Rhye’s Robin Hannibal on Arrangement

As we gear up for the Academy in New York next month, we thought it an excellent time to check in with our Studio Team member Robin Hannibal. He’s had a multitude of projects over the years, but the one he’s been focused on of late is Rhye, a duo with Mike Milosh whose debut album recently got Best New Music’d by Pitchfork. Hannibal has long been an expert on song arrangement, so we asked him to tell us more about this often underrated part of the music-making process. He picked out a few of his favourite arrangers – as well as one of the tracks on the Rhye album.

Every genre has its rules – and how those are broken is what makes it interesting. There was a definite shift in the late ‘70s. With the increasing influence of computers, the way that songs were constructed was also done in a more digital and improvisational way. One of the things that has changed in the past 30 or so years is that compositional arrangement is now more about which type of sounds that you use – or how you use them. Sound design, in many ways, has become an arranging tool.

Now it’s the manipulated, electronic effects that make you sound unique. It could be this-and-this snare drum that a certain producer uses. An instantly recognizable rhythm. That’s an element of arrangement as well – how you put certain things in that define that record/album/artist/groove to create a signature. That has definitely changed. The people that are making pop music now aren’t, very often, classically trained or have studied composition. So they find their tools to make themselves unique. Which is great. It keeps pushing and developing music.

There are examples of bands and acts, though, that are experimenting with traditional arrangement. A band like Grizzly Bear, for instance, blend classic traditional arrangements with using manipulated sounds. Their compositions are often very cleverly done, and they manage to do it in a non-contrived way. They do it for a reason – as a tool to make you want to listen more deeply to the song.

Air is also a great example of modern day arrangers. When you listen to their songs, you can tell that they have a basic idea, but the way that they build or arrange it makes it very interesting. They created an aesthetic – which goes all the way down to how they use instrumentation, chord progressions, voice. It’s a very specific sound that they have created. That they’re constantly able to develop on it is a great testament to their talent. They’re very inspiring.

On our record as Rhye there were a few songs that Mike and I talked about before starting. We decided, for instance, that it would be interesting to do an electronic fugue, like “Ava Maria,” and that eventually became “Woman.” One of the things that we bonded over was negative space. It’s something we both really like in music.

Ennio Morricone is probably the most influential arranger on me because of the way that he uses instruments and how he’s always focused on melody. It’s all about if it touches you. That’s what I really like about him. Sonically he’s also had so many great ideas – from his use of opera singers to the Spaghetti westerns to the French, Italian and Spanish work in the ’80s. Even his Hollywood work too.

Burt Bacharach contributed a lot to modern music. The time signatures and chord progressions that he used were often much closer to standards [than pop music] but he was able to twist it to make it accessible for anyone. Really difficult songs, interesting themes and unique ways of using instrumentation that people have copied ever since.

Benjamin Wright arranged Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. He did all the rhythms and the orchestral arrangement. He also did a lot for Earth, Wind & Fire. He’s kept working – and now he’s doing things for Jamiroquai, Outkast and Justin Timberlake. I got the special honor of being able to meet him. I played him my very humble music, and he played his huge, lush orchestrations from the ’70s that had between 60 and 80 players. He has a very unique way of arranging. It’s very expressive, colorful and quick – a lot of rhythm and melody. What he does with a song like “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire is breathtaking. It’s almost more difficult to do something interesting with that because you have so much going on. And you have to take into consideration that there is an artist that needs to shine.