Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (and more): A Manual for Composers and Students

6

Arranging and Orchestration

Concepts

Including Sound Effects and Sound Design

The music, however great or small, is what there is to say. The

orchestration is how you say it.

—Robert Russell Bennett

R

Author’s Note: The wordsarrangerandorchestrator

are used interchangeably in this chapter.

R

This section is devoted not to basic arranging and basic orchestration but
rather to a discussion of how to achieve an overall instrumental texture. It
is assumed that students have a basic knowledge of arranging. Even if a
student lacks this knowledge, an understanding of the concepts is essen-
tial in order to guide arrangers or orchestrators in achieving their musical
goals. Furthermore, since we are dealing primarily in commercial music,
we will focus more on the use of synthesizers than orchestral instruments.
Most commercial productions use a combination of synthesizers and live
musicians. Rock-and-roll, gospel, and jazz pieces consist primarily of live
musicians using synthesizers as one adjunct.
Arrangingis the art providing a musical setting for a composition.
This includes the harmonies, the basic rhythmic feel (which is usually
indicated), and the notation.Orchestrationis the art of assigning instru-
ments to each note. (The termorchestration is most often used when

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