Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

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Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby NativeAngels » 20 Apr 2019 10:00

Do you ever sit down with the intention of creating an arrangement (registrations, etc), and get totally sidetracked of even start on a completely different song?
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Re: Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby andyg » 21 Apr 2019 12:51

Always! :)
It's not what you play, it's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

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Re: Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby Fred » 22 Apr 2019 10:26

It's not that I get Sidetracked, it's just my memory is that bad these days, I forget what it was that I was going to do.

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Re: Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby Hugh-AR » 26 Apr 2019 22:05

It's not just the getting sidetracked and ending up with an arrangement for a completely different song. It's whether or not I actually manage to complete what I set out to do. Usually when I am creating an 'arrangement' I have in my head what it is I want to achieve, and sometimes I just cannot get the finished sounds that I want to hear. So the whole project just gets put onto the back burner for me to have another go .. when I can come up with some different ideas. Sleepless nights trying to think it through.

I have one here which took over a year to sort out. The tune itself was not difficult to play, but I was not happy with how I played it. Glad nobody was listening! The Great Pretender, sung by The Platters. But then along comes Freddie Mercury, with some different chords and harmony. I was really hooked by his version and nothing I was playing was giving me what I wanted to hear.

Eventually, I decided on an organ 'flute' sound for the melody. Worked out how to fit in some little bits of 'counter melody'. Chose a STYLE but had to change the Bass 'voice' to one that was a bit 'deeper' sounding. Added an 'arpeggio' PART to the Style. That's got the first bit sorted. Now for the second.

Changed the Bass PART to make it 'straight'. Replaced the 'arpeggio' PART with one that had a strong 'one, two, three, four' emphasis of chords at the beginning of each bar. Then the third.

Replaced the PART above with one that had a 'repeating piano' running right through it.

Then when playing the piece. I go back to the first with the 'arpeggio' running in the background .. followed by the other two.

This is what the finished piece sounds like.

The Great Pretender
Do a right-click to open this up in a New Tab
https://app.box.com/s/ns1c2tmxa85eon6m0jrnsv3apibdz6gr

Was it worth all the effort? Well, I am happy with how I am playing it now, and that's the end of those sleepless nights. And it was fun doing it, even though it did take over a year.

I'll finish by quoting what MARGARETD said about doing this sort of thing:
Arranging parts of styles takes time and repetitious working to make it sound good.
I quite understand that a lot of people would not want to bother to amend styles, but rather just use what is available.
I get enjoyment making what is more of my own stamp on the music.

Hugh
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Re: Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby Rev Tony Newnham » 27 Apr 2019 07:17

Hi

I rarely use the automatic functions on my keyboard, so don't do much arranging, other than thinking through what I'll play with hands & feet - harmonisations, etc.

I don't usually get distracted when I do write other arrangements (most often for the few musicians we have at church) - but then, if I'm doing that, there's a deadline & little time to get distracted! Perhaps that's the answer if you have distraction problems - set yourself a deadline & try to keep to it. Make a note of other ideas for future use, but stick to what yo're aiming to do now.

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Tony
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Re: Do you get sidetracked when creating arrangements ?

Postby lesh » 27 Apr 2019 10:56

Hi,

I have about 8 ongoing projects on the go and it’s still so easy to sit in front of the keyboard and wander into something totally different. I suppose unless it’s an arrangement that you need to finish by a certain time it is nice to just do your own thing and enjoy the time spent playing other tunes.

Les
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