I'm not really sure how to ask this, but...

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Bill Furnett

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I’ve been listening to various soul, r&b and Motown type songs lately and have noticed some interesting things, such as in Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” a fill snare was tracked separate and (to me) really adds a unique “flavor” or dimension to the recording.

In Marvin Gaye’s “Lets get it on” (Among a lot of cool things happening in the mix) there is a simple flourish of I guess temple block which “Heightens” the peak of the change and puts it over the top without the clutter of a drum fill breaking from the groove.

I know it’s a pretty open ended question that covers mixing, arrangement or orchestration even, but what are some of your favorite note worthy common songs that exemplify mixing or percussion (Any instrument) technique that subtely adds so much and yet is perhaps panned hard to the side and maybe way down in the mix?

i.e. Song X is a classic example of tambourine use. Song Y is a master study in Horn mixing.

Thanks :)
 
Thats an interesting post really. I don't have any real "fav" i guess. Can't even name a song at the top of my head what sounds good. My friends song though, he had a pretty nice mix going. It was like a B.B. King-ish, type of song and it had nice guitar fillers in between gaps of vocals, some so subtle where it would be very faded in the mix, panned hard left or right and with a splash of reverb. It added lots of space to the mix just that in general, i loved it.

I also like songs with a tamborine in the mix on percussion sometimes, not so much maraccas, but a tamborine playing 16th notes can give a song such a feeling of "moving-along" and is a great dynamic i find to get that feeling of not speeding up, but the momentum picks up.

Jeff Buckley's forget her has i think an organ or whatnot in the background of the chorus (i think the last 2 chorus'?) which really beefs up the guitar riff and remains, to me, there only on a subconcious level.

Anywho thats some things i've really thought were cool :)
 
Yes! :) Like the tambourine adding a sense of "momentum" is exactally the type of thing i was trying to communicate.

Anyone else?
 
How about the cowbell in Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper"?

I gotta fever... and the only cure is more cowbell!!!!!
 
One of my favorites is the chimes on Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead Or Alive. There are lots of others (just listen to almost anything George Martin had a hand in the production of) I just like the rake across a 12 string that trails off into chimes.
 
fraserhutch said:
How about the cowbell in Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper"?

I gotta fever... and the only cure is more cowbell!!!!!
Click to expand...

Haha! That's hilarious, it's like the only song anyone knows by them, but its a killer. lol the cowbell wasn't there for the recording, it was there to help keep them in time :p
 
i really like the cannon shots in AC/DC's 'for those about to rock'. ;)
 
One of the more interesting "where did they get THAT idea from" in the past few years would be David Mead's "World of a King" post-bridge, hard-strummed acoustic guitar line with a double of hum and fuzz tone riding underneath it.

G.
 
Listen to Low Spark of The High-Heeled Boys by Traffic. The intro fades up slow and when you hear the Vibra-Slap, the verses begin. I LOVE that.
 
The Heart tune "Magic Man", during the instrumental section, there are a bunch of stop-time breaks, then the main groove comes back in, with congas. Kick-ass. Just really completes it. But they had enough restraint to wait until then, when it had the most impact.

ps- whether or not you like their music (I like a select few tunes) whoever made their records did some killer work.
 
Track Rat said:
Listen to Low Spark of The High-Heeled Boys by Traffic. The intro fades up slow and when you hear the Vibra-Slap, the verses begin. I LOVE that.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, that whole song and album has a great vibe to it. "Shootout at the Fantasy Factory" is no slouch either. Good choice. :)

G.
 
some sweet heavily reverbed claves or something on a few Neil Diamand songs - Crunchy granola suite, and Brooklyn Roads. Also check out some of the classics like Rubber Soul, or Pet Sounds by the beach Boys - all sorts of tambourine, shakers, maracas, etc. I just recently heard a song with some killer triangle in it, and can't for the life of me remember what it was....
 
Anything with tambourine holds up the sparse sections of a track. Sometimes a quarter note pulse on piano played lightly in the background does the same thing. Low Spark High Heel boys is one of my favorite tracks, listen to the piano pulse in that track. It holds up the song.
 
Hi, Bill

On Steely Dan´s AJA "Making of", Donald Fagen shows an similar example, soloing a track like this (fill snare), don´t remember exactly what´s the song , maybe Peg, but I´m not sure (these guys already used "loops" in 1977...)
(very subtle and great result)

*Obvously, I recommend this "Making of" ... :cool:

Ciro
 
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It's all useful... Tack piano, Vibraslap, temple blocks, finger cymbals, clave, shakers, Tam, harmonica, wah guitar - it doesn't have to be percussion.

I think it's important to have a variety of voices to fill out details in an arrangement and create counterpoint and variety.
 
Great responses, i appreciate it and will be formulating a list of 'Must hear' tunes to track down.

:)
 
I was impressed with the cash register in Pink Floyd's money song when it first came out in quadraphonic.
 
Hey I know a few BOC songs..... Burning FoR You.... Godzilla!!!!

Okay how about about the Moog in The Replacements' "Friends of P"
Classic.
 
Anyone have bandmates that are a bit tentative to adding this stuff into the mix when it's not something you'd play live? I'm sorta the lead on our first album coming out, and by lead I mean, I recorded the tracks and I'm mixing it. I want to put a little bit of tambourine, maybe a bit of maraca, replace the cowbell on one tune with a sampled bell (we didn't mic it properly in the first place so it sounds too distant).

Anyways, I love those little production tricks and subtle keyboard swells that artists use to spice up the production on the album versions, and it doesn't bother me in the least that it's not something they try to reproduce live. But I've had some funny looks and resistance from the other guys when I mention my ideas.

I always like a little phaser sound on the drums during percussion breaks. And the tambourine, it's far more common than I thought now that I'm listening for it. I noticed it a couple times on some Gin Blossoms and Tom Petty tracks a few weeks ago.
 
My main colab partner in my band are usually on the same page with this stuff. We created our first two CD's "in studio" without a lot of thought about how to reproduce them live. so most live versions of those songs are drastically different (which is OK). The CD that we will hopefully be making someday, however, we hope to dumb down. Get the whole thing rock-ready, able to play live, before we ever hit record on the first track. Then, we might jazz it up just a bit with subtle overdubs.

And, yes, tambourine is everywhere, if you are listening for it. Don't discount the triangle either. Damn I wish I could remember that song.... But a fastish and rythmic alternating opened and muted "holder hand" on the triange can add a surprisingly cool groove to an upbeat song. For parts, not the whole song, generally.
 
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