The Secret Code to Music Arranging 

Excellent video as always David! I love all the different camera angles and animations! Great work 😊

I’m the first opening lines, “no one dreams of becoming this” it’s really funny because it was my childhood dream (still is but is more of a hobby than a career right now) to become an arranger

Your videoediting keeps getting better and bettter! The content in of it self is top notch as always!

Awesome as always! I am actually an arranger. Sometimes gorgeous gospel tunes, sometimes piano reductions for my students. I love it. You find out the hidden (or not so hidden) genius of some musicians and of course when you have the freedom to write for orchestra, you can include, say, those gorgeous French horn lines, string runs, woodwind textures, funky horn sections and sometimes beautiful reharmonizations.

Another famous example of arranging in classical music is Rhapsody in Blue. As I remember the story, Gershwin didn't feel confident with his own orchestration skills, and the tight deadline for the commission didn't give him the time to learn. So he asked Ferde Grofe to orchestrate it, and that's the version we almost always hear. Similar to the Ravel Pictures, it's Grofe just as much as it is Gershwin.

Another reason we arrange is to make use of the instruments we have at hand. As a church musician/arranger, I don't have access to a full orchestra or big band. It's a mix of whatever volunteers I can find (different week by week) augmented with a very limited budget for hiring. So it's a fun challenge to arrange for the available musicians and their skill levels!

I'm an arranger too! I think you're right that people don't necessarily imagine "arranging" as the purest expression of their own musicality--folks not in the field may think, "why not compose original music instead of relying on the crutch of using stuff that someone else wrote?". But it's really interesting to me that so many musicians on youtube nowadays arrange & perform tracks extremely frequently to not only study how their favorite music was built, but also to develop their own styles and sensibilities when it comes to making the kind of music they like to make. And even then, arranging is even a great way to develop an audience for whatever the musician would want to do later, like you mentioned with Collier. It's all part of the folk process--the everblooming story constantly being told and retold by musicians to celebrate what they love in new ways, and it keeps tunes alive like watering the big musical garden. I see arranging as *most* of what music-making is all about: putting together all the elements of a piece, and then putting some melody on it. Whether or not the melody is "original" or from someone else isn't all that important because the essence of the process is exactly the same. And it can be so funny to spend days working on some fantastic new piece and then put, like, the flintstones melody on top and it actually works (re: your mood switch point around 8:40) Awesome video addressing the many ways arranging and arrangers have been around since forever--and I loved all the compositing and cutshots lmao. The "regional chef" metaphor was absolutely perfect; I'm gonna keep that one in mind hah

love when the camera shows your painting again and it's ben levin

One of the most contrasted arrangements done are those that Björk makes to her own work. Compare the original "Human Behavior" and the version she arranged for MTV Unplugged. Or actually any concert tour she does as she often changes the instruments at hand (more or less radically), so in every tour the arrangements are different.

The amount of work it would've taken to put this video together... astounds me. So fun, so educational. Thanks, mate.

2:20 "Vogelgeschrei" ("bird screams") is a beautiful name for an organ stop.

David, this is probably my favorite video you've uploaded - the quality really shines through in this video. I know playing the RU-vid game sucks. However, you're good at communicating about music in an audience-friendly way, please keep up the fantastic work.

For me, arranging is an interpretive act allowing a composer to "perform" another composer's work. I thoroughly enjoy doing it. Thanks for an exceptionally good video, David, with particular appreciation for the love you give Joni Mitchell.

Great video, nice to see some love for us arrangers! It's an invisible job most people don't even realize needs to be done.

Love this, I often think about cover songs and I feel like there's a lot of overlap here. A lot of people seem to see covers as lazy or unoriginal, but I honestly love getting to hear a different interpretation of a song. Sometimes you're lucky enough to hear a favourite artist's take on one of your favourite songs. It's utterly transformative. I love Taylor Swift's cover of September for example. The original is loud and bombastic and fun, it's a perfect party. Taylor's cover strips the entire thing back to three chords on a guitar, like she would do when doing one of her own songs acoustically, and it shifts from being *in* the party to almost feeling like looking back on it from the day after? Total opposite end of the spectrum is Bowling for Soup's cover of Stacy's Mom, it's almost indistinguishable from the original, but more so just works as a way to keep a fun song alive. Re-arranging is a big part of a cover and I love seeing how musicians reinterpret other people's work.

