36

Song Arrangement Tips

For the Small Recording Studio

Amos Clarke

First publication November 2016

36 Song Arrangement Tips for the Small Recording Studio

Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved – Amos P. W. Clarke

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author.

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Contents

Introduction

1 Structure

2 Dynamics Map

3 Repetition

4 Simplicity

5 Sectional Contrast

6 Energy

7 Transitions

8 Builds

9 Groove

10 Pace

11 Texture

12  Duration

13 Brand

14 The Hook

15 Fills

16 The Primary Melody Rule

17 Tension, Release, Refresh

18 Masking

19  Width

20  Symmetry

21  Mood Theme

22 The Polaroid Principle

23 Counter Rhythms

24 Time-To-Chorus

25 Element Placement

26  Tonal and Transient

27  The Rule of Two

28  Clash Detection

29  Limitation

30  Depth Position

31  Element Layering

32  Ambient Layering

33 Performance

34 Comparative Analysis

35  Deliberate Decisions

36  Checklist

Glossary

Thanks

Also by this Author

Introduction

Who is this book for?

If you’re a mixing engineer who still finds that your songs aren’t sounding the way they should, even after you’ve sunk loads of cash into gear and plugins, then this book could be for you.

If you’re a songwriter who struggles to put the polish on your songs that they deserve, then this book could help take your songs to the next level.

If you’re a music producer who feels like something is missing from your production process, then this could be the book that enhances your skills and helps reshape your entire approach to production and arrangement.

What is this book about?

This book is about crafting great songs. It’s about transforming existing compositions into song productions that will keep your audience listening and coming back for more.

At a more detailed level, this book focuses on song structure, managing repetition, and the manipulation of a song’s musical patterns. It delves into designing a song’s dynamic energy flow, the contrast of song sections, and how to leverage artist performance to improve the overall song production. And there’s so much more. The intention of this book is to provide you with new tools and ideas, and a fresh perspective on how to transform almost any song into an engaging listening experience.

36 Song Arrangement Tips for the Small Recording Studio, is a summarised version of its big brother book, Song Arrangement for the Small Recording Studio. The most salient topics have been extracted and summarised into bite-sized chunks, along with some brand new content. If you want more in-depth information, explanations, and examples about each of the tips in this book (and more), I suggest getting hold of my other book, Song Arrangement for the Small Recording Studio.

How this book can help you!

This book is deliberately written to be short and concise so you can start implementing the ideas and concepts into your own song productions as soon as possible. It’s an ‘all meat, no filler’ approach to getting the most information to you in the shortest and quickest possible way. Each tip has a clear explanation of what it is, how it works, and why it’s important. Included is a short summary with practical ideas for applying the tips. Terms shown in italics include a definition in the Glossary.

I sincerely hope that this information expands your knowledge and helps you get more from your music endeavours.

Let’s get going.

1
Structure

Deliberate focus on the structure is a critical aspect for the success of any song

The structure of a song is commonly shown in a format where a letter is used to denote each song section. Each section commonly relates to an 8 bar length (although this can vary). An entire song structure can be shown using a format, like in this typical rock song:

A A B A B C B

A = verse, B = chorus and C = bridge.

This song structure is:

Verse 1, verse 2, chorus 1, verse 3, chorus 2, bridge, chorus 3/outro.

The AABABCD structure has the following features:

a) It starts with two verses, but only has one verse after chorus 1 to increase the perceived pace and avoid listener boredom.

b) It’s typical of a rock or pop radio hit format.

c) It will likely have a total duration of around 3 – 4 minutes depending on the tempo.

Simpler song structures can incorporate a Refrain (hook) and exclude an actual chorus section, such as the AABA format in, Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers) and, Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel). Another simple and effective pop structure is the ABAB format used in Material Girl (Madonna) and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (The Police).

It’s easy to fall into the habit of composing songs with little consideration for the structural arrangement. This is common if you’re the sole songwriter and your focus is on, say, recording or mixing. Paying attention to the structure by applying this format will almost certainly improve the finished song.

Careful attention to a song’s structure allows manipulation of the pace, energy and duration of the song, to name a few. For example, changing the format from AABABCD to ABABCD removes verse 2, gets the song to the chorus quicker, and gives more momentum: perfect for radio airplay. Alternatively, your song could immediately capture listeners with the hook, by starting with a chorus, like in Animals (Maroon 5).

Other example structures:

A A B A B C B B - I’m not the only one (Sam Smith)
B is the chorus

A B - Feel like making love (Roberta Flack)
B is the chorus

A B A B C B B – Love, love, love (Avalanche City)

B is the chorus

A B C A B C A B C – Another one bites the dust (Queen)
C is the chorus

Summary:

1. On your next song, try re-arranging the structure to fit the destination. For instance, if you’re aiming for mainstream radio, consider the ABABCB format.

2. Make it a habit to critically evaluate the structure of every song with the aim of improving the final production.

3. Compare your own arrangements with radio hits in the same genre. How is yours different? Could you ‘borrow’ structural arrangement ideas from the radio hit to improve your song?

2
Dynamics Map

Create a graphical representation of the
dynamic energy flow of an entire song

A dynamics map is a simple and effective tool for showing the change in energy of sections throughout an entire song. It’s easy to understand and it’s easy to create yourself, even if you’re graphically challenged!

Using a dynamics map presents a very effective way to explain complex ideas about arrangement in the studio environment, particularly if many people are involved. In the same way that ‘a picture tells a thousand words’, a dynamics map quickly and easily explains what can otherwise be a very complex conversation.

Things to know when making a dynamics map:

a) The Y (vertical) axis shows four subjective energy levels, being: zero (silence), low, medium, and high (maximum). It’s up to you to decide how each energy level equates to your particular song. 

b) The X (horizontal) axis shows every section in the song, in sequence.

c) You can further enhance the information by adding the positions of hooks, transitions and builds (these are covered later in the book).

d) It’s worthwhile to experiment with different dynamics maps for a song. This allows you to explore different energy options.

e) The Dynamics Map is created very early in the production process, after the composition is created, but before recording.

A typical Dynamics Map for a pop song

A bigger, clearer version of this graphic is available for download – see the ‘free stuff’ section at the start or end of this book.

Summary:

1. Use a dynamics map on every project you work on to plan the dynamic energy flow of all the sections in your song.

2. Consider applying different maps to the same song to see how it effects the overall energy flow.

3. Use the dynamics map as a conversation tool with others involved in the song production.

3
Repetition

A carefully crafted arrangement has enough repetition to create familiarity, but not too much to create boredom

At the most basic level, a song is an arrangement of patterns, with each containing a series of repeating parts. Whether it’s a verse section, a bass line or a vocal phrase, most popular music works on the premise of organised repetition.

Larger patterns are created from groups of smaller patterns. For instance, a one-bar turnaround of a rhythm section, guitars, and lead vocals (three patterns) form to create a verse. When this single verse is combined with a chorus, a larger verse/chorus pattern is created. These pattern combinations become very obvious when written down in a standard format. For example, a verse/chorus combination is a common pattern in the ABABCB structure, where the AB pattern is repeated twice. Obvious patterns are visible with other structures, such as the ABCABC structure.

The trick to designing patterns in a song is to get the optimum balance of repetition so that the song quickly builds familiarity with the listener, but doesn’t get boring from being overly-repetitive.

In most cases, excessive repetition is to be avoided because it quickly makes a song tiresome. However, short bursts of highly repetitive content are often beneficial in a chorus when we want the hook to stick in the listener’s head.

Summary:

1. Avoid excessive repetition of any musical phrase, or song section unless it’s in the chorus.

2. Ensure enough repetition early in the song, to build listener familiarity as quickly as possible, but try not to overdo it.

3. When considering repetition, focus on any element that repeats and creates a pattern. This includes bass lines, kick drum beats, vocal phrasing, and guitar parts and so on. It also includes song sections such as verses, choruses, bridges etc.

4. For an absolute guide to managing repetition in a song, refer to The Rule of Two in a later chapter.

4
Simplicity

An arrangement should be as simple
as possible, but not any simpler

Simplicity in any arrangement enables many advantages such as simple structure, simple melodies, and simple artist performances. All of this ultimately results in a more efficient workflow, making the song easier and quicker to arrange, record and mix. When a song is fundamentally simple, it allows more energy and focus to be applied to delivering high quality performances and well-crafted songs. Simple doesn’t need to equate to marginal. Consider simplicity as a means to avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that making it simple diminishes the quality. Simple songs are usually memorable songs and are the perfect approach for modern rock and pop. It might be as simple as creating a short and memorable hook, crafting uncomplicated arrangements, and having artists perform more simply with more expression.

Looking for ways to simplify every part of the arrangement process gets more songs done more quickly, makes less headaches, and a more enjoyable experience for all involved. However, a song should not be so simple that it compromises its own quality. It should be as simple as you can make it, but no simpler. This means questioning every step in the process. It may even lead you to invent new and improved ways of working.

