Lots of people are asking for advice on Arrangement.
Probably the most common response is - Listen to other peoples Tunes & work it out!
And that’s the truth. There’s really no magic formula or universal advice.
You just have to roll up your sleeves and figure it out.
So, I thought I'd share these Sheets that I made in Excel. Hopefully it'll help some of you.
They print off onto an A4 sized sheet.
I've been using it to jot down arrangements of tracks & to make notes of the key elements. Bit like Homework I suppose.
I decided to do it like this as I was always scribbling on different bits of paper or randomly in notepads.. So I thought it would be good to standardise the type of info that I was looking for by using a consistent format.
I'll tell you everything that I do with them so you know where I'm coming from.
There are 2 in all..
1. Track Analysis Sheet.
Top of this sheet has:
Artist Name / Track / Style / BPM / Key / Kick Root / Bassline / Year
First I bring in a Track that I like as Audio onto the Arrange page.
I use Logic & there is a BPM Plug that tells me what to adjust the Master speed to. I'm sure you can get a free one on the net or do it by ear. I have this on the Master Out Channel
I'll cut the start off so that I can make a loop of 16 or 32 bars (Sections that are hopefully not too busy, where the kick & bass are most prominent).
Then I'll start chopping up the Track.. Putting the kick / snare / bass etc.. onto their separate tracks.
I also have Tuner Plug on the Master and as I solo each element, I can see what the Note is. Sometimes it can be difficult as with Kicks & Bass, as the pitch falls down sharply from the initial "Click" of the drum or due to the length of the Bass Note. I'll stop & start it a number of times to see the
1st note register on the Tuner.
If I want to make sure that I have it.. I keep Plug-in Synth on one Channel running something simple & smooth like a Sine wave and I'll hit a few keys as it plays.
At this point, I'm beginning to look in a Frequency Analyser while soloing each element again. The Kick is probably going to be in the lowest register of the spectrum, while the bass might be hitting just above.
This is where a Note Frequency chart comes into play & you can begin to understand how each Note has a frequency & a comfortable place in the scheme of things. Analysing a few tracks like this has helped me appreciate the relationship between everything. Things sound tight when they are in tune.
(Search the net for a Note Frequency Chart & print it out..)
I'll make a note of the Pitch of the Kick & the main Notes in the Bassline & decide on the Key of the Track.
After I have these main bits.. I start to listen to the full track so I can start writing down how it develops.
The Grid is divided up into 16 Bar Boxes. Each Box is 1/2'd which allows you to write in any changes brought in over 8 Bars. There’s hopefully enough space to allow you to be economical & to the point. Keep it clear. If you are writing in shorthand code make sure you understand it yourself.
I've included the numbers from 1 - 16 so that you wont lose count. It happens! Especially when you are going back & forth :)
There’s a "Notes" part - Just for anything that jumps out, an interesting bit or observation. Maybe an idea to try later on.
Finally we have a “Structure" section. It’s got a few Q's listed on the top line to prompt the type of information you should be getting. I'd normally write down a bit about the type of instruments used.. Musical Notes & at what Bars that the major changes / breakdowns occur. This will all have been covered in the Main Grid section.. but its cool to write it all down in a short summary so the arrangement can be understood at a glance.
Next sheet is the Track Arrange.
Cheers,
J McEvoy
http://www.myspace.com/logicuserslistireland
Lots of people are asking for advice on Arrangement.
Probably the most common response is - Listen to other peoples Tunes & work it out!
And that’s the truth. There’s really no magic formula or universal advice.
You just have to roll up your sleeves and figure it out.
So, I thought I'd share these Sheets that I made in Excel. Hopefully it'll help some of you.
They print off onto an A4 sized sheet.
I've been using it to jot down arrangements of tracks & to make notes of the key elements. Bit like Homework I suppose.
I decided to do it like this as I was always scribbling on different bits of paper or randomly in notepads.. So I thought it would be good to standardise the type of info that I was looking for by using a consistent format.
I'll tell you everything that I do with them so you know where I'm coming from.
There are 2 in all..
1. Track Analysis Sheet.
Top of this sheet has:
Artist Name / Track / Style / BPM / Key / Kick Root / Bassline / Year
First I bring in a Track that I like as Audio onto the Arrange page.
I use Logic & there is a BPM Plug that tells me what to adjust the Master speed to. I'm sure you can get a free one on the net or do it by ear. I have this on the Master Out Channel
I'll cut the start off so that I can make a loop of 16 or 32 bars (Sections that are hopefully not too busy, where the kick & bass are most prominent).
Then I'll start chopping up the Track.. Putting the kick / snare / bass etc.. onto their separate tracks.
I also have Tuner Plug on the Master and as I solo each element, I can see what the Note is. Sometimes it can be difficult as with Kicks & Bass, as the pitch falls down sharply from the initial "Click" of the drum or due to the length of the Bass Note. I'll stop & start it a number of times to see the
1st note register on the Tuner.
