I just got the new Pink Floyd DVD, the one about the creation of "Dark Side of the Moon" where all the band members talk about the album and go over various technical bits. During one of the interview sections, Roger talks about how he's really proud of how the album flows - because most songs sections were essentially jams, there was a relaxed feel about the flow, with even absences of music where necessary. He mentioned the echoed verses in "Us and Them", where the vocals would flow much better because of the pauses (and echoes), and parts of the album where just one band member would play (usually Richard Wright), instead of having a sort of "Wall of Sound" mix. Roger also said that since he started doing production work on some bands, a lot of times he tells the musicians to put pauses in particular places, to only play a chord once and then have an empty bar, etc...So that each piece has a chance to "breathe"...
Anyway, how this all relates to Opeth, so I don't get my ass verbally beaten by MightyA/ggggggu.
I started thinking about the way Opeth uses the absence of music to great effect, and realized that some of my favorite passages either involve fills with crafty pauses, or sections of the song with interesting arrangements where the lack of music makes a part cooler.
For example, in Deliverance, at 3:11, there's a pause before they go into the main heavy verse riff, and it makes it *so* much heavier than if they just went into that riff. Or at 9:36, the build up to the fucking kick-ass outro, where only the lead guitar is playing...If you know what's coming, the anticipation makes that bit just kick ass, even though the lead itself isn't really anything special.
Also, in Master's Apprentices, the one bar at 7:23 kicks SO much ass
In pretty much every Opeth album, but mostly My Arms, Your Hearse, you also see really cool drum fills that make more awesome transitions than if they had all the instruments play something. For example, see almost any fill in "April Ethereal"....it's just mind-bogglingly cool. The fill in Demon of the Fall right after the first riff kicks ass too. I could name more if I went through the songs. Ooh, ooh, the entrance to Serenity Painted Death is one of the coolest drum fills I've ever heard. Listen to it...at first you're distracted by the fact that it goes right into the song, but if you concentrate on the fill itself, it just rocks. So flowing....good build up.
Anyway, what do you guys think, am I blabbering? Know any other really cool sections that have tasteful absences of music?
Anyway, how this all relates to Opeth, so I don't get my ass verbally beaten by MightyA/ggggggu.
I started thinking about the way Opeth uses the absence of music to great effect, and realized that some of my favorite passages either involve fills with crafty pauses, or sections of the song with interesting arrangements where the lack of music makes a part cooler.For example, in Deliverance, at 3:11, there's a pause before they go into the main heavy verse riff, and it makes it *so* much heavier than if they just went into that riff. Or at 9:36, the build up to the fucking kick-ass outro, where only the lead guitar is playing...If you know what's coming, the anticipation makes that bit just kick ass, even though the lead itself isn't really anything special.
Also, in Master's Apprentices, the one bar at 7:23 kicks SO much ass
In pretty much every Opeth album, but mostly My Arms, Your Hearse, you also see really cool drum fills that make more awesome transitions than if they had all the instruments play something. For example, see almost any fill in "April Ethereal"....it's just mind-bogglingly cool. The fill in Demon of the Fall right after the first riff kicks ass too. I could name more if I went through the songs. Ooh, ooh, the entrance to Serenity Painted Death is one of the coolest drum fills I've ever heard. Listen to it...at first you're distracted by the fact that it goes right into the song, but if you concentrate on the fill itself, it just rocks. So flowing....good build up.
Anyway, what do you guys think, am I blabbering? Know any other really cool sections that have tasteful absences of music?
