MISKIN MUSIC TECH

2 MAY 2013
Queens of the Stone Age live at a concert in Dublin, Ireland.

Desert Island Discs Interview

By Danielle Bonner

Many people usually have hundreds of their favorite songs stored away on their iPods or on their phones. However when you get asked If you were on a desert island and you could only take three songs with you, what would they be?, most people would suddenly struggle with the songs they would pick. I got asked this question and here are the answers to the questions that have been asked to me on this subject...

when it was released on her 1965 album Pastel Blues. Although it was originally an American spiritual song, it has been recorded by many artists including Simmone.

What instruments can be heard in this recording? In the beginning of this song it starts off with just piano playing for two bars. Then it comes in with an hi-hat rhythm with a double bass playing just one note at the start of every bar What is your rst song for four bars until the vocals that you would take with come in on the seventh bar. On the twelfth bar the bass line you? changes to a walking bass line My rst song would be Sinnerman by Nina Simmone. It around the bass notes that the two pianos are playing. When it is a Jazz/Gospel song that was gets to the chorus all off the one of Simmones biggest hits instruments play a syncopated

rhythm with the jazz syncopated drum beat. In the chorus the backing vocals also come in with the second guitar doing a syncopated strumming pattern. It then just cuts out to the hi-hat pattern, piano, double bass and the two guitars alternating between each other playing either jazz chords of little solos. What sonic components can be heard in this recording? One of the sonic components that can be heard is the reverb on the main vocal mic. You can also hear that there have been reverb/echo added to the piano in this recording. In this recording you can hear clearly that both the guitars have

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had extra effects added to them. One of the effects I can hear in the recording is a little bit of distortion or crunch on the guitar. I can also hear a bit of delay, reverb and a type of anger effect on the guitars. In the production of this song they have used panning for each of the track, describe the panning for the different instruments used in the song. Well, what clearly stands out to me when listening to this song either through the studio monitor speakers or my headphones, is the panning of each instrument. For example, the rst piano on this recording is panned slightly to the left but still mainly centered as it is one of the main instruments in the song. The drums and the vocals are panned to the center as they are key in this song. The double bass is panned to the right which you can well when it starts to do the walking bass line a few bars into the song. The rst electric guitar is panned to the left and then second is panned to the right as this allows you to hear the different guitar riffs and chord progressions more clearer throughout the song. The backing vocals in this song are also panned slightly to the left as this lets the main vocals shine through more amongst the song. The clapping at the end of the song is also panned to the center but then goes from the left to the right nearer the end and this gives the listener the impression that there are two people clapping in different ears

when listening to it through headphones. From what you can hear in the recording, what other production techniques have they used?

or rhythm to the whole song. The bass comes through in the mix very well as. I think this is because it needs to be heard to add the lower bass end into the mix of the song so it doesnt sound empty or at.

What is the second song you have chosen to take away with you? I have chosen Falling by HAIM. It falls into the category of soft rock and new wave music. Not much has been said on where, why or how this song was wrote but it was released on the 12th February 2013 on Polydor records. The band HAIM consists of three sisters called Danielle (lead singer guitarist), Alana (vocalist/guitarist) and Este (vocalist/bassist). What instruments can be heard in this recording? In the rst four bars of this song you can hear a drum that has had echo and delay put on it for effect. You can also hear a synth that is slowly crescendoing till the bass, guitar and vocals come in on the fth bar. The guitar all the way through this song is very staccato which is the same with most of the bass line throughout the song. The bass plays a picked bass line through the rst verse and then when it gets to the chorus it goes into a slap bass line and carries on like that throughout the majority of the song. When it gets to the pre-verse after the second chorus, there is a small guitar solo with backing vocals. It then

Personally, the main production technique that stands out to me is the mixing that has been done on this song. When listening to the song you can clearly hear that the drums and the vocals are the two main instruments to be heard in the mix. I think the vocals have to be loud in the mix as they are the main part of the song. The piano is also quite loud in the mix and I think that is because it carries the main tune breaks into the chorus again and fades out into just vocals, guitar and clapping.

