On the Drastic Change in Arranging Style

[bawker]

What is identifiable is the "faithfulness" of an arrangement to the original version.

. . .and there it is, the crux of the issue. Some arrangements now use pieces as "inspiration" or as a thematic springboard to power a visual moment for the most part.

IMO, the best arrangers are the ones that can either let the piece speak for itself . . or, in the case of a longer work, can tease out the most primal and emotionally connective leitmotifs to let the music state its "case" to the audience.

Easier said than done, though, just like everything else we like to argue about here.

[HornsUp]

A chart that is true to the original in terms of pacing, harmonic construction, tempo, etc. is not an arrangement. It is a simple transcription.

An arrangement is a new composition, utilizing some elements of pre-existing material.

Examples:

Ravel's "Pictures at an Exhibiton" is an orchestral transcription of Mussorgsky's piano composition.

Britten's "Young Persons Guide" is an arrangement of a Purcell work.

Kenton's "Malagueña" is a Bill Holman arrangement of the 6th movement of Lecuona's "Suite Andalucía" for piano.

Almost every drumcorps version of "Malagueña" is a tweaked transcription of the Holman chart.

[Lance]

and then you have scv doing the most faithful (only imo) arrangement of the bartok piece to date by any corps, and lots of people love it and lots of people hated it. what scv did with barber's adagio was downright buther-like to me...they fileted it and manipulated it to death. but it was still pretty good. faithful arrangements don't make for great shows because they are faithful arrangements, so please let's not fall into that 4th grade train of thought.

to me, what was done with app spring and rocky point holiday by the cadets in the 80s barely sounds like the original pieces, but it's still good drum corps. same with hundreds of shows from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s for me.

i happen to like stuff from the late 80s and 90s better than what's been going on musically for the past decade, but i'm not quite inane enough to say that what I like the most is inherently superior to what goes on today. it's fun to discuss what we like and don't like, though.

[Hrothgar15]

You didn't refer to them as inferior?

I guess that you were not a part of everything that was posted? I believe that you started this thread.

Hmmmm.

...You're quoting another poster and attirubitng his words to me?

Really?

[dcpincollector]

and then you have scv doing the most faithful (only imo) arrangement of the bartok piece to date by any corps, and lots of people love it and lots of people hated it. what scv did with barber's adagio was downright buther-like to me...they fileted it and manipulated it to death. but it was still pretty good. faithful arrangements don't make for great shows because they are faithful arrangements, so please let's not fall into that 4th grade train of thought.

to me, what was done with app spring and rocky point holiday by the cadets in the 80s barely sounds like the original pieces, but it's still good drum corps. same with hundreds of shows from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s for me.

i happen to like stuff from the late 80s and 90s better than what's been going on musically for the past decade, but i'm not quite inane enough to say that what I like the most is inherently superior to what goes on today. it's fun to discuss what we like and don't like, though.

Totally Agree!!

[Hrothgar15]

he really thinks he can scientfically prove that arrangements today are inferior to arrangements of the past for dci. trying to discuss that with him won't work.

No, I don't. I thought I made this clear, but apparently I didn't. I never made such a claim. The only mathematical claim I'm describing is a method for comparing the similarity of two different arrangements. I NEVER made the claim that you could scientificaly "prove" that one arrangement is inferior to the other.

This is getting really frustrating. Please, before you comment, make sure you understand the extent of my claim, and stop spreading misinformation about what I'm saying.

We were having a worthwile discussion about arranging style, let's try to get back on track.

[Catan]

and then you have scv doing the most faithful (only imo) arrangement of the bartok piece to date by any corps, and lots of people love it and lots of people hated it. what scv did with barber's adagio was downright buther-like to me...they fileted it and manipulated it to death. but it was still pretty good. faithful arrangements don't make for great shows because they are faithful arrangements, so please let's not fall into that 4th grade train of thought.

to me, what was done with app spring and rocky point holiday by the cadets in the 80s barely sounds like the original pieces, but it's still good drum corps. same with hundreds of shows from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s for me.

i happen to like stuff from the late 80s and 90s better than what's been going on musically for the past decade, but i'm not quite inane enough to say that what I like the most is inherently superior to what goes on today. it's fun to discuss what we like and don't like, though.

agreed as well! I don't particularly care whether not an arranger is "faithful" to the original piece in drum corps as long as I enjoy the whole show.

[Hrothgar15]

huge difference between what you're saying and what hrothgar is saying.

Please identify.

[DrillmanSop06]

In many ways, I enjoy the bastardized drum corps arrangement of pieces much more than the source music. It's just about how it's used and, for me personally, a host of factors including "hummability," emotional connection, etc. There are shows today that do this and there are shows of yesteryear that absolutely turn me off. It has nothing to do with "today's" arranging as much as it does with the entire concept as a whole.

[arrangerx]

and exactly nobody would disagree with that, chuck.

huge difference between what you're saying and what hrothgar is saying.

Yes, I know.