Stevie Wonder "Superstition" Isolated Clavinets

How many times have you heard a cover band play Stevie Wonder's seminal "Superstition" and think, "That doesn't sound like the record."

One of the reasons why is because there's more than one clavinet on the track, a fact that's usually overlooked by the band. In fact, according to Bob Margouleff (who recorded and co-produced the song - hear him talk about working with Stevie on my Inner Circle Podcast episode #78) there are actually 4 clavs on the track, and in today's video you can hear them clearly.

1. The clav track on the left during the verse is the signature line that everyone knows.

2. The clav track on the right plays counterpoint to the signature track, and is actually key to the sound of the record (and the part that no one ever plays).

3. During the B-section there are two new clav sounds that replace the verse clavs, one on each side, that are much softer sounding.

4. Listen for the amplifier noise (no directs used here) on the intro of the track, and Stevie singing in the background during the breaks.

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The Who "Baba O'Riley" Isolated Tracks

The Who's "Baba O'Riley" is one of the most played tracks in the entire band's catalog, to the point were just about every fan (and non-fan's alike) know each note and part by heart.

That's why today's isolated track is so cool. It strips away the arpeggiated synthesizer and, in some parts, the piano, to give you a clear listen as to what's going on deep inside the mix. Here are some things to listen for:

1. The reverb on the vocal is pretty short, unlike many Who mixes. It's also delayed so the vocal stands out a bit more.

2. The drums are in stereo, but have an unusual balance, with the snare and most of the kit leaning right and the ride and a crash leaning left. On the tom fill at 1:33 you can hear the rack tom on the left as well. Keith Moon also rarely plays the hat during the song, instead bashing the cymbals throughout, something that a producer would no doubt change today.

3. The big guitar power chords in the verse (0:51) are doubled and maybe even tripled, which you don't notice in the full mix.

4. The outro starting at 3:11 sounds much different without the violin.  You definitely get to appreciate Moon's prowess with his dynamics and machine gun snare roll.

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Toto "Rosanna" Isolated Drums, Keys And Horns

The band Toto has some of the most acclaimed studio musicians as members, which is why it's always a pleasure to listen inside one of their songs. Today we'll take a listen to the isolated drums, keyboards and horns from the Grammy-winning song "Rosanna." This one's a real treat! Here's what to listen for:

1. The late great Jeff Porcaro is on drums playing a version of the half-time "Purdie shuffle" feel. You can hear why he was one of the most in-demand session drummers ever, with rock solid time and a feel that pushes the track along perfectly. His drums sound great, with just a touch of reverb for ambience.

2. The arrangement is based around David Paich's (another great session player) piano, which starts in a middle register and moves up an octave for the B section of the song, then back down for the C section and chorus. It also has a nice stereo spread with the left hand panned to about 9 o'clock and the right at around 1:30.

3. Listen to the way Steve Porcaro's synthesizer strategically weaves in and out of the song. It's mostly on an organ patch, but you can hear the patch morph into a string patch at the end of the chorus.

4. In the solo section around 3:20, percussion is added that gives that section some movement.

5. Check out the horn section on the turnaround to each chorus and playing a fill line in the chorus. It's a section of 2 saxes, 2 trumpets and a trombone that are doubled and panned in stereo.

6. The outro jam is a real treat.

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Funk Brothers "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Isolated Tracks

Motown's famous Funk Brother's band was the mainstay for all the great hits made during the Detroit era of the label, and they were a truly formidable lot.

Although the players were great, it was the arrangements that really made the hit songs work. Here's a great example of a beautifully simple arrangement of a pop song with The Supremes "You Keep Me Hangin' On." Here's what to listen for.

1. The song features one of the smaller combos found on a typical Motown session. There are drums, 3 guitars (the usual compliment on most Motown songs), organ, percussion, tambourine and James Jamerson's great bass.

2. Listen to the interplay of the guitars. There's a high and low guitar playing the basic riff, and a 12 string outlining the chord changes. During the bridge the parts change, but all work on their own and never get in the way rhythmically. Oh, and all of the parts are dead clean as well.

3. Speaking of guitars, the 12 string that's outlining the chords is often behind the beat, which is unusual for most Motown songs, since most players had great time. The fact that it wasn't fixed is probably due to the fact that it was recorded live married to another instrument on the same track.

