My First Arrangement

[TheSorrowsPain]

Greetings Fellow Musicians,

I have a talent show coming up next Sunday and I've been working on my first piano arrangement. It is my own interpretation of the Metal Gear Solid theme. I plan on combining most of the music from the video games and I will add parts I feel go along with it too. I'm so excited because I love the music from the games and they just get me all emotional. Comments would be good and tell me whether or not this is actually an arrangement or if it is just an idiot trying to play music from a video game. Thanks a bunch.

Peace,

C. Winston

[stevel]

Is there supposed to be an attachment for us to listen to?

[TheSorrowsPain]

No there is no sound clip, I was just wondering whether or not this is considered an arrangement.

Peace,

C. Winston

[stevel]

Originally Posted by TheSorrowsPain

No there is no sound clip, I was just wondering whether or not this is considered an arrangement.

Peace,

C. Winston

Oh.

What you're doing is arranging a medly of music from a video game.

Arranging usually refers to changing the instrumentation or actual music, not necessarily the form.

If you played a Mozart Piano Sonata as is, but only used one of the movements, it would not be an arrangement.

If you just played the Exposition and stopped, it's not an arrangement. If you played the movements in the wrong order, it's still not really an arrangement.

Arranging usually means you do some extra writing - like changing the instruments and re-writing the parts to fit them better, or like adding your own introduction and outro to an existing piece, etc.

In a sense, if you simply take a piece like a string quartet and just give it to a woodwind quartet and don't change anything, you're not really arranging but doing "re-instrumentation" (or re-orchestration). But usually you have to change something because it's not always playable as is by the new group (and by the way, the word Arranging usually includes the possibility of re-instrumentation).

People also do what's called a "transcription". It really means moving from one written form to another, so you should officially say "this guitar music was transcribed from lute tablature" - so in other words, changing it from tabluature to standard notation is "transcribing". Also, taking something from "the air" (sound) and writing it down is transcribing - if you go outside and listen to a bird, and then write down the song it sings, you've made a transcription.

A lot of times though you'll see people misuse this term like "this piano piece was transcribed for guitar" - when what they really mean is they arranged it for guitar.

But, some people use the word transcribe to mean "literal" copying - even for different instruments - they would say "this piano piece was transcribed for guitar" if the piano piece was literally unchanged, except for being written on a single staff for guitar (there are simple pieces you can do this with). So my example of taking a string 4tet and simply makeing the parts for wind 4tet unaltered is considered "transcription" by this definition (and it's much more cumbersome to say "this piece was re-instrumentalized for woodwind quartet"!).

But I prefer (and these are the "strict dictionary definitions"):

Change Instruments, with no change in music: Re-orchestration or re-instrumentation.

Change music, even without a change in instrument (like making a simpler piano version of a hard piano piece): Arragement.

Change from one form of medium (sound, notation, etc.) to a different written form: Transcription.

If people are using "looser" definitions of these words, you can usually tell from the context what they mean.

HTH,
Steve

[chckn8r]

Originally Posted by stevel

Oh.
But I prefer (and these are the "strict dictionary definitions"):

Change Instruments, with no change in music: Re-orchestration or re-instrumentation.

Change music, even without a change in instrument (like making a simpler piano version of a hard piano piece): Arragement.

Change from one form of medium (sound, notation, etc.) to a different written form: Transcription.

Yup, that's the way I refer to it as well. I had a similar "conversation" with a writing duo for a musical I arranged and orchestrated. They'd given me what essentially was a lead sheet and a piano recording. The harmonies were very simple and bland. I re-harmonized the piece, re-wrote some of the melodies to fit and flow better and then orchestrated the whole thing. They insisted that one of their team should still be the "arranger", but after explaining that I hadn't simply transcribed what I read/heard to orchestral instruments, they dropped it.

Steve - your thoughts here: if you take, say a piano piece to orchestrate and double the melody line an octave above (say, keep the 1st trumpets in the same pitch as written and then double an octave above with flutes) - arrangement or orchestration?

[Thorolf]

Originally Posted by chckn8r

Steve - your thoughts here: if you take, say a piano piece to orchestrate and double the melody line an octave above (say, keep the 1st trumpets in the same pitch as written and then double an octave above with flutes) - arrangement or orchestration?

What you refer to is definitely orchestration (also referred to as instrumentation).

But as the term “arrangement” very often is used on things that is mere orchestration (or just with minuscle changes), the orchestrated thingy you mentioned would be called an “arrangement” under most circumstances…

Regards

[chckn8r]

Originally Posted by Thorolf

What you refer to is definitely orchestration (also referred to as instrumentation).

Well, I guess that's where the confusion arises as I've come across a number of differing opinions.

I've heard what I've described (octave doubling) termed as an arrangement as you've changed the original voicing of the piece... I'm thinking it's like a lot of topics in music (as we see on this board) - there's a lot of different "standards".

[stevel]

Steve - your thoughts here: if you take, say a piano piece to orchestrate and double the melody line an octave above (say, keep the 1st trumpets in the same pitch as written and then double an octave above with flutes) - arrangement or orchestration?

I agree with Thorolf - definitely simply orchestration.

I think for it to be "an arrangement", you need to write something "new" - i.e. "accomodate" something.

Steve

[stevel]

Originally Posted by chckn8r

Well, I guess that's where the confusion arises as I've come across a number of differing opinions.

I've heard what I've described (octave doubling) termed as an arrangement as you've changed the original voicing of the piece... I'm thinking it's like a lot of topics in music (as we see on this board) - there's a lot of different "standards".

Oh, I see what you mean.

I'd say, if you took a Bach 4 part Fugue, and gave it to orchestra, and doubled the soprano an octave up and the bass an octave down, you've still only orchestrated it.

But yes, many people misuse all these terms - I still go by my definitions above.

Steve