Saturday, October 16, 2010

Van Dyke Parks on arranging and words

The guy is endlessly quotable:

“As I look back on these things I see myself as someone who was truly, centrally, obsessed with folk music and just wanted to take part in fancyfying it. That's what an arrangement does. It tries to capture what’s extempo, off-the-cuff, and not confuse it or obstruct it and, yet, give it enunciation.” Parks laughs. “I’ve always said, ‘Why use a small word when a diminutive one will suffice?’”
Read more:

Enigmatic Parks prepares for Moogfest (Knoxville News Sentinel)

comments: 2

Anonymous said...

And somebody on facebook recently, who was definitely not truly obsessed with folk music, wrote: "If I had a hammer, there would BE no more folk music!"

Michael Leddy said...

A very old joke, I’m afraid.