Instrumentation resource?

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chriswhowell
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:25 pm

Instrumentation resource?

Post by chriswhowell »

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for detailed documentation of Burt Bacharach's arrangements for Dionne Warwick in the 60s and 70s. Haven't had much luck searching online, and the liner notes from her records don't have any info.

For example, I'll Never Fall In Love Again begins with a horn, bass guitar, piano, and percussive elements. I'd be curious which specific horn, which percussive instruments, etc. For songs with string sections, which stringed instruments, how many of each, etc.?

Any info or direction much appreciated! Thanks,
Chris
pljms
Posts: 865
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 8:43 am
Location: London

Re: Instrumentation resource?

Post by pljms »

I doubt very much if those arrangements still exist physically anywhere and I wonder if even Bacharach himself would have access to them anymore. Someone with exceptionally good ears is going to have to repeatedly listen to the records to try and work out the instrumentation and the numbers involved. I have a jazz musician friend who was commissioned by a band leader to try and work out the arrangements of a dozen tunes recorded by the Thelonius Monk Quartet and he told me it nearly drove him mad so, no, it wouldn't be an easy undertaking by any means.
Paul
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