Music – Page 13 – David Bradley

Mozart beats Metallica at Operation

Men should avoid listening to rock music when playing board games, such as Operation, according to UK scientists who, presumably on the last day of term brought in some toys to play in the lab.

Mozart may enhance a man’s performance in board games – while Metallica may hinder their chances,Â they suggest. The scientists behind the study, from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Music, say classical music may be the best option for men when concentrating on a task.

Apparently, music choice had no effect on women’s performance, though they generally performed better than men at the game involved in the study regardless.

“The razor’s edge: Australian rock music impairs men’s performance when pretending to be a surgeon”, Med J Aus, 2016, DOI: 10.5694/mja16.01045

Helen Arney updates Tom Lehrer with new elements

My good friend Helen Arney has updated every chemist’s favourite TomÂ Lehrer song The Elements often referred to as the periodic table song, bringing in the new elements discovered or synthesised since 1959 and including the recently announced official names ofÂ elements 113, 115, 117, and 118 [nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og), respectively].

According to Helen, she recorded this in a single take while her nine-week old baby had a nap. “Thanks to her for keeping quiet, plus even more thanks to Tom Lehrer for writing the original song to Arthur Sullivan’s tune, and keeping the whole thing singable in under two minutes,” Helen says.

Top tips for setting up your floating guitar trem

Floating tremolo units on guitars are a pain in the butt to setup if you remove all the strings to re-dress frets and put new strings on…unless you put a block under the tremolo before you take off the strings so that its “edge” stays parallel to the body. That’s the top tip. The one I didn’t know about until after I’d spent an hour setting it up and retuning endlessly.

Second tip is to “dampen” the trem springs in the back of the guitar by sliding a piece of rubber tubing (or in my case some earth wire insulation) into each spring so that they move as they should but don’t themselves themselves (this avoids that jarring, random, clunky reverb sound you probably don’t want.

Third tip is to put a tiny dab of bike chain lube on the trem posts, turn them a quarter turn and then turn them back, then retune.

And, shred…

Oh, incidentally, guitarists invariably call it a tremolo arm, but actually tremolo is the undulation of loudness/volume, a tremolo arm changes the tension in the strings and so their pitch, and so it’s more correctly vibrato. But, who’s counting? It’s always gonna be a whammy bar to me anyway.

Classic Chords #16 – Writing is on Oasis Wonderwall

Perhaps one of the most reviled of busker songs is the 1995Â Oasis hit “Wonderwall” from the albumÂ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? The song is namechecked by Scottish band Travis in their first single “Writing to reach you” when singer Fran Healy asks “what’s a wonderwall, anyway?” Well, if he’d taken notes in Beatlography at school he’d have known that Wonderwall is the title of film directorÂ Joe Massot’s 1968 psychedelic debutÂ about a peeping Tom who makes holes in an adjoining wall so he can spy on and take photos of his neighbour Penny Lane…I never said it was a great film,Â did I?

Anyway, back to today’s classic chord, as with Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven before it Wonderwall isÂ banned in ethical guitar shops for good reason, you really don’t want wannabeÂ axe heroes plodding throughÂ the simple chord progression with its added drones on the E and G strings, messing up the rhythm and forgetting the change when they get to the pre-chorus, honestly.Â Sounds like basically the same chords in that Travis song by the way, different key (Oasis is at capo 2 position, although in the video Noel Gallagher is miming it open). It is a wonderful song though.

Anyway, it kicks off with the Em7 where you’re fretting the high E and B strings atÂ the third fret (rel to capo or nut), so itÂ avoids the open high E string you’d have with a more conventional first position Em7 and it also avoids the heavy open D string and defers the D of the chord to the B string. The progression then sticks with the pinkie and ring finger in place and makes a G, you could see that is basically being the same Em7 but with a G bass note, of course. Then it’s a Dsus4 (with the D string fretted at E for variety), still withÂ those two fingers holding down the E and B strings, and then an A7sus4 (ditto). So, really the progression is a moving bassline with a whining/droning on the higher strings that stays theÂ same until the pre-chorus. I’ll break the guitar shop rule (I don’t live in a guitar shop after all) andÂ play it for you (on a Telecaster, after Dylan) and you can decide whether I’d make an ethical or an amoral busker…there’s a few little elaborations in this version where I open up and close down the Ds4 and the A7s4 as mentioned above.

More Classic Guitar Chords here.

Lost to the Weather #Rock

I was musing on finding a subject for a new song that was more of a short story than my usual stream of consciousness stuff when I saw the phrase “lost to the winter weather” in a random tweet…I’d not really come across that phrase “lost to the weather” but it put me in mind of a Cold War era thriller for some reason.

So, I tinkered with some lyrics and spied an idea for a nano drama about a couple embroiled in some kind of espionage. It was originally going to be a simple 1+1 (vocal+acoustic guitar), but you know me by now, I soldiered on and once I had blocked out a percussion track and used it to keep me in time playing the acoustic and singing the guide vocal, I couldn’t help but add some thumping bass and stitched it all together with a layer of rock guitar. Think of it as a musical #Tinker #Tailor #Soldier #Spy story…just in case you missed the references in this paragraph.

