Sketching & Completing A Big Band Arrangement

Manuscript
Choose the appropriate sketch manuscript that serves your needs. The layout may be
anything from a single staff to a full big band score. Its important to choose a layout that
allows you to work quickly without too much attention to detail. A sketch layout that will
serve well in this context might be:
" " Saxes - Two staves, treble and bass clef.
" " Trumpets - One staff, treble clef.
" " Trombones - One staff, bass clef.
" " Rhythm - Two Staves, treble and bass clef.

What To Write
When you have an idea, a concept, a direction, about what you want to write, you can
begin. You might be fortunate enough to have the idea immediately come to mind. Or,
you might have to work at it before the idea arrives. This activity might include playing
around with some ideas on your instrument or the piano or listening to recordings
(highly recommended). Whatever your approach, its useful to make notes either in
descriptive words or music notation.

The Rhythm Sketch

There is a spontaneous aspect to sketching. That is, once you have a clear idea of
what your arrangement will be (general, not detailed), it can be revealed to you in a way
that seems like you are taking dictation from the events unfolding in your mind. If you
didnt do enough preliminary work, like listening, this might not happen to you.

To explain, the process works like this: During the time spent listening and working out
ideas, the material is absorbed in your mind and imprinted there. When you begin the
sketching process and listen inwardly, much of what youve absorbed comes pouring
out, but most often in a different way-one that suits your needs. It truly is a miraculous
process. However, if you dont have any of these experiences, but still manage to
achieve the result desired, thats good. Its the result that matters, not the process by
which you achieve it. Above all, you should proceed an any way that works for you.

Sketching
The objective is to sketch as much of the arrangement as possible using rhythm
notation only. This is not done to the exclusion of writing pitched notes. For example, if
at some point you know what the notes are, you can write them in. Trouble begins when
you spend too much time on details that could be better worked out later. The idea is to
keep moving ahead to build momentum. With momentum established, the ideas come
easier and faster. Your sketch can contain a bare minimum of notation required to
illustrate an idea or perhaps be a little more detailed. Do whatever works for you.

Copyright 2011 by James Argiro

Notation
How you notate the rhythm is a personal matter but here are my suggestions.
You need a notation that is clear and easy to do. I use one of two ways, depending on
how fast Im writing. The first example is clear in that it uses slashes for note heads.
This allows you to be nonspecific and write fast. Notice that the notation also indicates
the general range and direction that the notes will take. It includes everything you need
to know.

The second method I use is the same as the above but without the slash note heads. I
write only the stems.

Descriptive words are also used when needed. You can say a lot with few words. I might
use words like: thirds; thick chords; octaves; chaotic; greasy; weird, etc. There is no
right way to do this. Use whatever words that are useful to describe what youre hearing
in your mind, so that when youre reading them later, youll know what they mean.

Next Steps
How do you know when to quit sketching and go to the next phase? There is not one
answer to this question. Some arrangers wont feel confident to begin writing notes until
the sketch is complete from the beginning to the end. For others, they may begin
writing notes after having sketched just enough so that the general ideas are clearly in
mind and they know that if they were to begin adding notes it will invent itself while they
are working. Every arranging or composition project takes on a life of its own and it may
not resemble anything from the past. Your job is to be open to what is occurring and go
with the flow, whether its familiar or not.

Writing Notes
With your sketch in front of you, you enter the process of being more specific-writing the
notes on the full score page. Its important to understand that your sketch is just a
general idea and not the final result. Its useful to think of it as a guide, for when you
arrive at this stage, things change. Unbeknownst to you, during the sketching phase,
your mind has been refining your ideas and it is at this stage where they begin to
appear in a more detailed form. Pay attention to the things that enter your
consciousness. Use them, or if theyre not useful for the moment, record them for later
use.