One that gets forgotten about is Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy, he arranged many folk melodies around England for Military Band, some really beautiful music.

a lot of these concerns remind me very much of the considerations that go into translating works into and from other languages - the recontextualization, the bringing forward of different perspectives, that always happens in such a process. jacob geller's video essay A Thousand Ways of Seeing a Forest is a fantastic look into that if anyone's interested

Fantastic as always - love the orchestral arrangement of Both Sides as well. Strikes the heart

You put so much effort into your videos, thank you!

Not only your videos are always full of useful information, but they are also getting more and more visually entertaining. Keep them coming, David!

Absolutely one of your best videos. This is a truly inspiring video for someone like me whose dream job is actually an arranger! I think there are more of us out there than you think David! All the little easter eggs and jokes in this video haven’t gone amiss! Legendary work!

I love an arrangement of something familiar in a new context, especially condensing a large ensemble to a single piano or guitar. The other arrangements are wonderful too, when you have a melody stuck in your head it's a great time to use it ❤❤❤

I gotta say, I really love this video you've made. I love how you're changing scenes a lot and being really creative with stuff like going up and down an inclined sidewalk and painting a portrait. And of course, this was really informative too. I've always liked arranging. It's like a different kind of puzzle compared to writing something from pure scratch.

Nicely done video, and fascinating! Thank you.

Another great video David!...while I don't like how long of a gap there is in your RU-vid posts compared to before, the production value of your videos and the deeper depths reached in your more recent dives, have made it more than worth the wait!

This video is wonderful! Love the editing so much 🙏

Gil Evans. An example of an arranger who had tremendous impact

Arranging is fun and educational. It makes even more fun if you find artists and bands who are willing/able to play your arrangements because sometimes you have to constrain yourself.

Outstanding video David!

Lovely video! So much fun! ❤

Thank you! I love your videos. They’re educational AND entertaining. It’s quite clever how you integrate all the imagery with your information. I have arranged for many years for piano, piano/ vocal for myself and students. I love arranging and really enjoy teaching my students how to do it too😊

A really wonderful video - thank you!

This is an almost unbelievable level of excellence in presentation of a subject as has been done in yt essays. David Bruce is a unique communicator of deep erudition in a sincerely available manner, all wrapped in a delightful person. Bravo, maestro.

I love the french new wave like presentation and filming of you talking! this is literally my favourite video of yours!

thank you for all you do!

Excellent acting David !

Your very fun and funny choices of context and acting in this video are also a form of arranging. I shudder to think of the time and effort put into this production but it’s brilliant and the content and meaning are brightly illuminated. There are so many great examples of transcendent arrangements. One of my faves fits perfectly into your collection: Jimi Hendrix’s take on Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” Thank you for all you do!

I don't think there's any anti-arranging bias in jazz. If anything, one of the greatest compliments to a composer is to have an arranger give their tune a great presentation. One of the all-time best, I think, is Bill Holman. Even looking at some of his earlier work, his arrangement of Malaguena that he did for Stan Kenton is a classic "power metal for big band" chart; but his take on "You Go To My Head" is next-level, completely transforming that tune into an impressionistic masterclass.

very well done, one of your best videos ever!

Lovely wash, thank you!🙌

Brilliant!

A great challenge. I notice an anti-arranging bias in myself, so I appreciate this video a lot.

I love arranging. I have since 2014 a line of video game concerts where I arrange for a small chamber orchestra and I love it so much.

This was an awesome video!!

Wow, I love what you've done with the visual presentation in this video. Like when the billboards appear across the street and you have to yell to overcome traffic noise. It's a refreshingly witty look...it's like someone else with a different agenda has kidnapped the narrator and taken them on an unexpected trip. Reminds me a bit of Terry Gilliam, where you can feel the hand of the animator. I'm going try this on my channel.

You're a clever bloke. That was fun to watch and I learned something.

David makes such great videos. Arranging is a very interesting form of art, I think. It's almost like two composers being in conversation through time and space

What a marvelous video, and what an ending! Joni Mitchell, Vince Mendoza, and Mark Isham on the trumpet: it doesn't get much better than that (with the possible exception of Shadows and Light: Joni with Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Jaco Pastorius and Michael Brecker 😲). No wonder everyone was brought to tears. ❤

Love the editting

One of my favorite arrangements was based on "Adagio for Strings," which used a choir instead and was emplaced in the video game "Homeworld." It's possibly my favorite rendition of the piece.

excellent video, thank you.

