A Question Directed To Multi-Instrument Musicians !

[The Chosen Few]

When I get an add to watch Lenny Kravitz last video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox8knToPT0Y

I decide hey Lenny is cool cause I heard he plays all his own instruments. So I decided to check it out.

Once I began I thought what an interesting video, it's him showing he does all the instruments. But as I started to listen to the song more indepth I began to see a different picture. Sure he is doing all the instruments but a five year old could play those parts.

So my question goes to this. Obviously this song has got fame due it's catchyness and not do to anything technical minded.

So when someone can become world famous by playing an instrument like a five year old doesn't that tell you something ?

I wonder about this for I too play all these instruments and I've noticed that taking your time away from an instrument does hinder how "fast" you can play it. But you begin to learn a great concept of rhythm and note placing.

Does anyone feal the same towards this ?

Virtuoso verse Song writing ?

[Taylor Davis]

I play several instruments mostly cause I have to; being there is no one else here to help.

I'm always learning new techniques and styles (it's way fun and a great mental and physical challenge) so the instruments tend to change as the music does.

It seems normal to me and seems to be a natural progression of a musician to be pulled in a different direction and muse.

trumpet seems to be beyond me for some odd reason.

Can LK do trumpet?

I got dance moves too! hee! Step, step, turn, step, BIG FLUTTERY HANDS and smile wide!

[Super 8]

 

Sure he is doing all the instruments but a five year old could play those parts.

 

 

Simple is usually very effective.

[kurdy]

To go back to everybody's universal reference, the Beatles--most of their parts were very simple. It was the way the parts fit together that made it work.

 

Being a virtuoso is all well and good, but if what you play doesn't serve the song, then your chops are pretty useless in the grand scheme of things.

 

So yeah, I'm of the school of thought that good songwriting and a solid musical arrangement should come first. Virtuosity is a distant second. Of course, I'm talking within the context of pop/rock. If you want to play Chopin, obviously some musical virtuosity will be required.

[D Charles]

I thought he played just what the song needed.

 

Glad he finally got that sh*t out of his nose.

[Dean Roddey]

There were simply too many notes. Just cut a few it will be fine.

[Magpel]

One mand band productions usuall lack the energy/synergy of good ensemble playing, but Lenny's more recent stuff has always sounded rather "chopped and formed" anyway to me, so maybe you can't tell the difference.

 

Of all the ROCK albums recorded entirely by individual multi-instruments...I am having a hard time thinking of any that I like other than perhaps, Adrian Belew's Mr. Music Head, which has a really neat bedroom studio charm and a real vibe of experimentalism.

 

Winwood's Arc of a Diver was such an album, and sounds like it to my ears, tho it was a huge hit.

 

For me, the novelty of mult-instrumentalism doesn't go very far toward justifying a recording. There are dudes--the guys in Gentle Giant, Mark O'Connor--who bring an awful lot to the table instrumentally, and that's just fine.

[lowendnyc]

Nine Inch Nails is essentially just Reznor, at least in recorded form. I think you may find more of these one man band things in the electronica field.

 

My current band's CD is almost done, and while we sound like a rock band, I handled almost all of the instruments/programming, and the singer did her thing. I find working that way pretty liberating. You get to write on different instruments, and you get the chance to try out different sorts of arrangement that I found hard to do when playing with a proper band.

[MarkGifford-1]

 

Of all the ROCK albums recorded entirely by individual multi-instruments...I am having a hard time thinking of any that I like other than perhaps, Adrian Belew's Mr. Music Head, which has a really neat bedroom studio charm and a real vibe of experimentalism.

 

 

I think Sir Paul did a pretty good job w/his first solo record.

 

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is about as good as music gets, IMHO.

 

MG

[UstadKhanAli]

I play several different instruments, and find it handy in working out or recording different parts for releases. I also find that it helps me understand the role of the instrument more when arranging or recording. I usually prefer that someone else plays on CDs and stuff instead of me playing all the parts, just so they can give it their own personality, but I have played all the instruments before (or many of them) and had it come out sounding really great.

[Lee Knight]

I play a little bit of a lot of different instruments. When I'm producing a band, if the tune needs something, I'll usually add it if the band isn't around at the time, then ask them what they think.

 

They usually like it:

 

A) 'cause it furthers the song

B) 'cause a five year old could've played it so it doesn't step on anyone's ego.

 

Frankly, the best stuff (in my way of thinking) is usually the stuff a kid would play. But kids DON'T play it. Or at least a lot of musicians who get trapped into thinking that a part needs to be difficult or challenging to be right for a tune, don't play it.

[Kendrix]

We are all saying the same thing.

 

Playing like Satriani or John Mclaughlan is one thing.

Producing great pop/rock songs is something totally different.

The two rarely intersect.

Whats the/your objective?

 

Lenny has some just-OK and a few pretty good rock tunes.

They are purposely somewhat derivative and not very technically challenging to play.

Different players would not make them very different IMHO.

 

Cheers,

[MarcTwyman]

 

I play a little bit of a lot of different instruments. When I'm producing a band, if the tune needs something, I'll usually add it if the band isn't around at the time, then ask them what they think. They usually like it: A) 'cause it furthers the song B) 'cause a five year old could've played it so it doesn't step on anyone's ego. Frankly, the best stuff (in my way of thinking) is usually the stuff a kid would play. But kids DON'T play it. Or at least a lot of musicians who get trapped into thinking that a part needs to be difficult or challenging to be right for a tune, don't play it.