When an arrangement or performance is complex, it takes lots of brain power to navigate the situation before the person can start operating at their full potential. By keeping it simple, we avoid the brain-drain, anxiety, and uncertainty goes with resolving a complex situation.

Simplicity can also mean keeping the song short and sticking to a proven radio format, like the ABABCB structure instead of trying to reinvent something bigger and more unnecessarily complex. Artists can perform simpler phrasing by playing less, using crisp simple beats and sparse but well-articulated bass lines. Supporting rhythm instruments can be stripped back to the essentials while the vocalist delivers simple but emotionally-charged lyrics.

Summary:

1. During the song production process, make complex conversations simpler: using a Dynamics Map is one way to turn a complicated discussion into a simple diagram.

2. Watch out for artists over-playing their parts e.g. over-complicated drumming, bass lines and vocal performances.

3. Be aware of artists attempting to perform beyond their capability, resulting in a poor performance.

4. Try and avoid over-complex structures containing complicated parts that are difficult to perform.

5. Unless it’s jazz or progressive rock, avoid unnecessarily complex harmonic relationships in a song e.g. the harmonic relationship between a vocal melody, a bass line and a chord.

5
Sectional Contrast

Contrast evades monotony; monotonous songs are boring: avoid boring like the plague!

A song can be considered as a sequence of contrasting sections which, combined, form a continuous variation in energy. When each section is deliberately designed with a different energy level, it can result in a song with highs and lows, suspense and release, and ultimately, an engaging listening experience. However, when creating sectional contrast, it’s important to maintain consistency. In other words, all verses might be relatively low energy while all choruses might be high. And while subsequent verses may build on each other as the song progresses, they would still maintain a lower energy level than the choruses.

Creating sectional contrast in a song is no different to how it’s done in a thriller novel. The hero has quiet and less active periods (verses) punctuated by intense and exciting events (choruses). Suddenly, the unexpected occurs (bridge) followed by a big finale fight scene (chorus/outro). However, this is just one approach to a story-line and of course there are many more possible options. Another approach is the ‘slow take-off’, where the song starts with low energy, gradually increasing as the song develops, ending with a high energy outro.

Songs with a lack of sectional contrast can quickly become boring because each section – verse to chorus – has little variation and can tend to sound the same. This is typical of amateur productions where the performers use the same guitar strum, drum beat and bass line throughout the entire song. The good news is that a simple change in performance can result in a significant improvement in the song. It might only require the one or two elements to change. This might be as simple as the guitarist and lead vocalist performing very differently between verses and choruses.

If you view the arrangement of the song from the point of creating sectional contrast, your arrangement goals start to change. You begin to focus on instrument choice and artist performance to achieve this goal of energy variation. How the energy is raised and lowered becomes a critical area of focus for each section.

You can have fun with contrast by taking it to the extreme! Imagine a rock song where the chorus is a face-melting wall of guitars, drums and screaming vocals. Then the incoming verse instantly drops to sparse and quiet with only vocals, bass and drums. Huge contrast results in excitement and suspense.

Summary:

1. Avoid having songs with little sectional contrast as this can quickly become boring for listeners.

2. For fun, try extreme contrast variations between verses and choruses by moving from minimum to maximum energy in the performances between the sections.

3. For a more subtle vibe, try more gentle contrast variations between song sections.

6
Energy

Manipulating energy is an essential method for creating overall contrast

The idea of energy in music conjures up adjectives like excitement, drive, and vitality. Manipulating energy in a song is a great approach to achieving contrast throughout the song sections. By focusing on the energy first, we’re using a goal-oriented approach. If the initial intention is to create a chorus that’s ‘big, thick, and edgy’, we’ve just set ourselves a firm target, before a single note is played.

Energy differences between song sections don’t have to be either super-sparse or all-guns-blazing. There just needs to be a discernible difference, because with difference comes contrast. A good place to start is to consider energy as low, medium, or high. For instance, your intro could be low, all verses medium, and all choruses high. The challenging part is how to achieve this in a practical sense. The good news is that there are some fairly simple techniques to get you going.

In terms of the entire song, it’s useful to identify the highest energy section first and work on that (most often this is the chorus). It’s generally easier to create a super-high energy chorus first, and then work backwards by removing elements to create the lower energy verse sections.

To achieve more or less energy in a song:

a) Alter the volume

Create performances with more intensity, playing harder, or adding more instruments into that section.

b) Alter the complexity

Ensure a more or less complicated performance, more notes played per bar, or more interesting harmonic combinations between musical elements.

c) Alter the tempo
An entire song’s tempo could be increased slightly, a lead vocalist could sing in half time during verses and double time in choruses.

d) Alter the emotional delivery
A lead vocalist could perform a part with more or less emotion.

e) Alter the expression

Any instrument can be played with more or less expression. However, some instruments (e.g. saxophone and guitar) and vocals in particular, can be delivered with a great deal of expression that can significantly affect the energy of the performance.

Summary:

1. Set your energy goals for each song section before you start creating and arranging.

2. Develop a range of simple techniques for manipulating energy, like in the examples above.

3. Try creating the highest energy sections first, then working up the other sections afterwards.

4. The highest energy should most often be the chorus and/or solo. Make sure the other song sections are less prominent.

7
Transitions

Transitions create fluid connections between song sections, cue listeners for change, and help create a more professional song production

A transition is a short passage of music that cues the listener about the movement from one section to the next. Usually occurring over one to two bars or less, transitions commonly consist of a change in performance, the addition of new musical content, or both. Done well, they create a very fluid sense of movement in a song where each section seems to move effortlessly into the next. A transition can be subtle or aggressive – create them to taste.

The most common is the verse/chorus transition but it’s very common to have a transition between every section in a song. This can result in a transition design process where careful consideration is given to the performance at each section change. 

Transitions can also be considered as upward or downward. Upward transitions connect a lower energy section to a higher energy one, while downward transitions connect a higher energy section to a lower one.

Planning the overall design of a song’s transitions is easily done by incorporating them into a dynamics map. As already discussed in Tip 2, this shows a simple graphic representation of where they occur and whether they are upward, downward, subtle, or aggressive.

Transition ideas:

a) A simple drum fill.

b) A short riff from any instrument - bass/sax/guitar/keyboard.

c) Changing the way a guitar is strummed.

d) Muting everything momentarily.

e) Looped sound FX or samples.

f) Additional backing vocals.

g) More complex performance of one or many elements.

h) Any single or group of elements reversed with a fade in during the transition segment. This is a classic trick. To do it, render a one or two bar duration into a stereo clip. Reverse the sound file, position it, and then create a zero-to-full fade in.

Summary:

1. Transitions very effectively cue the listener for the next song section.

2. Carefully consider using transitions at every change in section.

3. Create your transitions tastefully. Often subtle is the key, but face-smashing might be in order!

4. Be sensitive to the use of upward and downward transitions.

8
Builds

Builds add interest, vary the energy, and create contrast for repeating song sections

The intention of a build is to change the perceived energy in a song section by introducing new musical material or altering the performance of existing elements. With builds, the goal is also to make each subsequent section type more interesting than the previous. For example, if a song has three verses, each successive verse should have something more than the previous. The same applies to all choruses in a song.

The way in which you build one section affects all the other sections in a song. If you build too big, too early, the overall energy relationship of all sections can be negatively affected. For example, extreme builds over several verses may result in the final verse sounding bigger than the choruses. That’s not good because we always want our chorus to be the best sounding section in the song.

How much to build each section is entirely down to taste. In most cases, builds work well when they are subtle to moderate. A good way to avoid overdoing it is to build simply by just adding one new element to each progressive verse. For example, verse one might consist of drums, bass, piano and vocals. In verse two, the build could be done by adding an acoustic rhythm guitar. Alternatively, the build could be done by adding backing vocals.

A dynamics map is a great tool for showing a graphical representation of the relationship of builds for all sections in a song.

Summary:

1. Create builds by introducing new musical elements or altering the performance of existing elements.

2. Simple builds are generally the best because they are easy to do and very effective. Try adding one new element to the successive section, like an acoustic guitar.

3. Keep your builds subtle or moderate so that the song sections don’t build too quickly throughout the song.

4. Ensure that the verses never build so high that they outshine the chorus. The chorus should always be number one.

9
Groove

A great groove that supports a great lead vocal can be absolute magic; the opposite can be a musical nightmare!

A groove is fundamentally created by the interaction between the drums and bass and enhanced by rhythm components such as guitar, keyboards, and horns. So infectious are these grooves, that in some genres, they ‘carry’ the song, irrespective of a strong vocal melody or hook. Many times, these infectious grooves become the hook. 

A great groove is not limited to disco, funk and other bass-dominant genres. Songs from any genre can have a great groove: Another One Bites The Dust (Queen), Are You In (Incubus), Graceland (Paul Simon), Come Together (The Beatles), Cut The Cake (Average White Band) all exhibit strong grooves irrespective of the genre.

The groove should always be considered carefully during the arrangement process because a solid and compelling groove creates the foundation for a great song. One method to check the health of your groove is to listen to the drums, bass and lead vocals only. If the song sounds great with only this trio playing, you’ve got a great platform to build the rest of your song on.

