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Topic ClosedWhat makes a good Prog song?

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Kati View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 03:44
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Stacks of analog synthesizers (and Rhodes), a beefy bass guitar tone, and percussion.
 
Everything else is optional!

Nay.  Mellotrons in Prog are never optional.  

A good prog song should be drenched in 8 voice choir, strings, flute, etc. On Mellotron.  
 
So that's where Keith Emerson went wrong ( I know I am going to open a hornets nest with this commentLOL)
\The Flute is not necessary always and authentic piano tunes depending on the song construction can easily at times sound better instead compered to the mellotron . xxxx  
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 03:50
this is my best example of a 60's prog song with piano and yes flute too. Filmed on location at Machu Picchu. This absolute outstanding to date! Really! La poderosa muerte - Los Jaivas en Machu Picchu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AO8pY09h_Y
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 03:57
Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:


A very subjective question, but I surmise that many members will  express similar views. So, what elements, in your opinion, are needed in order to make a make a good Prog song? Feel free to talk about music, musicianship, lyrics, concepts, recording techniques or whatever you feel is necessary from the artist.


It depends.
Perfection, at least for me, is not something you can scribble down like a recipe.
I love love love the drums, but I love tracks without them too. I love intricate lyrics with clever songwriting underneath but am just as crazy for directionless freeform tunes in a madeup language. I love electronic music but I also love folk.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 03:59
Not too much notes. Not too much breaks. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 04:18
Unconventionality is the only real must have for me.  If it's going to be by the numbers, I don't need it.  Can't really point to any other particular characteristics.  
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 07:22
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Stacks of analog synthesizers (and Rhodes), a beefy bass guitar tone, and percussion.
 
Everything else is optional!

Nay.  Mellotrons in Prog are never optional.  

A good prog song should be drenched in 8 voice choir, strings, flute, etc. On Mellotron.  
 
So that's where Keith Emerson went wrong ( I know I am going to open a hornets nest with this commentLOL)
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thwok View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 07:26
In response to richardh, I feel you man!  If you're saying that Emerson's problem was not enough mellotron, I completely agree.  Of course, my intense disdain for ELP leads me to find most of what they do problematic.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 10:47
Music....lyrics sometimes
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 11:22
I have more respect for mellotron when people are recording their own samples rather than just using what's passed around.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 12:09
anything that works, I mean really?

as long as it it song and had mellortron LOL


Edited by Slartibartfast - March 28 2015 at 12:13
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 12:21
We all agree about this important component. Anything else?
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verslibre View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 13:15
Originally posted by Kati Kati wrote:

this is my best example of a 60's prog song with piano and yes flute too. Filmed on location at Machu Picchu. This absolute outstanding to date! Really! La poderosa muerte - Los Jaivas en Machu Picchu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AO8pY09h_Y
 
 
"Movimientos metalicos"! That was pretty cool. Do you like Triana and Bloque?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 13:16
Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

We all agree about this important component. Anything else?


British 20-somethings from the 1970s. It ain't prog unless British 20-somethings from the 1970s wrote and played it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 14:20
Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

We all agree about this important component. Anything else?

I don't really agree about the necessity of the mellotron. I think a lot of options for getting big sounds or interesting timbres in general have had lots of success in the past and continue to have lots of promise in the future.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 17:35
Originally posted by zravkapt zravkapt wrote:

Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

We all agree about this important component. Anything else?


British 20-somethings from the 1970s. It ain't prog unless British 20-somethings from the 1970s wrote and played it.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on this as the best Mellotron players were usually British 30-somethings.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 19:41
^Some German 30somethings had a good handle on it, too.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 20:00

Want to play mafia? Visit here.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 28 2015 at 21:22
Fire, passion - just some of the primordial elements required for my full appreciation of any music, and so a prog song too, I just can't appreciate it first from the nowadays fully developed (and long discussed) Prog subjects and technical issues, even if I knew very much about them (not my case unfortunately); as well as any instrumental sounds may be secondary to me with regards to full-fledged damn hooking melodies, song-wise.


"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 29 2015 at 01:04
Robert Fripp is revitalizing the Mellotron.  It sounded amazing in the 2014 KC show I saw.  

Here's more.  If it doesn't have Mellotron, it's not very proggy.  Not sure why Emerson never warmed to them, he probably broke his the minute he tried to play it.  

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 29 2015 at 04:17
I'm pretty sure we've already had this thread within the last few months, but if you had to give an answer, something like this

[QUOTE=The Sloth]Colorful yet tasteful drumming; interesting "events" one after another; the undeniable creation of a mental image or feeling; the sense that this particular musical situation can only be found here in this song/album, yet the music itself isn't a chore to listen to. [/QUOTE]

is one of the nicer ways of putting it.
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