datamusicata

I was talking to a musician friend of mine over the weekend and we somehow got into the area of chord substitution and I thought that today would be a good day to delve into that a little bit.

In the interest of ease of communication, I am going to use the numerical names of the chords instead of the letters for this first part, that way you can apply it to any key readily. Using the key of C as the chord paradigm, the numerical i.d. works like this:

C = I

Dmin = ii

Emin = iii

F = IV

G = V

Amin = vi

Bmin = vii

The major chords are identified with large roman numerals and the minor chords are identified with lower case roman numerals.

Now in any chord progression that goes I, IV, V, interesting tonal color changes occur when you begin to replace, say the IV, with the ii. The ii is known as the “relative minor” of the IV, because it is using many of the same notes that exist in the IV. That’s why it is easy to use it in place of the IV. It changes the tonality, but only slightly.

I wasn’t going to get into this, but just so you understand, a basic triad C chord has the notes C – E – G in it. Two notes below the C in the key of C is the A, and by starting the chord on the A instead of the C the triad becomes A – C – E or Amin. That’s why it’s called the relative minor. It has two notes of the major chord of that particular key in it. This works in any key, obviously. Try finding the relative minor of G, A, F, D. It will be intuitively obvious to you after a moment how this works. Now back to a little substitution.

Try playing the I, IV, V chords in the key of C. That would be C, F and G chords. Now try replacing the IV or F with the ii or Dm. Do you hear the slight change in the mood of the chord? To me, it is somehow a little more plaintive, more sad then the F.

In western music, the minor chords traditionally are associated with sadness, so this would make sense. Even if the key remains a major key, the addition of the minor adds some pathos to the progression.

Now if you go through the progression like this, I, IV, V two times and then replace the IV with the ii the next two times you play it, you will hear a difference between the two progressions. If after that you replace the I with a vi, (C with Amin) you will hear the whole tonality change, because for a moment you will be in the minor as opposed to the major mode, Amin being the relative minor of C, as you will recall.

Now take a simple song that you know and play it. Because we’re using I, IV, and V, lets use the song “Louie, Louie”. Every garage band probably played this song for a moment. The song was in Animal House as well, so I am pretty certain this is a familiar enough song. Okay, play the chorus a couple of times and then replace the IV chord with the ii chord. The song still works, but it is slightly different, right?

Now keep playing the song, but replace the I with the vi. Do you hear how the song has changed? Same melody, same tempo, but now it is a different thing altogether.

This is the most basic example of chord substitution. Wednesday, we will talk about some more sophisticated applications.

“I don't visit your website as often as I should. I did see the reasoning behind what you did on "traces..." on an older post, but still curious as to your frequency of changes. I redid a old set of mine ( after 9 years!) because I am not all that big a fan of auto racing anymore, but saw the diversity happening. It's still funny. “

Got this post from a friend of mine in New York and I thought that I would use it as a topic today.

What happens to a performer as they do the same songs over and over again at different shows, different things happen. Even the lyrics change as you play it repeatedly. You begin to see different perspectives on the song and on the arrangement. The piece evolves as you perform it. And the evolution is almost unconscious. You cannot stop it. It just happens. So that might be one reason that you decide to change something, though in this particular instance, I would simply rerecord the song on a different cd.

Another thing that might occur (and did occur for me regarding the original Traces of the Old Road), is one of sequencing changes. I realized that the CD set it self up so much more powerfully if I reversed the first and second song. The ambience of “Last Day of Summer” exactly set the mood for all the songs that follow and the lyric references that occur later all relate to that first song. The longing, the sadness, the rain and the “sun, safe on the horizon” the uplifting at the end which is mirrored in the last song; so I just had to resequence it.

Upon listening to the CD, I noticed that some of my intonation was not as wonderful as I had once thought it was. Perhaps I was hearing it better because I hadn’t been listening to it for several months like one does during the production of a CD. Perhaps the volume or even I’ve been listening more carefully to intonation because there is so much out of tune singing on the radio these days. Whatever, I decided to fix the intonation.

And opening an old recording is like opening a can of worms. I realized that in fact it was the guitar that was a little squirrely on one string, so I re did that guitar. Once I did that, then the flood gates opened and I fixed something on eight different songs, all of which I had to remix.