Possible solutions if your groove isn’t working:

a) Ask the drummer to play a simpler rhythm pattern, limiting drum-fills to the end of a turnaround.

b) Ask the drummer to make the drum pattern more symmetrical (see Tip 20 - Symmetry).

c) Ask the bass player to lock into the drummer’s kick drum pattern.

d) Ask the guitarist (or other rhythm element) to re-phrase the pattern, focusing on the holes and off-beats created by the drums and bass.

Summary:

1. A great groove can form the backbone of a great song.

2. The groove is formed primarily by the drums, bass and main rhythm instrument (guitar/keyboard/horn section).

3. Look for ways to improve the groove by using the solutions above.

10
Pace

Song pace is a result of tempo and performance

The pace of a song is a result of the song’s tempo and artist performances. Pace is different from tempo because while a song may have a 100 BPM tempo, it can still be made to sound faster or slower depending on individual and collective performances.

The pace is most often affected by the most prominent musical elements in the song: the lead vocalist and the rhythm section. A vocalist who sings slightly ‘ahead of the time’ can give the impression of urgency and increased pace. Conversely, singing ‘behind the time’ can create a dragging feeling, effectively slowing the pace of the song.

A more obvious example of speeding up the pace is when a vocalist sings in double time or raps lyrics. Some good examples of this are in the songs, One Week (Bare Naked Ladies), Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind) and, It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (REM). Singing in double-time in the choruses can be a useful technique for giving the song an energy injection.

A fast or slow pace is also affected dramatically by the rhythm section. 16th beats on a hi-hat can sound faster than 8th beats at the same tempo. Also, a bass player can affect the pace by the number of notes played per bar and if the playing is ahead or behind the tempo. Francis Roco Prestia, (Tower of Power) Mark King (Level 42), and Les Claypool (Primus) are bass players with fast playing styles that give their rhythm sections a very powerful pace.

For arrangers, it’s important to be able to recognise musical elements that may be negatively affecting the pace and to remedy the problem. In some situations, the pace might be due to a player’s capability level, such as a bass player not being able to play in time. Alternatively, the same bass player may be capable, but simply overplays. But let’s not beat up on bass players. These same issues can apply to others in the band. The key is to recognise the issues and remedy them.

There are so many options available to affect a song’s pace, but the key is to be able to identify issues and have a range of techniques to remedy or manipulate the performance.

Summary:

1. Consider that fine-tuning the pace of a song is a combination of tempo and performance.

2. Try altering the performance of lead elements (e.g. vocals, lead guitar) and/or the rhythm section to adjust the pace of a song.

3. Subtle adjustments to pace can be made by altering one element. This could be as simple as getting the drummer to play 16th notes instead of 8th notes on the hi-hats. Similarly, playing more notes per bar works effectively with other instruments. 

11
Texture

Hard, soft, edgy, gritty, smooth, brittle, soft, thick, thin, warm, cold, light, heavy…

This tip discusses texture by relating the character of a sound to how it feels to touch. Words like edgy, gritty, smooth, and big, are just some of the common adjectives. For example, a single element like a distorted guitar can sound big and edgy, an electric bass can sound warm and round, or a lead vocal can combine warm, thick, and gritty.

While describing sound character in terms of texture can be a bit subjective, it’s still a useful discussion method because it relates to something tactile that most people understand.

Technically speaking, a sound is texturally ‘warm’ if it has reduced high frequency content; conversely, ‘thin’ sounds lack bass. Elements that are ‘gritty’ and ‘edgy’ usually have distortion added, while ‘big’ can be created by reverb and increased volume.

Most musical elements have a natural texture. In other words, how they naturally sound to the ear in a normal environment. However, their natural sound can be manipulated with microphone techniques, equalisation, compression, amplification, and delay effects. An electric guitar can have further textural variations depending on string type, pickup selection, plectrum (pick) choice, and performance style.

From an arrangement viewpoint, what’s most important is how individual textures combine and interact to create highly textured song sections. Your arrangement goal could have verses sounding small, warm and smooth, while choruses could be big, thick and edgy.

When your aim is to actively create different textures throughout a song, you can achieve very engaging and colourful arrangements. And of course, textural variations are excellent for helping to create contrast throughout a song.

Summary:

1. Establish your textural goals early when arranging a song.

2. Familiarise yourself with the texture of different instruments.

3. Learn how to manipulate the tone of different musical elements to achieve the texture you need.

4. Learn how combining varying textures can create a different overall texture for a combination of instruments.

12
Duration

The song’s overall duration and sub-durations must be suitable for the intended audience

If your song is destined for mainstream radio then its total duration is an important factor in its playability; too long and it’s unlikely to make it on the playlist, where 3.30 minutes is a common target. Your song might be destined for a 30 second TV ad or require an extended mix for a movie or club. Each end-use demands a different duration.

The overall duration is determined by song structure and tempo. It stands to reason that for a given tempo, more sections will result in a longer song. Conversely, for any given structure, a faster or slower tempo will also affect the overall duration. While it’s not generally prudent to make duration the sole focus of a production, it can be an important factor in the playability and listenability of a song.

In modern music, an 8-bar length is common for a song section. If the tempo is reasonably quick, the song may feel like it reaches choruses too early and the song seems to finish abruptly. In this case you could successfully extend the overall length of a song by inserting an additional verse or adding a short bridge sections at the verse and chorus intersections.

Even minor tempo adjustments can significantly affect the vibe of a song, so it’s better practice to prioritise structure adjustments over tempo changes in order to achieve a desired duration.

From another perspective, the sub-durations of song sections are critical to creating a song with life and movement. When the length of a verse or chorus is right, a song has a forward momentum that is very appealing. Alternatively, verses that drag on too long before reaching a chorus can become boring for listeners. The same applies to other aspects of a song, such as painfully long guitar solos. Simply put, if your listeners have to endure a lengthy section or wait too long for change, they are likely to become bored.

Summary:

1. Ensure the duration of your song is acceptable for its intended audience e.g. 3 minutes and 30 seconds for mainstream radio.

2. Consider altering the song structure to achieve a target duration, while still maintaining the essence of the song.

3. Avoid using tempo to alter a song’s duration as this can be detrimental to its vibe.

4. Avoid song sections with excessive durations as this can be boring for listeners.

13
Brand

Know your audience, know your genre,
and know your brand

If you’re a song-writer, you may find it easy to compose across a range of genres and if you’re writing songs for other performers then versatility can be very useful. However, if you’re developing the sound of one band/artist, it’s prudent to maintain a cohesive sound by sticking to one genre. An artist that ‘crosses genres’ makes it difficult to establish a brand relationship with their audience.

Many main-stream radio stations are genre-specific, specialising in Rock, or Pop, for example. Therefore, a Rock band trying to get airplay on a Rock radio station can render themselves unplayable if they start releasing in other genres. And it’s just as confusing for audiences if their favourite reggae band then releases a rock song followed by a laid-back jazzy number. In short, versatility is preventing the artist from creating a brand identity.

If you’re involved in the arrangement on an album or multiple releases, you need to keep a careful eye on maintaining a cohesive set of songs. In other words, all the songs should ideally sound like they’re from the same collection by not crossing genres. This is achieved by having consistency in the composition, arrangement, sonics, performance, and genre.

This is critical because put simply, a band’s chosen genre is their brand. And when a brand is developed and strengthened it becomes a valuable and unique identity. You know when an artist achieves this stature because you know their sound within seconds of listening to their songs. A versatile artist can make it extremely difficult to develop brand recognition because they’re always ‘changing their tune’.

Summary:

1. Be wary of artist versatility as this can damage the artist’s brand (unless versatility is the aim).

2. Look for ways to strengthen the artist’s brand by ensuring genre-consistency across a range of songs.

3. Remember key components of genre-consistency: composition, arrangement, sonics, performance, and genre.

14
The Hook

The success of the hook is in its strength,
placement, and repetition

Strength, placement, and repetition have a huge impact on the success of a hook in any song. Focusing on these three areas will help you craft powerful hooks that engage listeners with the song.

In modern popular music, the most common use of a hook is as a catchy vocal melody residing in the Chorus.  However, a song’s hook can be constructed in a variety of ways. It can be a compelling rhythmical groove, like in Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’, the Lead guitar Intro in Chris Rea’s ‘Down On The Beach’, or the captivating vocal rap Chorus in Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s ‘The Message’. However, with simplicity in mind, our goal would be to focus on creating memorable and catchy melodic-based hooks.

The strength of a hook is about how memorable it is and listeners are more likely to go away humming simple, catchy melodies, than they are to hum a rhythm or rap sequence.

The simplest way to emphasise a hook is by repetition, because repeating anything makes it more memorable. However, a bit of balance is needed; even the best hook can be ‘over-cooked’ and become boring if used too frequently. As a general guide, the hook should at least occur one or two times in each chorus and repeat several times in the outro.

