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MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
ContemporaryACappellaArranging
in10EasySteps
Doyouhavetroublefindingarrangementsofcontemporarysongsyou’dliketoperformwithyourgroup?Wouldyouliketoarrangebutdon’tknowwheretostart?Thissessionwillrunthroughaneasystep‐bystepprocessfortacklingarrangementsofpop,rockandjazzsongs,includinghowtochoosesongs,voicingconsiderations,styleofbackingparts,usingtechnologytomakelifeeasier,transcriptiontricks,andwaystodigitiseanddistributethearrangement(creatingscores,recordingsandbackingtracks).ThissessionwillsuitteachersinterestedinarrangingfortheirownschoolgroupsandVCEteacherswhowouldlikeaneasysequentialprocesstosharewithstudentsstudyingUnit4GroupPerformance.
1.Chooseasong
Tipsforchoosingasong:
• Chooseasongthatwillsuitthemembersofyourgroup,andthesoloist(ifthereisone)
• Some popular artists nearly always lend themselves well to a cappella arrangements: try Sting,MichaelJackson,TheJackson5,StevieWonder,Queen,Beatles,Maroon5,JustinTimberlake
• Don’toverlookpublicdomainsongs(folksongs,traditionalsongs,hymns)becausetheycanoftenbegivenacontemporary“makeover”–thinkgospelstyle,jazz,pop
• Trytochoosesomethingdifferenttoeveryoneelse!
• Listentomusicwithyour“arrangingears”onallthetime
• Youmightconsiderdoinganarrangementofanarrangementofanoriginalsong
• KeeptrackofpotentialsongstoarrangebykeepinganiTunesplaylistofpossibilities
• Chooseasongyoulike–you’regoingtospendalotoftimeworkingonitevenbeforeyougettothefirstrehearsal,sodon’tpicksomethingyou’renotpreparedtolistenalot!
2.Listentothesong……alot
• Firstofall,findarecordingofyourchosensong.ChecktheiTunesstoreoryourlocalCDshop
• Becomefamiliarwiththedifferentpartsofthesong:melody,bassline,backingparts
• Makesomebasicdecisionsaboutyourarrangementwhilelistening(seeStep3)
• Atsomepoint,it’sgoodto“putitaway”
MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
3.Decidethebasicparametersofthearrangement
Thisiswhereyoucanstarttothinkcreatively.Perhapsyou’dliketochangetheoriginalsongcompletely,ormaybeyou’llchoosetobefairlyfaithfultotheoriginalconcept.
Somebasicthingstothinkabout:
• Howmanypartswillthearrangementhave?
• Sometimeslessismore:3or4partssungwellisbetterthan8partssungbadly
• Willthesongfeatureasolo?
• What is thesongstructure?Mapouttheverse/chorus/intro/outroandrememberthatyoudon’tnecessarilyneedtobefaithfultotheoriginalversion
Andthefunpart...decidingthemusicalstyle,key,speedandoverall“feeling”. Theseelementscanreallymakeanarrangementunique.
• Willyouuseajazz‐styleaccompanimentforagospelsong?
• Willanup‐tempopopsongbecomeaheartfeltintrospectiveballad?
• Willyourversionbeinadifferentkey?Minorinsteadofmajor?
• Useadifferentvoicepartforthesolo?Befasterorslowerthantheoriginal?
4.Gathermaterials:
Youmayhavefoundarecordingoftheoriginalversionofthesong,butthereareotherresourcesyoucanusetogiveyouahead‐startincreatingyourarrangement.There’snopointspendinghourstranscribingasongfromarecordingifyoucanfindthesheetmusicoraMIDIfileoryourchosensongatlittleornocost.
Attheveryleast,findingthelyrics,sheetmusicorMIDIfilecansaveyoutimewritingoutthemelodyandbasslineandwillallowyoutospendmoretimetacklingthecreativeaspectsofyourarrangement.
Lyrics
Youcanfindthelyricstoalmostanysongonline.Doasearchforthesongtitleplustheword“lyrics”.