Sisters Danielle, Alana and Este Haim from the band HAIM performing live in an acoustic session.

What sonic components can be heard in this recording? The main sonic component I can hear in this recording is echo delay and reverb. This is on most instruments and vocals but it is rst heard on the drums at the beginning of the song. The drum is hit once at the start of each bar and there is delay and echo on it so it In the production of this song repeats 6 times throughout the rest of the bar. You can hear echo and reverb they have used panning for each on the main vocals throughout the of the track, describe the panning whole song. On the backing vocals there

is a lot off delay and reverb which you can hear through the verses and choruses of the song. The drums have a little bit of reverb on them throughout the song but you cant hear it as well through all off the other instruments in the song. The guitar in the guitar solos have distortion and a bit of reverb on it. It also has a lot off treble on it which helps the staccato sound throughout the whole song.

for the different instruments used in the song. Throughout the whole song the panning has stayed the same. The drums have been panned so they are in the middle which is the usual panning place for drums as they need to be center of the mix to ll out the sound and they are one of the main instruments in the whole mix. The guitar has been panned slight to the right in the mix and you can clearly hear this in the rst verse and in the solo in the pre-verse. The bass has been panned to be in the center of the mix as the bass is really important in the song as it gives the low end of the song so it doesnt sound tinny and trebly. The vocals (backing and main) and the synth have all been panned to be in the center of the mix. This is because the vocals are the one of the most important parts in the song so therefore it needs to be heard through all off the other instruments in the mix. At the end of the chorus the vocals are panned from left to center to right and so on. This gives the listener the effect of it going from one ear to the other when they are listening through headphones. From what you can hear in the recording, what other production techniques have they used? Throughout the whole song and over all off the instruments in the song there is reverb, delay and echo added on. It is rst noticeable in the beginning when the drum is hit and it rings out with a heavy amount of delay and echo on it for four bars. It is then really

MISKIN MUSIC TECH 2 MAY 2013

noticeable when the vocals come in for the rst verse. The echo and reverb on the voices have made the vocals sound softer and warmer than if they didnt have the effect on them. The backing vocals have heavy amounts of effects

category of alternative rock and metal as it was rst released on the bands second studio album named Rated R. The album Rated R was released on the 6th June 2000 on the label Interscope. What instruments can be heard in this recording? In the beginning of this song it starts of with the congas being played by the drummer. This goes on with an organ synth being played once in the background very quietly for four bars. When it gets to the fth bar the rst distorted guitar comes in with the main riff which lasts for eight bars with the congas. Then the bass comes in with a punchy constant bass line with the bells being played on a synth in the background quietly for eight bars. Then the vocals which are very heavily effected come in on the last beat of the ninth bar still with the same bass line, synth, conga pattern and guitar riff going on in the background. Then when it gets to the chorus the congas cut out with the synth. The drums are then added in the chorus as well as a second distorted guitar. The guitar riff changes to a series of chord progressions going up and down the fret board starting on an A5 on the seventh fret. The bass line also changes to copy that guitar progression. The chorus goes on for eight bars and then cuts out into the guitar ringing out with a bit of feed back coming from the distorted guitar. It then builds up for eight bars before the guitar coming back in with the drums and bass on the last beat of the 19th bar. The drums What sonic components can be heard in this recording? Starting with the rst guitar that comes in, you can hear the heavy distortion and fuzz that has been put on the guitar. These two effects have made the guitar sound muddy and unclear which I think was the intended effect as these types of guitar effects are usually used in alternative metals songs. The vocals also heavily effected with anger and a bit of reverb and delay. This gives the song a unique tone as not many vocals have those sort of effects on them. The bass guitar has also had effects been put on it. You can hear that

like delay, reverb and echo which is really recognizable all the way throughout the song. What is your third song that you would take with you to a desert island? My third song is Better living through chemistry by Queens of the Stone Age. This song falls into the

Queens of the Stone Age band photograph.

come back in with four hits on the crash cymbals and then it builds up with the snare and oor tom for two bars before going into a drum solo with crash cymbals, toms and the snare. Meanwhile the guitar and bass are also doing their own instrumental solos with the bass doing some runs around the bass notes of A, G and F and the guitar using the same bass notes to form its own solo. It then all fades out and then back in again till it then gets to the preverse where all the instruments are back in.

