"And I disagree with Niek in one point: backing vocals were done after the lead vocal, not before. The reason being, lead vocal dictates the punctuation for backing vocals (source, Roy Thomas Baker). An exception is the "oh yeah""
Nope, there was an interview on BrianMay.com a while ago with someome (RTB or brian?) and it said lead vocals were done in the very end, even after the backing vocals. I'll look it up
Thread
Posts in chronological order
"Relatively few songs feature piano overdubs. More often than not the songs with piano had piano as main instrument, therefore it was recorded first (with bass and drums)."
My guess is that Now I'm Here and Father to Son have piano overdubs
My guess is that Now I'm Here and Father to Son have piano overdubs
Just wanted to mention that Queen recorded their stuff the 'old way' ...meaning if they fucked up a bit they usually had to go and record the entire track again. It wasn't until the later 80's that digital editing made it much easier to fix takes and speed up the process.
What I love about Queen's recording is that there wasn't any click tracks...nearly all major bands today record to a click which keeps everything perfectly in time. Roger never used one...and you can really tell what an amazing drummer he was...it be so perfect. I was blown away that Borhap wasn't done to a click...it's so tight! Especially the opera section!
What I love about Queen's recording is that there wasn't any click tracks...nearly all major bands today record to a click which keeps everything perfectly in time. Roger never used one...and you can really tell what an amazing drummer he was...it be so perfect. I was blown away that Borhap wasn't done to a click...it's so tight! Especially the opera section!
Roger did use click track. For example in One Vision docu you can hear him say to John 'the click track is a bit slow'
I also don't like click track. It ruines the feel of the track.
I also don't like click track. It ruines the feel of the track.
Freddie recorded most of his "ideas" at home, and played piano with the melody he had in his head or mind...a few of the most beautiful examples of that would be: keep passing the open windows, you are the ony one, new york, and more improvistions i have...from there on, he would bring the idea to the studio, play it to the rest, and usually there would grow a jamsession to see what it did with the band, if there as chemisrty, and possibilities for further exploration ad development of the basic idea. If a sound was found and the words were there, the instrumental recordings were never the same...that changed from studio to studio, and from album to album, along with all the technical changes in the studios through the years...they always had acces to "state of the art" equipment and technicians working for them with the machines that were new to them, and they were always ahead of all other acts, and that made them trendsetters... because of that... But the endresult was always an album they all worked on together and they also found out during the studiosessions wich song was suitable for liveshows. If they liked to play it in the studio, they sure as hell loved to play it live too.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: [/QUOTENAME]"And I disagree with Niek in one point: backing vocals were done after the lead vocal, not before. The reason being, lead vocal dictates the punctuation for backing vocals (source, Roy Thomas Baker). An exception is the "oh yeah""
Nope, there was an interview on BrianMay.com a while ago with someome (RTB or brian?) and it said lead vocals were done in the very end, even after the backing vocals. I'll look it up[/QUOTE]
Correct, if you watch the 30th Anniversary DVD and listen to the audio commentary on You're My Best Friend, you'll hear Brian say that they always recorded the backing track first.
Nope, there was an interview on BrianMay.com a while ago with someome (RTB or brian?) and it said lead vocals were done in the very end, even after the backing vocals. I'll look it up[/QUOTE]
Correct, if you watch the 30th Anniversary DVD and listen to the audio commentary on You're My Best Friend, you'll hear Brian say that they always recorded the backing track first.
the last recorded songs of Made In Heaven were an exception of course. (correct me if I'm wrong) Perhaps in that case most of the leading vocals were recorded first? As Brian tells that Freddie asked the band to give him as much lyrics they could so he could sing them in the studio.
Makes the album even more special in my view.
Makes the album even more special in my view.
> Nope, there was an interview on BrianMay.com a while ago with someome (RTB or brian?) and it said lead vocals were done in the very end, even after the backing vocals. I'll look it up
No. It's from one special about Bo Rhap, where Roy said that lead vox dictate the punctuation for backing, but in the case of Bo Rhap ("oh yeah" bit as I said before) they had to do it the other way around because otherwise they wouldn't have had enough tracks. It's obviously logical that lead vocal dictates how harmonies go, except as I said, in the cases where backing vocals do chordal support (eg angelical choirs in White Queen) in which case they could go before or after without affecting the result.
> My guess is that Now I'm Here and Father to Son have piano overdubs
Yes, and two songs out of fifteen albums is indeed "relatively few".