Sheetmusic
Theeasiestwaytopurchasesheetmusicisviadownloadfromanauthorisedwebsite
• SheetMusicDirect:https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/
• SheetMusicPlus:http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/
• TheMusicRoom:http://www.musicroom.com.au/en‐AU/
• Don’tforgetthatyoucanoftentransposethesheetmusicbeforeprintingoutyourpurchasedcopy
MIDIfiles
TherearethousandsofMIDIfilesites‐trytypingyoursongtitleplustheword“MIDI”intoGoogle.Youcanalsotrythese:
• MIDIZonehttp://www.free‐midi.org/
• Electrofreshhttp://www.electrofresh.com/
• HitTraxhttp://www.hittrax.com.au/
MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
5.Considerhowyou’ll“record”yourarrangementandhowyourgroupwilllearnthesong:
You’ll need to share your arrangementwith your group somehow and there are a number of differentoptions.Youmayliketoconsiderthefollowing:
• Doesthegroupreadmusic?Doyouhavetheskillstowritedownthenotation?
• Willthegrouplearnbyrote?
• Do you need an audio recording of each part? Do you have the equipment needed tomake arecording?
• Willyouuseacombinationofthese?
Notation
Theeasiestwaytonotateyourarrangementisbyusingaspecialistnotationsoftwareprogram.Thebestoptionsare:
• Sibelius
• Finale
• MuseScore(free)
Thebeautyofusinga softwareprogram is thatyoucaneasily copyandpaste sections, transposeat theclickofamouse,movepartsaroundandevencreateinstantrehearsalCDs(backingtracks)foryourgroup.
Record:MIDI
If you are not planning to notate your arrangement, you might choose to record it into a sequencingprogram like GarageBand, Sonar Home Studio or Mixcraft using a MIDI keyboard (or an on‐screenkeyboard). Thebenefitsofusing sequencingprogramsaremuch thesameasusinganotationprogram,although they’re better suited to making an arrangement sound good, rather than look as a printedarrangement.
Record:Audio
Another option might be to sing the melody and record it using a hand‐held microphone, multitrackrecorderorintoamicrophoneattachedtoyourcomputer.Youcanthendistributerecordingsofeachpart(aswellasthearrangementasawhole)tothemembersofyourgroup.
TranscribingTips
Ifyou’retranscribingthemelodyfromaCDrecording,hereareafewtips:
• Findaquietplacetowork
• Useheadphones!
• If you’re playing back your song in iTunes, learn a few playback shortcuts (ie. space bar tostart/pause)
• Ifyou’reusingaCDplayer,findonewithresponsiverewindandfastforwardbuttons
• Usetechnologytohelpyou:Audacityisafreeaudio‐editingprogramwhichwillallowsyoutoslowdownthetempoofasong(withoutchangingthepitch).Youcanalsotransposeaverylowpassageupanoctavetomakeiteasiertohear
MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
6.Getthemelodydown
Ifyou’renotatingyourarrangementwithasoftwareprogram,orrecordingitintoasequencingprogramviaaMIDIkeyboard,agoodplacetostartisbywritingoutthemelody&lyrics.Thiswillallowyoutomapouttheformofthesongandprovideabasisfortherestofthearrangement.
Andifyou’reusinganotationorsequencingprogramitwon’tmatterwhichpartyouwritethemelodyintofornow–youcanalwayscopyandpasteitintoadifferentpartlateronifnecessary.
Iusuallywritetheentiremelodyforasongintoonepart–suchasthesopranoortenorline–andthenaddinrepeatbars,doublebarlinesattheendsofsections,1stand2ndtimebarsetcsothatthesongstructureisinplace.Don’tforgettowriteinthelyricstoo–theyhelpyoukeeptrackofwhereyouareinthesong.
7.Strongbassline
Melody+strongbassline=goodarrangement
Ifyoucangetthebasicsright–thatisastrongbasslinetoaccompanyyourmelody–you’re80%ofthewaythere.Sowhatmakesastrongbassline?
• It’sharmonicallysound
• Itwilloftenmoveinadifferentdirectiontothemelody
• When youplay themelody and thebassline together, the song can “stand”on it’s own (ie. youdon’tneedanyotherpartstomakeitwork)
8.Addinsomeinterestinginner/backingparts
The“backing”partsarewhereyoucanaddalotofinterestintoyourarrangement.Sometips:
• Makethemrhythmicallyinteresting
• Useadifferenttexturetomelodyandbass
• Youmayliketoconsiderimitatinginstrumentsound(ie.jazzhorns,guitararpeggios)
• Youcanrepeatwordsfromthemelody(orpre‐emptthem)
• Youcanusescat/nonsensesyllables
• Be imaginativewithsyllables: there’smorethan justdoo,dmandba! Try jing,gling, thm,zwee,dot,shu….