After that, I simply stopped. I realized that I could continue to work on this recording or I could start a new one. I opted for moving on, even though I have not one regret about what I did. I just felt that my fine tuning was going into the microscopic phase, so I stopped. The New Traces of the Old Road will be available on September 11, 2008 and there are still copies of the old version at CD Baby, as well as samples of all eleven songs, so you can hear the difference (once you have the new version, that is).

Sort of a sly commercial, but it will only happen just this once, I swear…and this time I mean it.

Yesterday I finished mastering New Traces of the Old Road.   I did the mastering at Drew Daniels studio in Northridge, California.   Drew has done it all through the years and kindly offered to share some of his vast knowledge on the subject.   When you have the time, check out his credentials at www.drewdaniels.com.   Here's his contribution to Datamusicata:

WHAT IS MASTERING ?
In a nutshell, MASTERING is the final adjustment of audio tracks, songs or other compositions of sound, before they're packaged for manufacturing the final product to be sent to market.

The sales product can be anything—CDs, DVDs, LP or other vinyl records, or even cassettes—still widely used outside the U.S.

Whether product is "replicated" as in CD pressing, or "duplicated" as in the manufacture of a few dozen to a few hundred CD-R copies, or for that matter, pressed as LPs or copied to cassettes, the mastering process is essentially the same, preparing the recorded materials for playback from the final product format.

Technically, MASTERING needs only consist of separating audio tracks so that they play from their medium in a predictable or designed way, for example, the time between songs.  Often it's useful to make a few basic changes to the audio tracks, such as "leadering," which is placing specific start and end points on each track.  Some tracks may benefit from volume fade-ins or fade-outs, which should be artistically applied.  Sometimes tracks vary in volume requiring adjustment of the overall level of several tracks on a CD or other medium, so that listeners are not as apt to need to reach for a volume control because a track is too loud or too soft as they listen through an album of tunes.  Occasionally, mastering might include tone compensation or "EQ" applied to one or more tracks on a project, to make up for deficits in the recorded tracks that can arise from the recording or mixing process when poor monitor loudspeakers are used, if mix room acoustics interfere with or prevent proper mixing judgments and so on.  Things like for example, a consistently boomy guitar that didn't show up on your NS-10s can be fixed in a mastering room with accurate monitoring and a precisely controllable parametric equalizer.

Mastering usually includes selection of a general peak-to-average power ratio of the tracks so that the playback is suitably robust but not distorted in audible ways, and ALWAYS, proper mastering seeks to support the artistic vision of the performers and producer of the recorded material.  This support can include "enhancements" such as spatial adjustment; widening or narrowing, addition of subtle reverberation, and slight re-balancing of things like vocals and instrument solos within a track, but these latter items are highly technical and subject to misuse or over use in the hands of amateurs.

Residual noise, ticks, clicks, coughs, equipment noise air handler rumble, electrical hums and buzzes, acoustic feedback and sound system squeals or ringing or other unwanted sounds may also be addressed in the mastering process.

When proper professional mastering is done, listeners will be completely unaware of it, hearing only the performance from studio or stage that is recorded on the media, with no trace of gratuitous engineering to interfere with pure musical sound and its appreciation.  Here are a couple tracks that serve well to demonstrate what mastering can do.  Both were chosen because their original recordings were a bit less than what they could have been.  The Eagles clip cam off the "Greatest Hits" CD and the Leon Russell clip came off the LP "Carney".  The demo mp3 starts with the original, plays a few bars, then in tempo, switches to the re-master.  http://drewdaniels.com/MASTERINGCLIP.mp3

WHAT IS NOT MASTERING?

Mastering NEVER makes itself the star of the show.  Good mastering is never, ever, audible.  It never interferes with the music.