4. Listen to the low galloping percussion during the bridge playing roughly the same figure as the bass. You can hear it well here but not in the final mix.

5. While the tracks might sound dry, there's actually a tiny amount of a short reverb on everything that keeps the instruments in your face without seeming washed out.

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Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter" Isolated Tracks

Here's something that I posted before but seems to keep disappearing. It's a brilliant breakdown of the individual tracks from The Rolling Stones seminal "Gimme Shelter," one of my all-time favorite songs just in terms of shear passion.

I've posted isolated tracks from this song before but the difference in this video is that most of the individual elements are broken out and soloed in combinations during the song.

The video labels some of the parts incorrectly, but that really doesn't matter as it's fun to hear any of the parts by themselves. Here are some things to listen for:

1. The vocals really have a lot of reverb on them, although it all disappears in the final mix (which you never hear in its entirety on this video).

2. Keith Richard's lead guitar plays through most of the song. You don't hear it in the final mix because it's either lowered or muted. He's also playing out of the pocket in the intro, not that it ever bothered anyone.

3. As the elements are soloed, listen for both the harp (harmonica) and the piano, which are somewhat buried in the final mix.

4. Merry Clayton's solo bridge vocal is still spine-tinglingly excellent all these years later. The fact that her voice breaks just adds to the passion (but it's something we probably wouldn't leave in the track today, unfortunately).

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The Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" Instrument-Only Track

One of the more iconic songs of the last century is "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. Every guitar player learns the famous Keith Richards lick when learning how to play, and every garage band plays the song sometime during their career.

The problem is that it's never played quite right since the arrangement is difficult to hear through a distorted final mix.

Today's isolated track is a real treat in that it features the very clean instrumental-only track of "Satisfaction" where you'll hear some things you probably never noticed before.

The instrumentation includes Keith Richards on electric guitar, Brian Jones on acoustic, Bill Wyman on bass, Charlie Watts on drums, and arranger Jack Nitzsche on piano and tambourine. Here's what to listen for:

1. The acoustic rhythm guitar really pushes the song along. In the final mix it blends into the track but the song would have a much different feel if it wasn't there.

2. Speaking of blending in, the piano also fills out the rhythm section and is pretty imperceptible on the final mix. You can hear it best on the verses.

3. Listen to what happens during the drum breakdown. Charlie Watts continues to play the same beat as he did in the rest of the song while the signature rhythm hook is played by the tambourine (which is also played during the rest of the song). The number of cover bands that get this right is about zero, although maybe the way we think we hear it is the way it should have been played in the first place.

4. Listen to high tight the band is. The timing is excellent, a trait that would get sloppier as the years went on.

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Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun" Isolated Tracks

"Black Hole Sun" is probably the most recognizable song by Soundgarden, as it spent 7 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in 1994. The song comes from the best-selling Superunknown album, which was produced by my buddy Michael Beinhorn.

What you'll hear is the bass, drums and vocals from the song. Here's what to listen for.

1. Chris Cornell's lead vocal is very compressed, and it sounds like there's too much by itself but fits perfectly when added to the full mix.

2, The vocal is doubled on chorus and the bridge, but a brief harmony is added on both the 3rd and 5th choruses (the repeat choruses after the 2nd verse and bridge).

3. The drums are very open sounding, meaning that we're hearing more of the overheads and room mics than any close miking, which is quite the opposite from the way most drum recordings sound today.

4. The only guitar that you'll hear is Kim Thayil's wah solo after the bridge.

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The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" Backing Track

Here's a real studio gem. It's the backing track from The Beatles 1967 worldwide broadcast of "All You Need Is Love."

Surprisingly the song was thrown together at almost the last minute as the band had been asked by the BBC to take part in the first event of its kind. The only guidance they were given was to keep it simple and keep the theme universal.

It's hard to believe that this is actually part of the final track as parts seem so ragged. Paul McCartney played standup bass, George Harrison is on a very shaky violin, John Lennon played harpsichord (which you don't hear much on the final version), George Martin on piano, and Ringo was the human metronome.

Especially take a listen at 1:13 where everything seems to fall apart.

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Chicago "Make Me Smile" Isolated Bass, Vocals and Guitar Solo

It's always so cool to be able to listen inside songs that have been around for a long, long time, and Chicago's "Make Me Smile" (from the band's Chicago II album) is a prime example. In the video below you'll hear the isolated bass, some drum leakage and Terry Kath's lead vocal, as well as a bonus of Kath's excellent guitar solo at the end. Here's what to listen for.

