Arranging the Beatles: What You Can Learn From Orchestrating A Pop Song
Recently, I was teaching orchestration to some of my students in our music studio class, students who were majoring in composition for their degree, but who may never have had an interest in orchestral scoring. It’s part of the job of a lecturer, bridging the gap between what you are teaching and what your students can actually get out of it. Orchestration isn’t just for classical composers or those who have an interest in film scoring. No, its concepts are rooted in all western music. The idea of combining instruments to make new sounds can be found in electronic synthesis, or homophonic chordal parts played by the strings being essentially the guitar or piano line in a classic pop track. How do you show that bridge, between orchestration and the rest of the popular music styles that your students are interested in?
Brainwave! Score a pop track in a live class demo!
The reality is a lot more intense than that single sentence implies, as scoring something live is a daunting prospect for anyone. However, it turned out to be one of the best ways of instantly demoing everything discussed in class in a way that is engaging, informative and a little bit interesting!
More on orchestration to come for this blog, but for now I want to share the outcome of that live demo. Below, I have included the notes I sent to class, so you too can see how I constructed this piece.
Score Notes from Class
Prominent Line Development
The initial melody is played by the solo clarinet. It then develops by adding an octave above in both a divisi clarinet part (second player) and a flute part. The high notes of the octave above aren’t played by the clarinet to avoid a shrill sound, which could overpower the balance.
An Oboe then joins in the descent, dovetailing the section together to soften the entrance of an instrument that is sonically different in characteristics from the flute and clarinet. The Bassoon joins for support at unison with the clarinet and all sections are now “tutti”, meaning all players available are playing those parts.
The second violins and violas are introduced, violins at unison and violas an octave below, helping to strengthen the sound and create a warmer texture. The piccolo is added for a final layer at the thickest section.
Homophonic Harmony and Voice Leading
The main harmony structure is homophonic in nature, though it does deviate from it slightly. Homophonic would be the same rhythmic structure in all chordal parts, but I use dovetailing to achieve a blurred effect, reducing the awareness that separate parts are being added. For example, Violins II enter a beat early at a very low dynamic so that the effect is that by beat one of the following bar, where the note is required, the note has swelled in from nothing, reducing the attack of the chord.
All notes are constructed with conventional voice leading. Large intervals are present at the bottom of the range and parts move in small intervals. The brass joins halfway through to support the extended range of the chords. Notice that the chords start very close together and progress to a larger ranger over multiple octaves. This helps reinforce the crescendo of the piece, allowing the bass and high registers to enter when they can take full advantage of
their sonority.
Textural Blends and Dynamics
I’ve used a groups of similar textures mostly, to create the warm tones. The strings lead the homophonic chordal parts and the woodwinds lead the melody, with brass supporting the weight of the track. However, the Oboe and Bassoon are blended with the flute and clarinet early in the melodies development to create a new synthesised tone that cuts through the mix easier, especially as the brass enters.
The dynamics have been intentionally written, with considerations for the natural sonority of the instruments in their relative registers. The brass is often one dynamic step below the rest of the orchestra to prevent them from overpowering the strings, which is easily done (it is why the brass are placed at the back of the orchestra, away from the audience and behind other players to absorb some of the initial blasts of sound). The dynamics have also been
balanced at the beginning, the give the clarinet a preference in the mix and to prevent the strings from overpowering the melody. Lastly, the dynamics at the end allow the brass and woodwinds to create a final broken melody part.
Orchestral Colouring and Effects
The Sfz (loud with sudden force – sforzando) has been supported by timpani introducing a roll. The sudden loss of the brass and woodwinds also accentuates the forte piano (fp) in the strings. This creates an interrupted effect that introduces the broken melody that is about to arrive.
The piccolo part acts as a colouration of the woodwind section in the tutti part. The part is lower in dynamics to avoid it overpowering in the mix, as it is there to blend with the flute and add power to that line.
Tutti Section
The powerful tutti section in bar 6 is a balance of instruments across multiple registers. The dynamics have been balanced to avoid overpowering in the brass and the piccolo added to keep the “airy” sound of the woodwinds coming through.
Pointillistic Scoring
The final section of the song leverages pointillistic scoring. The melody is in half speed, allowing a sense of slowing down without altering the tempo. It has then been passed around the instruments, one note played at a time, starting in the high woodwinds and working its way down to the low woodwinds and brass. This provides a sense of warmth and a feeling of reaching a finale.
