Band communication - developing a song arrangement

[josie]

A question for peeps in gigging bands: when you're working on a new song and developing an arrangement, how do you record what you've agreed on? Do you all just scribble down notes as you go along, or does someone write down what's agreed and email it round, or record the final take and share the recording, to be sure you'll all remember it right?

I ask because one of my main reasons for leaving my ex-band (not the only reason) was a disagreement over this. I was recording our practice sessions, spending time every weekend trimming out the best take for each song and sending it round - meanwhile the singer was changing the lyrics and leaving the rest of us with out-of-date song sheets - knowing that I was trying to develop basslines that reflected the lyrics. When I mentioned this to the band leader as an example of my reasons for leaving, he said "You're supposed to takes notes as we go along - that's how bands work! I'm not going to type up a whole new song sheet every time something changes." I'm sorry, but if it was my band, that's exactly what I would do.

This overlapped with my new band - at the time just a blues workshop project - developing complex arrangements for blues classics and communicating really well, including between workshop sessions, all making sure that everyone was sure of all the details we had worked out for every song. 

I'm not looking for "right or wrong" answers, or "should have done..." - I'm just interested to know how other bands handle this.

[Len_derby]

This is interesting one. I'm currently working with a singer-songwriter on recording an album of his original songs. By default I've taken on the responsibility of noting down arrangements as we work through them. My little cheap offering as been christened  by the band as the "notebook of doom". It's tough sometimes to say no, we did it like this last time. But sometimes I have to go with a better idea that comes later on.  Assertiveness vs. Compromise.  As the song said; sometimes you hold 'em, sometimes you fold 'em. 

[T-Bay]

I take notes and then copy them for the others. Have still have had one night where as the drummer counted us in I heard a ‘are we doing this in A?’ From the rhythm guitarist, but it all worked out. We get on well in rehearsals and work out between us how it sounds best. We are very democratic but the lead guitarist/ vocalist and drummer are by far the best musicians so it makes sense to listen to them generally if it’s a technical issue.

[lurksalot]

We don't do originals , but in a band of old the guitarist recorded the rehearsals because he was anal , it help the others in the band I think  though we played the same 24 songs and rehearsed them fir 4 years 

the current shower don't record anything , rehearse it a couple of times then it goes  in the set , we often seem to end up jamming them , but as long as we are listening to each other , we seem to find a way to get to the end 

 

[josie]

4 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

the current shower don't record anything , rehearse it a couple of times then it goes  in the set , we often seem to end up jamming them , but as long as we are listening to each other , we seem to find a way to get to the end 

That's a useful point - if jamming it works, and you do listen to each other, then that's fine.

My new band is making a point of original interpretations of classic blues songs with tight arrangements - breakdowns, call-and-response sections, &c - and we have to all know exactly what we're supposed to be doing to keep it together. My ex-band - indie-pop originals - I felt should have been doing that, and the music had a lot of potential if played that way, but it wasn't.

[Frank Blank]

There’s only two of us but she makes extensive notes with chords drawn and such, as I don’t read I do everything by ear so, like you, I record and edit down to the best take.

[chris_b]

I'm struggling to contain and tame a singer at the moment. We're running through songs and he'll do two of this and one of that, then the next rehearsal it's the other way around. I'm vainly trying to get him to play the agreed arrangement, every time. Apparently it's OK for him to change at will but the rest of us have to play our parts exactly and keep up with him.

We're rehearsing for a gig at the end of next week and then that will probably be the end.

Some people are just too selfish to be in a band.

Edited April 6, 2018 by chris_b

[T-Bay]

10 hours ago, chris_b said:

I'm struggling to contain and tame a singer at the moment. We're running through songs and he'll do two of this and one of that, then the next rehearsal it's the other way around. I'm vainly trying to get him to play the agreed arrangement, every time. Apparently it's OK for him to change at will but the rest of us have to play our parts exactly and keep up with him.

We're rehearsing for a gig at the end of next week and then that will probably be the end.

Some people are just too selfish to be in a band.

I know it’s embarrassing for the whole band buuuuuttttt....... if a band is tight and the singer goes in to a verse when the band play the chorus or the other way around, every single person in the audience will think the singer messed up not the band behind them. May only need to do it once or twice for them to get the message but may make for a frosty next rehearsal.

[Yank]

I've been blessed with a good memory.  I started as a singing drummer as a wee lad,  back when in order to learn the lyrics,  you first had to get them off a record by dropping the needle over and over in the grooves.  When I'm in bands where I'm not the lead vox,  I remember the agreed upon arragement,  and when a part is in doubt,  will be the one who they turn to and say "how did we decide to do that part?".  I've been in some bands where everyone had a great memory and once an arrangement was agreed upon,  was written in stone.  That makes it easy.  I feel your pain!

[rOB]

I write structure notes and we do recordings of the current version of anything we're in the progress of writing.

[Skybone]

We work out an arrangement during rehearsal, I record it & send it out to everyone. We will possibly rework it but we let everyone know.

Is the singer responsible for the music as well? Are the rest of the band having difficulties keeping up with the changes to the songs?

Sounds like you're best off out of it, the singer sounds like a nightmare.

[Lozz196]

We work on it at rehearsals, then, erm without wanting to appear snotty or superior, remember it.I`ve always figured that if I, or the band I`m in can`t remember a song then it`s likely to be completely forgettable to an audience, so best to drop it at the start.

When it comes to the actual recording I`ll ask for a copy of what we have at that time, on that take I`ll play it completely straight, no runs or fills as I then want to hear the song in its most basic form so that I can hear where a run is appropriate, or where it would clash with vox/drum-fills etc.I`ll already have a good idea of the runs I might put in, just want to hear a quieter version to add these in if I feel they fit.

[PaulWarning]

someone turns up with a song, we play it, suggestions come in, then we record it so we can remember what we all agreed on the time before  for someone to change the arrangement without discussing it with the others sounds like a recipe for a bun fight to me, "what the fcuk are you doing? we didn't fcuking play it like that  last week" sort of thing

[ead]

We record each practice on one of those portable things (Tascam maybe?) and then agree which version we like, which is usually the last one we record, and use that as the basis for practice until the next session and so on.

[mike257]

Crikey, I didn't realise this was a 'thing'. Been out of originals bands for about 7 years now, but we never made notes and we very very rarely recorded anything in rehearsals. We just played it, then tweaked it, then played it some more, until we all thought it was good enough. Then we remembered it and played it like that the next time. I do wish we'd recorded more stuff in the room, but for the nostalgia value more than anything else! 

[EliasMooseblaster]

I'm not sure when we started doing it, but for the longest time we've always had a mic and a laptop to hand. Typically our guitarist or I write a song alone, and email a demo 'round. Then we'll get together and have a few attempts at the song; once everybody's happy we'll plug the mic in and do a shonky recording of it as an aide memoir. It's particularly useful for our singer to have something to take away so she can work on the melody, phrasing, etc, and it allows us to review our own parts, and pick up on any bits that, away from the visceral thrill of the jam, do or don't really work!

[Twigman]

When we're writing we initially have a 'map' of the song laid out on the floor on sheets of A3 paper for all to see

 

Part A > part B > part A> PartC > Part A >PartB etc....

We play it a few times

We then remember it

 

 

tsimples