If I want to make sure that I have it.. I keep Plug-in Synth on one Channel running something simple & smooth like a Sine wave and I'll hit a few keys as it plays.
At this point, I'm beginning to look in a Frequency Analyser while soloing each element again. The Kick is probably going to be in the lowest register of the spectrum, while the bass might be hitting just above.
This is where a Note Frequency chart comes into play & you can begin to understand how each Note has a frequency & a comfortable place in the scheme of things. Analysing a few tracks like this has helped me appreciate the relationship between everything. Things sound tight when they are in tune.
(Search the net for a Note Frequency Chart & print it out..)
I'll make a note of the Pitch of the Kick & the main Notes in the Bassline & decide on the Key of the Track.
After I have these main bits.. I start to listen to the full track so I can start writing down how it develops.
The Grid is divided up into 16 Bar Boxes. Each Box is 1/2'd which allows you to write in any changes brought in over 8 Bars. There’s hopefully enough space to allow you to be economical & to the point. Keep it clear. If you are writing in shorthand code make sure you understand it yourself.
I've included the numbers from 1 - 16 so that you wont lose count. It happens! Especially when you are going back & forth :)
There’s a "Notes" part - Just for anything that jumps out, an interesting bit or observation. Maybe an idea to try later on.
Finally we have a “Structure" section. It’s got a few Q's listed on the top line to prompt the type of information you should be getting. I'd normally write down a bit about the type of instruments used.. Musical Notes & at what Bars that the major changes / breakdowns occur. This will all have been covered in the Main Grid section.. but its cool to write it all down in a short summary so the arrangement can be understood at a glance.
Next sheet is the Track Arrange.
Cheers,
J McEvoy
http://www.myspace.com/logicuserslistireland
Lots of people are asking for advice on Arrangement.
Probably the most common response is - Listen to other peoples Tunes & work it out!
And that’s the truth. There’s really no magic formula or universal advice.
You just have to roll up your sleeves and figure it out.
So, I thought I'd share these Sheets that I made in Excel. Hopefully it'll help some of you.
They print off onto an A4 sized sheet.
I've been using it to jot down arrangements of tracks & to make notes of the key elements. Bit like Homework I suppose.
I decided to do it like this as I was always scribbling on different bits of paper or randomly in notepads.. So I thought it would be good to standardise the type of info that I was looking for by using a consistent format.
I'll tell you everything that I do with them so you know where I'm coming from.
There are 2 in all..
1. Track Analysis Sheet.
Top of this sheet has:
Artist Name / Track / Style / BPM / Key / Kick Root / Bassline / Year
First I bring in a Track that I like as Audio onto the Arrange page.
I use Logic & there is a BPM Plug that tells me what to adjust the Master speed to. I'm sure you can get a free one on the net or do it by ear. I have this on the Master Out Channel
I'll cut the start off so that I can make a loop of 16 or 32 bars (Sections that are hopefully not too busy, where the kick & bass are most prominent).
Then I'll start chopping up the Track.. Putting the kick / snare / bass etc.. onto their separate tracks.
I also have Tuner Plug on the Master and as I solo each element, I can see what the Note is. Sometimes it can be difficult as with Kicks & Bass, as the pitch falls down sharply from the initial "Click" of the drum or due to the length of the Bass Note. I'll stop & start it a number of times to see the
1st note register on the Tuner.
If I want to make sure that I have it.. I keep Plug-in Synth on one Channel running something simple & smooth like a Sine wave and I'll hit a few keys as it plays.
At this point, I'm beginning to look in a Frequency Analyser while soloing each element again. The Kick is probably going to be in the lowest register of the spectrum, while the bass might be hitting just above.
This is where a Note Frequency chart comes into play & you can begin to understand how each Note has a frequency & a comfortable place in the scheme of things. Analysing a few tracks like this has helped me appreciate the relationship between everything. Things sound tight when they are in tune.
(Search the net for a Note Frequency Chart & print it out..)
I'll make a note of the Pitch of the Kick & the main Notes in the Bassline & decide on the Key of the Track.
After I have these main bits.. I start to listen to the full track so I can start writing down how it develops.
The Grid is divided up into 16 Bar Boxes. Each Box is 1/2'd which allows you to write in any changes brought in over 8 Bars. There’s hopefully enough space to allow you to be economical & to the point. Keep it clear. If you are writing in shorthand code make sure you understand it yourself.
I've included the numbers from 1 - 16 so that you wont lose count. It happens! Especially when you are going back & forth :)
There’s a "Notes" part - Just for anything that jumps out, an interesting bit or observation. Maybe an idea to try later on.
Finally we have a “Structure" section. It’s got a few Q's listed on the top line to prompt the type of information you should be getting. I'd normally write down a bit about the type of instruments used.. Musical Notes & at what Bars that the major changes / breakdowns occur. This will all have been covered in the Main Grid section.. but its cool to write it all down in a short summary so the arrangement can be understood at a glance.
Next sheet is the Track Arrange.
Cheers,
J McEvoy
http://www.myspace.com/logicuserslistireland