This phase of the arranging process can be the most enjoyable, as ideas seem to
appear out of thin air and are often surprising in their character or complexity. You might
have the feeling that youre taking dictation, rather than consciously laboring over note
choices.
After, or during the process of writing the melody notes that reflect your sketching ideas,
other important choices have to be made regarding texture, instrumental color, voicings
and other things that might alter your former choices. Be open to what is occurring, as
your mind is working out the details. There are a lot of elements to consider and it can
be helpful to refer to your reference pages for ideas. Again, the process should not
hinder the creative flow. For example, if youre unsure of anything, move on and come
back to it later.

Refinement
After you have the arrangement completed, you might feel that it could be better, but
you dont know how or where to make improvements. It is useful at this point to visually
review the entire score and also hear it in your mind as you read it. After doing that,
leave it and do something different (non-musical). During that activity, your mind will
continue to be working on the arrangement and at some point, as if my magic, the
answers or areas that need refinement will appear to you. You can engage in this
process many times.

Final Working
When the arrangement is finally completed, its a good idea to make sure that
everything necessary to bring it to life in a performance are included in the score and
the printed parts. This list might include: rehearsal marks, section letters, bar numbers,
tempo changes, key changes, articulations, dynamics, mutes and open horn changes,
descriptive words, repeats, D.S. or D.C., etc.

Arranging Example

Heres an example of a common procedure. This may not resemble your own working
procedure. As has been noted above, use the procedure that works best for you.

1. Idea, concept, mental or aural image, etc. Getting a general idea of the direction.

2. Rhythm sketch. The rhythms are notated as melodic curves in the intended register.
The sketch may include written notes or any other useful information such as:
mutes, unison, octaves, thin, thick voicing, chaotic, tutti, etc. Write anything
that helps you to remember what your idea is at the moment it occurs. You might not
remember it when later, you return to it.

3. Choosing notes. Melody notes are added to all rhythms. Some of these note choices
will probably not be your final result. As you work through succeeding steps, things are
apt to change because it is developing.

4. Texture. Here, you make decisions about the specific structure of each instrumental
section and the full ensemble. For example, a saxophone section line could arranged in
one or more of the following: unison, octaves, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, close block style
voicing (with variations), spread chord voicing, etc.
5. Articulations. A process that works well is to read or listen to your score and note if
your written parts actually reflect what youre hearing in your mind or from the computer.
If not, add the appropriate articulations and dynamic markings. Be aware that computer
writing programs dont often play articulations as written. For example, Sibelius does not
play the vertical accent correctly. It plays it as a long note accent (horizontal), rather
than as the correct short accent.

6. At this point in the arranging process, you enter the stage of listening to the music
and making further refinements. These can include anything but most often they are in
the area of chord voicings, melodies, range considerations, etc. Often, as you view what
you had considered to be the final word on any particular aspect of the arrangement,
you find that you are dissatisfied with it. This occurs because each new idea,
refinement, textural change, etc. affects the whole arrangement and in that process you
are forced to make changes in order to maintain balance, conceptual clarity, variety,
interest, etc.

Lastly, a word about the creative process. This may not reflect your own process
exactly.

From the beginning to the finished arrangement, you might not be aware of the inner
workings of your mind. However, if your level of involvement is great enough, your mind
will be continually working out all of the details during this process. This is a good thing
to know because if you cooperate with it correctly, it will always deliver what you need.
Sometimes, there is a time lag between identifying something that needs fixing and the
time when the solution appears. When you identify something that needs to be created
or fixed, or when you become saturated and need a break, do this:

1. Review the entire arrangement from the beginning up to the point where you are
stuck.
2. Remove yourself from the work to do something else. The sound of the music might
still be reverberating in your mind. Hearing the sound of the arrangement or any part
of it is a necessary component of the process. Do not interfere with it.
3. At some point when you least expect it, the solution will arrive.

Your internal creative process might not match the above description but be aware that
you mind will deliver whatever it is that you need. Your job is to discover what works
best for you and then duplicate that procedure whenever its needed.