Creative Journal #5: Arranging Karnivool’s “Drone” (on Release Day!) + “Campfire Chord” version (Patreon)

Here’s the raw capture of me going through the messy arranging process.

Watching back, it’s like 20+mins of me saying “yeeah, f#ck that’s good!”.

Link to the original track:

· Karnivool - Drone HERE

· "Campfire strum along" version chord chart attached!

·  Original arrangement post on Patreon: HERE

Chapters/Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:39 - Listen (Moises / Key + BPM)

02:59 - Structure - Pro Tools section by section breakdown

04:35 - Structure summary

04:42 - Figuring out the basic chords and approach for the key

06”08 - “Campfire Chords” version (‘acoustic strum along’ version)

09:58 - Combining chords and melody together (Intro Section)

10:26 - Combining chords and melody together (Verse Section)

11:15 - Combining chords and melody together (Chorus 1 Section)

13:40 - Combining chords and melody together (Riff Section)

14:00 - Combining chords and melody together (Hook Section)

14:20 - Combining chords and melody together (Verse 2 Section)

14:45 - Combining chords and melody together (Chorus 2 Section)

15:00 - Combining chords and melody together (Bridge to the end)

15:35 - Summary: “Now I just need to practice that about a thousand times”

16:38 - Raw iPhone Draft Take

18:36 - End Result

Gear:

· Taylor Guitars (914ce BE)

· Pro Tools

· Moises

· Guitar Pro

· Helix Rack

· Scarlet

· Rode Mic

· Movavi Video Editor + iMovie (simple video editing)

Notes + Process:

· PERSONAL RECORD BREAKER: I’ve never arranged and posted a song the day of release. So this one pushed some uncharted territory for me!

· 12 hours all up: I started when I flicked this camera on, so around 11am, and finished around 11pm. Life kicked in and made me put it on pause between 3:00pm-5:00pm. So it was about 10 active hours.

· What the day looked like: Arranged roughly between 11am-12:30pm. Practiced / multiple draft shots between 12:30pm-3pm and 5pm-6pm. Filmed and edited between 6pm-10pm. Posted around 12pm.

· HEAD: Key, song structure, “campfire chords’ pizza base, melody, general song familiarity.

· CREATIVE: added slap flicks, ghost notes and feel pretty much straight away with this one.

· Lesson/Problem: By doing it so quickly, I missed out on some really cool chords in the last couple of choruses along with a lot of other ideas that came by later. That’s the benefit of time and sitting with it for a while.

· Main process tip from this vid: Learn the basic chords and make a “campfire” version first. It’s like the pizza base being prepped for its toppings.

Campfire Chord Version Notes: 

Tuning: 

· Tune down 1/2 step — E♭ Standard [E♭–A♭–D♭–G♭–B♭–E♭]

Time Signature:

· 4/4

· A couple of 6/4 bars appear in the chorus

Key:

· E♭m (Em shapes)

Difficulty: 1.5/5

5. Advanced

4. Upper-Intermediate

3. Intermediate

2. 👉Advanced Beginner

1. 👉Beginner

Files Included:

· Drone (Campfire strum along chords) PDF

· Drone (Campfire strum along chords) Guitar Pro File 

· Download Guitar Pro HERE if you haven’t already!

Q: I was thinking of doing more “Campfire Chord” versions for players who aren’t quite up to the fingerstyle shit yet. What are your thoughts here? 👍👎?

Cheers mates.