"Tell Me Baby" - Chili Peppers Isolated Vocals And Drums

Staying with our beginning-of-the-week theme of analyzing songs, here's "Tell Me Baby," a cut by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their number 1 Stadium Arcadium album of 2006. We're going to feature the vocals and drums from this song as two excellent examples of modern production techniques.

1) Anthony Kiedas' vocals have come a long way since the Pepper's first began in 1983 and this track is a great example. Although musically it's not very challenging, Anthony's performance is flawless, which is exactly what you'd expect from a big budget major label album.

2) The ad lib at 3:08 is the only part that sounds like it might be left from a scratch track. Notice the paper rustling in the background.

3) I always felt that the mark of a good vocalist is how well he can sing harmonies, even with himself. You'd be surprised at how many pretty good lead singers just cannot hear a harmony to save their lives. In Tell Me Baby, listen to Anthony's layered background harmonies on the choruses at 1:30 and 2: 30 and the outro on 3:26. Once again, they're perfect without sounding like they were cut and pasted. He's singing lots of naked 5ths, which many vocalist have a hard time hearing.

4) The outro has a couple of additional instruments with the appearance of udu drum and maracas.

5) Not much to say about the great Chad Smith's drumming on the second video except that he's as solid as it comes while playing a groove that might challenge other drummers. It's as perfect as a loop, yet breathes like a real drummer, which is exactly what you want from a drum track.

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The Future Of Musical Instruments?

I'm not sure where I came across this video, but it made me laugh, and not in a good way. It's shot at the recent San Francisco MusicTech Summit,  poorly edited and doesn't identify any of the principles, who are heavyweights in music technology. But technology people just don't get it sometimes. About the only ones who think this is the future of music are non-musicians.

With the exception of Roger Linn, who actually has a device that might actually make it as a musical instrument, I'm sort of left speechless when I watch this. Roger is inventor of the first drum machine and a hit songwriter. Max Mathews, the older gentleman in this video, is one of the legends of computer music. To me, I've heard it all before a long, long time ago and the song is still the same.

See what you think, then watch Roger's own demo video below.

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6 Questions For Mediaman Seth Shapiro

You never really know someone until you interview them. This is true whether you know someone for 2 years or 20, because there are things they assume you know about them that you don't. Such is the case with my friend Seth Shapiro. I learned a lot about his previous life in this week's "6 Questions."

Seth is a principal in New Amsterdam Media LLC, a two-time Emmy winner, and he's managed digital media initiatives with the Walt Disney Company, DIRECTV, Comcast, TiVo, Time Warner Cable, Showtime, HBO, STARZ, Sun Microsystems, Universal, Goldman Sachs and a variety startups, venture and private equity partners. That's what his resume says. What it doesn't say is that he's a real music man with a rich background in the business. Oh, and he's also a principle in the The A&R Channel, an on-demand music network on Comcast.

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1) How did you break into the business?
I guess there were three things:
   One - I got to work on one of the first Synclaviers in college... would up pulling all-nighters learning how sampling and additive synthesis worked. At 18 that was mind-blowing.

   Two - I went to NYU behind Rick Rubin and watched him and Russell Simmons build Def Jam in my dorm. That changed my life.

   Three - My life job out of college, insane as this is, was for a startup doing something called "Interactive Television" in Port Washington NY. This is years before the browser or even AOL - at least five years before email as a consumer thing. So that was just an astounding window into the future, and opened my eyes to something that I would up moving into full-time about 13 years later.

2) What makes you unique?
I guess I have a pretty wide range of experiences – have lived way outside the system, and in the belly of the system. So I probably see things in a lot of layers: creativity, innovation, finance, politics etc. There are multiple sides to every story.

3) Who was your biggest influence?
Maybe Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto or David Bowie - the way they can take on different genres or media and bring who are they are to it- be true to the style- but somehow you always know it's them. Some writers like David Mamet or David Milch have that too - people who create from themselves. I really admire that.

4) What's the best thing about your job?
Being able to create something new.