1. Peter Cetera's bass is somewhat out of the pocket, especially on the intro of the song. He's usually a little ahead of the beat throughout the song, although there times when the bass and drums settle in pretty well together.

2. The bass part changes in the second verse and becomes more active, as it does during the guitar solo, something that's easy to overlook when the rest of the tracks are in the mix.

3. The sound of the bass is pretty cool, with lots of leakage from the drums into the amp mic, since this was recorded in the days before widespread direct box use.

4. Terry Kath was as great a vocalist as he was a guitar player. Here he does ad libs right along with his lead vocal, and it sure sounds like it was done all in one complete take.

5. His guitar solo is one of his best (and one of my favorites). Take notice of the tone - not too distorted and using the front pickup of the Gibson SG he used at the time.

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Derek And The Dominos "Layla" Isolated Rhythm Tracks

What a difference a great mixer can make. A few weeks ago I posted the isolated lead guitar and vocals from Eric Clapton's short-lived band Derek and the Dominos hit "Layla." One of the things that struck me about the original song when listening with fresh ears was how odd the original mix was, with unusual panning, a very tinny sound and muddy balance.

A few years ago the 5.1 version of the the album (Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs) was mixed by the great Elliot Scheiner and allows us to finally hear what the original tracks really sound like. As you'll hear, the difference is substantial. Here are some things to listen for:

1. The bass and drums in the remix sound much larger than the original and are panned in a fashion that we've become accustomed to.

2. Everything is so much clearer, including the 3 rhythm guitars panned left, right and center, and the organ.

3. You can hear clearly hear Bobby Whitlock's harmony vocal. It was probably track shared on one of the rhythm tracks, since they were only recording on a 16 track machine at the time and probably ran out of tracks fairly quickly.

4. Listen for the two pianos on the second section of the song. The original was played by drummer Jim Gordon (who wrote the section) and then overdubbed by keyboardist Whitlock.

All in all, the remix is a pleasure to listen to. Contrast it to the original mix below.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give It Away" Isolated Rhythm Tracks

One of the most solid and dynamic rhythm sections in modern music belongs to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, with drummer Chad Smith and bassist Flea about as good as it gets. Here's the isolated bass and drums to one of their first hits - "Give It Away," from the groups 5th studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Here's what to listen for.

1. There's a lot of long reverb on the snare. And it pops through the mix because he's hitting it so hard.

2. The kick is on the left channel, although it's not like that on the final mix of the record. The final sound of the kick is also different, as you'd expect.

3. Listen to how solid and controlled the high-hat work of Chad Smith is. It doesn't move the entire song.

4. The bass is well controlled. Considering how aggressive Flea plays, the level is very steady and even. This type of playing is some of the most difficult for an engineer to deal with.

5. There are a few slight bass mistakes at 2:12 (at the end of the lick on the turnaround), at 3:36, and at 3:42 that we'd fix today in the era of the DAW (this was recorded back in the tape days), but I bet you never heard them in the context of the song.

6. Listen through to the end to hear the ending that's not on the final record.

If you like looking at the inside workings of a hit, check out my Deconstructed Hits series of books, where I take a detailed look at the song form, arrangement, sound and production of the hits we love.

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The Who "Behind Blue Eyes" Isolated Band Tracks

Who's Next Alternate Album Cover

Here's another iconic song that can be heard daily on classic radio - The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" from their album Who's Next. The first video lets you hear the band minus the vocals, except for some of the background vocal leakage.

There are a lot of individual things to listen to, but take note that the basic track of the song has very few production tricks. It's just guitar, bass and drums, with the only thing added is the electric guitar in the bridge.

I've also included the full album version of the song below as well, since that has a lot of things to listen for, especially after hearing the isolated tracks. Here's what to listen for in the isolated track video.
1. Listen for the intensity and dynamics of the acoustic guitar. Pete Townsend doesn't play all at one level; he's varying his playing intensity with the song.

2. On the isolated version, when the bridge kicks in with the drums, bass and electric guitar, the acoustic drops out, which doesn't happen in the final version.

3. The stereo drums that you hear on the bridge sound like just two kit mics, and the third kick or front mic is missing from the mix (engineer Glyn Johns used an interesting 3 mic setup to record the stereo drums). The drums also sound like they're out of phase in this mix.

