This is a brief clip from the next Minecraft track – Build. At 149 beats per minute it’s got a lot more energy than the last piece – which I think works well if you’re making something in Minecraft (which can be quite a repetitious thing.)
It was the middle of the 80’s – pianists were turning into keyboard players, acoustic tones were being driven out by synthetic swoops while rock music was morphing into the ridiculousness of hair metal and over the top superficial bullshit - I was 16 when this track came out and was smitten immediately.
It’s from Marillion’s third album – Misplaced Childhood – and I was probably hipped to it by my brother who was already listening to their earlier stuff like Fugazi and Script for a Jester’s Tear. They were a rock band and sure, they used snyths as much as anyone else, but for a piano player – this track was like an oasis in the desert.
I always struggled with the role of keyboard player, although I love the flexibility of the technology – the fact that I can hit a switch and be playing a Hammond B3 without having to lug one onto the stage – I’ve always been suspicious of the quality of the patches. I’m personally much more drawn to sounds that emulate real instruments than to the man made tones that you found everywhere in the 80’s – one or two songs aside – I don’t think they’ve aged terribly well.
Aside from the piano what’s also interesting about this is that it is basically the same riff repeated throughout the length of the track; there’s no musical distinction between verse & chorus. The dynamics of the track are all driven by instrumentation, lyric and performance; the idea that one simple idea can be expanded upon and developed into something much bigger and more interesting is at the heart of music2work2.
This is the first in a series of posts on music that have influenced the development of music2work2 - if you'd like to be notified when new music is released - you can become a free member here.
This is the development of the main theme but presented in 3/4 time to reflect the male character in the movie. When Charlotte asked why it was the male theme - I directed her to the downward thrusts on the 2nd and 3rd beats of the bar! You'll hear those thrusts developed further as the piece moves into its climax in 5/4 time - but that's for later!
The visual is a screen shot from one of SAmi's animated paintings - the visuals really are stunning.
If you'd like to learn more about the movie you can visit SAmi's site here: