The arranger: the third point of the musical triangle: part 1

Latin Beat Magazine, April, 2007 by Frank M. Figueroa

The three points of the musical triangle are the performing artist at the very top and the composer and arranger at the base points. Once the songwriter has created the tune, he relies on the arranger to weave the instrumental tapestry that will display his creation in its best form. The performing artist is then given the task of imbuing life into the composition. Although it is a collaborative effort in which the three participants contribute equally, the performing artist usually gets most of the credit and receives a major portion of the income. The other two collaborators ate usually unappreciated and not well compensated.

For many years, efforts have been made to defend the composer's rights and privileges. While injustices still exist, today he has been given some protection through the intervention of organizations such as ASCAP, BMI and ACEMLA. However, the interests of the third point of the triangle, the arranger, have been totally neglected.

It is our hope that through this writing we may extend some recognition to the talented arrangers whose work has enhanced Latin American music.

The majority of the public is not aware of the arranger's contribution to the musical creation. Perhaps that explains why the arrangers are not properly acknowledged. Let us take a moment to consider what ah arranger does. He is to a song as an architect is to a building. An architect is given a simple sketch, representing his client's specifications, and he then proceeds to develop the plans from which the building is constructed. The arranger takes the composer's basic melody and adapts it to various instruments, group formats and styles. He decides which notes are to be played by each instrument. The arranger may introduce changes in key and may use different voicings to adapt the tune to special situations. In many cases, he has to consider the special abilities or limitations of the musicians for whom he is writing. In addition, the arranger may be asked to create a sound that identifies the particular musical group, while trying to keep the performing artist and the composer happy.

The first formal arrangements were written for military bands. They were usually composed by the bandmasters. These individuals were usually multi-instrumentalists and were well prepared for the task. The instrumentation for the military bands included cornets, clarinets, tubas, ophicleides and percussion. In these very simple arrangements, the cornets and clarinets carried the melody, and the tubas, ophicleides and percussion provided the rhythm accompaniment.

In Cuba, some of the first and best bandmasters and arrangers were Jesús Avilés, Guillermo Tomás, Luis Casas Romero and Gonzalo Roig. In Puerto Rican music, Jesús Figueroa, Manuel Tizol, Juan Peña Reyes and José Ruellán Lequerica had equal stature. As the public's need for entertainment grew, the military bands became a source of trained musicians to provide music for dances and other social events. That is how the first dance bands were born. The military musicians were eager to supplement their income and widen their musical horizons.

The first dance bands were smaller versions of the military ones. The lineup usually consisted of two cornets, two clarinets and a tuba. In order to make the music more suitable for dancing, the arrangers added two violins, a string bass and drums. The basic arrangements called for the cornets, clarinets and violins to play the melody, while the string bass, tuba and drums provided the rhythm. The cornets played in octaves, the clarinets played in unison or octaves, and the violins played in two-part harmony. To inject variety, the arranger used instrumental combinations such as the different sections playing alone alternatively, blended with the complete band sound. With the addition of instruments such as the saxophone, the trombone and the piano, the arranger had more ways to be creative.

As Latin American dance bands began to separate themselves from the military band influence, the arrangers became more creative and open to new ideas. During the First World War, many Puerto Rican musicians were recruited to play in U.S. Army military bands. That gave them the opportunity to play with and learn from some of the best North American musicians. Once they returned to civilian life, those Puerto Rican musicians helped to improve the quality of Latin music in Puerto Rico and New York. In other areas of Latín America, the advent of recorded music exposed the native musicians to the styles of North American jazz bands.

The dance bands in Puerto Rico, benefited from the improved musicianship that resulted from the foreign influences. Nevertheless, the arrangements remained rather simple, even with the addition of saxophones, trombones and piano to the ensembles. The saxes played three-part harmony, with the musicians switching to clarinet and flute once in a while. The melody was usually carried by two trumpets, backed by a single trombone.

In the late 1920s, a new group of arrangers developed in Puerto Rico, which included the likes of Carmelo Díaz Soler, Julio Alvarado, Rafael Alers, Augusto Rodríguez and Rubén Berrios. In that same era, Cuban music produced bandleader-arrangers of prominent stature, such as Cheo Belén Puig, Tomás Corman, Antonio Maria Romeu, Manuel Castro, Julio Cueva, Don Azpiazu and Armando Oréfiche.