Arrangement Question - Please Help Me!!!
So I'm in High school and I'm pretty new to arranging music (working on my second song). I decided to arrange the music for my marching band next season for a cool senior year goodbye thing. There's a bunch of stuff on this song that I'm making on the internet that people already use so here's my question - if you're arranging something, is it bad to copy someone's melody line for example and tweak it, or spread it out if you don't know/can't find what notes to use..? When I listen back to the original sometimes it's excruciatingly hard for me to figure out what that note is, especially when there are 5 or 6 other sounds going on at the same time. Sometimes when I write this I feel guilty because I know not all of it is mine, but then I realize the entire song was made by someone else and that the whole purpose is to recreate it. After I grab a basic idea with the right notes I also try to add my on flare to it.. Is it cheating or something to do this, because I know I would've figured it out in the end if I knew a little more or put much more time into it, but I would also feel bad having someone tell me good job on this. Is there a better way to arrange music? Sorry if this is a stupid question..
Comments
I think you would be best off if you discussed what you are trying to do with your teacher or band leader. There are a number of ramifications when arranging someone else's work.
Good luck.
Leaving aside the problems of copyright (of which you must be aware) perhaps you can specify better what score it is and maybe someone can give you some suggestions.
Meanwhile welcome on board.
In reply to Leaving aside the problems… by Shoichi
@3PIC, to collect some ideas...
https://musescore.com/sheetmusic?text=Dragonborn+%28Skyrim%29
In reply to Leaving aside the problems… by Shoichi
Thanks! I left a comment earlier but I cannot see it.. I assume you must've seen it from the dragonborn search but I just wanted to make sure I said thanks for your help :)
Hi 3pic. Not sure if this will help. I'll just prattle on a bit 'cause I'm taking a break...
Figuring out the notes from recorded music is hard for most people at first, and it can take some years of practice to develop your ear. Keep at it.
To compound the problem, many if not most recordings like you will find on cds or youtube, are not at concert pitch. When I am figuring out the notes to a song, I use a little casio keyboard, and I usually have to adjust the pitch by 10 - 20 cents. Getting that tuned correctly is hard at first, too. Even if you get the tonic right, so you think, then a little while later you will find that some other note is off and you realize that you had not tuned it correctly at first. Takes practice.
I know almost nothing about the range of software tools available. But you can check out
http://www.sonicvisualiser.org/
which is a free tool to analyze the wave form. It'll tell you what the chords are in a song, etc., and I'm pretty sure it will help with the pitches. You can certainly look at graphs showing squiggles caused by each of the instruments, and look at the frequency on the vertical axis. There is a menu item "Transform / Analysis by Category / Notes" that I saw in a tutorial, but I have not seen what it does. May be what you want. You can also select a range (e.g. containing just a note or two) and play it in an endless loop (lots of audio playback players do that) -- that could be good for nailing a note.
There are nice tutorials on Sonic Visualizer on youtube. Here's one that I watched a while ago while reverse engineering a song. This covers identifying the chords. Doubtless the chord structure should not be too complicated...:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_922523505&featur…
There are other free higher-level tools like Audacity, which may be easier to use, but I don't know this app area, and whether that one will identify the notes. This approach may be harder core than you wanted, and learning the tool might take longer than mowing lawns to get the money to buy some sheet music... But I would say dive right in and I'd be interested to hear back.
In reply to Hi 3pic. Not sure if this… by MikeN
Thanks for your reply! I tried out Sonic Visualizer, but I think just training my ear would be the best thing at this point. I did also try out audacity but everything was a blur because of how much was going on in the song! Thanks again for your comment though. It really gave me a lot to think of and think about in the long run. I am planning on bringing a piano down here though, because I feel like that would help more than humming!
In reply to Thanks for your reply! I… by 3PIC
Start by finding out if the chart is copyrighted. If so....you gotta pay up if it's for a field show. For a couple community shows or maybe a house party, not a big deal, but there is $ involved for games and MB comps. Also, if you buy the chart (most go for 30-$100) then you'll have a score that will cut down on your transcription headaches. To decipher chords, I listen to them over and over and sing the pitches into a tuner. Also note that when it comes to copyright and IP, it matters only if you use "a significant portion of the original work" So let's say I use a 16-bar lick, or a battery tribute feature based on one I love, or a low-brass soli, or a chord progression (even voicing that is nearly or actually identical (its been done at the DCI level plenty of times). That's all fine (legally, ethics are grey). However if I simply transcribe "Birdland" in G, pretty much note-for-note then simply transpose for the instrumentation? Yeah you gotta hit up Joe Zawinul and pay him.