Being a musician…....I have a good ear for things usually. Does anyone have any idea if Simon mixes a lot of this music in the same key? That seems like it would make sense going from one song to the next as easy as he does.
If they were all in the same key you could easily just change tempo and go into a new song. Its a bit harder to modulate to a new key and start a new song with loops and such.
I’ve just listened to 5 different Shpongle songs and I’m finding that they are in a relative key.
Keep in mind…...you can modulate to a minor key of the relative major key. Thats what he is doing I think.
Haven’t really thought about that… But if so, he stays in that minor key throughout most of the song…. But to be honest i don’t really think simon cares that much about keys, he would happily put in alot of disharmony and/or blue notes to make things colourful, afterall that is what his music is about; not that much about keys and notes.
I recently wrote a paper on shpongle and about the genre and the effects used in the songs. I found out that most of the songs have the same soundpicture (equal mixing of bass, drums etc.) and what really makes the songs interesting are the effects Especially on tales which has a lot of effects, and they all take you “places” you have never been, if you get what i mean….
The notes or keys are important in music but i ‘ve listened to many tracks wich have only 3 notes all over and they are magical!
A few notes could also make you feel a lot of things!
:D InKy wrote:
I recently wrote a paper on shpongle and about the genre and the effects used in the songs.
Could we take a look at this one?
:D
Sounds Interesting!
Thanks
[quote author=“moodysteve”]I don’t know about the first 2 albums, but pretty much every song on Nothing Lasts is in fm.
Really? Thats interesting. I think I’ll mess around with some of these tracks and see what keys the other albums are in. I bet they are in the same key. Ab or fm…..same thing.
I think Simon would care about what key the songs were in. You can add as many disharmonies as you like, however, the bass line and a layered melody would need to be in a relative key if you were going to play for 30 mins with no modulations between songs. Simply changing tempo and instruments would be enough to declare it a “new song” in the setlist.
Speaking of setlist…...does Simon use a setlist? Or does he improvise and decide what song to do next on the spot. Having the songs in a similar key would make improvising easier.
You are all very welcome to have a look at it….
But unfortunately it’s a 13 pages long motherfucker and i can’t be arsed to translate all that into english, sorry fellas… :D But i can tell you the tracks i analyzed was: Shpongleyes and Around the world in a tea daze, and just the Tales album in general. Wrote about how the entire album is like a journey thru land- and soundscapes and the general feeling in ambient music and downtempo trance.
Anyways i got B minus i think, translating to international standards… That’s a 9 for the danes here And that’s good… As it is counting as an Examin grade
Edit: Oh yeah, and one more thing… I do think simon cares about the key, but i don’t think he’d care that much to change it during a set…. As it is the bass which is a central thing in trance music it has to be constant and not changing too much, but then again, who cares about rules
[quote author=“InKy”]You are all very welcome to have a look at it….
But unfortunately it’s a 13 pages long motherfucker and i can’t be arsed to translate all that into english, sorry fellas… :D But i can tell you the tracks i analyzed was: Shpongleyes and Around the world in a tea daze, and just the Tales album in general. Wrote about how the entire album is like a journey thru land- and soundscapes and the general feeling in ambient music and downtempo trance.
Anyways i got B minus i think, translating to international standards… That’s a 9 for the danes here And that’s good… As it is counting as an Examin grade
Edit: Oh yeah, and one more thing… I do think simon cares about the key, but i don’t think he’d care that much to change it during a set…. As it is the bass which is a central thing in trance music it has to be constant and not changing too much, but then again, who cares about rules
What did you write the paper for? Was it a class you were taking?
Very cool.
A agree that Simon would primarily care about the bass line and the keys that the bass line carries through the song and/or cd.. I have noticed LOTS of tempo changes. But some of them are just so he can fit a vocal lines and instrument sounds in without changing the pitch of them by speeding them up or slowing them down.
All of this just goes to show you…...this style of music has A LOT of planning in them and work. You can’t just throw this stuff together.
[quote author=“InKy”]You are all very welcome to have a look at it….
But unfortunately it’s a 13 pages long motherfucker and i can’t be arsed to translate all that into english, sorry fellas… :D
What did you write the paper for? Was it a class you were taking?
Very cool.
A agree that Simon would primarily care about the bass line and the keys that the bass line carries through the song and/or cd.. I have noticed LOTS of tempo changes. But some of them are just so he can fit a vocal lines and instrument sounds in without changing the pitch of them by speeding them up or slowing them down.
All of this just goes to show you…...this style of music has A LOT of planning in them and work. You can’t just throw this stuff together.
Hmmmm don’t know what i’m suppose to call it, but it’s a paper every student has to write on their 3rd year in danish “gymnasium” and you can choose any subject you like; so i chose Music and the subtitle electronic music and shpongle. So it’s not only about shpongle, it’s about electronic music’s history as well.
Oh and btw, it is possible to change the speed of a sample without changing the pitch. Just a note
[quote author=“Adam Brown”]I think this is the secret to a lot of Posford’s music, and the way it all fits together so effortlessly
Any bozo can crank out a psytrance song, but the hi-hats won’t match the synths, which won’t match the bassline, which won’t match anything
Simon’s a trained muscian, and I’m certain the musicality of his tunes is a big part of the “Posford touch”
You don’t have to ‘try’ and enjoy it, because it just sounds so natural.
Forgive my ignorance, because I don’t know a lot about Simon. Is he really a trained musician?
I really really admire that if he is. I hate the idea that people can just buy the equipment and mess around with it and think “well…..I’m a musician, look what I did.” But his music…...you can tell he KNOWS what he is doing.
It all really does fit together perfectly and without effort.
I think he’s a pretty good guitarist.. does alot of guitar samples himself, except the solo in falling awake and some other stuff And he must have piano skills too, to play all the synth…
Edit: Oh, and i just read that he plays live drums on alot of the nothing lasts tracks too… multi talent
[quote author=“InKy”]I think he’s a pretty good guitarist.. does alot of guitar samples himself, except the solo in falling awake and some other stuff And he must have piano skills too, to play all the synth…
Edit: Oh, and i just read that he plays live drums on alot of the nothing lasts tracks too… multi talent
Well thats awesome then. What about music theory? I would say that he must know theory because of his multi layering and what not.
Did anyone else check the key of his other cds? one person said Fm for one cd.
And that’s good… As it is counting as an Examin grade 
