"The Voice"

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I'm trying to do the easier things first, like the bass part for "The Voice."  It sounded really easy to figure out, and it was.  It's pretty much just the same three notes over and over again (at one point for a whole two minutes).

I was going to do the hand-claps during the middle part because I figured the hand-claps would be pretty easy.  Yeah… not so much.  I think they're on the off-beat, so it's really difficult to keep in time.  Plus I'm bad at hand-claps anyway.  This would have been only the third time I'd done them, but I failed.

I got some of the easier phrases in the electric piano part though, so it's not just the bass part.

I also learned that this is in C minor, which doesn't seem to be a key that's used very often.

"Breakdown"

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After I learned the bass part for "The Raven" (part of it, anyway), I discovered a phrase in it that sounded familiar.  And eventually I realized that the same figure starts (and frequently recurs in) "Breakdown."  There are some parts in my recording that aren't very accurate, but most of it is pretty close.  Really, I just wanted to record a version to point out that phrase:

(I'm still not very good at reading music, but I think that's the right notation.)

What's interesting is that the bass parts for "The Raven" and "Breakdown" were played by different musicians.  Joe Puerta played bass on "The Raven," and David Paton played bass on "Breakdown."

"The Raven"

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I learned the bass part for the first section of "The Raven."  Some of the notes I'm not too sure about, and I think there's one phrase I'm missing completely (it's not as loud as the rest, so it's harder to figure out).  I also figured out a bit of the electric piano part.  While it follows the melody for most of this, there are some other notes to it that I haven't figured out yet (maybe parallel thirds?).

The rhythms sound a bit off in some places, but that's probably my fault.

I used the version from The Essential Alan Parsons Project as a template for this.  It differs slightly from the version on Tales of Mystery and Imagination in that there's a longer lead-in with the bass part.  On Tales of Mystery and Imagination, that bass part bridges "A Dream within a Dream" and "The Raven."

"Eye in the Sky"

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I remembered what chords I knew of "Eye in the Sky" and figured out the rest.  One sounds a bit weird, but I don't know if that's because it's wrong or just because the rest of the parts aren't there.

I also figured out a tiny bit of the electric piano part at the beginning.

Also, a sidenote: this was the piece that taught me about palm muting, way back in May 2013.

Introduction

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In August 2012, I start a blog where I document my over-ambitious project of trying to learn all the parts to all of the songs by the Zombies, my favorite band.  (It later expanded to include other bands the members were involved with.)  Last fall, I started thinking about doing the same sort of thing for an-other band because - while I still have a long way to go on that other project - it was progressing much better than I had expected.  Additionally, in learning the parts and how they relate, I started to appreciate the music a lot more.

In determining which band I should add next, the Alan Parsons Project was an obvious choice.  Colin Blunstone - the Zombies' lead singer - makes appearances on a few tracks, and I'd been unsure of what to do with those in my Zombies project.  But now I can go ahead and learn the rest of the APP catalogue too.

Because I'm already doing this same sort of thing for the Zombies' songs, I'm not going to put as much effort into this.  Additionally, the instrumental corpus of the APP is much more diverse and complex than that of the Zombies, and there are many instruments I have no idea how to play and don't even own (specifically, any type of synthesizer and virtually all orchestral instruments).  So, naturally, there will be lots of gaps and uncertainties, especially early in the project.  Part of my aspiration with the project is to learn how to play some more instruments and get better at music in general.

The project title (APP Stereotomy) is multi-faceted.  Obviously, there's the reference to Stereotomy and, within that, to stereo and Poe.  But this project is also a stereotomy of the Alan Parsons Project.  As they explain, "'Stereotomy' is the scientific term for enclosing scientific samples in wax and then cutting them into fine shavings."  In learning the parts, I hope to gain a better understanding of the music.  Like I do with my Zombies project, I'll probably write some posts that merely comment on a particular element in a song.

Excepting The Sicilian Defence, I have all of the Alan Parsons Project albums in one form or an-other.  Some I have only as vinyl LPs.  I just got Vulture Culture for Christmas and haven't listened to it yet, but I'm fairly familiar with most of the albums.  The first one I got was Eye in the Sky (because of Colin Blunstone's vocal appearance on "Old and Wise"), and it's probably still my favorite.  Next I got Stereotomy and then either I Robot or Tales of Mystery and Imagination.  Aside from the first ones, I don't really remember the order I got them in.

I think I know a few chords to "Eye in the Sky" - that's my entire musical knowledge of the APP's catalogue.  Not a very auspicious start.  Still, if this goes anything like my corresponding project for the Zombies, I'll be surprised at where I am in a few years.