Originally posted by Kingfrog:
The reason I have gone from workstations to arranger keybords is becasue I am not a drummer, bass player, string arranger, horn player etc.....
When a singer/songwriter like Neil Diamond, James Taylor or Billy Joel writes a song. They do not write the arrangement. The call in arrangers/producers for the type of song they wrote. Michael Omartian, david Foster,Maurice White.....To write and hire the players to play those parts. In some cases the actual band mambers write their own parts...
THATS what an arranger does for me. I write the songs and pick up the "phone" and call my buddy "Quincy Jones" or "Count Basie" or David Foster.....whom in turn hire Steve GAdd, Towr of Power, Stanly clark, Liberty Divito and maybe King Curtiss.....
AS a writer I no longer have to play bass parts like a beginning bass player, or Drums...Not too many songwriters were virtuoso musicians. Many just plunked a few chords on the guitar IE Neil Diamond, James taylor,,,,,,and let the professionals do the rest.
Thats what the arranger keyboard does that no organ ever did. Bring real musicians to the table.
The trouble is, all to many people (not you, necessarily, but SOME) think that, if they bring these so-called 'musicians' to the table, that automatically makes them one too!
I agree, as songwriting tools, arrangers have a VERY special place, allowing you to 'mock up' a song faster than just about anything out there. But you'll NEVER hear one (or at least, the arranger side of it!) on a commercial record. This is where you bring in REAL musicians, at least if you are not doing techno or loop-based music in the first place..!
Let's face it, all the hoopla about the Audya, and audio loop-based arrangers like MS just go to show, for those with discerning ears, there is still a VERY long way to go before any arranger is capable of fooling us that it IS 'real'.
One thing I guarantee. Even as a 'beginner' bass player, you are capable of playing a FAR more 'musical' bass line than ANY arranger... Don't sell yourself short!
For me, the best way to get close to the 'live band' sound in my productions, if I use an arranger at all, is to get the 'mock up' down with the arranger, then go back in to sequence mode, and gradually replace out ALL the machine stuff, or at least edit it so it doesn't repeat each iteration so exactly. Vary EVERY fill, do something to the guitar part each section so it isn't EXACTLY the same as all the others, and first and foremost... CHANGE THAT BASS LINE! Make the bassist anticipate the next chord and move towards it. An arranger has NO WAY of knowing what the next chord is until you play it, a real one knows in advance and shapes his line accordingly.
This might seem more work than you want to do, but trust me... it makes the difference between a 'mock up' and a real song.
Go back, and listen to some Quincy. Try and find two identical sections... Best of luck!
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