My name is Andy Davidson, let me introduce myself. I am a working musical director & arranger of band / orchestra parts. I have many years experience working mostly in the holiday industry both on land and at sea. The bands and orchestras I have been involved with over the years have always had an excellent standard of product, partly because of the high standard of musician I am used to working with. Though largely without blowing my own trumpet (so to speak) it is also as a result of the very high standard of band / orchestra parts (music partitions) I give the musicians to play. Most of them are very happy to endorse my musical arrangements. I believe with reading musicians it all begins with the written parts. Over the years I have written charts / orchestra parts for many top acts. They include Midge Ure, Sonia, John Miles, Living In A Box, Bobby Davro. Many stars from The Voice, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, Australia’s Got Talent and Stars In Their Eyes carry some of my charts. Also I have written and /or arranged several shows. I love music of all styles from rock to jazz, from country to classical. I have come to understand what musicians like to see on their part, though of course it is not an exact science. My arrangements are truly a labour of love. As a fan of most types of music from Pop and Rock through Jazz I get a great deal of pleasure when an arrangement is complete. To me it is like finishing an audio jigsaw. I would hope it to be almost a historical archive of that particular recording.
The arrangements I have are in essence a 4-piece rhythm section of Keyboards / MD, Bass guitar, Guitar & Drums, and a 3/4-piece horn arrangement. In most cases the 4-piece horn arrangement is designed to work as a 3-horn arrangement. Sax, horns, extra keyboards, second guitar etc are normally cued on the keyboard part. This gives the keyboard player the option of playing those lines if he can and so wishes, if that instrument is not included in the band or orchestra. Those extra parts could be added as extra instruments or put on to a backing track / sequencer track. As a keyboard player / MD myself that is what I want to see on a keyboard part. I also play guitar and bass to a good standard. Also I have worked closely with some excellent drummer programming and writing for drums. From that I believe I have a very good understanding of drum parts and how they work. A vocal chart is usually included free with the arrangement (where applicable).
The band / orchestra parts you find on this site are not sheet music of the type you find in a book in a music shop, but detailed individual parts for each instrument. In most cases I have had to try to find the best way to write each part, to get as much information on it as possible but without making it too detailed and messy. Deciding what is & isn’t vital to the song is always a contentious issue. Some solos I’ve written note-for-note if I believe they are important. Other musicians might prefer to improvise a solo, in that case chord symbols are included too. It’s impossible to create the ‘perfect arrangement’ because every musician thinks differently, but I’ve tried to make them as accurate and workable as possible. I hope you or the band you work with enjoy these band / orchestra parts as much as I’ve enjoyed putting the catalogue together. Good luck – and enjoy the music!
