Tech questions about the new album...

[placebo]

I'm a geek, so humour me


1. Who plays the cello (?) on "This Is The End"? (and maybe "We'll Never Leave Again" but I can't quite tell if that's a cello or horns)
There's nothing about cello or any other strings in the credits. Did they just forget to list it, or did one of the band members play it?

2. Am I imagining things, or does it sound like the volume drops on "The Words We Say" during the bridge? I know the acoustic drops out for that part, but it sounds like everything else gets quieter too. Was this done on purpose? The first time I listened I thought my speakers were messing up

3. Is the acoustic on "First Of The Century" sampled or processed through something? There's a part in the intro riff where it almost sounds like the CD is skipping as one chord repeats. It doesn't sound natural, like someone strumming it, it sounds like something was done to it, either it was sampled or they messed around with it in post production. Anybody know anything about this?



That's all I can think of for now. If anybody knows about any of this stuff or could point me to a link that would be great, if not it's no big deal. I'm just one of those people who obsess over every little detail...

[Thrill Kill Will]

this is a stellar post. the fact that you are out there listening so intently definitely reminds me why i'm the luckiest guy in the world.

1 - our friend played cello, but didn't want to deal with the paperwork and redtape and stuff so its a secret.

2 - the instrumentation and production changes at that part, and the overall volume does. i think the only things in are drums, distorted piano and vocals. since there is a lot of space that opens up when the other instruments drop out, we used more of the room sound (using the microphones at were farther away from the drums) to utilize that space. i would've prefered them to get a little louder, but when they drop back, that makes the chorus come in sounding pretty big, so that's cool.

3 - absolutely right. john plays a really interesting pattern with the up and down strokes on the acoustic and he wanted that to be even further emphasized. so we took the chord that he plays during those upstrokes and sampled one note and looped it for those hits. it gives the part an interesting feel. in this context, like you pointed out, it kinda sounds like the cd is skipping.

=)
please post more often.
-w

[shamroklaxer21]

could it by chance be your cello friend who may or may not have been touring with around april of 06?

[placebo]

thrillkillwill said:

this is a stellar post. the fact that you are out there listening so intently definitely reminds me why i'm the luckiest guy in the world.

1 - our friend played cello, but didn't want to deal with the paperwork and redtape and stuff so its a secret.

2 - the instrumentation and production changes at that part, and the overall volume does. i think the only things in are drums, distorted piano and vocals. since there is a lot of space that opens up when the other instruments drop out, we used more of the room sound (using the microphones at were farther away from the drums) to utilize that space. i would've prefered them to get a little louder, but when they drop back, that makes the chorus come in sounding pretty big, so that's cool.

3 - absolutely right. john plays a really interesting pattern with the up and down strokes on the acoustic and he wanted that to be even further emphasized. so we took the chord that he plays during those upstrokes and sampled one note and looped it for those hits. it gives the part an interesting feel. in this context, like you pointed out, it kinda sounds like the cd is skipping.

=)
please post more often.
-w

Thanks for the reply! I'd kinda like to know who this friend is too
Thanks for the confirmation of #3... I played it for my brother (who eventually bought the CD himself) and he agreed with me that it sounded sampled, so it's cool to know we were right.

And I'm assuming this is Will from the band right? If so, I met you guys not too long ago, after the Raleigh NC show in March. I was the guy trying to get everyone to sign the insert to Prepare To Be Wrong...

[[::april / 03::]]

shamroklaxer21 said:

could it by chance be your cello friend who may or may not have been touring with around april of 06?

truuuuuue.

cello... oh yes! she did play the cello. that's right. that's been soooo long agoooo... wowwwww.


the little things in the aural perception of music i notice too. most especially when i listen with ear buds/phones or whatever they're called. all the details of music are great. straylight run i think does this well. all the little sounds you hear, especially in their last 2 releases is pretty inventive. and the timing of these sounds is awesome too.

i think i used to post stuff here sort of similar to what you posted placebo. but i always thought i should just not worry about stuff like that, or at least not post it on some message board-- it's not my music afterall. i didn't write it, etc. i probably came across offensive or nit picky about every little thing in whatever song i was talking about anyway. i'm much too opinionated sometimes, but maybe i'll just stay opinionated then lol.





anyway, speaking of being opinionated...
i noticed in "miracle.." it seems like when the guitar comes in on the sampler... it sounds... odd. like the timing of it seems off. but then listening to it online or on the album i don't notice it. it sounds like it comes in on the beat just fine.

weird. maybe the sampler version is louder or something.