Song Secrets: The Tiny Details You Never Noticed
9,431
Published 2024-06-12
Discussing the tiniest little details about songs by John Lennon, Rickie Lee Jones, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan and many more to uncover more about what makes the music we love sound so GOOD
0:00 Intro
1:43 I Just Called To Say I Love You
4:01 How Sweet It Is
4:58 Blue Bayou
7:27 Woman
9:02 Aja
9:59 For All We Know
11:26 Oh Sherrie
12:30 Chuck E's In Love
13:29 Running On Empty
14:42 Wrapping Up
Video Shot Using
Earthworks SV33 vocal condenser mic
All Comments (21)
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It’s Danny Korthmar on “Running On Empty”. Rosemary Butler’s backing vocal is also noteworthy.
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I don't think a vocoder was used on 10cc I'm Not In Love. That effect was created by re-re-re-re-re-blending their own voices up to 16 times for each note in the chromatic scale. Then they "played" each note using a fader on the mixing console. That wierd sibilance to the ahhhhhhs is a natural artifact of all those tracks being blended together in the analog domain. A masterpiece of music and engineering. What's interesting is Billy Joe and Phil Ramone did the same thing for background vocals in Just The Way You Are in 1977, a year after I'm Not In Love was a hit.
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Among many things I love about JT, is how he commands time. He can really wait a loong time past the frase before he starts singing. Love it when he takes his own good time.
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Aimee, I think you landed upon something for me. So often, it is that detail that makes the song! It is the sound we express when telling others to listen to that song. It is the sound we make in social gatherings when we are talking with others about that song because it stood out to us. Thanks so much for aggregating just some of these here to get my mind swirling on the possibilities that songs can become iconic over a simple sound or moment in the song. Cheers!
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More of this content please!
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This is the kind of stuff I LOVE discussing with other musicians/song writers recording their own music.
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I recognized that drum in Rickie Lee Jones straight away 😁😁🎶💚🙏🏽 xx
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If you love vocoder vocals, then the Sunlight album by Herbie Hancock is a must listen!
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I see a thumbnail with Donald Fagen or John Lennon, I click!
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Aja: some of the best drumming and bass playing on any album in the past 100 years. Including Mr. Steve Gadd.
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Brilliant! I love this all great selections. This idea goes on forever!
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The founding members of The Eagles started off as Linda Ronstadt's backing band. They had written some songs together, and started The Eagles as a side project that quickly blew up and became huge.
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I don't think 10CC used a vocoder, they recorded 48 voices for each note of the scale then used the faders on the mixing desk to bring up different channels/notes for different parts of the song. There's a documentary on youTube somewhere which goes into this that's well worth seeking out.
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Always thought there was something special in the songs you brought up, but never could put my finger on what it was that made it unique and memorable. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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A video on Steely Dan backing vocals, please! 🙂 With a focus on Michael McDonald's "Children we have it right here" in "Time Out of Mind"
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You have an ear. Wow. Thanks!
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Great video Aimee. FYI, In the Air Tonight was released 3 years before I Just Called to Say I Love You…
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What an awesome video, the small things are what makes me love a record and listen to it over and over.
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Great video and song picks !
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This is why I love my DAW. Sometimes I stick to straight piano though to make sure I actually know what I'm doing. 👍 Love your content on Nebula and YouTube! I'm good with my P71 but that Yamaha CP looks really sweet!
