How to Arrange Beats in Studio One 4

The arrangement is the pinnacle of engagement during the production process. The arrangement is ultimately what tells the story so even if you have everything else right, the wrong arrangement can break a track.

So what exactly is arrangement? Arrangement refers to the flow and layout of your beat and is made up of two parts, the composition, and structure.

The composition simply refers to the creative direction for your sounds and how you choose to pair them. Do you keep the lead playing throughout the entire chorus? Do you take out the pad for a few measures? Do you introduce a new sound during the verses?

The structure, on the other hand, refers to how you choose to layout your beat. What comes first the verses or the chorus? Do you include a bridge or drops? How long should each section be?

All of these decisions pertain to the arrangement and ultimately affect the feel, emotion, and vibe of a song and in the end, affect how engaging the beat turns out to be.

In the end the basic idea with the arrangement is that you want to make the beat interesting enough to keep the listener engaged while at the same time also making it EASY for them to determine which section they are currently listening to.

Take a look at the video above to see how I arranged a beat I recently made.