- Author
Message
post http://collectedanimals.org/viewtopic.p ... 52#p390752
avey mentions that aside from his guitar part, there's an organ part. I'll post the whole thing just in case.
wrote:
Wheeter wrote:
Im sort of uncertain as to what hidden melody you are talking about in unsolved mysteries. Do you mean my guitar part..the really pitched up chord progression?
Start on G for the first chord (oh look) then move your hands up in the same G position to the fifth fret for the second chord (that sweet boy) then move your hand in that position up to the seventh fret for the third chord but instead of baring the A string as you would for a G chord bar it on the seventh fret as well (his mother cried) then back down to the g position on the 5th fret (my child) and back to G for (his laces). This is the same progression for the "whats pain" part Does that make sense? Im definitely never going to be a guitar teacher. The "Where are the still unborn" chords are played in that 7th fret position but instead on the 12th fret ("where are the") and then moving to the 10th ("still unborn") but in half that time as the other parts (back and forth).
Thats basically what the song was like when i wrote it. Its the first song i ever wrote for AC in standard tuning. That basically how i hear the song everytime we play it so i cant really say if its hidden or not. Because the guitar part and the vocal melody go hand in hand for me once ive written it that way it usually doesnt change too drastically unless josh does somthing very dramatic to the chord change with his guitar part. There is also an organ part in the song which is more or less based on this guitar part but a little different...maybe thats what your talking about? In the live version its sort of offset so it changes before the guitar does at a certain point but i dont think it makes the melody that much different. I guess perspective is key here cause i dont hear the live version of UM as being very different from the recorded version at all.
Okay well that's all well and good of course animal collective records have organs on them WAIT??? now that i think about it i dont remember learning AC used any keyboard synth other than aveys juno60 sh-2 and a bass station until chz???? so what's this?? it made me start thinking about certain other possibly parts on SJ. I've wondered who is responsible for them, especially the organ part in fireworks, since it's so damn tasty.
Usually, watching them live reveals a lot and tells us who plays what but... The organ part that avey refers to on UM is just as present live as the organ part in the middle of fireworks... that is to say, its not there whatsoever, so idk what he's talking about. it's a little hard to hear on the studio past the intro. but in the intro it's clear and up front. The melodic flabby sounding thing that *isn't* the clear sounding arpeggio during the verses. but its absence can be very clearly heard live in the intro.
For the middle section of fireworks well, you can clearly hear aveys guitar, panda's drums and geos uhh.... stuff, so that leaves deak, but I'm not convinced it was him. On versions of fireworks before he stopped touring he has his own completely different guitar part that doesn't show up on the record. (yes seriously go listen to 05/06 shows most of them are pretty bad quality but there is a higher pitched part throughout the song not on the record, it was also more different in very early shows). I've heard it suggested that it's some kind of effect that makes the guitar sound like a synth (idk the source on this, nor have i ever heard it hypothesized exactly what effects unit might achieve do this)... but it doesn't sound like a guitar no matter how you put it. Especially when the melody turns into some chords, it sounds like it's clearly played on a keyboard to me. And since Avey refers to the UM part as an organ and not a guitar, it opens up the possibility that an organ was used on other tracks.
Another case is chores. I never realized this but that huuuge melody is deak on vocals, at least live, it's pretty clear here. https://youtu.be/pab1HwZqmBk?t=390
In the studio though, seriously, you could easily mistake that for an organ, that is a wild sound. In fact I'm not even *totally* convinced it actually is deak in the studio because the note transitions, the even sustain, and the way that the notes stay on pitch so strongly sounds kinda artificial, it could be achieved with effects, or maybe just really strong, even singing IDK. i cant believe im sitting here at 5am listening to a track over and over trying to figure out if something is an organ or deaks voice but that's how it goes i guess. after listening to it more I'm pretty open to it still being deak on the studio version too so... maybe this doesn't count.
those are the only songs where I would consider the organ to possibly make its appearance, and one is pretty tenuous. any other sounds sound like either the juno like on #1 or the wild synthy sample in peacebone which sounds liike.... idk, but since its not and sample and its played live unlike the one in fireworks or UM
If deak played anything other than guitar on SJ then that's news to me. So this isn't going to be popular with deak fans but... my ears are telling me he did not contribute to the studio versions of fireworks or unsolved mysteries. According to the live archive UM was not played until the album was already released so the song may be been written without him in mind at all, which may be why Avey decided to do his own thing with the tuning and go to standard, like he said it was the first song he wrote for AC in standard in that post.
tldr: offhand comment by avey from 12+ years ago unlocks portal to the abyss
im open to being wrong about everything, cause sometimes i just spew BS but...
what do you think? do you have any info on who is responsible for the organ parts, or which organ was used? are you convinced they are all deak on guitar? do you hear deak's guitar part along with avey's on the fireworks studio version? is the middle section guitar or organ? do you think its possible the chores part is an organ? do you hear any live version where this organ is audible but "offset" like avey says? does any of this even surprise you or am i just dumb
