Mellotronists

> From: "JS" <jonesalley@...>
   > Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 15:44:11 -0500
   > 
   > Once again, I find myself comforted.  That has been a
   > long-standing policy of my own as well. I've always hated going
   > to live shows and finding the arrangements weak and empty,
   > missing a lot of the little touches and flourishes that made the
   > songs' studio versions, and have therefore always been insistent
   > to the point of really pissing people off about being able to
   > perform original material note-for-note in a live situation.  I
   > find it also helps you be more creative, because if you want to
   > put something in a song, you have to figure out HOW instead of
   > using the studio as a crutch.

And for the album I produced for my band I did the same thing.
Actually a little more extreme; our policy also included recording the
bass and drum tracks live in one take... although that was more a side
effect of the drummer throwing all his energy into the one take and
pooping out afterward.  :-) 

But on the other hand studio and live environments are completely
different and the listener context is completely different.  For
example, a studio track will hopefully be listened to many times while
a live performance won't.  And some of the subtle "eyebrows" that you
carefully place on a studio recording won't be noticible in a live
situation. 

And when I go see a band play live, I don't really want to hear
them duplicate an album cut, I want to hear them wail.

Gentle Giant had a very different policy than Genesis; they overdubbed
a lot for the studio albums (except a few later ones), but then
rearranged the pieces for their live shows so much that they almost
become new songs, though no less complex or less difficult to pull off.

And Yes, during their golden years, did things differently still.  The
classic Yes albums had a policy of being "group composed to tape".
And sure enough, you can hear each instrument come in, play for 30
seconds or a minute or so, and bow out.  Then they backed up the tape
and put on the next track.  It's a very unusual feel.  Then when the
group plays live it's all there without a net.  A very different feel.

And then there's Zappa.  (Man, oh man.)

So I think the arrangement policy is just another artistic decision to
make, a color in the ol' palette.  As is how tightly one chooses to
observe the choosen policy.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California, USA
don@...
http://www.till.com