Hook placement is vital in any song. Hooks commonly live in the chorus and that’s important in ensuring that choruses remain the highlight in any song. But starting a song with a hook engages listeners instantly, like in Chris Rea’s ‘Down On The Beach’, or ‘I Get Around’, by the Beach Boys.

Summary:

1. Keep your hooks strong by aiming for simple and catchy melodies.

2. Use regular repetition to make your hooks memorable, but don’t repeat too often and bore listeners. 

3. Place your hooks carefully for maximum impact. Keep them in the choruses and away from verses and bridges. A hook in an intro can be very powerful.

15
Fills

Fills support the primary lead and create
momentum and energy in a song

The primary lead is the musical element that holds the most prominent melody throughout the song. In modern music, this would be the lead vocal or guitar solo, but can also include backing vocals and other lead instruments. When a primary lead is playing, many small pauses will exist between the phrases, such as when a vocalist finishes a lyrical phrase or takes a breath. These small moments of silence create the golden opportunity to add fills. It’s common to refer to this technique as ‘filling the holes’.

A fill can be any type of musical phrase that supports the primary lead and fits within the duration of the pause. The fill could be an electric guitar or bass lick, a drum fill, backing vocals, or even another vocal. Whatever it is, it needs to support the primary lead in a musical way.

A very good example of fills is in the song, Emotional Rescue (The Rolling Stones). The first verse has well-constructed bass fills that punctuate the end of each lead vocal phrase beautifully. The rest of the song uses a variety of other fill elements that really give the song a sense of momentum.

The main advantage of using fills is that they add a sense of momentum and energy to a song. They are a perfect way to build (see Tip 8) sections progressively throughout a song. A good overall approach to building song sections with fills, it to use fills in all choruses. For the verses, it works well to have no fills in verse one, then add them progressively to consecutive verses.

Summary:

1. Fills are an excellent way to build song sections and create momentum and energy in a song.

2. Fills should be placed in the pauses, or ‘holes’, created by the pauses of phrasing from the primary lead.

3. Try creating fills using the existing instruments in a song, rather than brand new elements that the listener is unfamiliar with.

4. Don’t feel like you need to add a fill to every available ‘hole’. Too many fills leads to over-filling!

16
The Primary Melody Rule

Avoid competing melodies

The Rule:

A maximum of one primary melody is allowed
at any one time in the song

The primary melody rule encapsulates the idea that there should only be one prominent melody playing at any one time in a song. This rule applies to mid-range frequency elements rather than bass and high frequency elements. This is because the ear is more sensitive to melodic material in the mid-range frequencies, than it is to low (bass) and high frequencies.

A typical pop or rock song might have up to three primary melodic elements occurring at different times: the lead vocal, lead solo, and instrumental hook. It doesn’t matter which lead element is playing at the time, just that there is ideally only one playing at any one moment.

One challenge with any song arrangement is not interrupting the primary melody with other competing melodies. This is a common problem that differentiates pro productions from those of the amateurs. Rarely do we hear a song with two strong lead elements occurring together and for good reason; a lead vocal and guitar solo occurring together is the musical equivalent of an argument. For the listener, competing melodies simply result in confusion.

There are a few situations where multiple melodies can work together. This is usually successful if these secondary melodies are simpler and less prominent than the primary melody. A good example of this is in the song, Like A Stone (Audioslave) where a simply phrased guitar melody accompanies the lead vocals.

Summary:

1. For every song, check that there is only one primary melody playing at any one time.

2. It’s OK to change the primary melody multiple times during a song as long as there is only one occurring at any moment.

3. Secondary melodies can play simultaneously with primary melodies as long as they are simpler and less prominent than the primary melody.

17
Tension, Release, Refresh

Creating tension, release, and
refreshment for the listener

Verses, choruses and bridges play a significant role in the dynamic energy of a song. When arranged in an appropriate order they can elicit the experience of tension (verse), release (chorus) and refreshment (bridge) for the listener.

If you’re able to consider these song sections purely from the viewpoint of manipulating tension in a song, then you might start to consider the role of song sections in a new light. This method leads to a more feel-based approach to arrangement. In other words, the song moves from section to section based on your gut feeling.

When song sections are arranged poorly, they create monotony and dissatisfaction for the listener. Often this is caused by unnecessarily short or long verses that give the sense of moving too fast or slowly. Similarly, making the listener wait too long for the chorus creates boredom, while over-repetition of the chorus effectively wears it out.

A verse creates tension for the listener by making them wait for the highlight; the hook or chorus. Verses also provide the listener with a reprieve from the hook/chorus, helping to recreate the cycle of tension where the listener is once again waiting for the song’s climax.

Choruses and hooks are like sugary treats:  wonderful to have but best served infrequently. However, when you do serve them up, it’s often best done with gusto! Therefore, make your choruses memorable and make them count. This is most easily done by repeating the hook several times.

The bridge (or middle-8) is the perfect way to refresh the listener and break the potential monotony of repetitive verse/chorus patterns. A very common arrangement in modern music is to have two repetitions of the verse/chorus combination, then move to the bridge, then finish with the chorus.

Summary:

1. Think about each song like a good novel, that cycles through a pattern of tension, release, and refresh for the listener.

2. The arrangement of song sections is critical in achieving the tension/release/refresh cycle in a song.

3. Analyse popular songs to find out common methods used by the pros.

18
Masking

Avoid masking between competing musical elements by altering tonality and performance

Masking naturally occurs when two musical elements with similar tonal qualities and phrasing play simultaneously. When elements in a song have different tonality and timing, the final song has much more clarity because distinction is created between each element. When the phrasing of each element is different, masking is reduced still further.

A typical example in modern rock and pop is the masking created between the lead vocal and distorted electric rhythm guitars; each reduces the clarity of the other because both occupy similar dominant frequency ranges.

Vocal comprehension is important – when we hear words we naturally try to understand them – and the loss of vocal intelligibility causes the song to suffer because listeners have trouble hearing the lyrics. This can be solved if the guitar’s tone is altered. One method to improve vocal intelligibility is to perform two simple EQ moves on the guitar. Firstly, reducing high frequency content from the guitar allows vocal consonants, fricatives and esses to be more pronounced, thereby improving vocal intelligibility. The second EQ move is to reduce frequencies of the guitar in the 2 – 5 kHz region, which is where our ears are most sensitive to speech.

Another example of frequency masking is where the bass’s clarity is reduced due to excessive low frequency extension of the electric guitars. The solution: reduce the low frequency of the guitars by selecting a guitar tone with less low frequency content.

Further improvements can be made if phrasing of both the guitar and vocals is varied. Often the vocal phrasing is dictated to a degree by the lyrics and not always easy to alter. However, there’s much more opportunity available to change guitar phrasing. An effective method is to form guitar phrases by creating riffs. Two good examples of very different phrasing between vocals and guitars are demonstrated in, Back In Black (ACDC), and, Summer Time (Thirsty Merc). In both of these songs, vocals have great articulation because there is little competition with the guitars.

One goal for any arrangement is to carefully select each instrument based on how their tonal qualities and phrasing combine and interact with other elements.

Summary:

1. To avoid masking, always look for ways to alter the tonality and the phrasing of similar sounding musical elements.

2. Always focus on maintaining clarity for the most important musical element. In most cases this is the lead vocal.

3. Masking is most likely to occur between two or more elements that occupy the same frequency range and have similar phrasing.

19
Width

Achieve width in the panoramic soundstage by variations in tonal character and performance

Tonal character and phrasing affect the experience of sonic width in a song production. When a song has width, the listener experiences a sense of open-ness and distinctness between the elements. While a wide mix is achieved during mix processing – panning, spatial FX, EQ – it’s made significantly easier by good choices made during the arrangement and recording.

Distinct tonal character contributes greatly to achieving a wide mix. When two different sounding instruments are panned left and right in a mix, their difference becomes noticeable and the result is an experience of separation and width for the listener. Creating distinct tonal character is as simple as selecting two different instruments and looking for simple ways to alter tonality. For example, a guitar and keyboard both playing different rhythms gives us different tonality and phrasing. 

Width can be affected dramatically if the phrasing of each element is different, even if their tonality is similar. For instance, a left-panned guitar could play arpeggios while the right-panned guitar plays quick rhythmic stabs or open power-chords.

When looking for separation between two of the same instrument, like electric guitars, there are many options available. For example, the tone of an electric guitar can be altered by selecting a different pickup, using a different pick (plectrum), changing guitars, and changing amps. Further variations can be achieved during recording by using different microphone techniques, equalisation, and of course, more or less expression in the performance.

Reduced width in a song can also be affected by having too many musical elements playing simultaneously. Too much going on can cause audible clutter for the audience, severely limiting the ability to create width. The solution is often to reduce the amount of instrumentation so that only the essential elements are playing.

Summary:

1. To achieve width in a song, ensure that the musical elements panned hard left and right have distinctly different tonality and phrasing.

2. Even if two instruments sound the same – like electric guitars - look for ways to alter their tonality to give each element distinction in the song.

