Building A Song From The Ground Up
It's been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. If that is true, then let's look at the recording studio as if it's an architect's drafting table. Pandora music analyst Scott Pinkmountain pulls apart a song brick by brick, and we hear the thought processes that informed his decisions. From the drummer's British-style swing to the method they used to alter the piano's tone with a tissue box, we hear how "You Gave Me This" was constructed, layer by layer. (10 mins.)MUSICAL TERMS INCLUDED IN THIS PODCAST
| Six-eight (6/8) | Acoustic | Vocal harmony | Swing feel |
| Basics | Amplifier isolation | Prepared piano | Bleed |
| Attack | Arrangement | Orchestron | Mellotron |
| Pre-verse | Pre-chorus | Overdub |
To hear a longer excerpt from Scott Pinkmountain's "You Gave Me This," go to his Artist Page in Pandora's backstage area.
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Comments
Great episode, I was wondering if Scott or Kevin could explain the main differences between 6/8 and 4/4 I listened to the time signature episode as well and it helped tremendously with odd meter but I'm still having a hard time trying to learn 6/8 I've always done everything in 4/4 (I do electronic music) and it feels so strange messing around with the metronome set to 6/8 on my drum machine any suggestions?
Posted by: Tommy at April 15, 2008 05:46 PM
Hi, Tommy,
Great question. In 4/4, each quarter note feels like it's segmented into two or four subdivisions. If you feel two subdivisions to each pulse, those are eighth notes; if you feel four subdivisions, those are sixteenth notes.
In 6/8 time, each beat or pulse feels segmented into three subdivisions. ONE-two-three, TWO-two-three, etc.
Some famous 6/8 songs: "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS, "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" by the Beatles, "We Are The Champions" by Queen.
Posted by: Kevin Seal at April 16, 2008 10:09 AM
Thank you for this article wonderful and distinct
And wait for everything that is new to you
Greetings, Thanks
Posted by: ليبيا at May 17, 2008 09:55 AM
Why would you want to build a song that sucks. This song sounds like a song George Carlin would have written for the Appalacian radio station version of WINO radio as a joke. Johnny Cash has an excuse....
Posted by: Dan at February 14, 2009 05:15 PM
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