Arranging in the Digital World: Techniques for Arranging Popular Music Using Today's Electronic and Digital Instruments (Berklee Guide) [Paperback]

Corey Allen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Berklee Guide | Publication Date: March 1, 2000

This is the resource for creating truly inspired arrangements! Full of tips and tricks covering techniques for building digital arrangements in a variety of styles, including country, gospel, pop, jazz, rock, Latin and more. Teaches basic MIDI, sequencing, production concepts, and arranging techniques for a variety of digital instrument sounds. Make your MIDI sequences and grooves come alive! Also includes a General MIDI disk with more than 50 sequenced samples, helpful definitions, and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Berklee Press Publications; Pap/Dskt edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634006347
• ISBN-13: 978-0634006340
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,153,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A big disappointment..., August 19, 2003

By 

Tech+Guitar "dblack230" (Vancouver, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arranging in the Digital World: Techniques for Arranging Popular Music Using Today's Electronic and Digital Instruments (Berklee Guide) (Paperback)

I should have paid more attention to the sticker on the front of the book that proclaims: "Great for Beginners!" It's sad that Berklee Press not only published, but continues to promote this book. I expected much better.

I've been hanging around music for a while, but am more of a "seasoned hobbiest" than anything else. Yet there was only a couple of things I found useful in this book. Because the book is called "Arranging in the Digital World," I was expecting to get a book that taught some arranging, including some discussion about common ways to use a keyboard in an ensemble. Instead, the author fails on both of these points. First, in the introduction he states, "Our focus will be on sequencing techniques... rather than actual writing techniques." Last time I checked, arranging was WRITING appropriate parts. So, maybe this book should have been entitled, "Sequencing in the Digital World," since the author doesn't go into any depth about the kinds of parts you might want to write. The author also assumes that you are a seasoned keyboard player already (who else uses midi?) and so skips discussing keyboard altogether with this dismissive quote, "I assume you are already familiar with the piano..." I don't know how a serious book on arranging can say nothing about what keyboards might typically play in an ensemble.

Other than a sample midi song fragment or two in a handful of styles (mostly jazz & latin), there just isn't much "arranging" to be found. You can read the whole book in an hour and it's not likely that you'll ever pick it back up again. ...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Description is better than the book..., April 26, 2004

By 

Calcatelli Christian "www.calcatelli.com" (Melbourne Beach, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arranging in the Digital World: Techniques for Arranging Popular Music Using Today's Electronic and Digital Instruments (Berklee Guide) (Paperback)

After having browsed through this book, I realized that it has been created for basic level beginners, which does not come out so clearly in the book description.
Even though it's meant for entry level musicians and arrangers, It must be said that ideas are presented vaguely. Also, all the examples and scores in the book become useless if the reader does not have any experience in music notation/music reading.
All in all, I can say that It does not match expectations.
I must say that this is the first book of the Berkley Press that I've found negative.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are Much Better Books!, December 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Arranging in the Digital World: Techniques for Arranging Popular Music Using Today's Electronic and Digital Instruments (Berklee Guide) (Paperback)

This gets two stars only because it includes a floppy disk of MIDI files of examples. But not everyone has a floppy drive anymore. (By the way: MIDI or 'musical instrument digital interface' is the language a computer and an electronic keyboard [or other instruments nowadays] use to communicate. Sequencing software is rather like a recorder or stenographer in that the computer captures every nuance of each note one plays. Editing is a lot like correcting, copying, and moving around words in word processing programs. Adding a swirling bell voice here, transposing a tune by a few steps, and so many other possibilities let me feel as if I were painting with the notes of instruments and tones.)

It's unusual for me to be negative about the totality of a book, a movie, or whatever; however, this how-to from the press for reknowned Berklee College of Music barely scratches the surface of the amazing art of combining notes and sounds to become a symphony or a jazz trio. I kept expecting more as I progressed through this short paperback, but by the end this seemed to have been the semester project of a frosh or sophomore for which he'd earn a B- for submitting it by the deadline. There are lots of bits of information needing further explanation or exploration. Things are brought up but not developed in a way which would help a beginner. And there just ain't much for someone with experience.

Considering that a major pro musician is quoted on the backcover saying, among other sentiments, it's "A Godsend". It was this review which hooked me into buy "Arranging". Now I'm wondering about this musician or the editor of critical reviews.

If I were to try to direct a beginner to real help, I'd suggest studying the manuals which came with her keyboard and software. Usually these are very useful as one develops a foundation of understanding this digital musical world. I'd also tell her to re-re-re-read the manuals every so often. Then there's the internet. Frankly, there are some major which let us access among the best resources on MIDI and digital recording -- for the beginner to the expert.