9.Makeagoodarrangementoutstanding
OneofthebestwaystoenhanceyourarrangementistouseCONTRAST:
• Onesectionunison,thenbreakintoparts
• Beginsparsely(melodyandbassonly)thenincreasefullnessbyaddingotherparts
MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
• Changethestyleofbackingpartsindifferentsections:ie.arpeggiopatternsfollowedbyachordalsectionorshort,staccatochordsfollowedbyalyricalsection
• Choosetousedifferenttemposfordifferentsections
• Vocalpercussion
10.Sharingyourarrangement:teachingandlearning
Notation
Ifyounotatedyourarrangement,youcansimplyprintoutscorestodistributetoyoursingers.AndtosavetimeandtreesyoucanemailPDFversionstomembersofyourgroup,orevenuploadan“interactive”versionthatplaysbacktoyourgroupwebsite.YoucanalsocreateanaudiofileofyourscorewhichyoucanburntoCDasabackingtrackSequencingprogram
Somesequencingprogramsallowyoutoprintnotation,buttheresultsarenotnearlyassophisticatedasadedicatednotationprogramlikeSibeliusorFinale.Youcanalsocreateabackingtrackofeachpart,orofthewholescoretodistributetoyoursingersAudioRecording
YouronlyoptionhereistodistributeCDsofyourrecordingofthearrangement.
Othertips
Listentorecordingsoflotsofvocalgroupsandtakenoteofwhatmakesanarrangementworkandwhatdoesn’t.Therearelotsofplacestofindgoodacappellamusic:Podcasts
• TheAcapodcast–full‐lengthsongshttp://www.acapodcast.com/• TheMouthOffShow–in‐depthalbumreviews,interviews,opinions(lookpastthegiggling…!)
http://www.mouthoffshow.com/• ContemporaryACappellaSocietyoriginalshttp://www.casa.org/node/5908
Information,links,reviews
• CASAhttp://www.casa.org/• RecordedACappellaReviewBoardhttp://www.rarb.org/
Recordings
• PrimarilyACappellahttp://www.singers.com/• iTunesStore‐itcanbedifficulttofindcontemporaryacappellamusicintheiTunesstorebecause
there’snoacappellacategory.Acappellaalbumsandsongscanbecategorisedas“vocal”,“pop”,“rock”or“jazz”oravarietyofotheroptions.Onceyou’vefoundoneortwoalbums,itcanbeusefultocheckthe“Listenersalsobought”sectionforothersuggestions
• thewebsiteofyourfavouritevocalgroup
MidnightMusicTailor‐mademusictechnologytraining
www.midnightmusic.com.au
Songsplayedintoday’ssession
Snippetsofsongsincluding‐butnotlimitedto‐thefollowing:Group SongTheRealGroup I’mWithYouTheIdeaOfNorth Sweet,SweetSpiritBeatles GottoGetYouIntoMyLifeEarth,Wind&Fire GottoGetYouIntoMyLifeFiredrill! GottoGetYouIntoMyLifeSuade TheWayYouLookTonightVoxP TheShapeofMyHeartCluster OneNoteSambaTearsforFears MadWorldGaryJules MadWorldSonos IWantYouBackManchoir(roughrecordingbyUgg) AfricaBobbyMcFerrin Don’tWorryBeHappyTheRealGroup ItDon’tMeanAThingFiredrill! MyYardSoCalVocals FallingSlowlyAfulllistofsongsusedwillbeavailableaftertheworkshopfrom:www.midnightmusic.com.au(clickonResources)
KatieWardrobe–MidnightMusic
KatieWardrobeisaqualifiedteacherwhoenjoyshelpingpeoplewhoareshortontimeanddislikereadingsoftwaremanuals.Sherunsherownbusiness‐MidnightMusic‐whichspecialisesinmusictechnologytrainingforeducatorsandstudents.Sheisalsoafreelancecopyist,musicarrangerandtranscriberandamemberoftheMusicArrangersGuildofAustralia.Duringthepast20years,Katiehassunginarangeofacappellagroups,includingjazzgroupVocalese,women’sacappellagroupLesMsandtheVictoriaChamberSingersandisintheprocessofsettingupanew(asyetunnamed!)vocalacappellaquintet.Contactinfo
Email: [email protected]: www.midnightmusic.com.auBlog: www.musictechtips.comTwitter: @katiesw1