Today the music world has no rules.
Artists have the freedom to create and mix any form of music they can imagine. Music has reached the point where artists have the independence to create new categories of music by mixing rhythms and genres.
However, creating music still comes with its stages, dos and don'ts. In order to make good music that people will enjoy listening to, you still need to follow stages of music production that have been perfected over the years by professionals.
Like a chef in the kitchen, just because you have unlimited ingredients and tools to play with does not mean you should. There are some things when you mix and match that just don’t taste good.
After songwriting comes arranging:
WHAT IS ARRANGING?
Arranging is probably the least understood part of music production.
Repetition in a song is necessary for the listeners to get used to the melody and rhythm. There is however, a chance for the song to get too repetitive. This is usually an arrangement problem.
Now that we know the importance of arranging, let’s learn about what exactly it is.
The selection of instruments, their “arrangement” and the “arrangement” of the sections themselves within the entire timeline of the song is what arrangement is.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
A good song had a great verse and chorus but it’s not enough to play them over each other on repeat. A good song also has a buildup that, for example, starts with a guitar and vocal, goes onto adding bass and drums while adding synths and vocal harmonies to the 1st chorus.
That is an example for the arrangement of instruments within a song.
But, another thing to note about instrument arrangement is that an instrument shouldn’t stay there for the entire song. There might be times where a certain instrument plays during pre-chorus. While there might be times where you’ll want to bring in an instrument during the second half for a climactic impact. And so on..
The most important thing is to keep the song’s momentum going. Few subtle additions can add a lot more value to your song that will be appreciated by listeners.
HOW MANY SECTIONS SHOULD THERE BE?
There is no right answer when it comes to the number of sections in a song. This is judged by feel.
An editor or the artist can usually tell when a section has reached its limit or needs to be changed/cut.
Conclusion
If you need a starting point for the arrangement, you could pick out a few elements that are most important to the song and what you’d like the listener to focus on.
You could make changes as the song progresses.
But remember: sometimes the best thing for your song is to leave it alone.
Still unsure of how to arrange the sections in your song?
Jony Studios’ offers music production services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!
Contact us here to get started.
- By Neha Agarwala
Curious about the other stages of music production?
Check out these blogs to learn more:
