I can plug in one VST and only use it for 3 seconds in a song. I don't have to play that ****in cello all through the song just because it is there.
 
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^I agree here. Every little thing shapes your sound as a producer...access to sounds, equipment, experience...you just gotta listen. You'll know up to a certain point what just doesn't sound right.
 
well a daw may be mathematical, but it works...it would sound weird if something came in at like the 7/8 position, i mean hits and fx that is cool, but i mean an instrument usually starts playing on a quarter, fourth or whatever...90% the time that is
 
ey klickbeatz, want to collaborate? Send me some of your melodies and ill make an arrangement and see how you like it.
 
What about arranging are you stuck on?? Verse/chorus structure?? Or getting your melodies and patterns together?
 
jpixels said:
well a daw may be mathematical, but it works...it would sound weird if something came in at like the 7/8 position, i mean hits and fx that is cool, but i mean an instrument usually starts playing on a quarter, fourth or whatever...90% the time that is
Click to expand...


A DAW is mathematical because music is mathematical. If music wasn't, we wouldn't have bars, whole notes, quarter notes (ie, STRUCTURE). We nod our heads to the beat because we instinctively know where those sound pulses will be. I do understand that having a visual of the music can sometimes get in the way of actually HEARING the music, that's why I close my eyes or turn my chair around when I'm listening to my playback.
 
I don't think you can get very far looking at music as mathematical. A great piece of art (or just about anything) can be described in mathematical terms but that doesn't explain why it is a great piece of art. Mathematics can help music but I don't think it should be mistaken for music.

I think that was a good comment by T prod about a DAW possibly limiting or stunting creativity. It has advantages off course but I think it is something to watch out for.

I'm probably going to make some posts on arranging as it is little covered. I'm not even sure of the correct definition. I have my own though: Choosing the instruments and the instrument parts.

EP
 
i generally find its divided into sections of 16 1/4 bars. (i think thats how you say it...?)
but the best way to learn i think is to take a track you like and study it count out the beats and write down what they do for how long. use it as a template.
 
Emmapeel9 said:
I don't think you can get very far looking at music as mathematical. A great piece of art (or just about anything) can be described in mathematical terms but that doesn't explain why it is a great piece of art. Mathematics can help music but I don't think it should be mistaken for music.

I think that was a good comment by T prod about a DAW possibly limiting or stunting creativity. It has advantages off course but I think it is something to watch out for.

I'm probably going to make some posts on arranging as it is little covered. I'm not even sure of the correct definition. I have my own though: Choosing the instruments and the instrument parts.

EP
Click to expand...
lol im using traxxpad on psp,and its fun playing around get over barriers to get something done lol
 
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