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there is distortion on the bass as it doesnt sound as clear as a normal bass does. In the production of this song they have used panning for each of the track, describe the panning for the different instruments used in the song. The panning on this track doesnt change throughout the song and this is common in these types of songs in the metal and rock genre. The rst instrument heard is the congas and they are panned to the center as they are the main part of the introduction to the song. The rst guitar that is heard is the distorted guitar which is panned offcenter to the right slightly. This is because there is another guitar that comes in later in the chorus which is panned off-center to the left. The bass that runs all the way through the song is panned to the center as bass is always panned in the center with the drums in most songs or pieces. The synthesizers that can be heard in this song are panned also to the center along with the vocals. I think the vocals are panned to the center as they cant be lost in the mix, so having them central will keep them loud enough in the mix.

by Survivor that I heard on YouTube a while ago. Musically, why did you chose this cover in particular?

Well, one of the reasons why I chose this cover is because it has been Now we have established what named one of the worst covers of Eye of the Tiger ever. This is fairly named songs you would take to a desert as most of it is not in time, the guitar island, what song would you sounds awful, the vocals are not in tune denitely never take? and the drumming is out of time as There are many different songs well. that I would never take with me but one of them is a cover of Eye of the Tiger

What are the musical faults of this cover that you can pick out? The rst fault that I can nd in this cover is the tone of the guitar. The guitar has been distorted but it sounds horrible in the cover as it is a twelve stringed guitar and most guitarists know that distortion should never be put on a twelve stringed guitar. This is the main reason why the guitar sound muddy and too distorted. When the guitar goes to the clean channel you are then able to hear that his guitar is out of tune. This is a big fault because if one instrument is out of tune, the whole song can sound off (which is shown clearly in this cover). Another fault of this cover is the vocals. When the vocals come in for the rst verse you can clearly hear that it is out of tune not only with the instruments, but out of tune with the original song. As the song cover goes on you can hear that the singer cant sing or stay in tune with the instruments or the original song what so ever. This is very noticeable and is probably the biggest fault in this cover. The singer also goes out of time with the rest of the band during the song. This is also very noticeable and it makes the cover sound completely different to the original which is not what band wants when doing a cover like this. When the singer goes out of time with the rest of the band coming into the chorus, you can see that it has thrown the other band members off. This is because it is very of putting to have the singer singing at a different time to what the rest of the band are playing and it is

very hard to keep focus on what you are playing if that happens. What are the sonic faults that you can hear in this cover? One of the sonic faults I can hear in this cover is the distortion on the guitar. As previously explained, a twelve string guitar should never be played through a heavily distorted channel on an amp as they arent meant for that sort of music and that sort of harsh tone. Therefore, when the guitarist of this band put distortion on his twelve stringed guitar, it sounds awful as it is not meant for that sort of tone.

You can also hear that the guitar is a lot louder than the other instruments and the vocals. This is a result of bad mixing and the guitar shouldnt be louder than the other instruments. What were the effects of the surrounding on the sound of the cover? From the video recording of this cover, you can see it was played in a spacious hall. Therefore there will be bad acoustics for the sound to travel around in. The hall has wooden ooring, wooden staging and most probably will have brick walls and a

The band that covered Eye of the Tiger and was later named the worst cover of the song ever.

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high ceiling/roof. All of this together will make a bad environment for the sound waves to travel around in as it has a lot off reective surfaces for the sound to bounce off of. This will create a hall/ reverb effect on the sound that is created by the band. If the band were playing in an insulated room with acoustic foam walls and ceilings then the sound would have sounded warmer, fuller and would have had more bass in the mix.

First song choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbIG_b2IMO0

Second song choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_acBVglVBcY

Third song choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKrDXLHkEUk

Fourth song choice/cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giRb50JKook