> Freddie recorded most of his "ideas" at home
Sometimes, but not always. Several tracks started off in the studio in the first place. KPTOW is one case out of the scores of tunes Fred composed. There is indeed one piano demo of Bo Rhap, called "Fred's thing" back then, in August 1975 at Rockfield.
> Perhaps in that case most of the leading vocals were recorded first?
According to the producer, they did the songs "live" with the vocals. Then perhaps Fred edited out some lines etc.
> As Brian tells that Freddie asked the band to give him as much lyrics they could so he could sing them in the studio.
I've never understood that quote since it's been already confirmed that for all of the post-Innuendo tracks it's Freddie who wrote the lyrics.
No. It's from one special about Bo Rhap, where Roy said that lead vox dictate the punctuation for backing, but in the case of Bo Rhap ("oh yeah" bit as I said before) they had to do it the other way around because otherwise they wouldn't have had enough tracks. It's obviously logical that lead vocal dictates how harmonies go, except as I said, in the cases where backing vocals do chordal support (eg angelical choirs in White Queen) in which case they could go before or after without affecting the result.
> My guess is that Now I'm Here and Father to Son have piano overdubs
Yes, and two songs out of fifteen albums is indeed "relatively few".
> Freddie recorded most of his "ideas" at home
Sometimes, but not always. Several tracks started off in the studio in the first place. KPTOW is one case out of the scores of tunes Fred composed. There is indeed one piano demo of Bo Rhap, called "Fred's thing" back then, in August 1975 at Rockfield.
> Perhaps in that case most of the leading vocals were recorded first?
According to the producer, they did the songs "live" with the vocals. Then perhaps Fred edited out some lines etc.
> As Brian tells that Freddie asked the band to give him as much lyrics they could so he could sing them in the studio.
I've never understood that quote since it's been already confirmed that for all of the post-Innuendo tracks it's Freddie who wrote the lyrics.
Thanks for great analysis, especially from Seb!
Could someone ask - this "Funny How..." take5 is a guide-jam, that always helps to feel a feel of the song? :-)
I want a conclusion, this seems to me to be for the most songs:
0. Demo with mostly one instrument - just to paint a harmony structure and maybe the right way of the convertion one interval to another (I don't know how to say it coorectly in English) - like Brian's God Save The Queen piano demo
1. "Warm-up" jam - a guide track with all main instruments and lead vocal
2. Rhythm section recordings (Do the guys listen to a "jam" track in their head phones?)
3. Guide leade vocal recordings (not sure they did it everytime but I suppose often!) - One Vision documentary on GVH II
4. Lead vocal recordings
5,6. Back vocal & the other instruments recordings
The last thing that you touch, Sebastian, is very very interesting - post-Innuendo material. We still don't know for sure when Freddie sang his swan song - Mother Love. Some source says the end of October - unbelievable...
But the lyrics is from Brian (as I remember) - with only corrects from Freddie. Am I wrong? Ammm... Of course there are other songs from Made In Heaven :-)
Could someone ask - this "Funny How..." take5 is a guide-jam, that always helps to feel a feel of the song? :-)
I want a conclusion, this seems to me to be for the most songs:
0. Demo with mostly one instrument - just to paint a harmony structure and maybe the right way of the convertion one interval to another (I don't know how to say it coorectly in English) - like Brian's God Save The Queen piano demo
1. "Warm-up" jam - a guide track with all main instruments and lead vocal
2. Rhythm section recordings (Do the guys listen to a "jam" track in their head phones?)
3. Guide leade vocal recordings (not sure they did it everytime but I suppose often!) - One Vision documentary on GVH II
4. Lead vocal recordings
5,6. Back vocal & the other instruments recordings
The last thing that you touch, Sebastian, is very very interesting - post-Innuendo material. We still don't know for sure when Freddie sang his swan song - Mother Love. Some source says the end of October - unbelievable...
But the lyrics is from Brian (as I remember) - with only corrects from Freddie. Am I wrong? Ammm... Of course there are other songs from Made In Heaven :-)
About your points:
- Demo: GSTQ is a special case, since it had no bass and it'd be quite odd for Brian and Roger to make the demo by themselves. I guess (rather than know) that percussion was added after Brian had put the guitars, therefore he had to make something to guide his guitar choir, in this case a piano would be of course the best choice.
- Warm-up jam: More than that, it'd be rehearsing the backing tracks, so they'd have them polished and as perfect as possible by the time they went to the studio.
- Guide lead vocal: I don't think it'd be too often. Freddie (and the others) were professional enough to sing each take as if it were the definite one. Of course there'd be a lot of editing and re-doing since they were such perfectionists. Scandal's lead vocals are a first take.
