harpsichord
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Invented in
the late Middle Ages in Europe, the harpsichord produces sound by plucking a
string when a key is pressed rather than hammering a string. Looking like a
smaller, more colourful version of the grand piano, the harpsichord was widely
used during the Renaissance and Baroque and made a comeback in the twentieth
century.
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prime example
the story
Keyboardist
Dave Greenfield had already presented a musical passage he had written to his
band, the Stranglers, when they were recording their 1981 concept LP The
Meninblack. During sessions for their next album, guitarist and singer Hugh
Cornwell heard Greenfeld experimenting with the same piece of music and penned
ten minutes worth of lyrics at the spot. The characteristic opening phrase of
Golden Brown, as the new song was called, consists of three bars of 3/4 and one
of 4/4, which is why BBC newreader Bill Turnbull’s attempt to waltz to it in
the 2005 television series of Strictly Come Dancing was “a disaster”, in his
own words.
The unusual metre, the jazzy medieval sounding backing and the lyrics referencing heroine (although the band claimed it was an aural Rorschach test, with people reading in them whatever they wanted), convinced the Stranglers this was just another album track - until radio stations across England started playing the song. Drummer Jet Black then pushed for it to be released as a single, which subsequently reached the number two spot, providing the Stranglers with their biggest hit.
The unusual metre, the jazzy medieval sounding backing and the lyrics referencing heroine (although the band claimed it was an aural Rorschach test, with people reading in them whatever they wanted), convinced the Stranglers this was just another album track - until radio stations across England started playing the song. Drummer Jet Black then pushed for it to be released as a single, which subsequently reached the number two spot, providing the Stranglers with their biggest hit.
other examples
Though the
Doors liked to jam in their early days, keyboard player Ray Manzarek realized
they also needed some songs if they wanted to release albums. He asked his band
members to write some at home. The next day, guitarist Robbie Krieger turned up
with two new ones: Light My Fire, the Doors’ breakthrough single, and Love Me
Two Times, recorded during sessions for the first album but released on the
next, Strange Days. For this track, Manzarek added another instrument to his
arsenal: “I started out with a Vox Continental organ, like all the English
groups used. It was flat on top so I could put the Fender Rhodes piano bass
right on top of it. The second album was done the same way, except we added a Hohner
Clavinet and a harpsichord played through a Baldwin amp, which was wonderful.”
Fly, a gentle song from British folk musician Nick Drake’s second album Bryter Layter, features Drake playing guitar and singing, Fairport Convention member Dave Pegg on bass and former Velvet Underground member John Cale on viola and harpsichord. Cale later said that when he recorded his parts, Drake wasn’t in the studio: “I was the hired hand to come in and overdub and put some colour on the tracks. I finished the tracks, went on my merry way and met Nick much later. I’m proud of those records, they’re quite pretty. Very dreamy, I guess.”
Fly, a gentle song from British folk musician Nick Drake’s second album Bryter Layter, features Drake playing guitar and singing, Fairport Convention member Dave Pegg on bass and former Velvet Underground member John Cale on viola and harpsichord. Cale later said that when he recorded his parts, Drake wasn’t in the studio: “I was the hired hand to come in and overdub and put some colour on the tracks. I finished the tracks, went on my merry way and met Nick much later. I’m proud of those records, they’re quite pretty. Very dreamy, I guess.”
