The Editorial Side of Composing Music
In my previous post, I talked about the concept of arranging music and the possible reasons for doing so. Arrangements allow a piece of music to be repurposed and experienced in new ways by changing its harmony, instrumentation, or complexity. I referred to the performance aspect of music and how it can affect the necessity of an arrangement. What I didn’t discuss (and what I plan to delve into today) are the processes that take place between arranging and performing — namely, proofreading and revision.
In many ways (probably more than I prefer to think about), compositions and arrangements are like essays. Obviously, they serve different purposes, but the steps taken to achieve the final product in writing essays and writing music are very similar.
First, brainstorming. When you're arranging, your brainstorming might look like a few lines of music jotted down in a notebook, some new chords written over a preexisting song, or a list of instruments to be included in your arrangement of said song. Essentially, you're getting your thoughts sorted out and preparing to write a rough draft. That rough draft could be an entire piece, or perhaps just a section of it. Regardless, it won't be perfect. The next steps involved in the writing process are vital to the music/essay's success. They will attempt to correct any mistakes while making it readable and accessible to people besides the writer. This is especially important if you want your arrangement to be played more than once!
Proofreading is the first thing that should be done following the rough draft’s completion. When proofreading, there are a few things that you need to look for. In an essay, you check for spelling and grammatical errors. Similarly, in music, you check for note or harmony errors. In an essay, you review for punctuation. In music, you check for articulations and accidentals. In an essay, formatting — in music, formatting! There can’t be any collisions in the music (i.e., overlapping text or notes that are too close together), and you want to be sure that page turns are viable. If you put a page break in the middle of a fast-paced section with no rests, the players won’t be able to actually turn their pages and read the music! These sorts of things are exactly what I didn’t think about for a very long time when writing music. However, once I began interning here with the Spartanburg Philharmonic (and once I was required to proofread other people’s music), I realized that this is an extremely significant step in the writing/arranging process.
Once your music has been proofread, and your mistakes have been accounted for (I find that the best way to do this is to print the sheets and circle things with a colored pen), it’s time to start revising! The revision stage is what you'd expect it to be: Reworking, rewriting, and correcting errors. Certain things will have simple solutions. Collisions or note errors are not difficult to fix (but are important nonetheless). The more formidable challenges come with things such as passages that don't match up harmonically. Having to fix many notes in a melodic line to fit the harmony (or vice versa) can change the emotional implications of a section. The composer/arranger is then forced to decide whether a more "correct" or widely accessible sound is more important than the emotional intent behind that section.
This sort of mishap is more common in reharmonizations than, say, reinstrumentations. Another difficult situation is that there are seemingly no breaks in a part that allows for page turns when necessary. Here, the writer must decide how heavily they wish to accommodate the performers and how much they are willing to change that section of music to do so. Said accommodation might involve shifting the melody to a different instrument, cutting out certain parts for just enough time to allow a page turn, or even just squishing measures closer together (without creating collisions, of course!). Just like in an essay, revision is all about compromise and prioritization. You’ll never have enough time, notes, or words to say everything you want to say; you have to be willing to make things work with the amount you’re given.
Before an arrangement is concluded and parts are sent off to performers, it is generally wise to repeat the proofreading stage (and, if necessary, the revision stage) to be absolutely sure that they are receiving exactly what they're supposed to receive. In summary, arrangements first need to suit the context they are being performed in — this is where my previous post is essential. Second, they need to be readable and easily understood by players to have an effective performance — and that’s where the things I talked about today come in handy!
Tristan Willcox is a senior at Spartanburg High School, a talented musician and composer, and intern for the Spartanburg Philharmonic. Tristan’s composition “Battle at Byrjun” premiered at the 2019 Homegrown concert