5) When and where were you the happiest?
Today.

6) What's the best piece of advice you ever received?
When I was 15 - "Do not become a guitar player for a living" - from my teacher Dom Minasi, still the greatest guitarist I've ever met.

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"Bernadette" - James Jamerson's Isolated Bass

Today we're going to listen to the great James Jamerson, the bass player for Motown's Funk Brothers. Widely regarded as one of the best bass players to ever play, he's loved not so much for his technique (which was formidable) but for his choice of notes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Four Tops hit "Bernadette", which shows Jamerson at his best. This song is also available on the Standing In The Shadows Of Motown Deluxe box set.

Here's what to listen for:

1) Listen not only to Jamerson's choice of notes, but his unusual timing as well. He plays with a freedom rarely seen in todays recordings. It's amazing that he can stay as funky as he does. Also listen to how he pushes the groove, even as he plays around the set part.

2) At :37 the rest of the rhythm section is gradually brought in. Once again, notice how prominent the tambourine is to the groove of the song.

3) Also listen to how well the 3 guitars work together. In the chorus, one plays straight quarter note chords, while the other plays a high string mandolin-like part and the third plays a high pedal note. Along with the tambourine, this 3 guitar array is the heart of the Motown sound.

4) The only vocal of this mix comes at 2:38 with the single word plea of Tops singer Levi Stubbs. It hits really hard and is perfect for this mix.

5) After 2:38, all of the instruments re-enter, this time including strings and horns to complete the mix.

This is a really great example of the signature Motown sound, and James Jamerson at the peak of his personal powers. Enjoy.

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"You Keep Me Hangin" On Isolated Tracks

Staying with our Motown theme for the week, here are two versions of the Supreme's classic, "You Keep Me Hangin' On."

The first version is from the superb Standing In The Shadow's Of Motown deluxe box, which is a must for every musician's video collection. Here's what to listen for:

1) This is a pretty stripped down arrangement compared to most Motown songs in that it only uses the rhythm section, with no strings or horns.

2) The tambourine, played by Jack Ashford, is a Motown signature and is used on just about every single Motown song. In this case, listen to how seamlessly it works against the snare drum on 2 and 4.

3) The interplay of the guitars is also classic Motown and a textbook on how to make 3 guitars work in a song. In the intro and verses we hear the octave high E pedal and the second guitar outlining the chord changes. In the bridge with hear all 3 guitars, with the third one entering with the funky double-time muted line.

4) The same goes for the interplay with the keyboards. An organ plays through the entire song and the piano enters only on the bridges.

5) The timing of the different guitar parts is off in a few places. It would make a producer crazy today, but didn't seem to matter much to anyone back then. The song was a huge hit and I don't think anyone who bought the record noticed that the strummed guitar was off in bars 46 and 91.

6) Check out how the mix breaks down to just the bass and drums at about 1;13, then opens back up to the entire band at 1;38.

In this second version, we have a brief introduction by Diana Ross describing how they worked out the song, then you hear the track with only the background vocals. It's really interesting to finally hear exactly what they were doing.



Tomorrow, more Motown.

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A Rare Look At A Motown Session

It's Motown week here on the Big Picture and we're going to start with an extremely rare look into a session by the legendary Temptations backed by the legendary Funk Brothers and recorded at the legendary Motown Studios in Detroit (the "Snakepit" as they used to call it).

This video was shot back in 1967 for a CBS News piece called appropriately "The Motown Story." It featured the classic Temptations lineup including David Ruffin (the lead singer) and Eddie Ruffin, both of which would leave the band soon after this video was made. The song is called "Sorry Is A Sorry Word" and was produced by Motown writers Ivy Jo Hunter and Brian Holland (who stops the song mid-way through).

Some things to observe when watching:

1) As we'll see in upcoming posts, no one at Motown cared much about isolation between instruments since they were never going to replace anything anyway. Either the band got the track or it didn't, and no one ever came back to "fix" a part. Most of the songs cut in Detroit were cut on an 8 track recorder, so a lot of overdubs weren't much of an option anyway. They were only used for a bit of control over the final balance.