Great video! I was thinking about ”Es ist ein ros entsprungen! There are many versions, one I think about is the swedish composer Jan Sandströms with the swedish text ”Det är en ros utsprungen”. It became a totally different version.

I’m arranging video game music into a jazz, big band context and I have been thinking about all these different considerations that you raise in this video, really enjoyed it

What a great video!

Wow soms much humor and information!

Great video. Great topic. I've always wanted to be an arranger. The music of old TV shows and movies always appealed and impressed. I realized at the early age the difference incidental instrumental music made to a fragment of video. The craft of arranging seemed like something to aspire to.

the Couperin arrangement was nicely creative. Cool example!

funny, I'm about to embark on an arrangement, great timing!

It sounds like it's somewhat analogous to translating a story, or perhaps adapting a story to a film.

Well, this video was nothing short of absolutely brilliant.

Im studying organ rn and if Ive learned anything its that transcriptions and arrangements is a super important part of organ literature! As symphonies gained popularity, organ builders incorporated more orchestral sounds in organ stops and composers gave more textures in organ symphonies. Before that, composers and organists arrange chorales and hymn tunes. Making pieces from pre-existing melodies from the church.

Great!

Very cool video!

I took your advice (at the end of this upload) and listened to your orchestral ‘Aquamarine’, achingly pretty, good sir. Thank you.

Every David Bruce’s video takes me on a journey to explore a different part of the fascinating world of music. In the journey, I may not know where we are headed, but it doesn’t matter because I know I am watching a David Bruce video which will always take me to a wonderful destination.

One of my favorite examples is "The King of Rome": Dave Sudbury's original recording with voice and acoustic guitar, June Tabor's mostly a cappella rendition, and The Unthanks version with a large brass band. Each one could move you to tears.

I not only love the meat inside this video but also the cooking you’ve made. A fantastic arrangement Sir. David, great video edition 🎬

Close relatives to the arrangement are the medley and mashup. The distinction can be blurry, but typically a medley is a series of pieces one after another with seamless transitions, whereas a mashup implies some sort of interaction between the original pieces, e.g. overlaying them, or combining the accompaniment of one with the melody of the other. When done well, you get a new piece of art that is more than the sum of its parts. (When done poorly, you get a jumbled mess!) These forms provide great opportunities for creativity. Sometimes its fun to see just how different of songs you can mash up well. Like songs written hundreds of years apart, totally different genres, even different keys and time signatures.

I'm glad you brought up the musicians who have arranged or re-arranged their own work. For me, one of the best modern examples of this is Knower's Overtime. The original is a hard, in your face, electronic dance tune with, if I may say so, some unusually interesting compositional features for the style. While the so-called 'live sesh' arrangement is a stunning arrangement of funk with a bit of jazz and a serious helping of virtuosity. I don't know of another band that has produced such fun but different arrangements of the same song.

Amazing content. As arrangers, we know the pressure.

Thanks David - great video. Though I'll admit I was disappointed you didn't mention Isao Tomita's arrangement of "Pictures". It was the second arrangement I heard back in 1975 (after Ravel's) and it changed how I thought about (and listened to) music!

a few examples come to mind of great arrangements : the unplugged albums of Nirvana and Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley's Halleluia, Lara Fabian singing "Je suis malade" by Serge Lama, almost anything by Christina Pluhar and her ensemble, Xavier de Maistre on the harp for The Moldau (by Smetana)...

great video

Great video as always, I will link it to my students! In a way, electronic music producers and remixers are also arrangers, often working with the music of others. I think it is fair to say that profession is not looked down upon!

I like when musicians take examples from cooking to explain a music. Don't know why. Great video as always!

Loved the video!!😃 I was already quite interested in musical arrengement and this video got me hyped. I already have some knowlege in harmony and theory but I dont know where to start with arregement in itself. Could you please, please, recommend some bibliography or some book about the subject? Once again, amazing video.

What an excellent video, and not just because of that version of Joni singing with the orchestra. Lol. Gets me every time, but I'm just a hopeless sap. 😊

Sitkovetsky's arrangement of Bach's Goldberg variatons for string trio : a very different sound from the original but beautiful in its own right.

