What is composing?

A composer is someone who creates new, original music. Composing involves the nurturing of ideas. There are so many different ways of composing, so many different ideas about what “composing” is, so I can only speak for myself. Read more…

An arrangement is an adaptation of pre-existing music to fit a particular need. It is usually in the form of sheet music. An arranger takes a song (or even just a melody) and creates something new using a variety of tools, sometimes changing the musical style (jazz, rock, pop), or perhaps using different instruments. Read more…

Orchestration is the art form of assigning musical parts to different instruments. If composing a piece on piano is like sketching, then orchestration is like coloring that sketch. Traditionally, “orchestration” implies that you are assigning parts to instruments in a full orchestra (violins, flutes, trumpets, and so on). However, you could “orchestrate” for any combination of instruments. Orchestration is a great skill to have in conjunction with arranging and composing. Read more

You might have heard this term before. Midi sequencing (aka “sequencing”) is the act of playing, editing, and recording music in a way that can be manipulated. These days this usually involved a “midi” keyboard which connects to a sequencing program on the computer. The term “midi” essentially means that the keyboard and computer can communicate and send information back and forth. The term “sequencer” implies that you can record a sequence, or passage, of notes. Read more…