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The Camera Eye


Lorraine
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I did a search back two years and didn't see a thread for this song. My apologies if I missed it.

 

I just finished watching the video of the song from the R40 Newark show. I have some questions. :)

 

It looks to me like it is a very hard song at the beginning for everyone to know when to come in - Alex with his guitar and Neil with the drums.

 

For you drummers - do you count between or do you just anticipate your next drum beat? If the latter, how do you stop from coming in a few seconds too soon? I would think if you anticipate rather than count, it would be easy to jump the gun. At least that happens to me when I try to air drum. I do better when I don't think ahead and just go with the song.

 

Alex at the beginning of the song does something that I don't understand. His hand on the arm of the guitar goes under the arm. I'll get the exact time for those who want to find the video on youtube to see what I am talking about: about 1:20-1:22.

 

it's really one of Rush's best songs, and I think it's the last song like that they ever did with a long intro and a song over five minutes.

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Lorraine, I'm not sure which take you are watching from the Newark show, but in regards to Alex, I am assuming that you are talking about when he places his right hand on the neck of the guitar to create a different tone ..

 

The tone is called a "harmonic", it is a fascinating aspect of the guitar, as you can alter the note ( or tone ) by the distance you use your right hand to "tap" the note in relation to where you are pressing down with your left hand ..

 

The result is a higher pitch that a note that is played in the conventional manner

 

But these tapped tones will only sound at different intervals ie one octave, a 7th or a 5th ..

 

I'm probably not explaining it very well, sorry !!

 

Eddie Van Halen took this to another level ... Watch Eddie starting at the 1:57 point in this video - is this what you mean ??

 

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I can't watch Eddie although I would love to be able to. I love that song.

 

I know what you are referring to but that wasn't what I was talking about. I thank you for explaining it though because I've seen a few guitarist tapping like that (thinking especially of the one from The Police whose name I can't remember at the moment) and wondered what they were doing and why they were doing it.

 

What I am talking about is Alex's hand goes underneath and up and down the underside of the neck.

 

I'd love to watch Eddie though. I've never seen him in action.

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From a drummer's perspective...I don't know if I'm an exception or not, but I rarely know where to come in by counting. Sometimes, yes, in some passages. But as far as The Camera Eye is concerned- I think it's really hard to count, especially during the intro to that song, with what the keyboard is doing, before the guitar or the drums come in. But I've listened to it enough times, I know every segment of the intro well enough, that I can just feel the rhythm before it hits.

 

It is very subtle, in that one. But that's the best way I can describe it. It isn't a matter of counting. I can just feel it coming.

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I'm listening to Moving Pictures now. Haven't listened to it in a long time. It's a brilliant album. Could almost make me cry listening to it.

 

And it sounds so good! I can't help playing songs from MP really loud.

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Per Lucas's post- with another embedded YouTube link that I can't 'like', from my phone :rage: (but I would if I could...I'll do it later!).

 

Yes! Alex is a master of harmonics. They are incredibly difficult to play well- to have just the right touch.

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Hmmm...the Newark vid I just watched doesn't show him doing anything unusual at the 1:20-1:22 mark.

i don't know which one was sent to me. It appears to me whoever taped it was up in the balcony but must have had a high powered whatever because they could zoom right in close to the stage.

 

The one you watched - is the camera on Alex at that mark?

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He does his move his left hand behind the neck when he does that, but that doesn't have any affect on the sound (and mostly serves the purpose of making sure he doesn't accidentally hit those strings and muting them...plus it gives his left hand something to do). Edited by JARG
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From a drummer's perspective...I don't know if I'm an exception or not, but I rarely know where to come in by counting. Sometimes, yes, in some passages. But as far as The Camera Eye is concerned- I think it's really hard to count, especially during the intro to that song, with what the keyboard is doing, before the guitar or the drums come in. But I've listened to it enough times, I know every segment of the intro well enough, that I can just feel the rhythm before it hits.

