As a recording engineer, Herbert's style is undoubtedly distinctive and unique. He is resolute, swift, engrossed, and absolutely professional. When he is sitting in front of the sound console, the whole world is quiet, only the company of music, everything is only related to music.
There is no doubt about the excellence of professional skills; however, such a personality often offends others unknowingly. Like-minded people are naturally congenial, but more often, they make countless enemies and are unknowingly attacked. pushed to the edge.
Look at the decline of the City of Sounds, and look at today's collaboration with George, who has been retired for many years, to record an unknown new singer... Herbert's situation is clear at a glance.
Thinker
But even so, Herbert continued his usual style, skipping the long and tedious stage of politeness, and directly started the work mode, expressing his views bluntly, and his eyes fell on Renly. Unwavering.
"Of course." George nodded and said simply, understated words revealing his determination, "but before we go into production, we need to discuss the style of arrangement."
For a song, it can be simply divided into tune and lyrics, but for music creation, it is not just about creating the tune and lyrics.
Humming a single melody, or even a complete verse and chorus, this is called composition, creating only the simplest and most basic tunes. This is a step that anyone can complete, even if there is no musical element. , you can also hum the tune according to your own understanding, but it is not a song.
After creating an original song, it is necessary to match the chords of the song, select the appropriate instrument, complete the design of the composition, and write the harmony, harmony, and mix the final accompaniment. This step is called arranging, and it is also an important part of the transformation of the original song.
The popular songs that people hear in daily life are all finished products that have been arranged. So, in general, a song will have three creators, a composer, a lyricist, and an arranger.
Of course, there are many cases where the composer and the arranger are the same person.
The same original song can change from folk to jazz, from rock to country, or from punk to rhythm and blues, according to different instruments, different computer sound effects, and different rhythms. However, not every style is suitable. How to choose the correct arrangement method and how to adopt the appropriate arrangement style is the key to the success or failure of a song.
"Simple, simple and original." Herbert blurted out, obviously after careful consideration, without any hesitation, "We need to strip away those tedious arrangements, restore the original appearance of the music as much as possible, and use the layers of instruments to enrich the melody , but don’t take the lead, but focus on the expression of emotions. Emotions are the core essence rather than skills.”
George closed his chin slightly, and there was a hint of playfulness between his eyebrows and eyes, "You mean, Bob Dylan?"
Herbert nodded directly in affirmation, "In my opinion, Renly is the purest and most traditional folk rock. From the two songs 'Cleopatra' and 'Ophelia' can be It can be seen that in the process of creating Renly, the lyrics actually affect the melody, and the lyrics like poetry carry the thoughts and souls, and then pass them out through the melody, we need to preserve this special."
The folk rock mentioned here is not the fusion of genres that gradually became popular after the 1990s, but refers to the folk rock trend driven by Bob Dylan in 1965.
Folk rock draws on the simple and direct melody of folk music, as well as the strong and powerful rhythm of rock music, and expresses philosophical themes of songs in a relatively popular way. Folk rock singers have high requirements for the aesthetic value of musical traditions, and even more stringent requirements for cultural literacy in literature, philosophy, and history. Bob Dylan sings current affairs and politics in poetic language.
The so-called simple does not mean that the arrangement is simple, just relying on a guitar to complete all creations, in fact, in folk rock, Bob will use electric guitars, drums, bass and other rock band instruments, and also use Traditional folk instruments such as acoustic guitar, tambourine, accordion, saxophone, banjo, tambourine, mandolin, etc., inject ideas into them in an imagery arrangement.
The simplicity and simplicity of folk rock means that the melody is only an auxiliary means, and the lyrics are the top priority. All arrangements, from instruments to melody, from harmony to rhythm, all serve the lyrics—or rather, the core of the theme. To carry the depth of thought with songs is the essence.
But with the development of the times, the arrangement became more and more complicated, and the rhythm became more and more fierce. Gradually, rock and roll began to prevail, and folk songs gradually declined. Even Bob could not stop the progress of the times, including Bob. Representative singers of the folk era such as Joan Baez and Bobby-Vinton have gradually begun to transform into rock singers.