Mastering NEVER makes music loud just because it can, or because the performer or producer has been misled and hypnotized into paranoia and delusions that volume makes hits.  Radio stations always employ compressors and limiters to make their programming sound loud on car radios where road noise is high, listeners are distracted, and studies covering many decades have repeatedly shown that louder stations are (incorrectly) perceived to be closer or more powerful.  Radio stations compete in this way, so they all employ compressors and limiters, MEANING THAT MASTERING PROFESSIONALS DO NOT NEED TO REPEAT THE DAMAGE.  Double compression of recordings causes nearly instant listener fatigue and will actually cause listeners to switch away from these compressed and distorted recordings, to recordings that offer more interest to the ear.  (Unless, of course, you're on your second six-pack driving 90 out there in your convertible, then you probably want the compressor setting on "drunk.")

Mastering should NEVER, EVER apply electronic clipping distortion to recordings, as doing so permanently destroys any possibility of listeners hearing what was musically intended in the original recording. Note that this has nothing at all to do with distortion such as guitar amp overdrive—those distortions are made by PRODUCERS of music, far different than REPRODUCERS of music, which should impart no artifact of their own to the art made in the studio or on stage.

There are what I call "inter-mastering" steps sometimes taken in recording studios by ignorant or arrogant engineers.  I don't often knock specific products unless they are consumer fraud like $200 guitar cords, but sometimes a product is put on the market because consumers demand it and companies see an opportunity to profit even though they may be philosophically opposed to that product's very concept.  Such a product, probably demanded by really stoned and hearing-damaged death-metal bands, is the Aphex "Dominator" which is the one untypical product in the company's entire product line of wonderful, great-sounding products.  Using the Dominator on recordings is electrically equivalent to replacing your $10,000 Macintosh hi-fi amplifier with a $19.95 Walmart boom box cranked too loud--it literally smears audible shit on the sound and destroys all subtlety and any resemblance to the original recording.  Just one example of many different ways an incompetent mastering practitioner can smear crap on your sound, is the use of the Dominator on vocal tracks of thin-voiced singers or sometimes, out of habit, even on good singers, such as Delbert McClinton, whose Grammy-winning Best Record of the year was so horribly distorted that it became completely unlistenable above a whisper. In my opinion, such nefarious electronic sabotage of the music is a crime punishable by banishment from the music business. Radio is going to trash your music anyway. Why on earth would you want to do it yourself first, assuming you have any self respect and regard for all your hard work.

Electrical audio is about 110 years old, and for most of that time until MBAs and lawyers infiltrated radio and record companies and took over the music business, audio engineers spent their lives diligently working to improve the quality and accuracy of audio recording and playback and were encouraged to do so by the audio manufacturers employing them.

Playing the cynical, greedy games of MBAs, lawyers and bean counters has nothing to do with music. It mocks art. It devalues your hard work. It trivializes musical integrity.  My advice is be true to yourself and your ideals.  Those who simply can't do that are called politicians.

-Drew Daniels  http://drewdaniels.com

Ty Ford, a fellow musician, sent this as a follow up to the post I did on how to get the best relaxed performance in the studio (and avoid those anxieties that get in the way). His post was so informative I’ve copied it here along with his contact info at the end:

JLS offers some sage advice. Given his tenure, he knows from experience.
I'll add several thoughts.
Before you go into the studio, record all of your practice and
rehearsal sessions with some sort of recorder. Doesn't have to be
good, but it'll help you hear what you're really doing and will help
you get over the nerves of being recorded.
If you are just recording you and an instrument with no plans for
overdubs,
Go for it and have fun.
If you are recording and expect to do overdubs,
try and get the rhythm section (or most prominent instruments)
recorded first in one pass.
If you are playing with others, eye contact is pretty crucial. There
are subtle shifts in timing that happen that make the difference
between making a groove work and not.
There will be those who differ here, but I find a click track
ESSENTIAL for any session work involving instrument overdubs.
I've been down the road too many times without it and the timings
always shift enough so there are ragged edges that fall outside the
groove.
I am not a time Nazi, but there are limitations. Granted, there are a
few people who have really good timing and it may shift a bit as the
song moves. I'm not talking about that. I'm not really concerned if
the song speeds up a little from beginning to end. I am concerned if
the tempo variations keep you from adding tracks properly.
Playing to a click track (it doesn't HAVE to be click, click, click,
you can change the instrument) takes practice. Do that practice before
you go into record.
Tuning: I am a Nazi about that! :) Too many early experiences where I
let someone get by and it was a great take but one string was a little
out and every time it's hit I get sad.
Intonation: an instrument that needs adjustment should be adjusted
before you record. You may have become tolerant of a guitar that has
intonation problems. Sometimes they pop out only on one chord in a
song, but THERE IT IS. Sometimes you need a guitar tech. Sometimes
it's that you're left hand is working too hard and you're pushing the
strings out of tune on one or two chords. Sometimes its a bad set of
strings (even though they are new).
Strings: I used to really like new strings, but now I don't. Let 'em
break in a bit, however long that takes.
When you get to the studio, get comfortable. Take your shoes off, if
that does it. Play around with the first tune to get loosened up.
Regards,
Ty Ford
- OnLine Archive of reviews and audio/video samples
-"Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide"
-talent demos
-Watch me play guitar on YouTube.
www.tyford.com

