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Some Band/Music Questions


Lorraine
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I am someone who knows absolutely nothing about music [other than I have always loved it] or how to play an instrument.

 

Yesterday, as I was watching them do Natural Science, I was astounded by all the tempo changes. In fact, they do more tempo changes in their songs than most other bands. Has anyone else noticed that?

 

While watching Rush in Rio, I saw those songs as they once were. Just lyrics written by Neil on a piece of paper. He gives that paper to Geddy and Alex. What you are watching or listening to is their creation. It got me to thinking how absolutely brilliant they are. How do they even start to write the music? Do they read the lyrics and hear a tune in their head? For a talentless person such as myself, these things boggle my mind. I also got to wondering if Neil is ever disappointed with the music that is written to his lyrics. Has this ever struck anyone else here?

 

Moving right along...

 

I have noticed that lead guitarists seem to always be watching themselves playing, while bass guitarists are usually the ones who engage the audience and are always looking up and out. Is there a reason for this?

 

Another thing, when Neil tosses his drum stick in the air, or spins/twirls it around, I wonder how much practice it took to do that. Has he ever not caught it? Or has the drum stick twirled itself right out of his hand ever?

 

I am sorry if these questions sound lame, but ... what can I say???

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Hi!

 

A few things I can contribute, in random order:

 

The things the boys wear in their ears are ear pieces that give them music feed, to put it rather untechnically. With them, the boys can hear what they and each other are doing, to better keep in rhythm/tune. A lot of bands seem to do this now. The first time I glimsped them, I thought they were hearing aids! :D

 

The gadget in the back pocket is a wireless guitar signal transmitter, instead of using wires to attach the guitars to amplifiers. If you watch something like Exit Stage Left, you'll see guitar cables running around everywhere (which must have been a tripping hazard!), and now there aren't.

 

I'm sure Neil has had to put a lot of practice into his drumstick tossing and twirling, and he's not perfect - he has missed his tosses a few times! But he's a bit of a 'practice-makes-perfect' kind of guy anyway.

 

I haven't personally noticed what you've said about guitarists being prone to watching themselves, but I guess it can make sense - lead guitarists are usually more about showing off to their own ego than other instrument players are, I think, if that makes sense. And I think the playing, being in a more human-voice pitch than, say, the bass, makes guitar playing a bit more intimate for the player.

 

And the fact of how they create music is rather impressive, isn't it? I've wondered, too, what goes through Neil's mind when he hears his lyrics put to music for the first time - does he ever have a tune in mind beforehand? Has he ever thought to himself, "Hey, that's not how it should sound!"? I guess the boys really need to be able to give each other space and freedom in their roles. I don't know exactly how their music gets written, but presumably the written lyrics will influence something, a guitar riff perhaps, and be built on that. Or music can be started beforehand and lyrics get matched to what works best.

 

And the music and tempo is quite complex. I think I've heard of Geddy being asked if Rush sets out specifically to write songs in weird time signatures purposely (which, of course, they don't; that's just how the music ends up being!). I think they are just creative enough to be able to shift things around and are very strongly rhythm-based to have the chops to pull it off.

 

I think they are all truly remarkable musicians and have oodles of creativity, and this paired with their obvious musical talent (or skill, as a more appropriate term) makes for an awesome band!

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Well, Mika, you just saved me a shit load of one finger typing.

 

About the in-ear monitors - back in the "old days" the band would have small wedge-shaped speakers (some bands still do) on the floor right in front of their mic stands, aimed at them so they can hear what's going on. They are called simply, "monitors." Drummers would often have one on each side of the drum riser, sitting at a 45 degree angle toward them. They don't hear much at all from what's coming out of the "front end" speakers... Those are the ones that are hanging from the ceiling and facing the crowd. It's not nearly as loud on stage as it is in the audience. It's still LOUD though...

 

Each guy has a preference as to how much of what instrument or vocal he hears in his in-ear monitors. There is a "monitor mix" sound engineer to the side of the stage who does nothing all night accept maintain the right levels for all three guys. He will have hand signals for each guy, so if Geddy wants more guitar, he just has to look at the monitor mix guy and give him the signal for "more guitar".