 

It is very subtle, in that one. But that's the best way I can describe it. It isn't a matter of counting. I can just feel it coming.

 

That intro looks really hard to me. It appears to take a lot of concentration to get it right on the mark.

 

I know, in an amateurish way, what you mean about feeling it coming.

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Hmmm...the Newark vid I just watched doesn't show him doing anything unusual at the 1:20-1:22 mark.

i don't know which one was sent to me. It appears to me whoever taped it was up in the balcony but must have had a high powered whatever because they could zoom right in close to the stage.

 

The one you watched - is the camera on Alex at that mark?

Yuppers

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He does his move his left hand behind the neck when he does that, but that doesn't have any affect on the sound (and mostly serves the purpose of making sure he doesn't accidentally hitting those strings and muting them...plus it gives his left hand something to do).

 

OK I thought he was doing something because his fingers are on the outside of the arm and I thought maybe they were touching something to produce a certain sound. It's hard to tell because of the noise from the audience.

 

Thanks, JARG!

Edited by Lorraine
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I'm listening to Moving Pictures now. Haven't listened to it in a long time. It's a brilliant album. Could almost make me cry listening to it.

 

And it sounds so good! I can't help playing songs from MP really loud.

The louder the better. The sound is so full. Gives me the chills!

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The Camera Eye is unique in the Rush catalog .. In fact, there aren't really any songs that I can think of that are comparable or similar, from Rush or any band for that matter ..

 

It is upbeat in sections, but to me, there is a melancholy tone that runs thru it .... The music that sets the mood is brilliant, and I don't mean this in regards to the song itself, but there is something sad, and unresolved going on ..

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The Camera Eye is unique in the Rush catalog .. In fact, there aren't really any songs that I can think of that are comparable or similar, from Rush or any band for that matter ..

 

It is upbeat in sections, but to me, there is a melancholy tone that runs thru it .... The music that sets the mood is brilliant, and I don't mean this in regards to the song itself, but there is something sad, and unresolved going on ..

I don't know what does it to you to give you that impression, but for me, it is Geddy's keyboard playing that is melancholy. At least that's what I think it is. it's hard to tell. I was watching him in this video and he seemed to hold his fingers down on keys to produce the sound, but I don't understand how it does that. Tried to see if he was triggering something with his foot, but it didn't look like it.

 

At the beginning of the song, I love the wail from Alex's guitar

Edited by Lorraine
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The Camera Eye is unique in the Rush catalog .. In fact, there aren't really any songs that I can think of that are comparable or similar, from Rush or any band for that matter ..

 

It is upbeat in sections, but to me, there is a melancholy tone that runs thru it .... The music that sets the mood is brilliant, and I don't mean this in regards to the song itself, but there is something sad, and unresolved going on ..

I don't know what does it to you to give you that impression, but for me, it is Geddy's keyboard playing that is melancholy. At least that's what I think it is. it's hard to tell. I was watching him in this video and he seemed to hold his finger down on keys to produce the sound, but I don't understand how it does that. Tried to see if he was triggering something with his foot, but it didn't look like it.

 

At the beginning of the song, I love the wail from Alex's guitar

 

Some keyboard/synth tones do produce a different sound, or a kind of fluttering that you can hear, when a particular key (or group of keys) is held down for a sustained period of time- it can be even just a few seconds.

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Sure thing, Lorraine.

 

That particular passage is a very sad thing for me to watch.

 

Why?

 

nm...I don't want to rain on anyone's parade.

 

If you really want to know, PM me.

Edited by JARG
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The Camera Eye is unique in the Rush catalog .. In fact, there aren't really any songs that I can think of that are comparable or similar, from Rush or any band for that matter ..

 

It is upbeat in sections, but to me, there is a melancholy tone that runs thru it .... The music that sets the mood is brilliant, and I don't mean this in regards to the song itself, but there is something sad, and unresolved going on ..

 

It's a fine piece of music, for sure.

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