4. Listen for the electric guitar parts on the outro that don't appear on the final version.



Now let's take a listen to the final version of the song.
1. Notice the panning. The acoustic guitar is on the right side, while the bass shades to the left with the harmony vocals. There are doubled harmony vocals on the right side on some sections, but the left side is favored to keep the mix balanced.

2. Listen to the long delayed reverb on the vocals and guitar, which also leans to the left. The verb has virtually no high end, which is also interesting.

3. The electric guitar enters on the bridge on the left side, while the acoustic stays on the right. The background vocals on the bridge switch to the right side. The drums lean just a bit to the left side, once again to keep the final mix in balance.

What a classic!


If you're interested in song analysis like this, check out my Deconstructed Hits books.

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Chicago "25 Or 6 To 4" Isolated Vocal and Guitar

There are some songs that everyone knows regardless of their age because the songs are always played on the radio somewhere every single day. Chicago's "25 or 6 To 4" from the band's second album (Chicago II as some call it) is one of these iconic songs. Here's a number of the tracks from that song broken out. You'll hear the bass and drums as a reference, but Peter Cetera's lead vocal is loud and clear as well as Terry Kath's excellent guitar playing.

1. The bass and drums and really tight, but not like the tightness we find today where it's note for note perfect with the kick, snare and bass. This tightness is the organic kind achieved from lots of time playing together. Both instruments push and pull the tempo, but that's what makes it exciting.

2. Terry Kath's guitar playing is excellent as always. His sound is sort of distorted, but without a lot of sustain. When I saw him on the tour for this record, he was using an old Bogen Challenger PA head for his amp plugged into a Fender Bassman 2x15 speaker cabinet. Very unusual to say the least.

3. There are a number of small guitar fills that you'll hear that didn't make the record. Listen after the solo and before the last verse, and at the very end of the song. We miss you, Terry.

4. Listen the compression on the lead vocal. The melody is very dynamic because it spans ranges so the compression has to keep it in check.

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Heart "Barracuda" Isolated Tracks

A few weeks ago I posted the isolated vocal tracks from Heart's classic hit "Barracuda," which received a tremendous response. Today you'll hear the isolated band tracks from the same song. The song, off their Little Queen album, was a big hit for Heart in 1977, and it's still an classic rock radio staple. Here's what to listen for.

1. The interplay between the guitars. If you want to learn how to produce and mix two guitars playing together, this is a great example. The interplay between Roger Fisher and Howard Leese's guitars works for two reasons: when they're playing the same riffs or chords, the sound of the guitars are different, and sometimes they're either playing in different registers or counter to one another. You hear these examples throughout the song.

2. The effects on the track. There's very little in the way of effects at first except for a very small bit of slap delay on the left cleaner guitar, a touch of reverb on the drums, and a slow flange on the main guitar. That changes on the solo and again on the outro, where different parts have varying degrees of reverb and delay to change the sound and push them back in the mix

3. This was a song built for playing live. The only apparent overdub on the front half of the song is the guitar solo, where the right flanged guitar drops out, just like what would happen during a concert. Even on the more layered outro, it sounds like the song was captured on a gig, just with better acoustics and more effects.

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Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love" Isolated Percussion Track

The percussion track is an often overlooked element in a hit song, but don't underestimate its importance, since it's often responsible for a sense of movement and motion. There are numerous hits that would sound completely different if their percussion tracks were muted.

Here's the percussion track on a song that you probably thought didn't have one - Led Zeppelin's seminal hit "Whole Lotta Love." Here are some things to listen for (it doesn't start until 1:20 into the song):

1. John Bonham is certainly one of the most influential rock drummers ever, but that doesn't mean he was a great percussionist. His conga playing leaves a little to be desired as he searches for a groove throughout the song.

2. At 3:31 coming out of the guitar break in the bridge, Bonham switches to tambourine, which feels much more in the groove.

3. On the outro at 4:40, he returns to the congas and this time they groove a bit better as he plays to the end.

4. Listen at 5:43 as Bonzo sings along with the track for a couple of seconds.

This song is a prefect illustration that being a drummer does not automatically mean you're a percussionist as well. They are two different skills. Although some drummers can do both well (my good buddy Ronnie Ciago comes to mind), sometimes it's better for the song to get a specialist for each (although the percussion track didn't hurt this song much in the end).