With the changing times, the creation of contemporary pop music has formed a routine, composing the melody with a series of notes, seconding the rhythm that appeals to the ear, completing the entire score, and then filling in the appropriate lyrics to complete the creation of the entire song. Simply put, the lyrics no longer have meaning, and what really resonates is not even the melody, but the rhythm.
Although this is a bit of a generalization, and everything is overturned, it is true of mainstream music.
But in the golden age of music, the order of composition was reversed—the lyrics were written first, the melody later. The lyrics are the soul of the entire music, poured into the creator's thinking and understanding, rock, punk, folk, country, blues, soul, jazz, etc., all of them.
Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 because of his literary accomplishments in compiling lyrics, as well as his reflections on society, politics, and life, showing the power of the entire era.
In Renly, Herbert once again saw the style of folk rock in 1965, that kind of emotional interpretation, that kind of music creation with melody sustenance, and singing to convey the soul, let people see it again. The glory of the golden age.
In the face of Herbert's praise, George was not only not surprised, but showed his approval.
Bob Dylan's folk rock was also the first thing that came to George's mind when he conceived this album, comparing the twenty-one-year-old Renly to one of the greatest singers in American music history. Crazy, but after listening to Renly's list of twenty-seven alternatives, George made up his mind.
As a producer, George's mind has been active since the days of "Los Angeles" and "Charlie Boys," identifying Bob Dylan as a catch-up target for this album, even if it's unbelievable. But what George was more curious about was that Herbert actually saw the same thing as a gentleman, which was too rare.
"Is it my illusion?" George said with great interest. "Why do I always feel that you have a thorough understanding of Renly's music, even better than me?"
Herbert was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "Don't you know? Renly has only released two singles so far. I recorded and produced them."
George was stunned.
This time, it was Renly's turn to be surprised, "I thought you knew beforehand, so I found Herbert specifically."
George waved his hands again and again, "No, of course not." Unable to hide his surprise, he simply explained, "I found Herbert because he is one of the top recording engineers in the industry. A long time ago, I thought Going to work with him. Not long ago, Sound City shut down, and the whole industry was mourning. It just happened that you were recording an album and Herbert was out of the house again, so…”
It was a coincidence. It is very rare for two like-minded partners to meet, so three? This is the miracle.
The three looked at each other, exchanged glances, and then laughed in unison.
Establishing the style of the entire album is the most difficult part, and it may even lead to a war of words between the producer and the singer, and even tearing, and it is not uncommon for it to end up in one shot and two separate ways. Unexpectedly, the three people only spent less than three minutes to determine. This kind of work makes people feel excited.
"What about the theme?" George threw up another difficult problem, which can actually be understood as an indicator of music selection.
An outstanding top-notch album, the selection of music is very particular, a mood or a thought runs through the whole, the album forms a whole from the first song to the last song, and completely expresses the singer's thoughts.
Beyonce's album "Lemonade", released in April 2016, won unanimous praise from all music critics with a sweeping attitude, and "Rolling Stone" even thought it was the second album. One of the best albums of the eleventh century.
Not only because this album boldly adopts a rare musical style and melody, and has reached a level of innocence in terms of technique; but also because of the twelve tracks of the album, which are divided into two scenes for the first time in the world, and the first half is blaming the husband. In the second half, I chose to forgive. The twelve songs were written in one go and coherent, reaching a perfect state of harmony in emotion and reflection.
From creation to thought, from arrangement to core, "Lemonade" is indeed unique in the pop music scene.
In Renly's list of twenty-seven songs, George could feel the context of Renly's creation, but it couldn't compare to the experience of the client. ideas, complete the selection and arrangement of the tracks.
Renly could feel the searing gazes of George and Herbert, those heavy gazes full of hope, igniting the blood running through his body and awakening the passion in his soul. At this moment, he also deeply felt the charm of music creation. Just like acting, he kept moving forward and deepening on the road of artistic exploration.
"Don Quixote." Renly barely hesitated, the first word that popped into his mind, blurted out, "A madman who pursued his dreams, never succeeded, but never gave up."