3. Limit the number of similar sounding elements occurring simultaneously to maximise their clarity in the song.

20
Symmetry

Symmetry equates to performance consistency

Symmetry is the term used to describe a repeating pattern in a musical performance. For example, a drummer has symmetry when creating a consistently repeating kick and snare pattern. If the pattern is different in the chorus, there is still symmetry, but with a different pattern. However, if the drummer keeps changing the pattern sporadically, he or she lacks symmetry.

A symmetrical performance has value because it provides consistency for the listener, giving a solid foundation for the song. For example, if we have a beautifully pounding rock song with a straight, solid beat, the energy and vibe can be killed if the drummer wanders off into another rhythm pattern for no apparent reason. Even varying only one component, such as the kick drum pattern, could be problematic because the bass player then has to alter the groove to stay locked in with the bass. Maintaining symmetry creates consistency. This in turn, creates familiarity for the listener for each section in the song.

If there’s a creative reason for changing the groove, then great. However, inconsistent performances, where the players wander off the groove for no good reason, are generally problematic because the entire vibe can be affected. If a song has a great groove created by the rhythm section, then we want to keep this going and only change it if there’s a good reason, such as moving to a new section in the song.

The same issues about symmetry apply equally to other rhythm elements. For example, the repetitive rhythm patterns created by guitars, keyboards and so on are important support elements for the rhythm section and require a consistent performance.

Of course there are times when symmetry is the last thing we want, like in jazz or progressive rock, where the freedom of expression is an important aspect of the genre.

Checking for symmetry issues prior to recording is important, as trying to fix inconsistencies after recording can be difficult. Doing this allows the artists to adjust their performance before the final song recording.

Summary:

1. Make it a habit to listen for symmetrical performances for each element in a song.

2. Consider how and when it’s okay to break the symmetry of an element.

3. Ensure that symmetry issues are resolved before the final recording session.

4. Listen to pro song productions to get a feel for how symmetry is used across the different elements in a song.

21
Mood Theme

Connect with your audience with
emotionally targeted performances

A strong mood theme helps connect listeners to your song because they identify with a powerful and convincing emotional message. It could be happy, funny, amused, loving,  brooding, calm, confused, depressed, bitter, angry, aggressive, reverent, or any of a multitude of other many possibilities.

While instrument choice and performance can create a strong foundation, when it comes to creating mood, the vocal performance is king. For singers, preparing to deliver a convincing emotional message works the same way as when actors ‘get into character’. By deliberately reconnecting with an emotional past experience, the singer can recreate the necessary feeling and expression in their vocal delivery.

For examples of singers that deliver great emotion and expression in their vocal delivery, check out Mick Jagger, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Adelle, Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), and Otis Redding. There are many, many more great examples.

But the singer and the music must be telling the same story. Happy and cheerful lyrics with gnarly, chainsaw guitars and face-smashing drums probably won’t be a sympathetic combination. The music plays an important role in supporting and strengthening any emotional vocal delivery. Both the lyrics and the music must be ‘singing from the same songbook’.

From an overall perspective, it’s useful to decide on your goal for the mood of the song very early on. This way, you create clear targets and expectations for the performances of singing and instrumentation.

Summary:

1. Ensure the mood theme of the song is clear before you start work so that all performances are targeted towards achieving this goal.

2. The instrumentation and vocal performances must all work together to achieve the desired mood theme.

3. Listen critically to vocal performances to ensure that the appropriate expression and emotion is delivered.

4. When it comes to successfully achieving a great mood theme, the lead vocal is king.

22
The Polaroid Principle

Create depth and balance in a song’s

soundstage by reconceptualising the

instruments as photographic elements

The polaroid principle is a way to reconceptualise a song’s musical elements much like the physical elements in a photograph. This is simply a way of considering how the tonal quality of musical elements combine to create depth in the soundstage of a song.

A sensitive photographer can focus sharply on a key element in a scene while blurring the less important features using ‘depth of field’ control in the camera lens. The ability to capture an entire scene and focus on a key element, or group of elements, enables the photographer to create a stage where the surrounding out-of-focus elements add depth and context to the in-focus main elements. Even though the blurred elements may be difficult to accurately identify, they add context, depth, and visual balance to the composition.

In terms of song arrangement, you can transfer this photographic approach by considering the imaginary state of focus of each musical element in the song. You then go about creating the desired tonal character to fit your tonal landscape, or soundscape. 

An in-focus element is usually the primary lead element and is characterised by a clear and obvious tonal character. An element also has more focus if it’s louder, but a song can have multiple elements in focus at any one time, so using volume as a focus tool is not as effective as tonal character.

Simple techniques for altering the focus or blur of an element:

a) Alter the high frequency content
Applying a low pass filter EQ (rolling off the high end) dulls or ‘blurs’ an element. Increasing high frequencies from around 5 kHz upwards adds clarity and focus.

b) Reduce resonant frequencies
Resonant frequencies can be irritating for listeners, causing them to focus unintentionally on that element. Use a spectrum analyser to find the frequency range, and use a parametric equaliser to reduce it.

c) Alter ambience to simulate space and distance
Dry tonality makes elements sound close while reverb gives the sense of space and distance. Try applying a small or medium reverb to move the sound a little further away, and bigger reverb to locate elements to the back of the soundstage.

Summary:

1. Consider placing every musical element in the mix soundstage as if it were in a photograph.

2. Use equalisation to make an element more focused or blurred.

3. Use spatial FX to give a sense of depth and space to an element.

23
Counter Rhythms

Create distinction and contrast in timing
between musical elements in a song

Creating Counter Rhythms is a method where a distinct difference occurs in the timing between at least two simultaneously occurring elements in a song. When each element is played with a different timing, both become more distinctive than if their timing was the same.

A good example of counter rhythms is demonstrated between the lead vocal and rhythm guitar in the song, Back In Black (ACDC). The guitar phrasing is very ‘riffy’ and punctuated with a lot of space between the phrasing. The vocal follows a different rhythm and the two create an interesting juxtaposition, resulting in significant distinction and clarity. Loose Change (Royal Blood) is another good example of counter rhythms between the vocalist and the bass guitar.

The opposite of counter rhythms is often obvious in amateur productions where similar, key elements share the same phrasing. An immediate fix for this scenario is to revise the timing of one element. An example is where two distorted electric rhythm guitars, panned left and right in the mix, are playing exactly the same rhythm. By altering the rhythm of one guitar, it causes both to have much more contrast. The added benefit is that an increase in stereo separation is experienced.

Counter rhythms are not limited to vocals and guitars; the method works equally well with other key elements in a song, such as drums, bass, and essential keyboard/guitar rhythm parts.

When considering counter rhythms, a good starting point is to keep the main vocal phrasing relatively unchanged from the vocalist’s original intention while altering key rhythm elements: drums, bass, guitars, and keyboards. One way to differentiate two guitars is by trying a different playing style for each. For example, if one guitar cycles an arpeggio, while the other delivers a repeating riff, considerable contrast and clarity is created.

Exploring and mastering counter rhythms is an essential arrangement technique. It retains the original chordal intentions of the composition, yet redefines them in a purposeful way, adding character and distinction to the song.

For another excellent example of the masterful use of counter rhythms, check out the song, Slice of Heaven (Dave Dobbyn).

Summary:

1. Listen carefully to how the phrasing of rhythm elements combines with the lead vocal, and then consider ways to vary the phrasing of these instruments.

2. Avoid pounding away mindlessly on chords; look for ways to break up the chord into arpeggios, riffs and licks.

3. Listen to radio hits and pro productions with a focus on how counter rhythms are used to enhance the interest and clarity of a recording.

24
Time-To-Chorus

Determining the duration from song-start to hook

The time-to-chorus, or TTC, is the duration in seconds from the start of the song to the first chorus. It’s a useful consideration for any song because it places focus on how long it takes for listeners to get to the most important part of the song. If the audience waits too long for the chorus they can get bored.

However, there’s likely some debate about the ideal maximum time to wait for a chorus, but generally speaking, sooner is better. Radio hits very often start with the chorus or reach it within 30 – 45 seconds of the song starting. For songs not intended for radio, the TTC is not so important. It’s not that the TTC should drive every decision, but depending on your song’s destination (radio, film, club, etc.) it’s a significant factor in playability.

It’s common for amateur compositions to ignore the TTC approach; simply letting the chorus occur when it’s good and ready. As an arranger, your role is to consider if the TTC is acceptable and suggest appropriate modifications to the song if it isn’t.

If your song’s hook comes in immediately, like in Can’t Buy Me Love (The Beatles), then the TTC is zero and listeners hit the jackpot immediately. The issue then becomes how long one should wait for the next chorus.

TTC is affected by the tempo and song structure, so you may need to revise the song structure to reach your TTC target. It’s generally not a good idea to speed up a song in an effort to reach a chorus because this can negatively affect the song’s vibe and pace. Instead, try altering the song structure by less or shorter verses.

