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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Producer Robert Margouleff On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

I'm happy to have producer Robert Margouleff on my latest Inner Circle Podcast.

Bob has been super influential in that he was largely responsible for the synthesizer coming to the forefront of popular music, which led to co-producing four of Stevie Wonder's most beloved albums (including my personal favorites Inner Visions and Talking Book).

Bob was also an early proponent of surround sound music, a torch he carries to this day with Headphone Surround.

In the intro we'll take a look at why Pandora buying the online ticketing agency Ticketfly may be a big deal for artists, and some quick and easy soundproofing tips for home studios.

Remember that you can find the podcast at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, or either on iTunes or Stitcher.

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Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this blog at no cost to you (just click here).

Composer-Producer Rob Arbitier On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

This week I'm please to have composer, producer and music technologist Rob Arbitier on my Inner Circle Podcast.

Rob is not only one of my compadres from the AudioNowcast, but he's been Stevie Wonder's technology guy for 30 years, as well as a composer/producer for commercials, movie trailers and albums.

Rob tells a great story about how he got started started with Stevie, then shares his vision about the future of audio hardware and software on the podcast.

In the intro I'll describe how a lawsuit from American Idol's record label 19 Recording against Sony looks to challenge the major label's equity interest in Spotify, and the importance of the studio headphone mix and some tips on getting a great one.

Remember that you can find the podcast at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, or either on iTunes or Stitcher.

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Bee Gees "Nights On Broadway" Instrumental Track

In their day, The Bee Gees were a musical powerhouse with hit after hit that pushed the musical boundaries of the time, even though we didn't realize it then. Here's the instrumental backing track from one of their biggest hits - "Nights On Broadway" - that illustrates how well those records were made. Listen for this:

1) The bass part is performed on synthesizer. This is no big deal today because it's done all the time, but The Bee Gees (along with Stevie Wonder) were one of the first artists to use it on record and prove that it could work.

2) The band is really, really tight. "Nights On Broadway" was recorded way before sequencers, yet when you listen to the tracks everything is performed extremely precisely, especially for the era.

3) There's not much in the way of sweetening on this track, since it's composed of drums, synth bass, guitar and piano. The only overdub is an ARP String Ensemble, which was the first string simulator in widespread use.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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Stevie Wonder "Living For The City" Song Analysis

Reader Christian Hendl asked for a song analysis of Stevie Wonder's masterpiece "Living For The City." I must admit I was a bit overwhelmed at just how great this song is after not hearing it for many years. The tune is off Stevie's 1973 number 1 album Innervisions and was groundbreaking in many ways, from it's story from a black man's perspective (something rare in the 70's), to the synthesizer use, the the time of the song (7:21). As in all song analysis, we'll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.

The Song
The interesting thing about "Living For The City" is that it's really just 12 bar blues, but the addition of an instrumental interlude and 2 additional sections make you think you're listening to a different song form. This is the genius of the song. The form looks like this:

Verse, Verse, Interlude, Verse, Verse, Interlude, Chorus, Interlude, Bridge, Verse, Verse, Interlude, Interlude, Interlude, Ending

Two additional interesting points about the song form is that there only a single "chorus," and the bridge has virtually no instruments; it's all dialog.

The Arrangement
Like all hit songs, this one develops and builds as it goes along. The first verse is fairly sparse with only the vocal, stereo Rhodes electric piano, and synth bass. The drums enter in the second verse and the lead line synth during the first interlude, which is doubled with a vocal. On the next verse, the bass begins to vary from it's original line, then the synth fills enter on the next verse. On the second interlude, the synth lines are doubled.

On the verse after the bridge, the drums are much more active with fills, the vocal varies from the original melody and harmonies enter at the end of the line, as well as anticipations and accents from the rhythm section (which are all played by Stevie). This continues on the next verse, followed by an extended drum fill. The outro interludes have a lot more movement from all the instruments as well as vocal harmonies.

  * The Foundation: The drums and bass

  * The Pad: Electric piano double in the interludes

  * The Rhythm: The electric piano in the verses

  * The Lead: The Vocal, synthesizers in the interlude

  * The Fills: Synths, drums, vocals

The Sound
This is a good example of almost a bone-dry song, with only a slight bit of delayed reverb on the vocal. It's so slight that the only time you can hear it is in the beginning of the song when there's only the bass and electric piano playing. The vocal is a little sibilant, and the snare drum is pretty top-end heavy, but neither detracts from the song.

This is also one of the first examples of a song using a synthesizer for the bass line instead of a bass guitar. Stevie proved that it could work, and many, many songs followed his lead thereafter.

The Production
While the concept of the song is brilliant and groundbreaking, the production point that really strikes me is how the arrangement develops, as previously stated. It's one of the best examples of how to do this ever.