You can download the song on Bandcamp.

Lost to the Weather

Lost to the weather
on a dark and stormy night
I’m searching for you
But you’ve already taken flight

I’m lost in translation
Nothing feels quite right
Your secrets are safe in the shadows
Hidden well out of sight

But, I feel, I feel unprotected
Like you feel, when you’re rejected

The time is now for plans of acceptance
Can’t hold your hand, I feel so helpless
Now I know why. I understand their offensive

I’m lost to the weather, windburnt and colder
Half frozen to death, and another year older
I’d be lost to the weather
If they capture you now…

Coming into the station
On a cold and foggy night
Their agents are waiting
Their fortunes they feel are quite right

But, they’re lost in translation
Into shadows you will take flight
Defective and chasing
Catch up with you, well I just might

Your message comes through
All bridges are crossed
I see you caught in the headlights
As the sniper takes his best shot

You’re lost to the weather, windburnt and colder
Now frozen to death, not another year older
And I’m lost to the weather
As they captured you…

Words and music and all instrumentation “dB”

The photo was snapped during a break in the torrent onÂ a stormy night inÂ Valletta,Â a city that has probably witnessedÂ at least a little bit of espionage during its history. I then merged it with my stern twitter bio photo and added some text to make it look a bit like a film noir movie poster…there’s an alien version of the poster in the making.

lost-to-the-weather-noir-468px

Six-string cabinets

My friend Rob is a cabinet maker by trade. He knows a thing or two about different woods, varnishes and finishes, how to physically bind two different pieces indelibly and perhaps even a few things about lamination when it’s needed.

Rob also plays guitar.

rob-guitar-1

It was no surprise therefore to learn that he was fine tuningÂ his woodworking skillsÂ as a wannabe luthier. First efforts involved some wonderfulÂ reclaimed materials and the creation with CAD assistance of some novel bracing in carved archtop guitars. His most recent design is a more traditional six-string acoustic with a conventional soundboard and a delightful tone.Â I’ve been strumming the latest guitar in a growing menagerie for a couple of days now and with a little sunlight pouring into the Sciencebase office, thought it deserved not only a song, but some arty snaps.

rob-guitar-2

Rob is keen forÂ guitarists to test drive his creations, so do get in touch and I’ll put you in touch with him in turn.

The Tide That Never Turns – a song

A spot of post-holiday proggy angst about tides and eternity…usual happy-go-lucky stuff. Added to my now five-track Detail is a Devil EP available on BandCamp.

One listener waxed lyrical about the track:

“…cool, melancholic rock number with an urgent beat and predatory electric guitar waiting to move in; the change in tempo depicting the power of the sea. This contrasts well with the acoustic guitar which, all the while, holds on to the narrator’s idea of life’s sad thread. The echoes and whispers add drama and tension whilst the lyrics unfold a wistful message. A theatrical number which holds on to the listener like a limpet to granite rock.”

For some of us, it’s a story too far
Of distant lands, of pearls and bars
For others there’s still a life untold
In dusty towns where they never found gold

There are those who take it all too hard
They stake their claims but bear the same scars
For others there’s still a grief unsound
In dusty towns unholy ground

But either way, the sea’s unchanged
The lies it hears the lives it takes
All of them are foam upon the waves
And though some are lost, none are ever saved

For others there’s a grief uncrowned
In gusty towns on holy ground

The tide that never turns
The sun that never burns
The summer wind that only makes you yearn

For storms to ride and waves of pride
On a tide that never turns
The tide that never turns

We all deride the waves of pride
You will never learn
On a tide that never turns

Three lost cities beyond the wind
Fatigued by fear, the changes begin
If time and tide sweep all away
Then what are we but the ocean spray?

Yet either way, the seasons change
The smiles we fake and rearrange
Emotion lost unto the feign
Now summer’s gone we all feel the same pain

The tide that never turns
The sun that never burns
The summer wind that only makes you yearn

For waves to ride
and ways to hide
From a tide that never turns
From a tide that never turns

We all deride the waves of pride
You will never learn
On a tide that never turns

Words and music, vocals,Â instrumentation, photo andÂ cover art by dB.

UPDATE: I couldn’t leave this song alone…it went through at least 5 remixes with several retakes of the vocals and the guitar solo…and I was happy with it…until the phrase Moog Taurus bass pedals popped into my head and ohhhh…I just had to add some of those classic earbusting sounds ever-present in the late 1970s prog of Rush, Yes, and countless others. And, then, of course, once you’ve kicked your heels with the Taurus, the track was just begging for some Minimoog…which it’s now got, I think it lends some additional atmosphere and makes it even more of a not-so-heavy offspring of Rush’s Cygnus X-1 or Jacob’s Ladder and probably a thousand other songs I’ve absorbed over the last half a century. You can streamÂ this final version for free from SoundCloud or download it fromÂ Bandcamp.

UPDATE: Of course, as ever, when I said “final”, I didn’t mean the last mix. I’ve now remixed one track of the acoustic guitar and added a bit of flanger to it, just to make sure you’re fully aware that this song is fully immersed in the 1970s. As promised, I did the high-quality master for BandCamp, which means you can download it as aÂ high-qualityÂ mp3 or flac converted from the native wav file format.