 

For example, Neil probably only wants to hear his bass drum and snare drum up fairly high in "his" mix because those are his main time keeping drums that he MUST be able to hear. He may want the guitar a bit louder (or maybe not) and he might want Geddy's vocals loud and clear... maybe the keyboards at medium volume. Every guy is different.

 

The "front of the house" soundman can also talk to the guys through the in-ear monitors. The audience can't hear any of this, obviously.

 

I've seen Neil miss a few stick tosses over the years. He usually just laughs. So, does Alex... at the Moving Pictures Tour, Toronto, 1981, Neil missed a stick toss and Alex started teasing him. You could clearly see Neil mouth the word, "f**k-off" to Alex. It was funny as hell. Then, Geddy picked up the stick and tossed into the crowd. A near riot almost broke out...

Edited by Thunder Bay Rush
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Well, Mika, you just saved me a shit load of one finger typing.

 

About the in-ear monitors - back in the "old days" the band would have small wedge-shaped speakers (some bands still do) on the floor right in front of their mic stands, aimed at them so they can hear what's going on. They are called simply, "monitors." Drummers would often have one on each side of the drum riser, sitting at a 45 degree angle toward them. They don't hear much at all from what's coming out of the "front end" speakers... Those are the ones that are hanging from the ceiling and facing the crowd. It's not nearly as loud on stage as it is in the audience. It's still LOUD though...

 

Each guy has a preference as to how much of what instrument or vocal he hears in his in-ear monitors. There is a "monitor mix" sound engineer to the side of the stage who does nothing all night accept maintain the right levels for all three guys. He will have hand signals for each guy, so if Geddy wants more guitar, he just has to look at the monitor mix guy and give him the signal for "more guitar".

 

For example, Neil probably only wants to hear his bass drum and snare drum up fairly high in "his" mix because those are his main time keeping drums that he MUST be able to hear. He may want the guitar a bit louder (or maybe not) and he might want Geddy's vocals loud and clear... maybe the keyboards at medium volume. Every guy is different.

 

The "front of the house" soundman can also talk to the guys through the in-ear monitors. The audience can't hear any of this, obviously.

 

I've seen Neil miss a few stick tosses over the years. He usually just laughs. So, does Alex... at the Moving Pictures Tour, Toronto, 1981, Neil missed a stick toss and Alex started teasing him. You could clearly see Neil mouth the word, "f**k-off" to Alex. It was funny as hell. Then, Geddy picked up the stick and tossed into the crowd. A near riot almost broke out...

 

Good explanation! :)

 

Also, I believe there are some Rush bootlegs out there of these 'monitor' mixes, so that the entire concert sounds like what Geddy might hear through his ear moniters, with pronounced bass and drum, or something like that. It would be interesting to hear what they hear sometimes!

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When I first started watching DVDs of concerts, I thought those ear things were ear plugs so their ears wouldn't be affected by the loudness! :laughing guy:

 

I remember going to concerts before all of this modern stuff came into existence and the band was basically stuck where they were. They couldn't really go very far...except for Pete Townsend who used to do somersaults across the stage. :LOL: Those were the days when you could go to a concert and actually smoke! Or do whatever you wanted! Anyway, I digress....

 

I would love to hear what they hear too in those monitors. In fact, I'd love to be able to stand up on stage with them, if only for five minutes, and look out at all those people just to find out what it feels like.

 

Rush works hard for their money. Harder than most bands. But the most important thing is that their heart is in what they are doing. I won't mention the band, but I closely follow one whose heart is no longer in what they do. It is pitiful to watch and they would be better off just hanging it up, but the money is in touring and they have lifestyles they have become used to that they have to sustain.

 

I should have been a sound engineer. I thought about it decades ago, but it wasn't a profession for women back then. I think I would have been good at it.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. I do appreciate it. ;)

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Here are a couple of guitar questions:

 

What is that stick-like thing on the lead guitar that I see Alex often fiddling with? What does it do?

 

On the bass guitar, there are three things that look like buttons that I sometimes see Geddy pushing - what do they do?

