Monday, June 24, 2013

"Changes"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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I got an-other microphone to-day, which means I can record in stereo now, so I figured I would try it out.  And since the last version I posted of the mellotron part from "Changes" had an error, I thought I would fix it.

I figured out a better way to simulate the mellotron sound, but I didn't bother with that for this.  This is just on melodica.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Catalogue

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I just made a catalogue of all of the songs that I've done versions or parts of so far, and listing all of those songs made me realise that there are at least fifteen others that I can play at least one part of all the way through that I haven't posted.  (And embarrassingly, two of the songs on the list have parts that I've discovered I've played wrong.)

So I'm going to try to work on those.  I don't know how much I'm going to get done though because I have only about one month this year where I don't have classes.  And since I have other music projects I'd like to work on, those might take precedence.

"Don't Go Away"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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A rough version of "Don't Go Away"

I figured out the last guitar part for this to-day… sort of.  In one particular part, I don't think the precise notes are right (in fact, I'm pretty sure that what I have is wrong), but they're based around G major and A major.

My voice isn't particularly suited to this song, but it's not as bad as some others.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

"A Love That Never Was"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I've known the chords for "A Love That Never Was" for about a year, but I think I've finally figured out the specific notes played within those chords.

This is super rough, and I miss a lot of notes.  After all, I just learned it to-day.

Also, even though in a previous post I said that I've encountered suspended chords in Zombies songs only around A majors, I play Esus2 and Esus4 in this.  I'm not sure if that's actually in the guitar part, but playing it that way includes the same notes as the "ahs" in the vocal part.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

A major

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[link to original on tumblr]

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Also, I'm not sure how accurate this is, but every suspended chord that I've encountered in the Zombies' repertoire so far has been around an A major.

  • The end of the solo in "She's Not There" (Asus4 to A major)
  • The very end of "A Rose for Emily" (Asus4 to C# - ending on A major's third)
  • The guitar part in "Call of the Night" AKA "Girl Help Me" (seemingly constant variation between Asus2 and A major during the verses)
  • A very small guitar part in "I Don't Want to Worry" (an Asus2 thrown in between two A majors)

"You'll Go from Me" / "Don't Go Away" / "Brief Candles"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I've been listening to the Zombies everyday since the start of June in an attempt to internalise their music, and - unsurprisingly - I've been learning how to play some parts.

I'm pretty sure I just figured out the chord progression for "You'll Go from Me," which was later reworked into "Don't Go Away."  At one point, there's F# G A D F# G A, which is really similar to a section of the bass part in "Brief Candles," which is F# G A D F# G A B.

Friday, May 31, 2013

"Don't Cry for Me"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I covered the Zombies' "Don't Cry for Me."

Thursday, May 9, 2013

"Changes"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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The opening mellotron part from the Zombies' "Changes."  I don't have a mellotron, so I tried my best with the fake strings setting on my keyboard.

Friday, April 19, 2013

"The Coming of Kohoutek" / "It Never Fails to Please Me" / "I'll Keep Trying"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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I learned a few bits of Argent's "The Coming of Kohoutek" earlier, and I figured out a better way to play one of the guitar parts in "It Never Fails to Please Me" from the Into the Afterlife album.

I also realised that the parts I had sort of made up for "I'll Keep Trying" are actually pretty accurate.  Since they're probably as accurate as I'm going to get, I'm just going to say I'm done with that.  I may record a version of just the guitar part to-morrow.  I know the bass part too, but I've already done a version with that, and it hasn't changed.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

"Leave Me Be"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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A cover of the Zombies' "Leave Me Be."

Saturday, April 13, 2013

"Summertime"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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Two days ago, I learned the first part of the bass part for "Summertime."  I figured out the part that goes with the solo this evening, so now I know the whole thing.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

"I Want You Back Again"

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[link to original on tumblr]

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KEXP uploaded videos from the Zombies' set at SXSW.  I'm not sure whether it was just because I hadn't listened to "I Want You Back Again" for a long time or because I could watch Rod Argent, but it became obvious to me that the chord progression was based on fifths.  So I figured it out.  It's mostly just C minor and F major.

I think that makes "I Want You Back Again" one of the few songs where I learned the piano part before anything else.  This is a bit rough, and I play the wrong notes in a few spots, but I just learned it to-day.  The blank part is where the solo should be.