Members Stackabones Posted January 15, 2010 Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 What has influenced you as a songwriter in the past ... or since the last FIT? * Since I'm primarily an acoustic musician and performer, I'm always on the look out for good acoustic music. I really appreciate musicians who strive to capture the wood and the sweat and the vibe of playing acoustic instruments -- not exactly a natural thing to do while in the studio. Iron & Wine is really just Sam Beam recording in his Florida house, and he writes good songs and records them in honest ways and shoots his own videos (iirc he is film professor, too). But when a southern anthem ringsshe will buckle to that soundwhen that southern anthem singsit will lay her burden down [YOUTUBE]KdebhHO_sSw[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oswlek Posted January 15, 2010 Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 My biggest influence of the past week is this artist on youtube. [YOUTUBE]-UzNTkAA03Y[/YOUTUBE] He taught me more about how to properly record and produce a song than I learned on my own over the past decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 15, 2010 Moderators Share Posted January 15, 2010 Organic. I get what you're saying Stack. I love that Iron & Wine stuff. And for me this week, I'm not too far from that sort of thing... T-Bone Burnett. "I love loud music. I listen loud, and that's part of how I've learned how to do this. Record softly and play back loud and a whole other thing happens. " Play softly. Think easy. I listened to his interview on Terry Gross's Fresh Aire a few days ago. He's doing the music for a film called Crazy Heart. About a Waylon/Willie/Clark type who falls into alcohol abuse and small time touring. His bright days are passed. T Bone gets music. Listen to his production of this great song about the sad, burnt protagonist of Crazy Heart. Poor, drunk, old... a has-been. Still in the game, though his best years are long gone. This is a recording any of us could have made. But wait... let it play out and see how he lets the song unfold into something quite powerful. That's T Bone. A great song by Ryan Bingham, one I heard him play in many different incarnations and one I didn't realize was this good until T Bone got a handle on it... [YOUTUBE]K7Jf2mcSplw[/YOUTUBE] Your heart's on the looseYou rolled them sevens with nothing loseAnd this ain't no place for the weary kind You called all your shotsShooting 8 ball at the corner truck stopSomehow this don't feel like home anymore And this ain't no place for the weary kindAnd this ain't no place to lose your mindAnd this ain't no place to fall behindPick up your crazy heart and give it one more try Your body achesPlaying your guitar and sweating out the hateThe days and the nights all feel the same Whiskey has been A thorn in your side and it doesn't forgetThe highway that calls for your heart inside And this ain't no place for the weary kindAnd this ain't no place to lose your mindAnd this ain't no place to fall behindPick up your crazy heart and give it one more try Your lovers won't kissIt's too damn far from your fingertipsYou are the man that ruined her world Your heart's on the looseYou rolled them sevens with nothing loseAnd this ain't no place for the weary kind Now listen to how he takes a rock performance and creates something that hearkens back to the Everlys etc. Play soft, record soft, playback loud. [YOUTUBE]kVF3WYEYZ9k[/YOUTUBE] And of course this one. That's really Dan Tyminski from Alison Krause's Union Station doing his best Ralph Stanley imitation. T Bone once again gets it right. [YOUTUBE]hfTUvFj6kvc[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 15, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 Organic. I get what you're saying Stack. I love that Iron & Wine stuff. And for me this week, I'm not too far from that sort of thing...T-Bone Burnett."I love loud music. I listen loud, and that's part of how I've learned how to do this. Record softly and play back loud and a whole other thing happens. " I love doing that. Taking really quiet albums and cranking them up. I hope that I can hear dogs barking and floor boards creaking and someone taking a breath and the shift of the guitar on the lap -- maybe even sirens in the background. Audio verit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 15, 2010 Moderators Share Posted January 15, 2010 Didn't I give you some poke about no production still being production? That's the stuff I'm after. Oh... yes... you are a wise one, Master. Just as they said you were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 15, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 Oh... yes... you are a wise one, Master. Just as they said you were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 15, 2010 Moderators Share Posted January 15, 2010 Not to get off topic, and actually it is on topic... but my love for T Bone and this talk of "Non-production". No production being a sort of production. As a budding producer myself, one who has received money in exchange for an album in return, and having tried to do that as a side business now for almost 10 years... ...production is only service to the song. The performance. The thing. And sometimes that "service" might appear to be nothing. But it's not. When I say, "but I'll produce this up", it may mean to whip up some elaborate arrangement, or lately more likely, it means