Working with acoustic and electric instruments
I focused much of last month’s column on questions raised by Bay Area musician Tomás Enguídanos. Tomás said he’d had difficulty blending the sounds of acoustic instruments with electric instruments while producing country-bluegrass or western swing. I asked if he’d like me to discuss the work of two great recording artists, Ricky Skaggs and George Strait, who had done just. Early in their respective careers during the early ‘80s they contributed an acoustic element to the mainstream country music that was popular at the time. Tomás liked that idea, and last month I discussed Skaggs’ hit version of Larry Cordle’s “Highway 40 Blues.” Skaggs comes from a bluegrass background; this month’s discussion will center on a piece recorded by top-level country singer George Strait. “Amarillo by Morning” (written by Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser) was released on MCA by Strait in 1983.
Much of the sound of Skaggs’ “Highway 40 Blues” on Epic and Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning,” on MCA, comes from their mainstream production. Simplicity, focus, and danceability are essential elements of productions in this genre; these priorities contrast with the nuance and richness of productions in niche markets, where sophisticated listeners appreciate layers of expression and subtlety.
Start with rhythm
Let’s begin with Strait’s rhythm section of electric bass, a small drum kit, and two acoustic guitars. The bass is mixed low, and tightly linked to the kick drum, which has a loud initial “tick” on every downbeat. This provides good articulation without being loud. The drum kit for most of the early part of the tune is minimal — kick and snare, with the snare played by the side stick for a very small, precise and clearly defined back beat on 2 and 4 (where mando players usually chop in bluegrass). The side stick leave lots of sonic space for Strait’s rich country baritone. The eighth-note level rhythm is added by two acoustic guitars, one mixed hard left and the other hard right. We mostly hear the upper mids and the sparkly high frequencies from the guitars, which again leaves good space for Strait’s low voice and later in the arrangement, the electric guitar fills. There is virtually no use of the cymbals until we hear a quickly muted splash when the modulation brings in a higher level of energy late in the arrangement. This rise in energy via modulation is a common trick in commercially-released music, as it serves to add a sense of motion and development in what is essentially a three-minute adventure built with a simple song.
In “Amarillo by Morning,” the modulation is heralded by the addition of a new drum sound — a low-pitched tom pattern and a move to the snare head with the brush, rather than the side stick that subtly provided the back beat earlier. These lower-frequency sounds are complimented by the addition of the low-pitched electric guitar (strat) passages on the left side, providing more push and urgency to the arrangement. Then the pedal steel guitar, mixed with huge reverb and with fairly undefined attacks, provides a wash of country ambience.
The signature instrument in this recording, the fiddle, is kept very near the center, right near Strait’s vocal. It is mixed in and out, up and down, constantly, so that it can add to the sense of lonesomeness that the lyric reveals, without becoming a separate target for the listener. The fiddle sounds acoustic; the EQ (“tonal control”) is fairly dark, without the brashness of a close bright condenser mic. Its reverb, coupled with the constant gain riding to keep it from intruding while Strait is singing, keep it softly present as Strait spins the yarn about returning home to Amarillo from rodeos in Texas and Santa Fe. Buddy Spicher, the great Nashville fiddler who played those quintessentially country fiddle lines, told me that in the session the producer (Blake Mevis) whistled the lines to him and he just played what he was told.
The fiddle sound is determined first by the player and instrument (Buddy Spicher was a perfect call for this part), next by the room where the recording was made (it sounds soft and spacious), and then influenced to a much lesser degree by the microphone placement and choice of microphone and preamp. The fiddle’s place in the mix is either a quiet and delicate counterpart to Strait’s lonesome vocal, or else it takes the center stage when Strait is between verses. As the verses progress, the fiddle gives way to the steel, providing a stylistic nod and a sense of motion. The “hook,” or the melody line that Spicher plays at the end of each verse, is clearly defined by the second time Spicher plays it. It’s simple, beautiful, and repetitive, and all of these qualities are necessary for main-stream commercial radio music.
In next month’s column, I’ll write about how some of the instruments’ sounds are achieved, both for the electric as well as the acoustic instruments. Meanwhile, enjoy listening to these great artists, and keep on practicing!
Copyright © 2018 by Joe Weed
Joe Weed records acoustic music at his Highland Studios near Los Gatos, California. He has released seven albums of his own, produced many projects for independent artists and labels, and does scores for film, TV and museums. Joe’s composition “Hymn to the Big Sky” was heard in “The Dust Bowl,” a film by Ken Burns, which premiered nationally on PBS. Joe recently produced and released “Two Steps West of the Mississippi,” a collection of his original instrumental music based on American fiddle roots. Reach Joe by email at joe@joeweed.com, or by visiting joeweed.com.