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The Weapon 2015


RushIslander
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I just noticed something today while I was watching Grace Under Pressure. When Neil does this song, he put on headphones (with his little red baseball cap :) ) which he promptly removed when the song was over. Does anyone here know why he wore them for The Weapon? I suspect it was so he could better concentrate on his drums which, in this song, have little to do with what Alex or Geddy are doing, but what do I know?

I am no musician as anybody around here knows but my youngest elder brother was. He explained something to me way back then when I got the album. It has something to do with syncopation if I recall. He is playing something off of what they are and if he was to hear them it would screw him up. I could be wrong however and I am sure someone around here will correct me pretty quickly if I am... :)

 

 

syn·co·pa·tion

noun \ˌsiŋ-kə-ˈpā-shən, ˌsin-\

 

music : musical rhythm in which stress is given to the weak beats instead of the strong beats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Definition of SYNCOPATION

 

 

1

:
a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat

 

2

 

:
a
rhythm, passage, or dance step

 

syn·co·pa·tive adjective

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/styles/default/images/reference/external.jpg See syncopation defined for English-language learners »

 

See syncopation defined for kids »

 

First Known Use of SYNCOPATION

 

1597

 

 

 

Narps, a big :hug2: and smooch :kisshug: for you! Then my ears didn't deceive me. That makes me happy.

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I just noticed something today while I was watching Grace Under Pressure. When Neil does this song, he put on headphones (with his little red baseball cap :) ) which he promptly removed when the song was over. Does anyone here know why he wore them for The Weapon? I suspect it was so he could better concentrate on his drums which, in this song, have little to do with what Alex or Geddy are doing, but what do I know?

I am no musician as anybody around here knows but my youngest elder brother was. He explained something to me way back then when I got the album. It has something to do with syncopation if I recall. He is playing something off of what they are and if he was to hear them it would screw him up. I could be wrong however and I am sure someone around here will correct me pretty quickly if I am... :)

 

 

syn·co·pa·tion

noun \ˌsiŋ-kə-ˈpā-shən, ˌsin-\

 

music : musical rhythm in which stress is given to the weak beats instead of the strong beats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Definition of SYNCOPATION

 

 

1

:
a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat

 

2

 

 

:
a
rhythm, passage, or dance step

 

syn·co·pa·tive adjective

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/styles/default/images/reference/external.jpg See syncopation defined for English-language learners »

 

See syncopation defined for kids »

 

First Known Use of SYNCOPATION

 

1597

 

 

 

Narps, a big :hug2: and smooch :kisshug: for you! Then my ears didn't deceive me. That makes me happy.

:blush: Off to the "what made your day" thread for me..... :) :rose:
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From an interview with Neil in Modern Drummer:

 

You just mentioned your concert video, A Show Of Hands. While watching it, I noticed that you have to play along with a lot of sequenced parts. Do you have any suggestions on working with a sequencer in a live setting?

It's very similar to working with a click in the studio. It's really just a matter of practice. It's a barrier that drummers need to get over. Once you get over it, working with sequencers really becomes a second-nature type of thing. One difficult thing about sequencers live is being able to hear them. I still use headphones a lot for that reason.

I thought I noticed a lot sequenced parts where you didn't seem to be wearing headphones.

Oh yeah, a lot of them. I just have them through my monitors. In fact a lot of them I trigger myself. The challenge to it really is that many of our sequenced parts aren't entire songs in length. Of course the sequence is the exact tempo that the record was made to, and playing live, that is not always a realistic proposition. But in this case, I have to set myself up through the whole song so that maybe in the second chorus, when the sequence comes in, I'm going to lock in with it and it's not going to sound as if suddenly the whole song slowed down or got faster. That takes a lot of practice, and it is just a matter of time.