to try to let the song unfold and build and help its inherent signposts speak and get through. Even something as simple as creating the environment to allow the performer to get it through. Be it me, or someone else. My youtube stuff is writing. It is in flux. But there will be a time when it needs to crystallize into... the thing. Like that production on The Weary Kind. He needed it done with guitar and vocalist doing it live. But it needed to build imperceptibly, and peak in a way that got the song through. There are on point choices there that don't hit you over the head. Acoustic bass in a reverberant space. Tom-tom motive played with mallets. Subtle strings. It was done to get the song through. Not that different from writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 15, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 Don't you think Rick Rubin took the same approach with Johnny Cash on American Recordings? I recall being knocked sideways when I first heard that album. It was so simple and so huge, intimate like a diary yet expansive like the plains. Just Johnny Cash and a song. IIRC it was recorded in Rubin's or Cash's living room -- though Tennessee Judd I think is a live club recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 15, 2010 Moderators Share Posted January 15, 2010 Don't you think Rick Rubin took the same approach with Johnny Cash on American Recordings? I recall being knocked sideways when I first heard that album. It was so simple and so huge, intimate like a diary yet expansive like the plains. Just Johnny Cash and a song. IIRC it was recorded in Rubin's or Cash's living room -- though Tennessee Judd I think is a live club recording. Absolutely. And if you haven't already... check out Rubin's work with Neil Diamond. That'll open your eyes as to how some "production" can take someone so far away from where the song wants to go. Rubin just let his songs do what they needed to do instead. For the first time in way too long for Diamond. I don't think he can help from going over the top but this is still a great song... thanks in part to Rubin letting it be. [YOUTUBE]C3sb08VuF4k[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 15, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 Absolutely. And if you haven't already... check out Rubin's work with Neil Diamond. That'll open your eyes as to how some "production" can take someone so far away from where the song wants to go. Rubin just let his songs do what they needed to do instead. For the first time in way too long for Diamond. I've been meaning to check that out. I went through a huge Diamond kick a few years ago and somehow missed that one. EDIT: How could I forget! I did check it out. Save Me A Saturday Night! Just requested Home Before Dark, which I think has a band -- but there's a DVD included. Library rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted January 15, 2010 Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 I can't get to YouTube to get a sound clip, but I've got the lyrics to my latest obsession. I heard it on John Doe's new album, but I think it's a Porter Wagoner song: The Cold, Hard Facts of LifeI came to town a day before I planned toI smiled and though I'd sure surprise my wife.I don't think I'll call,I'll just get on homeI didn't know the cold hard facts of life I passed a little wine store on the cornerI pictured pink champagne by candle lightStopped the car right then,got out and hurried inMy mind not on the cold hard facts of life A stranger stood there laughing at the counterHe said I'll have two bottles of your bestHer husband's out of town and there's a partyHe winked as if to say you know the rest I left the store two steps behind the strangerFrom there to my house,his car stayed in sightIt wasn't till he turned,into my drive that I learnedI was witnessing the cold hard facts of life I drove around the block till I was dizzyEach time the noise came louder from withinAnd then I saw our bottle there beside meI drank a fifth of courage and walked in Man you should have seen their frantic facesAs she screamed and cried please put away that knifeI think I'll go to hell,or I'll rot here in this cellBut who taught who the cold hard facts of life It's AABABA with a refrain, and there's not a line wasted--the story proceeds right on through. And the line "I drove around the block till I was dizzy" really gets me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 15, 2010 Moderators Share Posted January 15, 2010 That's great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted January 15, 2010 Members Share Posted January 15, 2010 T-Bone Burnett."I love loud music. I listen loud, and that's part of how I've learned how to do this. Record softly and play back loud and a whole other thing happens. " Thats awesome and timely. Yesterday was T-Bone Brunett's Birthday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted January 16, 2010 Members Share Posted January 16, 2010 I love both T-Bone Burnett and Rick Rubin as producers: Executive Producer Game The song for my guitar lesson this week was "This Masquerade" by Leon Russell. [YOUTUBE]6-a_5JdyLhg[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted January 16, 2010 Members Share Posted January 16, 2010 I had a dream last night in which Leon Russell introduced himself to me as "Leonard". No kidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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