Hi there!
Those assignments are lurking and I have the unfortunate task of having to arrange a piece of music. The piece of music is up to me (I was thinking of a christmas carol?!) and I can arrange it for any ensemble....but I have NEVER done anything like this before (and always steered clear of any from of composing when at school!) SOOOO I was wondering if anyone had any top tips and advice for doing so.

Many thanks!
FT x

As it's your first try at this...

My first arrangement (I picked Grieg - "In the Hall of the Mountain King") was for a rather odd ensemble - clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon, tuba, crash cymbal

We had to do an arrangement to be performed in class, and these were the instruments my friends played.

But despite the unusualness of it, it worked quite well because I knew the instruments well, and if I had questions I just asked my friends about it!

So, what I'm saying is to go for an ensemble that you're somewhat familiar with. You look suspiciously like a flautist so maybe you'd arrange your carol (good choice btw, another good idea is to pick a piece you're familiar with) for a few flutes, or a flute choir, or flute and something else.

Hope that helped!

Thats a good idea thank you! Our criteria is to write for an ensemble we arent familiar with (to extend our learning) but seeing as I have NO experience arranging whatsoever I think I should start with the basics.
Yes I think a flute ensemble would be a good idea! I just need to buy a keyboard so as to hear whether it sounds ok and not too squeaky gate....

Arranging is my favourite So fun. How about wind quintet or something similar? You obviously are experienced in that area so knowing the ranges and techniques would be an advantage. Have you ever arranged stuff before or is this your first time?

Er, I don't really think a purely flute ensemble is a good idea as it lacks adequate bass. I think you should aim for a four-part ensemble from any of the main instrumental families, e.g.:
* wind: fl/ob/cl/bn
* brass: tp/hn/tbn/tba
* strings: vl1/vl2/vla/vc
Then it should be fairly straight-forward to assign your original piece onto this instrumentation. Any of the four-part Bach (organ) chorales would map on without trouble, see here: http://www.jsbchorales.net/sets.html . The uniform instrumentation would produce a coherent sound, which is important.

Your learning will come from understanding the new clefs, transposing instruments, and the instrumental ranges.

Bohemian - nope I have never gone any where near arranging a piece of music myself! Too scary!
Storini- I think you are right. I will go for a traditional wind quartet or quintet - at least I have an idea of their capabilities. I guess I just need to choose the piece (my brother suggested a movement from Pictures at an Exhibition.... I was thinking more along the lines of We wish you a merry Xmas!!)

Once I have chosen my piece, how exactly should I go about separating the music into the individual parts?!

Sorry if all these questions seem common sense to you all -but I really am doing this from scratch and have had no help in the past on this type of thing!

What exam is this assignment for?

Who do you want to have the melody? Do you want to move it between the parts? Do you want to double the melody sometimes and have a contrasting idea from a lower/higher instrument? Are you going to compose an intro and outro? How can you use the instrument's characteristics to your benefit or do you even want to use an instrument in a different way to that which is usual? What style of music will you write in? Do you want the melody to be obvious or to have snippets of it every few bars?

A few thoughts to get you thinking!

Enjoy!

Flutey toot, do you have msn?

Do you have access to a good orchestration book? The one I use (Blatter, "Instrumentation and Orchestration") gives beginner, "high school" and professional ranges for every instrument, and also gives a dynamic profile (e.g. flutes are quiet low down, loud in the top register; oboes the opposite). This matters when you write for mixed groups, less so for single family ones e.g. string orchestra or brass band.

Sounds like a helpful book there KenM!
This assignment is part of my PGCE requirement -I dont HAVE to choose this assignment, but seeing as I have no experience in arranging I think it would be a good and worthwhile idea if I did it!

Bohemian - I do indeed!

A very good idea! Like the larger subject of composition, you can be taught a bit about arranging, and you can learn about it by listening to what other people have done, but to get a complete command of it you have to do lots of it and listen to the results.

Hi there! I have been getting lots of advice from various people (dont understand how so many people have done a spot of arranging before...and 4 years at the RCM and I have done diddly squit!?!) so will knuckle down and have a go tomorrow.
My initial attempt at Jingle Bells for flute duet is proving somewhat interesting....Im going for a slow jazzy style but think this may be going a bit too fast for my poor skill!
Think I will go for another xmas carol to arrange for my main assignment....but am debating whether to arrange it for classroom use (at KS3 so not TOO simple but have to cater for all needs and abilities) or a smaller ensemble for those already learning an instrument.
Decisions decisions!
I will keep you up to date on my progress! And when its done may even allow some of you to listen to it....if you want a laugh! ;)