will make up the final arrangement. The Voice Memo app is a perfect tool for capturing those musical doodles. Once I’ ve got the various parts recorded I like to give them a listen. It still surprises me how different things sound and feel once I stop playing. Because I’ m still in the moment, this is a great time to go back in and make inspired tweaks if need be.
CRAFTING AN ARRANGEMENT Coming back to a Voice Memo after the fact can be a sobering experience, but it can also be the fuel that reignites the creative fire. Once I’ ve determined that an idea is truly worth pursuing, crafting an arrangement becomes my next focus. This is where the investment I made in coming up with all the parts while the creative juices were flowing really starts to pay off. Arranging is like painting a house. It is generally not a good idea to start painting before you’ ve finished pouring the foundation. For me, these are two distinct phases for which I use two distinct approaches.
Using my painting analogy, arranging is like finding the perfect balance of how much color and where. I personally find it very frustrating to try and create a final arrangement while I’ m still trying to fill in missing parts. Again, by having given myself permission to live in the creative zone when I was coming up with the parts, once I get to arranging I can start thinking versus feeling my way through this particular part of the pre-production process. While this is not a one size fits all thing, you might try giving this strategy a whirl if you’ re feeling that your current approach is falling a bit short. Regardless of how you get there, before you take a song to your worship team or band to rehearse, I’ d suggest making a recording of the actual arrangement. Having time to live with your arrangement will be a huge help when it comes time to workshop the song with your team or band.
REHEARSAL ASSETS
[ Arranging is like painting a house. It is generally not a good idea to start painting before you’ ve finished pouring the foundation. ]
When Classical musicians are first asked to improvise, they often freeze. Music as they’ ve known it has always been written note for note on a page for them to reinterpret. When presented with an original composition, many Worship musicians face a similar challenge. The good news is that if you approach showing your team or band your song in much the same fashion they learn other songs, you’ ll be setting everyone up for success.
SHARE YOUR ARRANGEMENT The great thing about Voice Memos is that you can easily share them directly from the app. Giving your team / bandmates some time to live with your song is a great way to get them
THE REHEARSAL invested in the process. It’ ll also give them a chance to craft some parts of their own before rehearsal.
WRITE + SHARE A CHORD CHART If possible, also give them a chord chart to work with. If you’ re don’ t feel ready for the task, try reaching out to a keyboardist for help. Planning Center is a great vehicle for sharing these kinds of assets, while eMail is arguably better for gathering feedback.
Be sure to share your vision for the song. The more you let the musicians know what a song means to you and how you feel it will move your audience or congregation, the closer they’ ll be to realizing it. It is also a good idea to give them an idea of what your goals are for the rehearsal, as well as what you are looking for from each player. I’ d also suggest taking a moment to play the arrangement for them before you start rehearsing. Chances are that in the busyness of life, someone there might not have had a chance to listen to the version you shared.
A DYNAMICS CHART In addition to having extra copies of the chart you already shared, I’ d also suggest creating a dynamics chart to get everyone on the same page in terms of the song’ s dynamics. The below chart features the names of the sections as well a number from one to ten, representing the dynamic intensity for that section. This kind of chart is easy to write and even easier to read … Intro 8 Verse 1 4 Pre-Chorus 5 Chorus 1 6 Verse 2 5 Pre-Chorus 6 Chorus 2 7 Bridge A 5 Bridge B 7 Chorus 3 8 Outro 9
LOOPING SECTIONS If you wrote a song for your Church’ s Worship team, remember that many services have a time where the speaker will talk as the band loops a section. Noting that this is something your musicians are most likely used to doing this in a service, getting them to loop each section of your arrangement is a great way to bring your song to life. Don’ t leave a section until it feels right.
RINSE AND REPEAT Once the band can make it through the song from start to finish, pull out your iPhone and record a Voice Memo so everyone can hear how they sound together. Talk about what worked and what didn’ t, and if time permits record another take with the appropriate fixes.
LIVE WITH IT The final Voice Memo from these pre-production sessions gives you the ability to make a number of critical decisions about your song in terms of the key, tempo, arrangement, and dynamics. Living with these recordings is key to deciding whether you are ready to start the multi-track recording process.
Nov � Dec 2016 ChristianMusician. com
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