Stories about the songs - The Beatles
An interesting detail that connects these two songs.
That is why this music is mystical and at the highest level possible, and the years in which it was created are said to be unrepeatable.
In the early 1960s, in Birmingham, Great Britain, a new instrument was "born" - the mellotron - which might be considered the predecessor of the synthesizer.
Specifically, it was during those years that Harry Chamberlin was able to realize his idea, which he had while "playing" with a tape recorder in the mid-forties, more specifically in 1946.
The mellotron's sound database consisted of recording one note of the original instrument or voice on an infinite magnetic tape, and that sound was "called" by pressing a certain hole on the mellotron keyboard.
Such a thing was groundbreaking at the time, to the point where listeners thought the tone was not of this world.
Of course, rock musicians soon saw the potential for this instrument to add to the overall "color" of their sound.
The list of performers who used the mellotron is extensive, so we will only mention a few:
Nice, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Rick Wakeman...
However, We would want to highlight two groups, that is, two compositions in which the usage of the mellotron was perfected.
The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" comes in first, with the role of this instrument being simply fantastic, mystical, or whatever.
In the introduction to this piece, the Beatles employed the mellotron as a keyboard rather than a flute, which is its original, original sound in this song.
In this way, the song's message is cleverly highlighted - that we are oblivious to our own situation and that we frequently fail to see the forest for the trees.
Of course, George Martin's production talent was on full display here.
He composed the song as a synthesis of two separate portions, each having its own instrumentalization and tempo, but he masterfully combined them into a single whole, while still allowing the listener to "float" in two parallel worlds - pop and psychedelic.
The "fifth Beatles" masterpiece.
The second piece is "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin, which is an almost unprecedented effort by Page and the team.
And, as in "Strawberry Fields," the arrangement here is quite wonderful.
A conversation between William Burroughs and Page inspired the song, in which Burroughs tried to persuade Page to tackle old Moroccan culture.
The book is Plant's romanticized reminiscence of a 1973 trip.
The musician traveled through Western Sahara on a long and risky tour.
We comprehend that Plant went beyond ordinary memories and memories if we know that Kashmir is a province located between India and Pakistan, not in Morocco.
As a result, the song's title became a form of promise, something that brings hope.
The entire arrangement revolves around a peculiar, even unsettling double rhythm. "Bonzo" (John Bonham) is in four-quarter time, while the others are in three-quarter time. If you pay close attention to the composition, you'll notice that these two rhythms intersect every three beats of the drum and every four beats of the whole.
The initial sound in this song is carried by the mellotron and violins, which are placed facing each other, while the keyboards are arranged entirely opposite - as a kind of reflection, like a reflected ray from a mirror.
The singer and the mellotron are in an "embrace" at the same moment.
They go in search of the unusual.
That is why this music is mystical and at the highest level possible, and the years in which it was created are said to be unrepeatable.
Post by Bryan C.