 

 

Yeah, I was reading an interview of John Fogarty and he was talking about how it is more important to have something that sounds good.

 

To me Elanor Rigby is an excellent example. Goerge Martin did a fairly simple arrangement but it is very strong.

 

Jimi Hendrix had as much virtuosity as anybody but didn't always try to overdo it with too much guitar. I am sure his live shows were different but in his recordings he didn't play just for the sake of showing what he could do. He seemed to focus on what it added to the song.

[Philter]

Great writing without great playing works.

 

Great playing without great writing doesn't work.

[fantasticsound]

First, I'm thoroughly unimpressed by this song on almost every level. To your question, I believe the drumming isn't just simple. It's awkwardly played, IMO. I wouldn't have an issue with the other parts if the drums weren't so bad. Of course, lyrically and melodically I just don't see this as a good song let alone a great song.

 

I agree with the above post. You can get away with a lot of off playing if the song is solid but the playing can be well done and the song suck. In the event of the latter you will not reach your audience but the former... Just look at performances by Kris Kristofferson, Tom Petty and many others whose voices or playing are anything but classically beautiful, yet they know how to use what they have to move an audience's emotions by singing/playing great songs.

 

 

I think Sir Paul did a pretty good job w/his first solo record. "Maybe I'm Amazed" is about as good as music gets, IMHO. MG

 

 

I love that song but disagree entirely that he did a good job of it on the studio cut. Everything that studio cut lacks in terms of vibe and emotion are perfectly realized in the more famous, live version. That comes from the playing. You can accomplish great vibe by yourself, but Maybe I'm Amazed in its original form doesn't cut it IMO.

 

I have a friend, an old bandmate, who taught himself to play keyboards, guitar, bass, drums all for the purpose of recording by himself because he never could get a stable group of musicians to realize his songs. He doesn't have much in the way of technical expertise in any of these areas yet his songs are pretty darned good. He can play what he needs to play for 90% of what's really demanded by the song. For the other 10% he either glosses over it (easy to do in the current age of no guitar solo) or gets someone else to add what he cannot. For all my ability on guitar, above and beyond what he's accomplished, I don't have many songs to show for it. All around I'd have to say I'm a more knowledgeable musician but he's a better musician.

[Lee Knight]

All around I'd have to say I'm a more knowledgeable musician but he's a better musician.

 

 

That's a great way to put it. I've got a friend who is a very good player. He cops the Stones on rhythm guitar. He's got early 70's So Cal pedal steel down, etc. He sounds like a MF and I totally dig what he does. So I asked him to lay down some pedal steel on a tune that you might never in a million years dream of using steel on. For me though... I kept saying, "Think Pink Floyd. Let me put a ton of echo on it and play a crying melody..."

 

 

He could not for the life of him grasp it. I can't play steel but I took the bar from him and faked a melody drenched in echo and verb. He looks at me and says, "OK! What'd you do?"

 

He couldn't hear it until he actually "heard" it. Part of the beauty in simplicity is hearing it then making that imagination real. To me... that's music.

 

Toots Thielman was the master at this. Playing the simplest thing and making it sound like heaven.

[Dean Roddey]

I play all the instruments on my stuff. One advantage of that is that there's only one prima donna to deal with. The downside is that he's a really bad one. But it does mean that you don't have hurt feelings if this song doesn't need any drums or no guitar solo, or the keyboards are just a couple of notes. As long as people like us can avoid getting overly precious about each part and keep our eyes on the prize, we can create much more interesting and varied music than most real bands because we can mix it up a lot more without having one of the members threaten to leave because his stuff isn't at the front of the mix.

[kurdy]

 

You can get away with a lot of off playing if the song is solid but the playing can be well done and the song suck. In the event of the latter you will not reach your audience but the former... Just look at performances by Kris Kristofferson, Tom Petty and many others whose voices or playing are anything but classically beautiful, yet they know how to use what they have to move an audience's emotions by singing/playing great songs.

 

 

Can't argue with that.

[fantasticsound]

 

...He could not for the life of him grasp it. I can't play steel but I took the bar from him and faked a melody drenched in echo and verb. He looks at me and says, "OK! What'd you do?" He couldn't hear it until he actually "heard" it. Part of the beauty in simplicity is hearing it then making that imagination real. To me... that's music. Toots Thielman was the master at this. Playing the simplest thing and making it sound like heaven.

 

 

Well put! I certainly wish I was better at hearing exactly what I want to play before I play it.

[Magpel]

 

I think Sir Paul did a pretty good job w/his first solo record. "Maybe I'm Amazed" is about as good as music gets, IMHO. MG

 

 

Ram is my preference but you're dead on about Macca. Ram is a great "cottage record."

[seclusion]

Yes we all tend to play way too much.

I n a song if everyone is trying to show off how great a musician they are, then the song is lost. I hear what you are saying, but if everyone is fighting for stardom then it will sound like crap. Some of the greatest songs have very simple instrumentation when listening in solo. But as a whole those simple riffs make up a whole, that works together to get an idea across.

[The Chosen Few]

How many people can say that they hear what they want before they play it ?

How about sing along to anything and everything you play ?

I began to realize there was a problem with my playing when I was taking mid-day naps and I could only think about fingerings on my guitar. I didn't really hear cool sounds and think , "oh okay I'll get that sound" I just kept picturing in my head where my fingers where going.

That's not music, that's a hobbie !

Slowly I am changing but how many of us have Aural Recall.

Example... Someone sing me a CMaj7 chord with out a reference note ?

How about a riff in the key of E Maj ?