Joe,

Take just one song that you like from the 'old' groups and break it down arrangement-wise in thus fashion:

First listen through, write out the section names and lengths in number of measures.

Second listen through the song, simply write down all of the 'parts' that you can hear. Just make a list. Then use a spreadsheet software to put the sections in the rows and the 'parts' in the colums.

Example:

Row names: intro, verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, chorus 2, bridge, verse 3, chorus 3, chorus 4, outro, etc.

Column names: acoustic guitar 1, acoustic guitar 2, electric guitar 1, electric guitar 2, drums, bass, piano, organ, etc.

Then listen through the song specifically listening for each part by itself, as you pace through the sections, write out what that 'part' is doing, eg. arpeggiated chords likely in root position on neck, strummed lightly on 8ths, etc. Delayed (dotted 8th) lightly distorted lead on electric, etc. Also make particular notes of where the part is silent - one of the best ways to make arrangements better is to mute parts for sections.

It doesn't matter if the song is old or new. Get this skill nailed. It doesn't take a book to learn to do this. It takes practice. Do it enough, and you will start to see patterns and recognize how an arrangement 'clicks'.

I do this for all of our church's worship team songs - even though I'm not the worship leader, we use these grids to lay out how we are going to divide responsibility in the band, for every song that is in our playlist for the week.

It takes me about an hour to do a 4 minute song - to write out all of these notes, count out the section lengths, etc.

Again, whether the song is old or new, doesn't really matter. Decide what you want to sound like then see if you can ape it.

Here's an example: I really loved hearing Beck's album "Sea Change" on a flight from Detroit to somewhere. I had no idea who the artist was, but I loved the arrangements and orchestration. When I found out it was Beck, I was shocked, because I had really loathed his previous material. Here's a YouTube of the opening track, "The Golden Age": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6zAT15vaFk

I loved the use of quirky instrumentation, big sounding reverbs on the vocals, etc. and the space of the song. It is as wide open as the desert imagery that are in the video and in the lyrics.

I wanted to see if I could copy the vibe of the song - so I tried a 2 minute version of it for a KVRaudio.com song contest that concentrated on covers. Out of about 70 entries that month (if I recall correctly) - I won. Most of it was down to pretty simple instrumentation, and a scrupulous critical listening to the arrangement then trying to copy that arrangement to the best of my ability in my basement 'studio'.

Here's my 2 minute version (KVR song contests were limited to 2 minute versions). http://rockstarnot.rekkerd.org/songs/new...ute%20cover.mp3

I had some accusing me of outright copying the song - which if you listen carefully, I did not - rhythm acoustic is different, vox different, etc.

But I pretty much nailed the arrangement details. Mix might not be exactly right, effects are off a bit (drums in particular) my singing might not be up to snuff, but I use this as an example of what I'm referring to as 'critical listening'. It's somewhat laborious, but it pays off, in my opinion as one arranges and produces a finished product.

No book would tell me how to do that process. So, pick a simple song by one of the fave bands above, and get at writing out a verbal description of what you hear. Once you are able to hear each part in isolation, you are well on your way to being able to arrange for a particular vibe.

-Scott

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