Arrangement Basics
Whether it’s a romantic ballad or a club banger, every piece of music takes the listener on a journey through time. One of the challenges we face as musicians is turning initial ideas into a properly finished track that’ll keep listeners reaching for the replay button. An arrangement is the way we ‘map out’ our sonic journey, and in the world of pop, at least, it’s made from sections that most songwriters traditionally employ. This formula had proven to be successful time and time again for decades, but what makes each section tick?
Intro
Short for introduction, the intro is the first part of the song you hear, its purpose being to set up the song and lead into the verse section. It might be a build up starting with just one or two elements of the backing track, or maybe the chorus chords with vocal ad-libs over the top.
Verse
The verse where is the main back story of the lyric generally happens, filling in background information to set up the chorus lyric. Unlike the bridge and chorus sections of a song, verse lyrics are usually unique to each verse, like stanzas of a poem.
Bridge
The bridge (also known as the pre-chorus) is the section that forms a link between the verse and chorus. If the chords are the same in the verse and chorus, the bridge can have a new chord progression making the chords in the chorus sound fresher.
Chorus
The chorus is the most often repeated part of the song and it is where we hear the hook or standout moment in a song. Lyrically and musically it contains the main idea of what the song is about. Most choruses are 8 bars long but often they are doubled to 16 bars especially the second or third time around.
Middle Eight
Also known as the bridge in the U.S . The middle eight is the part of the song where there is a change of pace. Certain instruments drop out and new ideas might be introduced such as lyrical content or melody. The middle eight acts as a rest before we are reintroduced to the chorus again.
Outro
The outro is the final piece of a song (as you probably guessed). Usually it is the chorus repeated three or more times and faded out. Although in some instances the outro can be a whole new section.
A typical Pop arrangement:
Intro
Verse 1
Bridge
Chorus
Verse 2
Bridge
Chorus
Middle 8
Outro Chorus
5 Arrangement Tips and Ideas
Five essential pointers to help you get your track laid out and finished.
Master Manipulator
The next time you’re stuck for a new arrangement idea, try putting a filter or stutter plugin on your master channel. Both filters and stutter effects offer a great way to begin or even finish your track. These plugins might also inspire something interesting and unexpected that you can incorporate directly in the track.
Subtractive Arrangement
You can turn an 8 bar loop into a full track through subtractive arrangement. Copy and paste your loop until it is the length of a song. Now play through this song-length loop but as you go mute and unmute different tracks every 8 or 16 bars. If you have enough instruments in our initial loop this technique never fails.
Song Shortcuts
Learning your DAWs shortcuts (copy, paste and duplicate etc.) will save you time, build confidence, and make your arranging more efficient.
Structure Stealing
Import a song you like into your project. Most DAWs will allow you to make a temp track or to add markers. Add the markers at the different sections in your exported song verse chorus etc. Delete the song and you have a Road Map that you can use in your own song.
Listen as a Listener
Once you’re happy with your arrangement export your track and add it to a play list of your favorite songs. How does it compare? Is the verse too repetitive? Does the intro drag? Does the song flow? Listen to your song as you would any other commercial track in iTunes, VLC or windows media player as this removes the distractions of a DAW’s timeline and visual elements.
