Track Synopsis: Sylvia Plath is a beautiful song off of Ryan Adam’s record from 2003 called “Gold.” This is arguably Ryan’s greatest record (though every record of his can be debated as such). There is something about the tracks on his records that are outliers…they are usually the more stripped down songs that are on gentle side, sandwiched between the rockers. Sylvia Plath is one such song. Just piano, voice and strings on the record. The mood and words carry all the momentum of the track.
Most of the songs on disʞover were learned by ear. I just sat listening long enough to understand the progression and then transcribed it into a guitar line. It’s bare and loose and the lyric and melody weave in and out of each other. It was also tricky in that the chord progression does not move like anything I have personally ever written. It was challenging for me to hear and play certain chord changes…honestly I’m not sure why. Nonetheless it was a welcomed ear-training experience for me to because accustomed to hearing the key change from the verse section into the chorus. It took me a good while of practice before I was able to carry the melody between the sections.
Another challenge was the arrangement. The guitar does not take up as much harmonic space as a piano due to it’s range. I didn’t have access to strings and I didn’t want to rely on virtual string instruments. I forced myself to use what was available. Besides voice and guitar, there is acoustic piano, orchestral-like drums, subdued synth bass, rhodes piano and electric guitar.
A nice surprise for me was the acoustic piano and rhodes piano that are heard in unison during the 2nd verse. Together they create a unique sound that sounds nothing like each instrument when played alone. It kinda reminds me of high pitched chimes. Another fun thing I did in the arrangement of the 2nd verse, was to overdub multiple piano notes, all within the chord (root, 3rd, 5th) and sustain them as long as possible, starting at the down beat. Using elastic audio within ProTools, I was able to make the sustain even longer by stretching the waveform and have it linger under the verse. This created a nice sparkling effect. To enhance this sound further, I used side-chain compression so that the piano sustain ‘flows’ in volume in relation to the guitar part (when the guitar is plucked, the piano is quiet…when the guitar is sustaining, the piano part becomes louder). This effect makes me think of the piano as an ocean wave, moving in and off shore. It’s very appropriate for this section of the song because the lyrics are describing an ocean scenario. Very fitting!
I am most proud of my vocal performance and tone in this song. I feel like it fits the mood of the song and is delivered in a manner that takes up a lot of space. The words are important in this tune so I’m glad I was able to portray this intention. I was able to use a sony c37a tube mic for the track which has since become one of my favorite vocal mics whenever I am trying to achieve a larger-than-life vocal sound. An aspect of the track that I can learn from is the subpar snare drum performance during the 2nd chorus. For some reason I don’t feel like this part gelled very well, so in order to ‘mask’ my unassuredness, I put a lot of reverb on the snare and have the volume low so it sits in the back of the soundstage. I believe that this alleviated some of the inconsistencies I hear in the performance and lets the sound blend with the other elements, as to not be distracting.
Listen April 1st: jamesmedermusic.com