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David Bowie "Moonage Daydream" Isolated Vocal

One of the most influential albums in the US in the early 70s was David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The album didn't sell a lot, but every musician had a copy and marveled at how innovative Bowie was. A few years ago I was lucky enough to co-write Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust, producer/engineer Ken Scott's memoir, which outlined his time working with Bowie. It was great fun listening to the stories and learning about how they recorded and mixed the album.

Have a listen to the isolated vocal track to a song off that album - "Moonage Daydream." Here are some things to listen for:

1. Bowie's vocals aren't perfect by today's standards, with a few notes here and there that he doesn't quite hit cleanly. That said, 99% of his vocals were only one take, according to Ken, who recorded and produced 4 Bowie albums. Also remember that we listened differently in those days, and tended not to concentrate on the details like we do today.

2. The vocal has a nice sounding medium decay EMT plate on it.

3. The choruses ("Keep your electric eye on me, babe.") are doubled the first two times. The third time there's only the lead vocal, and the fourth time a ping-pong delay is added, which was pretty innovative for the time, since all delay was accomplished through tape machines (in this case two of them with different delay times).

4. Listen through to the end for something not heard on the record.

You can read some excerpts from Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust about Bowie on the excerpts section at bobbyowsinski.com

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Duran Duran "Hungry Like The Wolf" Isolated Keyboards

It's time for another isolated track video. This time we'll listen to the isolated keyboards and vocals from Duran Duran's big 1982 hit "Hungry Like The Wolf." The song launched the band into superstardom more for the music video than anything else, but like most hits, it's quite useful to listen inside the song to hear what's going on.

In this post we'll just concentrate on the keys. For more on the isolated vocals, check out this post.

1. The keyboard part mostly consists of an arpeggiated synth, which has been successfully used as a key song element from as far back as The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" (check out this post to hear the isolated track) to today. This not only fills a sonic space in the mix, but also adds motion to the song, effectively doing the same job as percussion.

2. Keyboard pads (a Roland Jupiter 8) are added on the choruses. Take notice to the synth swell on the last "Hungry like the wolf" lyric at the end of each chorus.

3. Both the synth and vocal have a nice short delayed reverb that provides the major ambience and glue to the track.

4. Listen through to the end to hear the ending (or lack of one) that never made the final record.

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Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" Behind The Scenes

For many, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's song "Purple Haze" (from the Are You Experienced album) was transformational in that it signaled the transition from pop music that was the driving the music business to a heavier song that would mark the end of the 60s and carry through until the 90s.

In this video you'll see and hear my buddy Eddy Kramer (who worked on most of Jimi's recordings) play the isolated tracks from the original 4 track recording of the song. You'll also get to hear a track of the song loud and clear that's almost buried on the final recording.

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Jimi Hendrix "The Wind Cries Mary" Behind The Scenes

If any of you caught the recent American Masters show about Jimi Hendrix on PBS you know that there was some great seldom-seen interviews that made that documentary one of the best. It seems like there was a lot of footage that didn't make the program, and here's some of it, describing the making of "The Wind Cries Mary" from Jimi and The Experience's first album Are You Experienced.

In the video you'll hear Jimi's late manager and producer Chas Chandler (once the bass player with the original Animals) describing how the song was cut in 20 minutes including 5 guitar overdubs (obviously everything was first take). Then you'll hear my buddy the great Eddy Kramer (you can read part of his interview from The Recording Engineer's Handbook here) isolate some of the guitar tracks from the song.

Sorry, but you'll have to sit through a 15 second commercial first, but it's worth it.

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The Police "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" Isolated Bass And Vocals

It's easy to forget that at one time The Police were the biggest band in the world, and rightfully so. They had artistic integrity, a good amount of playing skill, and some really good commercial songs. One of their bigger hits was "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" from their huge Ghost In The Machine album from 1981. Here's the isolated guitar, bass, kick and snare from the song.

1. Notice that Sting's vocal is doubled, but not closely in the verses (it is somewhat in the bridge). This leads me to believe that the double wasn't intentional, and you're just hearing two vocal passes that were put together in the mix.

2. Since you can hear the bass, vocal, kick and snare (and a ride cymbal in the bridge), it would seem that this is either the center channel from a 5.1 mix or a phase invert extraction from the stereo mix that cancels everything but what's in the center.

3. There's an abrupt edit in the second bridge which isn't found in the original version.

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