“ Does anyone out there on the list serve have advice on getting a live,
relaxed sound on a studio recording?  I know this is one of the main
challenges in music.  It is easy to play live and improvise, and come up
with good stuff, and then go into a studio and make a lot of mistakes or
come out with something that sounds stiff. “ 

Saw this post today and thought that it was a good one to respond to.    How DOES one get relaxed in the studio without stepping over the legal boundaries those guardians of morality have set up for us all? 

There are several factors that can contribute to the over all atmosphere.    

The first is to be as prepared as you can possibly be.   If you are going to be doing solo’s, then have an idea of them (if not the actual solos themselves) of them already written.    If it’s vocals, then be warmed up before you get there and rested the from the night before so that your entire voice will be available to you.   If there are other players, then make certain that you have charts that are easy to follow for all the musicians and the engineer involved. 

When you are unprepared, you tend to be uptight, fearful, and so full of anxiety that you don't do your best.   Do everything that you can possibly do to be at your best when you get to the studio.

And a competent engineer is an important second factor.    If he or she knows what they are doing, then they permeate the air with their confidence and their expertise, and if they are smart they make certain that you are relaxed and feeling that you are in a safe place from which you can dig deep and come up with the goods. 

I remember taking an artist in to play for Irving Azoff.    The artist was sweating bullets on the way in there, but Irving came in and was as gracious and pleasant as he could be, asking the artist about himself and his work and generally putting the fellow at ease.    When the time was right, Irving asked what songs the artist brought for him to hear.    

So make sure that you have nurturing people around you.   If you like performing before an audience then bring some of them with you.    If you are uptight about people seeing you then make certain that no one but the essential people are in there with you. 

Set the lights low, or turn them off or make it as bright as you want.    Make yourself comfortable.   You will probably not be asking for anything that the engineer and/or producer has been asked before.    It’s about you.   You being in as warm and nurturing a place as you can be.    And a good engineer and/or producer knows that and will make certain that that’s the place that’s available for you when you show up. 

The third thing is actually part of the first thing.   If you are playing live with other people, make certain that you have all rehearsed and are, in fact, comfortable with each other.    You don’t need any drama in the studio, there’s pressure enough.    Focus on why you are there and what you want to have happen. 

If you have a tense or unpleasant experience, then you are at the wrong studio or are using the wrong people for what you want to do.    Everyone should be on the same page, going in the same direction and willing to do whatever it takes to help you achieve your vision; to help serve the song and the recording. 

And above all remember that no matter how much money you are paying to record, it’s not all the money there is.     If you waste a day in the studio, it’s not the end of the world.   It’s uncomfortable and it’s expensive, but it’s all part of the learning curve.     Don’t make yourself crazy trying to get everything exactly right on the first take and don’t get crazier if you have to do more takes. 

One of the things that seems to happen frequently is that you have cycles.    You’ll get into a down cycle and nothing you are doing is right, but stay loose and remember why you play music to begin with and you’ll get through the down cycle and start to groove. 

And if things are not jelling, then take five.   Go outside, breath the air, look at the stars, give thanks for all your blessings and then go back in.   The ghosts in the machines will disperse if you bless the project in your head and move forward with the faith that you are making something wonderful for all the people of the world to enjoy.   

  Also make yourself physically comfortable.    Not in a chair that is too high or too low, too hard, too soft, etc.    Make everything about being there comfortable for you physically.