 

Speaking of sequencers, each of us trigger these things live on stage. The line we draw is that all of those things have to be triggered manually. It's not like using tapes. Sequencers, especially in the context that we use them, are coming in all over the place in our performances. They have to be triggered obviously to the millisecond, or they'll be off from what we are playing. The dangers that can happen musically are nerve-racking. We don't feel as if we're cheating because of the way it's all put together by us, as opposed to if we were up there playing along to tapes. We'd never be comfortable with that.

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And another (I admit I don't really know what he's talking about, but he mentions "the Weapon"):

 

What have you been using headphones on stage for?

The headphones are basically for when we used programmed sequencers for the synthesizers that are driven by arpeggiators. They're basically triggered by a drum machine with a click-track pulse. Then the arpeggiator picks that up. The song on Signals called "The Weapon" is based around an arpeggiator. Ironically, usually drummers are used to a band that follows them. If I tend to feel that something should be pulled back a bit or anticipated a bit, the band follows me. When you use something that's as mathematical as a sequencer or an arpeggiator, there's no way those machines are going to follow you. You have to follow them. I can use the headphones to give me that trigger with a sequencer in "Vital Signs" and with an arpeggiator in "The Weapon." I have to hear that and follow it, basically. I have to swallow my pride and be a little subservient to the machine.

 

Playing with headphones is not the same as playing without them. I have to use my imagination. The essence of having an imagination is that sometimes I've recorded a song all by myself, such as "YYZ" from our Moving Pictures album. when we did the basic track, it was just me. I went in there and played the drum track. The other guys' part were very difficult. We figured it would make more sense if I recorded my track and then gave them a chance to work on their parts without the pressure of all of us having to do it at the same time. I had to have enough imagination to hear the song in my head and respond to all those dynamics and nuances.

 

With headphones on, drums do not sound like drums. Period. That's certainly a fact. But the essence of it is that I know what my drums sound like, and I know that if I play a certain pattern it has such and such an effect on people - a certain excitement, drama or whatever. And when I have the headphones on, yes, I have to use my imagination. It is, in a sense, a limitation, that in order to be able to follow those things effectively, I have to be able to hear them well. And the most sensible way to do that is through headphones. I just decided that it's not going to make me play worse. It's just going to make me have to work harder, because when I have those headphones on, I'm going to have to think about what my playing REALLY sounds like. I can't be lazy and just hear it. I have to think about it and imagine it. It is a hard thing. But at the same time, it became a whole series of progressions that we had to make, so as not to add another musician.
Edited by toymaker
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Toymaker, thank you. That was interesting to read, and I appreciate you posting it. I love reading stuff like that. :cheers:

My pleasure. I love talking about this stuff. I'll say it again: there are loads of musicians on this forum, so ask us anything because almost as much as playing we like talking about playing!

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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

great drumming, great vocal melodies, for starters.

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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....
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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....

I love The Weapon and S&A is my least favorite Rush album. Lyrically and thematically there may be some similarities but the music does not strike me as being similar at all.

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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....

I love The Weapon and S&A is my least favorite Rush album. Lyrically and thematically there may be some similarities but the music does not strike me as being similar at all.

Hope dashed..... :|
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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....

I love The Weapon and S&A is my least favorite Rush album. Lyrically and thematically there may be some similarities but the music does not strike me as being similar at all.

 

That's because it isn't.

 

I think Eagle had one too many today.

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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....

:no: Unless you like mid-tempo plodding...
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I don't really get the appeal of this song. Sounds like something off of Snakes & Arrows to me. :LOL:

Maybe there's hope for S&A and me after all. I like The Weapon.....

I love The Weapon and S&A is my least favorite Rush album. Lyrically and thematically there may be some similarities but the music does not strike me as being similar at all.

 

That's because it isn't.

 

I think Eagle had one too many today.

 

I wish. Unfortunately it's the stark raving soberness of truth.

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Only if the rest of "Fear" was there. The Weapon seems kind of weak by itself.

 

Agreed! As part of the whole "Fear" Quadrilogy would be preferred. I would love to see what they do with Freeze.

 

:rush: :haz: :rush:

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