TTCs of famous radio hits:

Hot ‘n’ Cold (Katy Perry): TTC = 32 seconds

Quarterback (Kira Isabella): TTC = 47 seconds

Wannabe (Spice Girls): TTC = 40 seconds

This is how we roll (Florida Georgia Line): TTC = 36 seconds

Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers): TTC = 0 seconds

Animals (Maroon 5): TTC = 0 seconds

Summary:

1. If your song is destined for radio airplay, ensure the TTC is around 30 – 45 seconds. Be ruthless about adjusting the song structure if necessary.

2. After the first chorus, make sure that the listener does not wait too long for the next chorus. This is commonly done by the second verse(s) being shorter than the first e.g. AABABCB (A = verse, B = chorus, C = bridge).

3. Do a simple analysis on radio hits to establish popular TTCs throughout the song.

25
Element Placement

An element placement map helps position musical elements in the panoramic sound-stage based on their dominant frequencies

The element placement method is based on using a series of nine zones within the mix panorama. Each musical element is located in one of the zones depending on its dominant frequency range. Using this method improves the mix because frequencies become dispersed evenly across the mix panorama. It also improves clarity by reducing frequency masking from competing elements.

A simple way to use element placement in your song is to create an element placement map. The map is divided approximately into three panoramic zones (left, right, and centre) and three frequency ranges (low, medium, and high), giving nine positions. The element placement map is intended as a quick and simple visual reference tool.

The goal is to achieve a balanced overall sound locating each musical element in the song, into a zone based on whether they are a bass, mid-range, or high-range element. If you have multiple elements in a zone, carefully consider which elements are adding value to the song and remove them if needed. The middle frequency zones usually require most attention since commonly, the bulk of songs have a lot of mid-range elements.

Another consideration is that because instrumentation often changes in each song section, it’s necessary to consider an element placement map for each. As a minimum, a typical song would have an element placement map for the verse, chorus, and bridge.

The Element Placement Map

A bigger, clearer version of this graphic is available for download – see the ‘free stuff’ section at the start or end of this book.

Summary:

1. The element placement map helps in arranging the panoramic position of musical elements that occupy the low, mid, and high frequency zones.

2. Use the element placement map as a quick and simple visual reference tool.

3. Limit the number of elements in each zone and ensure they are not playing simultaneously.

4. Create an element placement map for each song section.

26
Tonal and Transient

The balance of transient and tonal elements can significantly affect the vibe and energy of a song

Transient-dominant instruments provide snap and punch, while tonal instruments provide sustain and tone. A song can benefit sonically by having an even balance of transient and tonal elements. To achieve this, instrumentation must be chosen based on their tonal and transient characteristics.

Transient elements are characterised by an obvious initial spike in the waveform, like a snare drum, kick drum, plucked guitar string, rapped vocals, a short stab on a clavinet, and so on. Tonal instruments have a sustained character with a very dominant tonal quality. Examples are a sung note, a held organ chord, keyboard pad, string ensemble, a strummed guitar chord, horns and more.

Generally, songs that are rich in transient content impart a strong sense of power and excitement for the listener. Examples include heavily rhythmic genres such as Hip-hop, marching bands, and Funk, to name a few. In Hip-hop, for instance, the music is driven primarily by dominant drum beats and percussive singing styles. Similarly, Funk relies on driving rhythms and staccato playing styles of guitars and organs.

Songs dominated by tonal, sustained musical elements with less transients, are generally easier on the ear. Typical examples are classical music, choirs, church hymns, baroque music, and so on.

Modern popular music seems to fit somewhere in the middle, usually exhibiting a relatively even balance of transients and tonal elements. But this balance can be altered during the arrangement process to manipulate the energy of the song. For example, if you want to lower the excitement and create a more relaxed vibe, reduce the transients and increase the tonal elements. An example would be to reduce drums or percussion.

Performance can significantly alter the tonal or transient character of a musical element. For instance, a guitar can be played with the fingers for a softer attack and medium decay, or played with a hard pick to accentuate the note transients. Palm-muting with a pick can produce a very percussive sound on the same guitar and a heavy strum can give a longer sustain. Similarly, a vocalist can sustain sung notes for tonal character, or rap for a more percussive style. Heavy annunciation is another effective trick for getting more transients into the singing.

Careful consideration of the instruments and performance in a song is critical in controlling the transient/tonal balance. You can use it to great effect for altering the energy and vibe when building different sections in the song. 

Summary:

1. Consider how altering the transient/tonal quality of instrumentation can improve the excitement and energy of each song section.

2. Use performance as a method to achieve a transient-rich or tonal-rich delivery.

3. Choose instruments based on their natural transient and tonal qualities.

27
The Rule of Two

Controlling the repetition of musical patterns

The Rule:

An identical musical section or phrase is not repeated more than twice in a sequence without a variation or change on the third time

This is a very effective rule that can improve the results in every aspect of your arrangements. From vocal melodies to song structure, The Rule will help ensure there is enough repetition to build familiarity for listeners, while keeping the song fresh and avoiding boredom from excessive repetition. Ultimately, The Rule of Two is about manipulating the patterns of element phrasing and sections.

A perfect application for The Rule with melodic elements is with lead vocals in verses. If the vocal melody is repeated twice in sequence, then on the third repetition, it should be altered. This alteration could be large or small, like a complete melodic change (big) or varying one or two sung notes or timing in the sequence (small).

The Rule of Two is also very effective when arranging sections within a song. For example, after two verses we would change to a new section and typically this would be a chorus. From a broader viewpoint, The Rule can be applied to groups of sections. The image on the next page shows two repetitions of the verse/verse/chorus pattern. Following The Rule has us changing to something new and in this case, it’s a bridge.

A key aspect of The Rule of Two is knowing when to break it. A common example is with a melodic hook because regular repetition positively emphasises this key element for the listener. Some musical genres, such as Hip-hop, are characterised by excessive repetition evident by repetitive loops. However, The Rule can still work here; even when a rhythm loop is repeated, new elements can be added to freshen the loops.

The Rule of Two

A bigger, clearer version of this graphic is available for download – see the ‘free stuff’ section at the start or end of this book.

Summary:

1.  Apply The Rule of Two rigorously and critically to the song structure to maintain an interesting production and avoid boredom.

2. Relax The Rule when you’re dealing with the song’s hook: hooks should be repetitive.

3. Create a simple diagram like the one above, as a visual tool. It’s very helpful for others involved in the production.

28
Clash Detection

Identify and fix performance and
composition errors

A clash is commonly caused by a performance or composition error. Depending on the elements involved, clashes can cause loss of clarity, masking, disharmony, timing errors, and more. Clashes are to be avoided at all cost because they cause confusion for the listening audience and result in a second-rate song production. This tip will focus on identifying and fixing clashes caused by the performance.

Clashes can happen at any time during the song production process. Because of this, the arranger needs to listen carefully to preliminary recordings and identify these errors before recording takes place. Once the band or artist is aware, they can revise their performances prior to the final recording taking place. However, even with the most meticulous care, clashes can still occur in the final recording. This means that the song needs to be checked again after the final recording, but before mixing takes place.

When doing clash detection in a song, it’s very useful to focus on a selected group, such as drums and bass guitar, rather than trying to identify clashes for all instruments at once. For example, paying attention to just drums and bass makes it easier to spot timing errors between the kick drum and electric bass. Similarly, focusing on bass and guitars or lead vocals and backing vocals is helpful in finding harmonic clashes between incorrectly voiced notes or chords.

As a general rule, if an instrument is clashing with a lead vocal, then the vocal should be given preference. Ideally, clashes in the performance should be identified and solved before the final recording stage.

Examples of clashes:

a) Melodic Clash

Commonly caused by the lead vocal and a guitar solo, but can be caused by two or more dominant melodic phrases occurring together.

b) Timing Clash

Caused by two or more elements not keeping in time e.g. bass and kick drum. Clashes are also caused by elements that are played late or early, and are very noticeable where multiple elements need to sync together.

c) Overlap Clash

A start or end of a musical phrase overlapping another phrase.

d) Harmonic Clash

When two or more incorrect notes or chords are played, or with one or more instruments being out of tune.

Summary:

1.  Clashes are caused by a performance or composition error.

2. Clashes should ideally be identified in preliminary performances or recordings and resolved before the final recording takes place.

3. Becoming familiar with the four common types of clashes will help you be more aware of them during the arrangement and production process.

4. When looking for clashes, focus on selected groups to make clash detection more obvious, like drums and bass or lead vocal and backing vocals.

29
Limitation

Limiting your resources and aiming high, forces you to innovate and achieve more with less

Have you ever been in the situation where you had limited resources for a project, but you still ended up doing a great job? The act of deliberately using limitation as a creative tool can produce amazing results. This works because you’re forced to do more with less, maximising your skills, experience, intuition, creativity, and collaboration over ‘external’ elements (like gear, criticism, other people and excuses).

The opposite of this process is the paralysis caused by too many resources. For example, it’s very compelling with modern digital recording to record excessive track-counts simply because you can. Then you create a headache for yourself later, deliberating over what to keep and what to bin.

How does working with limitation help when arranging a song? A simple method is to give yourself a tight deadline to complete the project. This forces you to make quick decisions and move on.

