How to arrange better and chord voicings

[Cezar20]

First off, a big thanks to this FANTABULOUS Forum.

 

I first wanted to venture in music production early 2000 as a budding singer. I knew squat diddly minus 100 about anything.

 

I think my first post back then was like what's sequencing/synthesiser and what do I need to make backing tracks.

 

Along the way I've bought a number of things to achieve my goal. Viewing this forum has been entertaining and informative and has served me some good memories.

 

Anyhow, now a few years on, Ive still got my trusty old Technics KN 1400 as controller and sound source with a PC running Cubasis to sequence. Ive taught myself from a book titled FastTrack and Tom Brislin's 30 Day Workout. If he still writes for Keyboard, Tom big UPS on this great book.

 

Im still not that good at playing, but enuff to get by composing and arranging etc.

 

I have a few questions and Im sorry if this post is long.

 

1. I would like to be able to arrange better (as in more complex and groovy sounding drum patterns and bass, where to add certain things horns, synth leads etc). Ie I compose and I usually start with my piano parts just playing block chords, then add half assed bass parts based on broken form triads, then silly drum patterns that I devise. How do I get my arrangements sounding slick and pro. I know most people will say listen to your fave records etc, but other tips would be good too.

 

2. Chord Voicings, I know a little theory, but when I compose I only know to use chords I-ii-iii-IV-V-VI etc. HOw do I go about learning different and better chord progs. Modes?Diatonic/Chromatic stuff?

 

3. Ear Training- one thing Ive always wanted to do is take some cover songs I like and sequence them exactly as they sound. I cant seem to hear each part or cant get what its playing. HOw do i get better at this. What Ive done using my DAW is Create Intervals in Cubasis, play it back,guess what interval it is and use it as ear training exercise. Asides from Intervals what other listening exercises should I engage myself in? Guessing chords in a key? Playing back riffs and trying to emulate it?

 

and since Ive asked so many questions i may as well ask what is the meaning of life A motif or a Triton. Personally If I had the dough Id say motif.

 

Sorry for the long and long winded post, but thankyou for this brilliant forum.

 

Thanks

 

Cesar

[nc]

The answer to all your questions is "practice,practice,practice".

Commenting on #1, especially, I suggest that you just try to make your parts sound like what you want to hear ...& try to break out of patterns/habits in your approach.

#2-Study with a teacher (or more than one) & read a lot.

#3-You're on the right track, I think, listen & experiment. If you try well, you'll improve...but remember, nothing's overnight in it's improvement.

[Llarion]

As far as getting drum programs to sound the best, talk to drummers you know, show them the patterns you com up with, and they can coach you on what to write so that it sounds human; like a drummer played it or wrote it. It's a subtle art.

 

As far as chords go, knowledge is power. Beyond the simple triads, the first thing to learn is how to properly extend chords, and then how and where to use chord substitutions. When I was learning it, the first big concept that moved me along was tritone substitutions.

 

Like, for example, instead of playing a standard ii-V7-I progression, (Dm-G7-C in C major), you substitute a chord that is a tritone (augmented 4th) away for the V7 chord, so you'd play Dm-Db7-C. You could also tritone substitute the ii chord, and the progression would become Ab7-Db7-C...

 

See?

 

And so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum...

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by NC-17:

#3-You're on the right track, I think, listen & experiment. If you try well, you'll improve...but remember, nothing's overnight in it's improvement.

#3 (ear training) is key to everything else because it allows you to understand what you hear. I've been working on this myself and it makes a wonderful difference.

 

There is a downside - I find myself much more sensitive to off pitch and rythmical errors. The rythm guitarist not being in the pocket, for example, or an orchestra being tuned sharp (which the clarinetists should stomp out as it makes it incredibly hard to get decent tone through the break)

[K.C.]

I hope this help:

answer to question

 

#1 : As a beginner, always start with drum track first. If you can't play the drum with your keyboard, just track 1 by 1, i.e. bass drum and snare first, then hihat, then toms .. just imagine you have 2 legs and 2 hands to play the drum.. there shouldn't be another extra hit .. after drum .. do the bass , then the rhythm part (piano, guitar), then the solo .. finally the strings and pad .. this formula won't promise a good arrangment, but it won't sound bad .. after you have master the art, you can break the rules .. if you think drum is the least important in the song .. just do it the last.

 

#2 : Harmony need a lot of study .. just get some good book and start studying. Harmony is depending on the melody. I think a good way to learn what chord to use is refering to some good fake book. Observe the chord progression some arrangers use for certain melody phrasing .. it is fast to learn and the result is always amazing.

 

#3: .. Eartraining is really the fundamental in music .. get the courses about perfect pitch and relative pitch. A few hundreds spent on the course will help you earn back a lot more.

 

Good luck

[Dan South]

I. Arranging

 

A lot depends on the kind of music you're working on and the instrumentation you're using. There are a lot of rules, but this is the bottom line: your ears will tell you when it's right (or not).

 

II. Chord Voicings

 

I recommend getting some sheet music of tunes that you like. Play through it. Analyze the chords that were used. Analyzed the voicings. This is an area where you cannot be exposed to too much variety. (Don't rule out books written for guitar players. Part of the magic of the guitar is the way that chords can be voiced across the strings.)

 

When some of the ideas start to gel in your mind, try to apply them to your own compositions. See what you like/don't like.

 

III. Ear Training

 

Start with simple intervals. You should be able to recognize that C up to G is a perfect fifth and also that Eb up to Bb, while DIFFERENT NOTES is the SAME INTERVAL. Work on recognizing all intervals up to two octaves in various ranges. It comes with practice.

 

Next, learn to recognize chords. 7 vs. m7 vs. maj7 - can you hear the difference? How about 7 vs. 9, maj7 vs. maj9, or dim7 vs. half-diminished seventh. Very important!

 

Next, try to transcribe some songs. Transcribe the melody or bass line - do you hear the intervals? When you've got the hang of that, try figuring out the chord progression. Don't get frustrated if it doesn't all come together right away. Every small step will move you forward, so just keep slugging away at it.