Arrangers...

[Coelacanth]

I noticed with Ayu songs there is always an arranger listed in the credits. It may be a dumb question, but what exactly do they do? And how important is their role in the creation of the song?

My guess was always that the arranger would pick which instruments would be used in the song... But I don't know...

[yaten]

Well, it's a hard thing to pinpoint, because the role of the arranger can vary from song to song.

Like, the arrangement of Voyage by Ken Shima, for example. He was almost entirely and solely the creator of the feel of that song. Ayu wanted a strings song, so she composed it, but to breathe life into it and layer the strings right, Ken Shima was asked to take control.

Most songs the arrangement is already determined by the composer of the song (Like CREA's songs mostly always coming out 'rock' is no mistake) however, an arranger can lend a very special touch of character to a song, or change it completely (like the Orchestra versions of ayu songs are simply re-arrangements)

Along the lines of what yaten said. In a traditional sense, arrangers are usually the ones behind the actual instrumentation, as you thought, Phantoma. This might mean that they arranged the string section, or it might mean that they played/programmed the synths. A lot of the time we don't exactly know the extent of their work, as the line between composer and arranger can become blurred, but distinct traits of the arranger can often be heard. Take a listen to some of the HAL arranged songs. They certainly have their own sound in regards to synths and techniques.

Arrangement is a significant part of the music creation process.

[Coelacanth]

Thank you both. It was along the same lines of what I originally thought. But you're right, some arranger's have very distinct sounds. I think it's easier with Ayu's songs to determine the arranger, whereas the composer would be harder to figure out. What I don't understand is why Ayu never has the same composer and arranger for one song (except for 'a song is born'). I mean, why couldn't the composer do the work of the arranger? They both seem like very similar fields of expertise. tasuku, who is known for arranging many of Ayu's rockish songs, composed 'fairyland', but didn't arrange it. It's weird.

[ImpactBreaker]

Ayu can't really play instruments so obviously as a composer she can't arrange. (I guess she composes songs by humming them or making beeps on the cell phone i dunno ahaha). A simple practical way to know the extent of what the composer and the arranger does is just to keep on humming the melody of the song or listen to midis. How the lyrics will be sung, the pace, etc is mostly set by the composer. The composer will give the basis, the skeleton for the song to be constructed in it. The instruments choosen to be played, special effects like crashes, ringing bells, noises and other things will mostly be up to the arranger (though that can be also be part of the composer if it's from their interest to make crashes, collages and noises as part of the composition, a good example would be shiina ringo's compositions).

[Delirium-Zer0]

Impact: Funnily enough, i read somewhere that she DOES write songs on her cell phone (both lyrics AND melodies When writing the lyrics to NWTS, her phone's battery died )

But yeah... "Arranger" is called the "Producer" in western music. Funny, the differences.