2) The usual Funk Brothers band consisted of a rhythm section of 2 drummers, tambourine, congas or bongos, bass, 3 guitars, and 2 keyboards which were all recorded at the same time in the same room! Horns and strings might also be cut at the same time as the rhythm section as well. Motown was only a house in the residential area of town and the studio was in the basement. Imagine doing that in your basement!

3) Only the arranger (the very talented William Witherspoon, who I believe was actually responsible for the early sound of Motown) used headphones. No one else needed them because they were all playing in the same room so they could hear themselves as if it were a rehearsal or gig.

Enjoy. Tomorrow, more Motown.

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Goodbye Ronnie.

Ronnie James Dio died today, which is a blow to everyone that loved hard rock music. Ronnie was a fabulous singer, but he was an even better person, a real gentleman who was truly concerned about everyone he came in contact with.

Most everyone knew Ronnie from either his days as singer for Rainbow, Black Sabbath or his own band, Dio, but I met Ronnie way before that when he was a bass player for The Electric Elves (eventually changed to Elf). I was in a band that opened for the Elves at a small festival in Pennsylvania back in the early 70's when I first got to know him. We met again when another band I was in opened for them at the long gone Electric Circus in New York City.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I'd run in to Ronnie again and again at parties and in various studios and we'd always fondly reminisce about the old days back East. I even did a surround mix for one of his albums along the way that unfortunately was never released.

Ronnie was always a kind and gentle soul, which absolutely no airs about him. He was your buddy from next door and he really cared about everyone he touched. Happy Journey, Ronnie. And thanks for the great memories and music you leave behind.

Session Musician 101

It's a good time for another book excerpt, this time from one that I've neglected on this blog - The Studio Musician's Handbook. Here's a little from chapter 9, entitled "Session Musician 101."

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YOUR MUSICALITY - Ears, Chops and Feel
Studio musicians are known for their musicality, which consists of your ears, chops, and feel, as well as your judgment. Session players have enough experience to know what to play and when to play it. They know how to best interact with the artist, other musicians, the engineer, and the producer to make the session the most efficient and fun. They have an innate feel for how to make you and your song sound great. Let’s take a look at some of the musicality attributes that you’ll need.

Your Chops
Studio musicians are expected to be creative, extremely versatile, and have a formidable skill set. They’re usually the best players in town. Overall, the session musician is playing to a recording medium where there is little or no entertaining involved. Playing live is all about entertainment and finesse gives way to the crowd and the heat of the moment. The same musician will come from a different place in the studio and will need to utilize finesse and restraint to create a different “feel” than when playing live. And there is a completely different set of challenges on a session. Live music terminates in the air and is a series of “snapshot” moments. Sessions can be seen as opportunities to create musical “building blocks” that terminate on recorded media and are meant to be frozen in time forever. That’s why session musicians fare just as well in the live idiom as everyone else. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the majority of musicians who cull most of their experience playing live.

Your Technique – Purity, Not Perfection
Successful session musicians all have an innate feel for their instrument(s). Their actual technique may not be textbook perfect, but they all have a way of sounding great when they play. Studio musicians know how to make their instruments sound “right” for the song, cue or jingle. They know just what axe to use and are capable of responding to direction in a way that yields audible results that are more than pleasing to producers’, engineers’ and artists’ ears. Session players are also remarkably consistent in that they can play a part many times over without losing the fire or feel. There’s a zone all session players strive for, where they’re hitting the note and the groove just right and are capable of sustaining that moment and repeating a performance as many times as it takes until that voice from the control says “We got it!! Excellent!”

Your Reading
Your ability to read music will determine the type of sessions you can play on. For record dates, the ability to read and transcribe lead sheets is essential, but many other sessions like jingles and television and movie scores require expert sight reading.