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That "stick like" thing on Alex's guitar is most commonly called a "whammy bar." I believe the correct name is "tremolo." It puts additional tension on the strings from the bridge (bottom of the guitar where the strings begin and where the whammy bar is located) and that changes and gives crazy sounds. There are different brands and they can go any electric guitar as far as i know... If you know what a wah - wah pedal does, it's sort of like that.

 

Most rock guitar players use one. The old saying is, "it's not a Strat (nickname for a Stratocaster, a type of Fender guitar) if it doesn't have a whammy bar on it."

 

On Geddy's bass, those knobs could be volume controls or pick up (different sounds) switches.

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Well, Mika, you just saved me a shit load of one finger typing.

 

About the in-ear monitors - back in the "old days" the band would have small wedge-shaped speakers (some bands still do) on the floor right in front of their mic stands, aimed at them so they can hear what's going on. They are called simply, "monitors." Drummers would often have one on each side of the drum riser, sitting at a 45 degree angle toward them. They don't hear much at all from what's coming out of the "front end" speakers... Those are the ones that are hanging from the ceiling and facing the crowd. It's not nearly as loud on stage as it is in the audience. It's still LOUD though...

 

Each guy has a preference as to how much of what instrument or vocal he hears in his in-ear monitors. There is a "monitor mix" sound engineer to the side of the stage who does nothing all night accept maintain the right levels for all three guys. He will have hand signals for each guy, so if Geddy wants more guitar, he just has to look at the monitor mix guy and give him the signal for "more guitar".

 

For example, Neil probably only wants to hear his bass drum and snare drum up fairly high in "his" mix because those are his main time keeping drums that he MUST be able to hear. He may want the guitar a bit louder (or maybe not) and he might want Geddy's vocals loud and clear... maybe the keyboards at medium volume. Every guy is different.

 

The "front of the house" soundman can also talk to the guys through the in-ear monitors. The audience can't hear any of this, obviously.

 

I've seen Neil miss a few stick tosses over the years. He usually just laughs. So, does Alex... at the Moving Pictures Tour, Toronto, 1981, Neil missed a stick toss and Alex started teasing him. You could clearly see Neil mouth the word, "f**k-off" to Alex. It was funny as hell. Then, Geddy picked up the stick and tossed into the crowd. A near riot almost broke out...

 

Good explanation! :)

 

Also, I believe there are some Rush bootlegs out there of these 'monitor' mixes, so that the entire concert sounds like what Geddy might hear through his ear moniters, with pronounced bass and drum, or something like that. It would be interesting to hear what they hear sometimes!

 

 

Yes, it would be cool to hear what they hear. It would sound pretty awful, I'm sure. Nothing like what the crowd hears. I remember, back in the 70s and early 80s, when I used to play a lot of clubs, the monitor mixes were usually not so great... but, I never had the chance to try the in-ear type. That would be WAY better, until they malfunction of course. Then, you're in trouble!!

 

Even today, some well-known and very wealthy musicians (who could easily afford to use "in-ear" monitors) don't like them because they DO break down at times. With the old floor monitor system, they always work.

 

Paul McCartney hates in-ears.

 

Another good feature of them, is that they keep the volume going into the player's ear down to a safer level. It's not all that loud compared to the old time stage volume.

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That "stick like" thing on Alex's guitar is most commonly called a "whammy bar." I believe the correct name is "tremolo." It puts additional tension on the strings from the bridge (bottom of the guitar where the strings begin and where the whammy bar is located) and that changes and gives crazy sounds. There are different brands and they can go any electric guitar as far as i know... If you know what a wah - wah pedal does, it's sort of like that.

 

Most rock guitar players use one. The old saying is, "it's not a Strat (nickname for a Stratocaster, a type of Fender guitar) if it doesn't have a whammy bar on it."

 

On Geddy's bass, those knobs could be volume controls or pick up (different sounds) switches.

 

Thanks, Thunder Bay. And, yes. I do know what a wah-wah pedal is. I remember Peter Frampton - the only concert I ever saw in the 70s that I wasn't disappointed because everything he played was from Frampton Comes Alive. Hard to mess up a live album in concert. :LOL:

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