Great video! As an appreciator of Bach’s Partita in E Major, I feel like you’d enjoy “Phorion”, Lukas Foss’s deconstruction of the composition arranged for orchestra.

I just watched this video again. The Joni Mitchell segment reminded me of Neil Sedaka's rework of his 1962 hit, "Breaking Up is Hard to Do." The original was about the end of a teen romance. The 1975 version was a torch song about the ending of a marriage. Same words, adult understanding. Keep up this great series. Thanks.

It's interesting in the sense of the semantic meaning of the words we use to describe the thresholds between different levels of borrowing from the past to make something in the now. Everything is building on the past, but I'd use different words to describe how much I've "borrowed" from it, in terms on style, tonic, melodies, feel, scales, temperament, tempo, instruments, sounds, lyrics ... and so on. I can borrow, steal, appropriate, rearrange, arrange, compose, recompose, or pinch bits, chunks, parts or wholes. But it's all from the past. Even compositions we regard as a composer's own doesn't come from a vacuum. Oh, and the video and editing! Fantastic job, must have take you ages :)

Joni's performance of Both Sides Now at the Newport Folk Festival in 2022 is the third great arrangement of that song.

Compiling that video with all its visual tricks must have been a huge amount of work ... Well, it's the message that is important. And that one, I think, I have understood.

I do love those metal versions of classical pieces or synthesizer versions. I guess that's the same thing. I think being a musician kind of is being an arranger. If I cover someone else's tune, I always try to change it up a bit. Or more than a bit. I like doing slow songs fast and vice versa. I like doing Pink Floyd's Fearless as a more upbeat sort of alt rock kind of thing.

Crazy enough I find myself to be a better arranger than composer, and doing arranging as a job would be a dream come true!

6:27 Robert de Niro was surely a very talented arranger

Fellow Disclosure fan, cheers!

The best example of song arranging I know of was the classic "Spirit in the Sky" by Normal Greenbaum, who wrote it as a simple folk song. We'd never have heard of the song if it had stayed that way.

This is a great video David! I can't believe I missed it when it first came out. Ravel was definitely a master of orchestration, but I agree that his arrangements might not be the most "authentic" to how the original composers might have orchestrated

the Adis thing made me think of hearing arrangements of early music that fleshes it out well. it can be a simple thing that works. J Williams, guitarist, doing well known medieval tune "tristan's lament" put just a few extra notes in, to give it a harmony when there was none, and suddenly it had an emotion that the original didn't. but then again, i wonderif medieval tunes were harmonised but only the melody line was recorded or survived (on the assumption people would do something with it).

That was Satie's Gymnopedie no. 1, not 3. Edit: Oh, and later it's the other way around. I guess the labels are swapped, or they were played in an unexpected order.

This video brought to mind a piece which I listened to recently: Lieux retrouvés by Thomas Adès. The original version of the work (for cello and piano) was written in 2009, but in 2016, Adès arranged the work for cello and small orchestra. If one looks at the score of the original version, the piano part in the third movement (“Les champs”) consists mainly of a series of slow, descending lines layered on top of each other; and as beautifully wrought as that movement is in its original form, the orchestral treatment Adès gives it illuminates each individual line to exquisite effect, leading - in my opinion - to the arrangement of that movement being an improvement over the original.

Some songs just age like fine wine...they get better as time goes by.

"The husky timbre of a thousand cigarettes" lmao, your videos keep getting funnier, while still making me feel like I'm learning SO much! Great job David!

I think originally, jazz arranging started as a means to achieve projection of sound prior to amplification. I think artistic considerations took over once amplification of quieter instruments became the norm.

Great video with some good laughs and insights. I like the Glass version of Aphex Twin track Icct Hedral.

Max Richter's arrangement/re-composition of Vivaldi's four seasons is one of the most incredible things ever.

This makes me wonder, where do we draw the line between an arrangement and a cover ? Also, in electronic music, there is a similar concept : the remix

Yes. Obviously. Thank you for pointing it out.

Great video David! Interesting note: For many decades now, it has always been the practice in Finland to credit the arranger right next to the artist and composer. For example, a televised performance always displays the name of the arranger of the musical work being performed. It should be a more global practice.