Sharp Practise
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11/12/2008 9:56:36 AM
Keyboards to the front
As I said before, it’s been my turn to be busy over the past couple of weeks.
Keyboard parts first. Mostly nothing fancy, although I do try and avoid the blindingly obvious block synth wash wherever possible. I see the keys as pretty much a colour instrument behind the guitars in the band, so I like them to play a mainly supporting role.
Sometimes that role is standard – for example, on the ballad ‘Girls Don’t Look’ the song cried out for a string part and so it got one which lifts the second half of the verses nicely and swoops into the big choruses. Having said that, this song is an exception in that the piano is the major instrument and acoustic guitar takes the secondary part.
There’s also moments where the keyboards step out and take over – on ‘Come To Know’ we break out into a Bruce Hornsby style solo and the piano takes the lead line for a change. And that’s my point – it is for a change; for me it’s all about striking the balance between featured instruments.
I like the odd rock organ sound as well – so when you hear the record keep your ears peeled for a touch of the old Hammond coming subtly to the scene in several places.
Which brings me to the instrument that’s always featured – the voice. While laying the keyboard parts I’ve been working out the last lyric changes, where the melody is going to move and how I’m going to interpret the songs.
All of which I’ll tell you about next time!
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