The other thing worth mentioning is the two verses after the bridge where Stevie is singing in a much more aggressive tone. According to co-engineer Malcolm Cecil (along with my friend Bob Margouleff), "We had to get find a way to get the vocal rougher and harder, sound like someone who'd been through some real shit, so we decided the only thing to do was try and get Steve real angry and get his voice hoarse, so when we were recording that vocal for the last verse again we kept on doing stuff that would get him angry and one of the things he hates is stopping the tape, you know if he doesn't say stop the tape in the middle of a vocal then... well, we broke that rule! We kept on stopping the tape, "Come on Steve, you can do better than that, this is shit" and I was really shitty with him, and we got him hoarse, we wouldn't give him tea, he likes this tea with no milk in it, with the lemon to clear the throat, We didn't give him the tea. (Laughs) He was getting real upset; I think he's still upset with me about that, but we got a great track!"

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

"Superstition" Multitrack - Stevie Wonder

There was a great article today on ProSoundNews about the making of Stevie Wonder's classic hit "Superstition" so I thought that would be a good song to focus on today. You can take a look at the article here.

Here's a video that solo's the various tracks from the multitrack of the song.

1) Listen how the drums groove, especially the hi-hat. It appears that there are several drum tracks, but they all groove hard.

2) I'm not sure if there are 4 or 6 tracks of clavinet, but you can hear that some of them have a lot of processing on them (as indicated in the article). Some are almost a double but have a very different sound.

3) The bass is Stevie's signature synth sound, but also the way he plays it, which is nothing like a real bass player would play it (which, of course, he isn't, nor is trying to be).

4) The horns are really compressed, out of tune at times, and have a few rough edges, but they work in the track!

5) Like most hit songs, you can hear how the track almost mixes itself at the end of the song.

Since the clav parts have had keyboard players baffled since the song came out, the second video is somewhat of a breakdown of the parts.

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Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.

The Lefsetz Plan

Industry gadfly Bob Lefsetz had a brilliant idea in one of his recent newsletters. With the film business doing so well because it's a cheap source of escapist entertainment, why not do the same thing with the music business? One night, all over the country, a musical act in every venue for the same price.

Here's a quote of exactly what Bob proposed in his newsletter:

I'm positively stunned at the movie grosses. It appears that during the recession, people want cheap, escapist entertainment. But the best movie doesn't compare with live music. Which is why we in the music industry are going to steal the movie business' thunder, we're going to unite and show the public the power of live music.

We're gonna start with one night. A weeknight. A relatively dark night. A Monday or a Tuesday. On said weekday in every venue in every city there's going to be talent, performing live, for the exact same price of a movie. Ten bucks. Paid in cash. No ticketing fees, no facility fees, no bullshit. Ten bucks.

And who is going to perform?

Let's start in L.A. Stevie Wonder is gonna play Staples. Prince is gonna play the Hollywood Bowl. My buddy Billy Gibbons and his band ZZ Top are going to play the Nokia. Kanye West is going to play the Palladium. AND THEY'RE GOING TO DONATE THEIR SERVICES! To a good cause, the industry that pays their bills.

If you want to get rich, be an athlete. Except for a few superstars, musicians are now the itinerant troubadours they've been for ages. Getting off on the good times, the sex and the dope. The reward is playing. The NFL might get everybody to tune into the Super Bowl, but no musical act can get that kind of coverage, that number of eyeballs, no matter how the deck is stacked. There's endless music, and everybody's got his own favorite, which is why we're going to have a multitude of bands playing. But this benefit is for the business itself, to keep it alive. It's time for this industry to do a benefit for ITSELF!

Don't tell me about the lines, about people camping overnight, about those who can't get in. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT! This is how you generate publicity. This is the story the press wants to cover. Much more than the endless I'm sitting in front of my computer and can't get good seats from Ticketmaster.

Think of the heat, think of the ink, think of the publicity!

But our primary mission is to grow live music. Plain and simple.

Concerts are too expensive. Too many shows are about choreography rather than musical excellence. We want to illustrate the sheer joy of music, naked and unadorned.

Boy, is he right. Going to a show is way too expensive, especially in this economic environment. What ticks everyone off the most is when Ticketmaster adds on the "convenience charges" and "facility charge" and the "ticket printing charge" so your $40 ticket (if you're lucky) turns into 60. Add $15 for parking, $10 for a beer and if you've got anything left over, $15 for a T-shirt and you have an expensive night out.

And going to a club is no better, although no one is making money there. There's zero margin, but it's still too expensive.

The concert industry will price itself out of existence if it doesn't wise up soon, and the Lefsetz plan is a good start.