That can definitely work for a lot of people...I can sometimes really struggle with the whole 'arrangement and orchestration / ensemble' line of thinking...is this for string quartet, pure electronica, full choir, small orchestra, Death Metal band blah blah...jancivil wrote: ↑Tue May 04, 2021 9:23 pm I'd say there is an exercise for this: restrict yourself to a single instrument for the 'arrangement', it has to carry the melody, if there's a bassline, harmonies, all of it has to come from the one place with no help coming. If there's a drum idea, make it behave drumlike.
So, more often that not, I start off at the piano just doodling and then developing the doodles some more and some more into something vaguely coherent...still just at the piano. That way, as soon as you start arranging it all, you are instantly scaling it up and also probably have more idea of what instruments might work.
