Holdin on to Black Metal

[Colfax]

So I've yet to be close enough to the stage during this song to uncover exactly what is going on.

Do they use a lot of loops? Specifically, the background vocals which sound like a mixture of women and children singing.

What's the deal?

[e_wind]

no children, all women. and live they do use loops for that song and some others, though I've read around here that they arent actually whole loops, or something

[adastra]

It's not one big loop but instead the phrase is broken into a lot of small pieces, each triggered by its own key on a synth. This way Bo gets to control the feel and tempo just like any other song and no one is tied to a click track.  Trust me when I say this is unique, any other band in the world would just hit play and roll a loop to play along to, but MMJ has worked hard to figure out how to do it organically.

[Colfax]

fascinating.

I have a feeling this band is going to be a little bit like an onion.

peel peel peel

Thanks for the answers.

[johnnYYac]

It's not one big loop but instead the phrase is broken into a lot of small pieces, each triggered by its own key on a synth. This way Bo gets to control the feel and tempo just like any other song and no one is tied to a click track.  Trust me when I say this is unique, any other band in the world would just hit play and roll a loop to play along to, but MMJ has worked hard to figure out how to do it organically.

Appreciate the insight.  Thanks!  Love this.

[adastra]

Just a friendly (and shy) neighborhood MMJ enthusiast!

[Fully]

Just a friendly (and shy) neighborhood MMJ enthusiast!

You should show up at one of our meetups. We can joke about weather dongs all day long on here and then when we meet in real life, we don't know what to say. Then we just get drunk and all the shyness goes away....well, some of us. We all aren't big drinkers - like me for instance.

[Fully]

Just a friendly (and shy) neighborhood MMJ enthusiast!

Also, seriously, you seem to have a lot of knowledge about sound and technical stuff that most of us don't have. Please keep posting and sharing your knowledge, whoever you may be.

[searchinbig]

Actually this song itself may refer to that weather dong.

[adastra]

Just a friendly (and shy) neighborhood MMJ enthusiast!

Also, seriously, you seem to have a lot of knowledge about sound and technical stuff that most of us don't have. Please keep posting and sharing your knowledge, whoever you may be.

Cheers, thanks, I'll be around :)

[Fully]

Actually this song itself may refer to that weather dong.

So you are saying that someone out there refers to their dong as "black metal"? Cause that one is an angry red - like my dog's looks sometimes - without the weatherman, of course. He always has the mailman attached to his.

[searchinbig]

Actually this song itself may refer to that weather dong.

So you are saying that someone out there refers to their dong as "black metal"? Cause that one is an angry red - like my dog's looks sometimes - without the weatherman, of course. He always has the mailman attached to his.

 

[APR]

It's not one big loop but instead the phrase is broken into a lot of small pieces, each triggered by its own key on a synth. This way Bo gets to control the feel and tempo just like any other song and no one is tied to a click track.  Trust me when I say this is unique, any other band in the world would just hit play and roll a loop to play along to, but MMJ has worked hard to figure out how to do it organically.

That is some cool knowledge to have.  Thanks for sharing.  Clearly the band thinks of everything to make a show great. 

adastra-  please chime in anytime with behind the scenes info or details like that!

I was at the Palace Theater for the Circuital tour opener and remember the women who sang on the album came out during HOTBM.... they were having a blast and rocking out.

[Fully]

This is completely off topic, but perhaps, Adastra, you might be able to tell us what Jim is singing during Steam Engine. We all think it's "Kenny Loggins". Tom and Bo said during a chat they had with us that it's some sort of vowell thing like "eeee laaa la" or something.

[FiddleCastro]

This is completely off topic, but perhaps, Adastra, you might be able to tell us what Jim is singing during Steam Engine. We all think it's "Kenny Loggins". Tom and Bo said during a chat they had with us that it's some sort of vowell thing like "eeee laaa la" or something.

According to the lyrics on this very website that they done made here, it's "I believe"

http://mymorningjacket.com/releases/it_still_moves 

I still hear "Kenny Loggins" though

[Fully]

This is completely off topic, but perhaps, Adastra, you might be able to tell us what Jim is singing during Steam Engine. We all think it's "Kenny Loggins". Tom and Bo said during a chat they had with us that it's some sort of vowell thing like "eeee laaa la" or something.

According to the lyrics on this very website that they done made here, it's "I believe"

http://mymorningjacket.com/releases/it_still_moves 

I still hear "Kenny Loggins" though

Heck, when did they do that? Nice. I guess I should look over there every now and then. It's not "I believe". It's just not.

[FiddleCastro]

This is completely off topic, but perhaps, Adastra, you might be able to tell us what Jim is singing during Steam Engine. We all think it's "Kenny Loggins". Tom and Bo said during a chat they had with us that it's some sort of vowell thing like "eeee laaa la" or something.

According to the lyrics on this very website that they done made here, it's "I believe"

http://mymorningjacket.com/releases/it_still_moves 

I still hear "Kenny Loggins" though

Heck, when did they do that? Nice. I guess I should look over there every now and then. It's not "I believe". It's just not.

It's been up there for a while. (like a month or a week) Also found out the background part of Run Thru is "It's What Appears To Me" 

[adastra]

This is completely off topic, but perhaps, Adastra, you might be able to tell us what Jim is singing during Steam Engine. We all think it's "Kenny Loggins". Tom and Bo said during a chat they had with us that it's some sort of vowell thing like "eeee laaa la" or something.

Haha, that one is a mystery to me too, I'd say vowels more or less, but who knows how it began life in the studio.  Some things are better left mysterious!

[adastra]

It's not one big loop but instead the phrase is broken into a lot of small pieces, each triggered by its own key on a synth. This way Bo gets to control the feel and tempo just like any other song and no one is tied to a click track.  Trust me when I say this is unique, any other band in the world would just hit play and roll a loop to play along to, but MMJ has worked hard to figure out how to do it organically.

That is some cool knowledge to have.  Thanks for sharing.  Clearly the band thinks of everything to make a show great. 

adastra-  please chime in anytime with behind the scenes info or details like that!

I was at the Palace Theater for the Circuital tour opener and remember the women who sang on the album came out during HOTBM.... they were having a blast and rocking out.

I just can never let that whole sampling issue slide without chiming in.  Its so easy to criticize and say, "big deal, pushing play on a laptop" but I give Bo and the guys a lot of credit for finding creative ways to achieve stuff like that live and still rely on timing and the human touch.  You should see what he does on Day is Coming, amazing!  I've never seen another band do that, especially with sampling getting to be so mainstream.

For more on that topic, watch Ratterman on the JJ shows, he's doing a whole lot of laptop stuff, but he's triggering everything through a variety of physical methods (keys, footpedals, drum pads, monome-looking thing).  I just think its awesome when people use the digital tools but keep the performance aspect "analogue". 

[Fully]

I noticed that at the Nashville show sin e I was basically sitting in his lap. All of those buttons look the same to me. I'm guessing he has to memorize what each button does because nothing really looks like it is labelled.it looks very confusing to me.