To illustrate the reading abilities of session players, here’s a story about the late Tommy Tedesco, one of the most recorded guitar players ever and charter member of the famed Los Angeles studio band The Wrecking Crew during the 60’s and 70’s. Tommy was playing on a Jan & Dean date when, as a joke, singer Jan Berry turned Tommy’s music upside down on the stand. The take started and Tommy proceeded to play the backwards score note for note. A frustrated Berry yanked the page off the stand and said, “You’re just showing off!”

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6 Questions For IK Multimedia's Starr Ackerman

Musical artists the world over know and love Starr Ackerman, the PR and Artist Relations person for IK Multimedia. How could you not? She's fun, gregarious, accommodating and knowledgeable. But Starr is also an artist and producer in her own right, so she knows of what she speaks by virtue of her own experience. Visit Starr's blog and her YouTube channel for a real treat.


1) How did you break into the business?
My first real job was in radio, but I realized I wanted to make music rather than sell advertising or be on the air... So I went back to school to learn - Full Sail in Orlando Fl. I started out as a music producer/vocalist, and had gone to recording school to learn the art of recording, producing electronic music and mixing sessions (which is SO IMPORTANT if you expect to have real knowledge of the craft).

Once that was finished, I worked in studios as an engineer (for Mario Winans, and other heavy hitters), and on the side I was making music and playing electro-house shows with my pal DJ “Rolan Live” Sereny. It was a lot of fun playing the Hard Rock in my hometown of Tampa FL!!! But both jobs are sort of hectic in the “earning money” category, so I always had a side job...and that was at IK Multimedia and Sonic Reality (where I was doing freelance public and artist relations/marketing). Of course, now it is more of a full-time gig, and I still get to make music with the best software and work with some of the best artists for music software promotions. I still have releases on iTunes and Beatport (and like 300 download stores all over the planet for electro house and breaks).

2) What makes you unique?
I guess that I am a girl and I know how to produce music from start to finish, and use that knowledge to spread the craft to others. I don’t know too many girls who have done a kickass remix on an NIN song, or released their own music (and made the video too...). But I guess if you look at the NIN site, there are probably a LOT Of girls who made NIN remixes...and videos...so who knows. I do have a unique perspective as a female who works both on the business side of things in addition to the stage performance ( I’ve also thrown some pretty large scale concerts and festivals). I also thoroughly enjoy my job(s), so I think that’s why its easy for me to do PR and AR, as I naturally gravitate toward musicians, because we all speak the same language. So yeah, basically nothing...lol. Here is a video I made when I was in Ibiza, Spain last summer for a song I solely produced and wrote, called “Anything”. I guess you could consider the genre- deep house, or electro.  


3) Who was your biggest influence? 
OMG... There are too many to count. On the female side? My Mom - she is a natural in PR, and hilarious! Bjork and Jewel, because they made their own music too, and it was really out there but still commercial enough to get notoriety.

Males - well of course, the CEO of IK Multimedia, Enrico Iori, is an absolute genius, so its easy to be inspired by his passion for music production software and hardware (pro audio toys!). Same with Gary and Dave Kerzner from IK Multimedia and Sonic Reality. Those two guys could sell ice to an eskimo, and have amazing talent at building unique teams of people that all get along and love each other! Bands? NIN- obviously, U2, Rabbit in the Moon (my friends!), Jane’s Addiction, The Cure, Massive Attack, Daft Punk, Delirium, Justice, Armin Van Buren....I am sure there are a lot I have forgotten to say- but you get the idea. I love alternative rock, beautiful vocals, French electro, trance and tribal music.

4) What's the best thing about your job? 
I love making music, so mostly that anything I write, say or breathe turns into someone making music at the end of the day, if I am not actually in the act of producing it myself. I also get to meet famous musicians all the time, and they are actually happy to meet me, because the software is so incredible and I am hooking them up. Mostly, I have met a lot of my childhood music heroes and they were some of the most down to earth people- to name a few- Trent Reznor, Nikki Sixx (he taught me how to use Logic!!!) Eric Avery, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stefan Lessard from Dave Matthews Band, Outkast, Daft Punk and there’s a lot...

