I f you give it much thought, most songs would not exist without instruments.  Being able to pick and choose how to twist a blend of instruments to make the sound that is enjoyable to an audience in the form of some sort of arraignment.  In most cases I would say that it falls back on the composer, and what he or she hears when composing the song.  Some of my favorite songs have had only a single guitar in the entire song.  That is probably how the composer heard the song at it’s best.  When the burning desire is there to deliver the vocals and music with let’s say a single performer and his or her instrument, it is what you hear in any help article, “presentation is nine tenths”.  This being said many famous recording artists have done just this thing with the most powerful delivery of his or her single instrument, and in many cases also their voice.   It can be very pleasing to the ear hearing their voice and instrument in unison giving us a song you will never forget.  The late John Denver was a master of this technique.  Many times on his TV show John would preform one of his songs for the night in just the simplest of setting where it was just John his guitar and a song, it was magical.

Simple Music, Can Be Magical,

Tony Watson