Music Arrangement

At the recent music training camp held at the Centre for the Arts, organised for the NUS Niibori guitar orchestra (GENUS), Raj - who is my fellow guitar tutor for the club - and I conducted a short workshop on music arrangement for the classical guitar.

We tried to make it more like an open forum, in which the students could exchange ideas and share their own experience on the topic of arranging music for the classical guitar (CG)- or more specifically, for the CG ensemble.

Only a hand of them at the workshop had some experience in arranging music (since many of the alumni members were absent), but a few common issues were identified:

1) Difficulty in selecting suitable music to arrange for the CG

- It is certainly true that not all songs are suitable for guitar transcription. E.g. try arranging Beethoven's 5th Symphony for the CG. hehe)

2) Finding a suitable key to arrange the song in

- We introduced a couple of the more "guitar friendly" key signatures, including the usual A maj, E maj, G maj, C maj, and of course the favourite D maj. For the minor keys, common ones include A min, D min and E min (

3) Deciding on the instruments to be used

- Here, we advised the newbies to try arranging for a trio or quartet of Prime guitars as a good way of getting started. Normally a simple guitar ensemble arrangement would comprise of a lead guitar (G1) which carries most if not all the melody lines; an accompanying chord part (G2); and a bass line (G3). An additional guitar part can be written/arranged for a harmony voice or to add some counter-melodies to sweeten the arrangement.)

- Only students with some basic arranging skills should attempt to arrange for a Niibori-styled guitar orchestra, as that involves more consideration into the key signatures used (2 sets - one for the Altos/Basses, the other for the Primes/Contra basses/Guitaron) as well as understanding of the pitch range achievable and "playable" in such arrangements

Looking back on my own experience in arranging music for guitar ensemble/orchestra in the past decade, getting past the initial stages of "setting the stage right" has always the most difficult. That includes some of the above-mentioned issues (selecting song, the key, the types/number of guitars, etc), as well as the lost of "momentum" which normally occurs after arranging half the song! Normally, sitting in front of the computer screen and staring hard at those little note-heads causes a slight head-ache and after a couple of hours, the notes seem to fly out at me! :P
That probably explains why I'd taken weeks (if not months sometimes) to complete a song which I'd started arranging - normally on an impulse.
* in this aspect, our DIVO Liang Shan has become a master in arranging/transcribing for the Niibori orchestra. His "production rate" for the Expose Orchestra has been phenomenal!

With guitar quartet music now much more readily available and purchasable on the internet, my choice of arranging music for Guitaresque has been limited to certain genres of music which are lacking in the mass market, namely - chinese pop songs and evergreens!

Hmm.. I think I will try to arrange a sequel to the 老情歌组曲 in my next attempt :)

C02 & Expose

The condenser microphones I've ordered via Vpost USA has finally arrived!

The packaging of the mics

The mics come in a pair, with shock-absorbing holders and wind cushions/covers provided

A close-up view of the pencil-type condenser mic

Since Guitaresque has no upcoming performances at the moment, I'm not sure when we will get to actually use these.... (although I am presently contemplating and planning for a March/April outing at SAM again).

One other possibility of testing out the condenser mics may come in February 09 (on Valentine's Day to be exact), when the Expose ensemble takes the stage in the National Library forum area.

Expose is a Niibori ensemble comprising of many alumni players from the National University of Singapore Guitar Ensemble (Genus). The group is led by its conductor Kevin Ow - also a member of Guitaresque - who single-handedly arranges the ensemble's growing repertoire, which usually feature almost the full range of the Niibori-styled instruments. The group has performed at numerous public venues, most notably in the Esplanade Concert Hall early this year for a Beautiful Sunday performance.

(Ed: Even though none of Expose's players are professional guitarists, I personally consider Expose to be one of the finest Niibori guitar ensemble in Singapore, if not in the South-east Asia region. )