I mean, who could not be happy doing that? I could always be marketing toilet paper....talking to people about what is the best way for them to say “I love the way this wipes”, Or “This wipes the best!”. So I am pretty lucky that I get to market the tools that inspire musicians to make music/get Grammys, etc, instead of handing out toilet paper. When I was younger, I was a Smirnoff girl, dressed in a lime green cheerleader outfit handing out free booze...so a lot has changed over the years!

5) When and where were you the happiest? 
Hmmm, I guess that would be in 1 of 3 places, all the time: 1. Sleeping in my bed after a nice night in the club or a concert laughing with my friends. 2. On the beach in the morning before work- either surfing or just swimming in glassy clear water of South FL. 3. In the studio making music.

6) What's the best piece of advice you ever received? 
I’m not a huge fan of advice, so I try not to spread those “opinions” too much. But I am a big fan of kindness, and I would have to quote some lyrics from Jewel on this one: “In the end, only kindness matters...”.

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Britney Spears Real Vocals

Here's a great example of how someone with real talent can get warped by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Below you'll hear the real vocals of Britney Spears during her tour.

You're going to listen and say, "How is it that this girl got so far in the business?", but I urge you to keep an open mind. After you listen to the atrociousness of the first video, go to the second and have a listen, especially from about 1:00 onward.

This girl has some pipes! Or at least had them. It's hard to tell what her current vocal state really is with the so-called songs she now records being so unchallenging. Plus, when your fans care more about how you look and dance than how sound, the Brit has no reason to push herself.

I'm not a fan of Britney, especially of her music, and I don't want to be seen as an apologist for her. I don't believe for a single moment that she'll ever produce any kind of music that will last beyond a year, but I do think it's a real shame when someone lets any real talent they have waste away.

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Green Day's "September" Isolated Guitars

I'm a big fan of Green Day and especially of Billy Joe Armstrong. He's become such a great singer over the years and I'm always impressed whenever I see him perform.

Today's isolated track is from Green Day's American Idiot album released in 2005 called "Wake Me Up When September Ends." What we'll be listening to is the acoustic and electric isolated guitar tracks. A couple of things to listen for:

1) The acoustic guitar track is a little shaky time-wise, especially on the single note turn-arounds. Did it matter in the song? Not a bit. Would a producer be tempted to make the track perfect? Absolutely. Congratulate Rob Cavallo for resisting the temptation.

2) The acoustic track is pretty noisy, which I suspect is self-noise from a condenser microphone or perhaps a tube preamp. Doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things though.

3) The electric guitar track is doubled with the identical sound and panned left and right. Once again, it works great for this song. Many producers would change the sound or the ambience of the double to make it sound different, but not here, which proves the perfect fit.

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Foo Fighters "Everlong" Isolated Drums And Vocals

This week we're going to listen to some modern tracks. Not that there's anything wrong with the golden oldies from the 60's, 70's and 80's, but it's nice to contrast those tracks against the modern production techniques of today.

Everlong is a single off the 2nd Foo Fighters album released in 1997. The isolated drum and vocal track illustrate a number of points:

1) Dave Grohl is really a great drummer. So is Taylor Hawkins, the Foo's drummer on everything after this record, but Dave shows you just what he's made of, since this is no easy pattern to play as steadily as he did (especially the kick drum part). I suspect there was at least some cut and pasting done here, since you can hear what seems to be a section dropped in between :27 and :34 and edits at 1:21 and again at 2:39.

2) The vocals are a great example of modern vocal production. They're almost perfect except for the female background being slightly out of time on the first chorus (not that you'd ever hear it when all the instruments are added). In fact, the lead vocal is about as perfect as you can get. There's not an out-of-tune note or a mis-phrase anywhere to be found.

3) The vocal sound is also an excellent example of modern production techniques, with the vocal not relying solely on reverb to give it some space. You hear a fair amount of a modulation (sounds like a Harmonizer detuned slightly up and down - always a great effect but not that new) as well as a subtle delay.

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