> But the lyrics is from Brian (as I remember)
Brian wrote the music, Freddie wrote the lyrics, hence the credit Mercury/May. There's a manuscript here: http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/motherlove.jpg
> Of course there are other songs from Made In Heaven :-)
The only post-Innuendo tracks are:
Winter´s Tale (music by Fred, lyrics by Fred)
Mother Love (music by Brian, lyrics by Fred)
You Don´t Fool Me (music by Roger, lyrics by Fred)
- Demo: GSTQ is a special case, since it had no bass and it'd be quite odd for Brian and Roger to make the demo by themselves. I guess (rather than know) that percussion was added after Brian had put the guitars, therefore he had to make something to guide his guitar choir, in this case a piano would be of course the best choice.
- Warm-up jam: More than that, it'd be rehearsing the backing tracks, so they'd have them polished and as perfect as possible by the time they went to the studio.
- Guide lead vocal: I don't think it'd be too often. Freddie (and the others) were professional enough to sing each take as if it were the definite one. Of course there'd be a lot of editing and re-doing since they were such perfectionists. Scandal's lead vocals are a first take.
> But the lyrics is from Brian (as I remember)
Brian wrote the music, Freddie wrote the lyrics, hence the credit Mercury/May. There's a manuscript here: http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/motherlove.jpg
> Of course there are other songs from Made In Heaven :-)
The only post-Innuendo tracks are:
Winter´s Tale (music by Fred, lyrics by Fred)
Mother Love (music by Brian, lyrics by Fred)
You Don´t Fool Me (music by Roger, lyrics by Fred)
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Laying a guitar line first is very unlogical. Since it's a really hard task to record drums to a guitar part. Especially in those days when you didn't have stuff like Pro Tools[/QUOTE]
Hey Fried, check this...
I was sitting in the studio with a drummer and his backing tracks. The drummer had recorded his guitars and bass to a click back at home. He then made up a new click in the form of a hi-hat for recording in the studio.
Now, he sat and played some pretty feverish drum takes. Great stuff. Really well done. And he rarely faltered. So, it's perfectly feasible for folk to do it this way.
It was being recorded to a Studer 24-track tape machine, even though we had pro tools in the same studio. Good stuff, sounds nice. Anyway, the point being that we also managed to punch-in at some points. So, it's also fine to do that if you can get it right. It's just riskier with tape because if you get the timing of the drop-in wrong, you can ruin the previous recording on the tape!
Peace,
Adam.
Hey Fried, check this...
I was sitting in the studio with a drummer and his backing tracks. The drummer had recorded his guitars and bass to a click back at home. He then made up a new click in the form of a hi-hat for recording in the studio.
Now, he sat and played some pretty feverish drum takes. Great stuff. Really well done. And he rarely faltered. So, it's perfectly feasible for folk to do it this way.
It was being recorded to a Studer 24-track tape machine, even though we had pro tools in the same studio. Good stuff, sounds nice. Anyway, the point being that we also managed to punch-in at some points. So, it's also fine to do that if you can get it right. It's just riskier with tape because if you get the timing of the drop-in wrong, you can ruin the previous recording on the tape!
Peace,
Adam.
Moreover Roger had an excellent rhythm sense, so he could easily record a guitar part with great timing and overdub drums afterwards.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Seven_Seas_Of_Rhye II wrote: [/QUOTENAME]After hearing fantastic "Funny How Love Is..." take5 I have some questions to musicians and Queen lovers. Especially FriedChicken and Sebastian could know much.
I thought they always recorded each instrument SEPARETLY. Beatles - yes, they recorded all instruments together for a song - it was 60's. ?[/QUOTE]
also - this ain;t strictly true either...in the early 60s recordings were made with the four-track system
this usually meant the bass/drums on one
vocals and guitars separate and anythign else (harmonies etc ) on the last
queen benefitted form the 24-track systems that evolved as they came to prominence
I thought they always recorded each instrument SEPARETLY. Beatles - yes, they recorded all instruments together for a song - it was 60's. ?[/QUOTE]
also - this ain;t strictly true either...in the early 60s recordings were made with the four-track system
this usually meant the bass/drums on one
vocals and guitars separate and anythign else (harmonies etc ) on the last
queen benefitted form the 24-track systems that evolved as they came to prominence
When recording the backing track they didn't listen to a pre-recorded take. And this stuff like Funny How Love Is isn't something to get the feel. It 's a serious backing track attempt. In other takes you can hear Freddie saying that it's too slow, or too fast.
I didn't say it's impossible. WE also had a drummer who was able to do it. But for most people it's hard.