Another method is to limit the number of musical elements in the song. For instance, if you’re working with a four-piece band then you might limit yourself to creating an arrangement that reflects only the number of musicians in the band. This means no endless track layering, no tracks of other instruments that are not in the band, and no eight-part backing vocals. You would need to make careful decisions around song choice, performance, and arrangement, to achieve a great production.

Summary:

1. Find a way to place limitations on the resource available so that you force yourself to leverage your skills, experience, intuition, collaboration, and creativity.

2. The simplest way to use limitation as a creative tool is to give yourself a tight deadline.

3. Place a limitation on the arrangement of performances by doing sparse productions, only recording what could realistically be played live.

4. For examples of sparse productions, check out the work of Rick Rubin with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Audioslave.

30
Depth Position

Three depth positions make element
placement decisions easier and help create definition between elements

In any song, the depth position of a musical element is just as important as its panoramic position. Depth refers to the perceived distance of the element from the listener. Careful consideration of where an element resides in the depth position helps create a listening experience where elements have an obvious 3-dimensional position in space.

A simple method is to locate the musical elements in the mix using three depth positions: front, middle, and rear. The front position could be completely dry or a very minimal effect to create some space around that element. You might consider the rear position to be very far back and apply a medium/large reverb effect to accentuate this.

The next step is to consider a depth position for each and every element in the song (note that drums would occupy one position). It’s helpful to sketch a simple diagram of all elements in their respective depth positions. 

A good way to help with the positioning of an element is to consider the band playing in a live situation. For example, the lead vocalist might be at the front with drums behind in the middle position. A keyboardist might be laying down a very soft, spatial synth pad in the rear position. A guitarist might occupy the middle position while playing rhythm them change to the front when playing lead.

This process relies very much on the mix engineer applying the appropriate effects during mixing. But avoid recording elements with their effects on as this can cause problems later if you change your mind about a depth position.

Summary:

1. Decide on a depth position for each musical element in the mix and create an appropriate spatial effect for each position.

2. Make a sketch diagram to make planning this easier for you and others involved in the production.

3. If you’re involved in the recording, avoid having spatial FX recorded with the element. For maximum flexibility, this is best added during mixing.

31
Element Layering

Thicken and add character
to existing musical elements

Element layering, or simply layering, is a technique where new musical content is added to enhance the character of existing instrumentation. It is very effective for adding density and thickness to the sonic quality of individual and groups of elements and can be used successfully on anything from guitars and drums, to keyboards, vocals, and more.  

A common example of layering an element is to ‘thicken’ the sound of distorted rhythm guitars. Ideally, the new guitars are performed with the same phrasing as the original, while altering the tone. This can be done by varying the pickup selection, changing the amp, changing the mic on the amp, swapping foot-pedals and of course, changing the guitar. When all the recorded layers are played together, hey presto, we can achieve wonderfully thick and characterful sounds.

A classic approach with drums is to get a fatter sounding snare by layering multiple tracks within the DAW session. For example the original snare track could be duplicated. The duplicated snare could have a guitar amp plugin effect that gives it a trashy, sustained quality. When the two snare tracks combine during playback, the tone and character of the snare has changed based on the level balance.

Layering works great with vocals too; you can double-track your lead vocal with a whispered or a shouted version, or simply use a different voice. But the layered recordings need to be tightly synced with the original otherwise it can sound messy.

Similarly, electric bass can be enhanced with a keyboard bass layer (a common technique in pop and dance music) for a variation in tone. Alternatively, the bass tone could be constructed from the DI’d bass and the miked amp.

Finally, the most important thing when layering is to know what you want to achieve before you start. Without a clear goal, you can easily spend wasted hours in pursuit of nothing. On the flip side, if you’ve got time to kill, then experimenting with ideas is a great way to discover some new techniques and get familiar with layering.

Summary:

1. Layering is a popular technique that’s been used for decades in popular music.

2. Layering is a great way to thicken and add character to the sound of single or groups of elements.

3. Ensure the layered material is tightly synced with the original track otherwise the end result can sound messy.

4. Know what you want to achieve before you start layering. Here are some goal ideas: wall of guitars, massive drum kit, thickened lead vocals, big backing vocals.

5. Finally, there’s lots to be achieved by simply spending time messing around with layering to get a glimpse of the possibilities.

32
Ambient Layering

Add warmth, depth, and texture to the mix

Ambient layering has been added as an additional tip because it has a different approach and result to the element layering (Tip 31). The key difference with ambient layering is that you’re adding ambient, and sometimes, non-musical material at a very low level in the song. The aim is to add texture and density to song sections.

Ambient layering is very useful for songs that might otherwise sound quite sparse due to their limited instrumentation. The ambient material should be at such a low level in the mix that it’s almost unnoticeable; the power is in its subtlety.

When selecting the material for ambient layering, choose with care. If it contains heavily transient material from percussion, it can fight with the drums and other rhythm instruments in the song due to the mismatch in timing. Avoid introducing ambient material with strong melodies that can fight with the lead vocals, lead riffs, or lead solo, by creating a disharmony. Most of the time, ambient layering material is a complex combination of elements.

A good example of ambient layering is in the choruses of the song ‘Rude’ (MAGIC!). 

Ideas for ambient layering material:

a) Create short loops of the full mix from existing parts of the same song – a classic trick.

b) Short loops of guitars, backing vocals or a complete drum-kit. Reverse the audio and add reverb to produce a smooth, spatial flavour.

c) Out-takes of lead and backing vocals, vocal add-libs or guitars with reverb to create a smooth, washy character.

d) Ambient recordings, like street noise, a fairground, wind in the trees, or a murmuring crowd.

e) Another song recording. Check you have the owner’s permission to use it.

f) All the above layering ideas often sound great when heavy effects are applied. Typical effects include heavy reverb, repeating delays, distortion, and band limiting.

Summary:

1. Ambient layering can add character, texture and density to a song.

2. Keep the level very low in the mix – it shouldn’t be a dominating feature.

3. Use it to build sections in a song rather than a carte-blanche approach throughout the entire song.

33
Performance

Great performance is at the heart of a great song

There’s no doubt that performance has a huge impact on the quality of a song. Your listeners will remember a great performance over a mediocre production.

Songs by great artists like the Beatles, Elvis, and others of that era, were not remembered for the sonic quality of their productions; not surprisingly since recording technology was in its infancy. They were famous for their great compositions and performance.

While we may have limited scope around altering an original composition, extracting the best performance from a band can pay huge dividends in the quality of the final production.

In the arrangement stage, this means reviewing the performance of each artist and looking for areas of strengths and weakness. The most obvious first step is to focus on the lead vocalist (or lead instrument if your song is an instrumental). Does he or she pitch correctly, phrase well, and deliver the right degree of emotion and expression? Do they sing like their life depends on it? When a singer makes the hairs on your neck stand up, you know you’ve hit the jackpot.

A good technique for assessing performance is to create a demo recording of the song, then analyse the performance of each member. Any issues that arise can then be discussed and resolved before the final recording takes place.

While the performance of lead elements is the first point of focus, other instruments need consideration. See the following Performance Checklist.

Performance checklist:

a) Does any member under or over-play?

b) Do the bass player and drummer create a great groove that underpins the song? Can they play in time together?

c) Are all performers playing in time?

d) Does the lead singer sing with good pitch, phrasing and expression?

e) Can backing vocalists sing in time, in pitch, and in unison?

f) Does the band/artist create contrast between sections by varying the energy between verses and choruses?

Summary:

1. Great performance is at the heart of a great song.

2. Focus on the performance of lead elements first. Lead vocals and lead solos are a good place to start.

3. Check the performance of each member for timing, pitch, and expression.

34
Comparative Analysis

Improve your arrangements by analysing and comparing your songs with radio hits

Comparing your songs to those of the pros is the perfect way to improve your own arrangements. Taking the time to deliberately analyse and compare can reveal strengths and weaknesses in your own productions. Once you discover these areas, they can become a focal point for improving your craft.

For instance, if you’re arranging country music and you’re looking for ways to improve your skills, then compare your songs with the chart hits to see where the differences lie. However, comparative analysis is rather useless unless you commit to spending deliberate and focused time doing it. Using a checklist is critical because it allows you to measure the results. Here are some suggested features to consider when comparing your song to a radio hit:

Comparative analysis checklist:

a) TTC (time to chorus)

b) Total duration

c) Song structure/format

d) The use of fills

e) The use of builds

f) The use of transitions

g) Strength and location of the hook

h) Strength of the groove

i) Tempo and pace

j) The use of Focus (The Polaroid Principle)

k) The use of layering (Sonic and Instrument layering)

l) Clash detection

Summary:

1. Comparative analysis is an extremely useful method for improving your own arrangements by comparing your songs with radio hits.

