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Could someone please explain.


Sancho Panza

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Amazes me everytime I hear it, must have been pretty amazing to hear in '66, nothing like it. I have two questions about it though.

 

1. I read somewhere that the rhythm guitar, in the second section, is droning (is that how you say it?). What is droning? Been trying to find it online, but not much help there. It sounds though that Elvin is only playing one string (?) for the whole section.

 

2. Even my semi-deaf ear can pick up that Mike doesn't use the usaul minor pentatonic scale for this song. Does he use any particular scale? Raga rock, from what I've learned, is just playing for example; 10-11, 7-8, 5-6, etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that, love the raga rock sound like in "Eight Miles High".

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaV-S5ivX3E

 

Thanks for any answer.

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Thanks for posting

 

Great clip...!

 

The first section is mainly G harmonic minor....there is a D drone from a tamburra at some point

 

The second section explores all things 'D'....Major and Mixolydian modes

 

Miles Davis was getting into this kind of thing and recorded seminal 'Jazz Rock' albums in the late 60's early 70's

 

Which were essentially modal jams with some very famous players involved.....

 

V

 

:-({|=

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To answer your question about droning. I don't know the official definition, but to me it's when one common tone plays though the song (or part of the song) even if the main chords are changing.

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Drones vs Pedal Tones......

 

Drones tend to occur in folk music, often replacing a chord sequence ie sitar, bagpipe, hurdy gurdy etc

 

Allowing a melody to be played in single note form while the drones fill out the sound

 

Pedal Tones as mentioned are constant, often bass notes(but not always) which repeat or sustain under a moving chord sequence....

 

V

 

:-({|=

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A drone is a continuous tone produced by one or more instruments. It is common in Indian music and made its way into modern Western music by way of cats like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, George Harrison, and John Cale (The Velvet Underground). In sixties psychedelic music it was used to induce a trance like feeling brought on by the music. I have used it in the past on some of my songs. Very cool effect.

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Man... I saw those guys at the Fillmore West, (was the ONLY FIllmore at the time), back in about 1965.

 

Fantastic.

 

 

If you could only see the envy in me right now. Mike Bloomfield's work with Paul Butterfield and Bob Dylan is so magical. To have seen it live...

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If you could only see the envy in me right now. Mike Bloomfield's work with Paul Butterfield and Bob Dylan is so magical. To have seen it live...

 

I know..... but at the time, I just went there to pick up chicks..... wish I'd payed more attention to the music!

 

You know what they say about the 60's....if you recall them, you weren't really there!

 

Also, reminds me of the joke from the 60's.

 

Hippy guy: Man...have you ever been picked up by the fuzz?

 

Hippy girl: No, I'll bet it hurts!

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There was a lot of experimentation in that era - and believe it or not, I was there and I remember it. OTOH, I got kinda a "kick upstairs" in age 'cuz of the "day job."

 

Problem is that such stuff never "made it" beyond a cult following. It's not hard to find lots of other Butterfield stuff around.

 

I agree that it's a lot like McGuinn's "Eight Miles High."

 

As for a drone, it's also an American folk music tradition. The dulcimer tended to be played with a drone. The 5-string banjo is a "drone" fifth string. A lotta one-chord "blues" essentially has drones. Ditto a lotta Scottish and Irish "celtic" sorts of music. So between "African" and "Brit Isles" traditions I'd say a drone is all-American no matter how you look at it.

 

m

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A drone is a continuous tone produced by one or more instruments. It is common in Indian music and made its way into modern Western music by way of cats like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, George Harrison, and John Cale (The Velvet Underground). In sixties psychedelic music it was used to induce a trance like feeling brought on by the music. I have used it in the past on some of my songs. Very cool effect.

So you basically mean that I could play Ab on the 11th fret and call it a drone? Just repeat it over and over again?

 

PS. Would be nice to hear any of those "drone" songs.

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There was a lot of experimentation in that era - and believe it or not, I was there and I remember it. OTOH, I got kinda a "kick upstairs" in age 'cuz of the "day job."

 

Problem is that such stuff never "made it" beyond a cult following. It's not hard to find lots of other Butterfield stuff around.

 

I agree that it's a lot like McGuinn's "Eight Miles High."

 

As for a drone, it's also an American folk music tradition. The dulcimer tended to be played with a drone. The 5-string banjo is a "drone" fifth string. A lotta one-chord "blues" essentially has drones. Ditto a lotta Scottish and Irish "celtic" sorts of music. So between "African" and "Brit Isles" traditions I'd say a drone is all-American no matter how you look at it.

 

m

I think that '66 was a good music year for the "raga" rock. It seems like it took place right there, everybody was noticing the same thing in indian music and applied it to western, like "Eight Miles High" and "East-West".

 

Other examples of these indian "scales":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6H1fxEhHc

 

The solo starts at 0:44 and it sounds alot like "Eight Miles High", sounds like he's on the same spot and doing hammerons and pullofs, but I could be wrong.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EjHOshPtmo

 

Another song with the same principal.

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Thanks for the answers, I think I have some more knowledge now on what a "drone" is.

 

Let's continue to my other question. What scale is he playing? I've been listening to "East-West" live and though the versions differ from each other you can still hear that he uses the same scale or mode or whatever it's called.

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