Producer Steve Skinner
on Orchestrating Guitar
Producer/arranger/programmer Steve
Skinner is an industry veteran whose
credits include Chaka Kahn, Spyro Gyra,
Celine Dion, Lionel Hampton, and
many more. He was also lucky enough
to work closely with legendary producer
Arif Mardin (Queen, Norah Jones,
Jewel) for over 15 years. I sat down with
Skinner recently for a few quick thoughts
on both traditional and guitar-specific
orchestration.
What’s one of your favorite guitar
orchestrations?
Smokey Robinson’s “Second That
Emotion.” There are three different guitar
parts from three different players. The
only other accompaniment I can hear
is brass, bass, and drums. Each guitar
player stakes out his own tonal area—backbeat chords, a low-midrange funk
line, and high-midrange chords—and
stays there. None of them gets in the way
of the others.
Guitar players, because they can play
chords, tend to think vertically—a chord
followed by a chord, followed by a chord.
Orchestrators and orchestra writers
think horizontally about melodies that
interweave, and if they happen to form
chords, so be it. Groups like Interpol do
some amazing things with counterpoint
in their guitar and bass lines, which
sometimes have a quasi-random feel to
them—like one player went to one note
and the other went to another note, and
they said, “Yeah, I like it!”
How about a favorite classical
orchestration?
In terms of creating colors with interesting
combinations of instruments,
my absolute favorite is Stravinsky’s
The
Rite of Spring. From the very beginning—
where the bassoon is playing at
the very top of its range—Stravinsky
uses instruments in unusual pairings
and brilliant chord clusters. For countermelodies,
I love the second movement
of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
The melody itself is very plain—it’s the
countermelodies that give it movement
and emotion. For counterpoint, I like
Samuel Barber’s
Adagio for Strings. If
you look at the score, it’s deceptively
simple—parts moving up and down
by scale steps, mostly in one key—but
somehow the emotional impact is huge.
What did you learn about orchestration
from your years working with
Arif Mardin?
Never bump into the vocalist’s note. I
once got a wrist slap for doing that. You
can follow along with a vocalist, but in
your countermelody don’t have some of
your notes hit their notes and then go
away. You either go right along with it, or
stay away from it. It’s best to have your
countermelodies work around the vocal.
With strings in particular—especially
if you’re orchestrating with guitars—you
can get away with a lot more dissonance
than you’d think. The song “Iris” by
the Goo Goo Dolls is a great example:
The guitar is playing a big B chord and
the strings are majorly dissonant, but it
really works. Some of that is from basic
counterpoint rules, like the one about
not having two parts simultaneously
jump to a dissonance, like a second or
ninth. Instead, have one line sustain and
move the other line up or down into
the dissonance. Then move away from
it again. It helps to study those dry old
counterpoint rules—I find myself using
them constantly.
Are there any books or websites you
recommend guitarists check out to
learn those counterpoint rules—and
any other important lessons about
orchestration?
The book I go to most often is
The
Technique of Orchestration by Kent
Kennan. I have the 2nd edition, from
1972, which is still available. There is
also an updated version that comes with a
CD. If you’re interested in studying counterpoint,
both Kennan and Walter Piston
have excellent books. I’d also recommend
finding and studying scores of pieces you
like. Following the individual parts, while
listening to how everything fits together,
will change how you hear music.
What to Listen for in
Orchestrated Guitar Tunes
Curious about the extents to which you can orchestrate
with 4-, 6-, and 12-strings? With guitar-specific tunes,
listen and try to ascertain the following:
• How many guitar parts are there?
• Are some of the melodies or progressions doubled,
tripled, or multi-tracked even more than that?
• Are the guitars playing octaves, unison lines, or
harmonies?
• Are the parts in stereo or mono?
• Where are the guitar tracks panned, and at what level
are they mixed?
• Are there effects such as reverb and delay—and where
are those effects panned?