It all probably sounds even more like I was attempting to emulate late-70s Rush now, although my voice hasn’t been as high as Geddy’s since 1979!Â I’ve treated the acoustic with a bit ofÂ old-school flanger in places and issued an acoustic advisory to the cover.

This song has to be the epitome of the sort of music I enjoyed as a teen when I was first learning to play guitar…and trying to work out Rush, Bowie, Pink Floyd and even Nile Rodgers stuff…here I really let free my inner Lifeson…but there are definite hints of the other db, Nile Rodgers, David Gilmour, Steve Howe and Chris Squire from Yes. You could call it aÂ Permanent Moog X-1 Oddity.

Here comes the flood

Peter Gabriel’s 1977 song Here Comes the Flood is, as far as I know, nothing to do with downpours, weather, or indeed floods. Rather the lyrics muse on the bizarre and fantastical notion of universalÂ telepathy suddenly occurring across the human race and the devastation to us as individuals that would ensueÂ with such an information and emotional overload. It’s almost as if the sledgehammer-wielding songmeister clambering up Solsbury Hill was predicting a future wherein we are all connected via some weird technological advance and able to see and hear everybody’s last inner thought and secret, see every sunset and salad they experience, and visualise a never-ending list of their first-world problems and gripes…sound familiar?

Anyway, I arranged and recorded a simple guitar-based cover of the song a few years ago, being, as you might say, a bit of a Gabrielesque acolyte, But, given the UK weather today, I thought I’d dig it out, remix it with some thunder and lightning and the odd raindrop and post it as a static Youtube clip on teh Youtubez. I haven’t even included the lyrics…you can find them yourself. But, do have a listen…

Classic Chords #15 – Shining Floyd

TL:DR – The arpeggiated Gm13 guitar chord from Pink Floyd’s Shine on you crazy diamond.

I grew up on Pink Floyd…well I say that, not sure anyone who spends their time obsessing over music and guitar chords has ever really grown up.

Either way, as a teen, I used to obsessively listen to Dark Side of the Moon and worry neurotically about that line “then one day you find, ten years have got behind you” and the one about the lunatic on the grass. Well, I was probably pushing 20 last time I played my taped copy of the album lying in the sun in my parents’ garden, lazing on a sunny afternoon with an acoustic guitar and all that.

That lyric has gone round three times since then and I still haven’t heard the starting gun nor shaken off the urge to lie on the grass in the sun. Anyway, I was going to do the Em(7) and A(sus4) chords from “Breathe” from that album, which you can also hear in Elton John’s Rocket Man but shifted up three,

But, I don’t think those chords are quite as iconic as the arpeggiated G minor 13 (Gm13) that takes us from Rick Wright’s keyboard-led opening of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” from the Wish You Were Here album, to the heavier next section. So, that’s the one I’ve focused on.

It’s just four little notes Bb, F, G, E, played as “Syd’s Theme” for obvious reasons. Four little notes that build to a quite astounding musical climax from 3’54” in, starting with their slightly disturbing dissonance, their bell-peeling tension that is only released as the drums and bass beat in at 6/4 time and Gilmour lashes out with the tremulous power chords.

Classic Chords #14 Who is Townshend?

The Who’s Pete Townshend was by turns a maestro on the acoustic guitar and a wall-of-sound man on the electric. Stacks of amps and speakers, his windmilling right arm, the leaps and kicks and, of course, the smashing up the guitars and hotel rooms in equal measure, allegedly. On the acoustic there was the high-speed percussive, expansive rhythmic strumming, the big sus4 chords of “Pinball Wizard”. On the louder than loud live rockers like “My Generation” it was power and distortion that mattered. I seem to recall reading the it was Townshend who not only was first to use a stack of 4×12 speaker cabinets, which became the staple of heavy rock from its definition in the late 60s of the increasingly loud British Blues Explosion but also the inventor of the power chord (the hard attack, heavily distorted, long sustained, major triads missing their third not, the 5th chords in other words. But, some would say Link Wray invented the power chord in “Rumble”, but that’s not a power chord to my ear!

One of Townshend’s tricks, when pitting his wits against the massive power of John Entwistle’s pounding and intricate bass licks was to play the part of a more conventional bass guitar line but on his six-string. So, we have the opening of “My Generation”, which nominally just goes from G to F. But in reality he was tuned down a tone and playing the bottom notes of an Amaj shape and then adding the descending bass with the thumb to take him from A to A/G (by pitch it was actually the G to G/F). A similar pattern was used on other songs and by other bands, not least Rush, who were/are massive Who fans (hear the that A to A/G trick in the likes of “Natural Science” from Permanent Waves and elsewhere.

Here’s a snippet of me doing some of that kind of stuff. First playing an actual G to G/F at pitch in standard EADBGe six-string tuning, and then in the same tuning A to A/G with some bendingÂ on that bottom string and then ascending through C-C/B to D-D/C and back to riffing on theÂ A chord with the thumbed G note on the sixth string. To be honest the B string doesn’t necessarily come into play.

More Classic Guitar Chords here.