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"Music is the fourth great material we want of our natures,
-first food, then raiment, then shelter, then music."*
Arranging and Sequencing
Whether it's taking a "raw" songwriter demo, an existing "show" tune that needs to be recreated or an original piece
of music, the process is generally the same...
...listening to the original demo or the master to be recreated and then sketching it out (either in
traditional music notation or the Nashville Number System depending on the complexity of the arrangement and chord structure) and then playing
into the Mac G4 via MIDI the various parts of the arrangement...drums, bass, keyboards, etc. and then manipulating the data to insure a
human feel. Generally we do linear sequences as opposed to cutting and pasting loops. We've found that this
seems to give a little more naturalness to the projects if the choruses (for instance) are not exact
replicas each time...something a little different, even if it's minute.
And, in spite of all of our best intentions, it really seems to make the projects come alive
with at least the addition of one other live player. It could be an acoustic guitar, "real" piano or a lead
instrument such as an alto sax or harmonica to really open up the sequence and introduce more of an organic feel and the input of another musician!
Even if the project is a vocal project, with lots of background harmony, it's always seems worth the extra time
and effort!
In more "normal" studio attire!
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