2. For best results, take the necessary time to do a deliberate and purposeful comparison.

3. Use a checklist so that you can measure the results.

4. Don’t underestimate the incredible power of this process in terms of helping improve your skills.

5. Compare regularly, it’s worth the time and effort.

35
Deliberate Decisions

Finish projects and become a master

Making deliberate decisions is a great method for developing your skills and getting projects finished. Making a deliberate decision enables you to capture an opportunity and move on to the next thing. If you train yourself to work this way consistently, you’ll make A LOT of progress and finish projects instead of being stuck in a state of indecision and ‘analysis paralysis’.

Unfortunately, the opposite of making deliberate decisions is what a lot of us do; we’re not sure, so we can’t commit, and stuff doesn’t get done because of it. And since there’s often no deadline, projects sit around like stale bread, gathering dust and are often left unfinished. Indecision is perhaps the biggest road-block to developing your skills and achieving mastery. This is because mastery is achieved through experience, and experience is achieved through getting lots of projects done.

Making a decision takes guts and determination, especially if you’re uncertain of the outcome. But committing to an idea allows you to keep the project moving. It’s far better to make a poor decision and learn from it, than to make no decision at all and halt progress.

A great way to practice making deliberate decisions is to do as many projects as you can and give yourself a deadline for each. One idea is to join an online community, such as www.indabamusic.com, and enter the remix competitions. Each competition has a deadline which forces you to make deliberate decisions about arrangement and production, in an effort to get your mix uploaded by the finish date. A huge benefit is hearing the remixes and the arrangement/production decisions of other entrants.

If you could complete one project every two weeks, you could complete 26 projects per year! Joining a number of online communities like Indaba, could easily keep you busy with arrangement and production projects.

Summary:

1. Making deliberate decisions means making progress and finishing projects.

2. Completing lots of projects will give you lots of experience, and experience is what gets you closer to becoming a pro.

3. If you’re really stuck in making a decision during the development of a song, get advice from others with more experience.

4. Even poor decisions have value if you learn from them.

5. To get lots of projects to work on, join an online community such as www.indabamusic.com

36
Checklist

A carefully created checklist ensures consistent quality and a stream-lined process

The humble checklist is the perfect tool to ensure consistent workflow and quality output for each and every project you work on. The checklist is valuable because it removes the brainpower required to remember the process, while allowing you to focus on the important stuff.

Implementing a methodical approach into your workflow is the mark of professionalism and commitment to ongoing quality. Businesses and organisations, from banks and engineers, to educational institutions, use checklists to ensure consistency and quality in their products and services, and you can too.

Using a checklist is an antidote for wasting hours on the unimportant things that don’t contribute to getting the project finished. It’s very easy to get distracted by things that don’t really matter, like knob-twiddling, useless meetings, or messing with your FX plugins.

A checklist also keeps you focused on what’s important and ensures that you don’t overlook an important step in the process. Missing a step can compromise the quality of the end product, such as not checking musicians have tuned up before recording, or forgetting to look at builds and transitions in the song arrangement.

A checklist is a stupidly simple method to maintaining quality and achieving consistently good results, yet so many people don’t use them. You’re more likely to see professionals using checklists and amateurs not – what does this tell you?

However, a checklist is only as good as the up-front thinking that goes into it. It’s important to spend quality time creating a checklist so that you include all necessary steps in the correct order. A good place to start is by looking at other peoples’ checklists for ideas. It doesn’t need to be a huge and unwieldy document. It simply needs to list the important things you need to do in the order they should be done.

Summary

Ideas for a song arrangement checklist:

1. Song information: date, artist, song, genre, duration.

2. Use the chapters from this book as a basis for your checklist.

3. Visuals: Dynamics Map, Element Placement Map.

4. Rules and principles: The Rule of Two, The Primary Melody Rule, The Polaroid Principle.

5. Join my mailing list for a free and comprehensive checklist (see the link at the start and end of this book).

Glossary

Terms used in this book

Ambient Layering

Ambient musical and non-musical material that is added at low levels into the song mix.

Bridge

The term bridge can be confusing as it can refer to two quite different types of musical sections. The traditional idea of a bridge is a short musical section to connect two longer musical sections, such as a short transitionary section between a verse and chorus. A more modern reference to a bridge makes it synonymous with a middle-8, which is a musical section used later in a song to add contrast and break up the repetitive pattern of the song.     

Build

The addition or variation of musical elements used to add interest and a change in energy to repeating song sections.   

Checklist

A list of critical steps designed to ensure quality and consistency when completing a procedure. Steps should ideally be stated in a particular sequence.

Clash

Two or more musical elements that occur simultaneously, causing a musical error. The result can be harmonic dissonance, frequency masking, competing melodies, competing lead elements, and timing errors.

Comparative Analysis

The process of analysing and comparing your song arrangement with professional radio hit songs.

Counter Rhythms

A method where distinction and contrast is created by varying the timing between two or more interrelated musical elements in a song.

Deliberate Decisions

A method of working that limits indecision and uncertainty, emphasises deliberate decision-making, and promotes forward progress when developing any project.

DAW
Digital Audio Workstation. This is the recording and mixing software on your computer.  

Dynamics Map

A visual representation of the dynamic energy flow across all sections in a song. The X axis shows all sections in the song in the correct order. The Y axis measures the subjective or perceived level of song energy, where zero = no musical elements and no volume, low = low energy, medium = medium energy, high = high energy.   

Element (musical)

A musical part, phrase, instrument, or vocal.   

Element Placement Map

A simple map that assists in the placement of musical elements in a song’s soundstage based on their dominant frequencies. 

Fills

Very short musical phrases that occur within the pauses created by the primary melody.

Groove

Created by the interaction between the drums and bass and enhanced by rhythm components in the song.

Interlude

A short musical piece between sections in a musical arrangement. 

Layering

New musical content is added to enhance the character of existing instrumentation in a song.

Masking

Masking naturally occurs when two musical elements with similar tonal qualities and phrasing, play simultaneously in a song.

Middle-8 (also bridge)

A section of a musical arrangement that occurs later in the song and is usually around eight bars in duration. It often consists of a different melody, chord sequence, rhythm or a combination of these. Its function is to add contrast to the song by breaking up the repetitive pattern of a typical song structure. It is also referred to as a bridge.  

Pace

The pace of a song is a result of the song’s tempo and the artist’s performances.

Performance

The quality and characteristics of what the musician plays.

Phrase

A short piece of a musical passage played by an individual instrument or vocal.  

Pre-chorus

A short piece of music, commonly 2 – 4 bars in duration, used to join a verse and a chorus section; sometimes referred to as a bridge.  

Primary Lead

A single musical element, or group of elements, that holds the main focus for the listener at any one time in a song. It is most often melodic, such as a lead vocal or a lead solo.  

Primary Melody

There should only be one prominent melody playing at any one time in a song.

Refrain
A repeated musical phrase in a song section; common in a chorus when repeating the hook.

Secondary Melody

A musical melody that has less emphasis than the primary melody, generally characterised by a simpler melody, phrasing or timing.

Section

A general term used to describe a part of the song’s structure and can refer to an intro, verse, chorus, bridge, middle-8, refrain, interlude, outro and more.

Sectional Contrast

A deliberate variation in the pattern of energy between the sections in a song with the purpose of creating interest for the listener.

Tonal Element

Tonal elements are characterised by their sustained tonal character, such as a held organ chord, a slowly decaying guitar chord, held note on a flute, or a note sung with sustain, to name a few.

Transient Element

A Transient element is a sound with a strong percussive attack as its main sound characteristic. Viewing a Transient sound in an audio editor will show a strong peak at the front of its waveform. In this book it is often used in direct comparison to a Tonal element (refer to Tonal Element in this glossary). Some examples of Transient elements are drum hits, strong consonants or ‘plosives’ in a vocal, percussion, hand-claps, plucked and muted guitar notes.  

Transition
The purpose of a Transition is to signal to the listening audience, the progression from one song section to the next. It comprises a variation to existing, or introduction of new, musical elements and is usually included within the musical section, rather than as a new section. For example, a transition might occur in the last bar or two of a verse leading into a chorus.  

TTC (Time-To-Chorus)

This is a measurement of the time in seconds from the very start of the song to the start of the first chorus. 

Width

When musical elements sound like they have wide separation in the mix panorama.

Thanks

Thanks for purchasing this book - I hope you found value in it. This book can serve as a useful reference as you try the different techniques and ideas and further develop your skills and techniques with you song arrangements.

I would really appreciate it if you could leave me a positive review on Amazon with your honest comments and feedback. I read all the feedback and use reader comments to make necessary revisions and improve the quality of future books.

Sincerely

Amos Clarke

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Practical techniques to take your songs to the next level

This book takes an in-depth look at how to create a great song arrangement using a vast range of techniques including pattern manipulation, repetition, and tonal character. The book covers many more techniques, principles and rules for creating great song arrangements, always with the goal of keeping the audience interested, engaged and wanting more. The book gets deeply into the application of Builds, Transitions, and Hooks, while addressing the issues of Groove, Pace, and Complexity. It focuses on the importance of establishing Lead elements in a song and their impact on song listenability. Also discussed, is the principle of arranging musical elements based on their tonal character and how careful placement in the panoramic soundstage can ‘open up a mix’, providing incredible depth and clarity.