Music: Favorite individual sounds on a record?

[zombie kopitar]

What are some of your favorite sounds made on a record??
This is not about whether you even like the song, just the individual tracks that you really like and respect.


A few for me are the tambourine on this Jefferson Starship track. Can't really think of another tambourine that sits so well on a record


The synth solo on this Shins song is the warmest damn synth I've ever heard(around 2 minute mark)....analog AF

I'm not even huge fans of these songs, but when I first heard both of them I just remember those sticking out, and I still love them.


A few of my favorite guitar tones are Fixing a Hole by the Beatles & all the clean tones off of Jeff Buckley's Grace

Are there any records where you really respect the sonic qualities....but the songs themselves you can't stand?? (Jagged Little Pill for myself)

Click to read more...

 

[kook10]

The Gary Glitter drum sound.


http://thequietus.com/articles/00709-rock-roll-part-3-stepping-out-of-gary-glitter-s-shadow

Also, sort of derivatively Joan Jett's drum and guitar sounds on I Love Rock N Roll.

 

[Shareefruck]

Screeching chairleg into shattering glass into psychotic bassline opening on European Son

 

[roy munson]

The hi-hat in every Police songs

The "bing" in Bongo Bong (Manu Chao)



Very specific, but from the Braveheart soundtrack, For The Love Of A Princess: that double string sound at 2:36 gets me every freakin' time.

 

[KirkOut]

Guitar:
solo by Leslie West on Mountain's version of Theme for an Imaginary Western
entirity of Tunnel of Love by Dire Straits played by Mark Knopfler

Bass:
bassline by Geddy Lee during the guitar solo of The Camera Eye by Rush
intro to Killers by Iron Maiden played by Steve Harris

Drums:
intro to Fireball by Deep Purple played by Ian Paice.
intro to When the Levee Breaks by Zep played by J Bonham

Synthesizer:
solo by Jordan Rudess in the middle of Octavarium by Dream Theater
solo by Keith Emerson at the end of Lucky Man by Emerson Lake and Palmer

Vocals:
Steve Walsh on the Journey From Mariabronn by Kansas
Randy Meisner on Take it to the Limit by The Eagles

 

[les Habs]

The first 20 seconds or so of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and I don't even know exactly what instruments I'm listening to.

 

[Xelebes]

The backward string pad in Michael Forshaw's Dump.

 

[Xelebes]

The high string-choir pad in Lucy's Milgram Experiment. The kick is also something to behold.

 

[zombie kopitar]

solo by Jordan Rudess in the middle of Octavarium by Dream Theater

Nice one, I'm partial to the continuum intro though.

And just to be clear, this has way more to do with the sonic quality rather than the musicality. Though it's impossible to completley separate the two.

The first 20 seconds or so of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and I don't even know exactly what instruments I'm listening to.

I'm going to take a stab and say it's just a guitar running through a really cool vintage reverb, plus an Echoplex or Roland RE-301 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz0ICtXISXE)
Something might have also been done with the speed of the tape. Sounds great


Enjoying these so far guys, keep em coming

 

[Hippasus]

The crater sound just past the three minute mark. I think the same sample also happens to start the song. What a difference the context of placement can make. I think it might actually be a thunderclap.

 

[Hippasus]

The periodic massive gong / vibraphone (totally guessing) sound.

 

[Pavelski2112]

I do audio engineering, so this thread is right up my alley.

- The kick drum tone on Today is the Day's Supernova is my favorite kick sound ever.
- Jon Stanier's drum sound on every Helmet record. Super deep, punchy kick and tight, cracky snare.
- Craig MacFarland's bass on Louie On a Drive With Tremens from M.I.R.V.'s Feeding Time on Monkey Island. Best use of a slap-back delay I've ever heard.

I could go on for a while.

 

[Porn*]

The whip in Stutter by Kiss

 

[irunthepeg]

The synth intro to Life on Mars:

 

[Eisen]

In "Dust in my dick" by Move On, there entire background is screamed and the volume turned down. There are some nice screams in there.

 

[Ar-too]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned the guitar in Creep by Radiohead yet. You know the one... leading into the chorus. Flea described it as the best ****ing sound in the history of music IIRC.

 

[Player big P]

You know those guitars that are like...double guitars, you know?

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

The intro to "Tomorrow Never Knows" on Revolver, the xylophone in "Chicago" on Illinois, the opening clarinet in "Rhapsody in Blue" and there's one trumpet solo on Kind of Blue, I don't remember which track, that always sounds amazing on vinyl.

 

[NyQuil]

I always liked this opening riff from Lounge Fly.

My buddy replicated it by rubbing his fingers across his guitar strings and then reversing it using Windows microphone.

 

[Seb]

The progression starting from 1:00 to 1:40

 

[TNT87]

The bagpipes on AC/DC's It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll).

The bells ringing before Hells Bells.

The canon fire in For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

 

[Skrudland]

The whole section from about 2:55 to 3:15 of Overlee by The Rentals but in particular the vocal harmonies.

 

[Mimsy]

The distinct jangle of a Rickenbacker 12-string. The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" film/album, along with The Byrds music, of course, are saturated with it.

A few more Beatles sounds I like:

--the mellotron on "Strawberry Fields Forever"
--Harrison's guitar pedal effect on "I Need You"
--Ringo's drum fills on "A Day in the Life". It's not just his style of playing I like, but the "muted" sound of his drums.
--Lennon's driving rhythm guitar on "She's a Woman" (the mono recording has a more aggressive and pleasing tone than in stereo, at least to my ear)

Random others:

--The Roland Jupiter-8 keyboard used on Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer". Also from the Rio album, the ocarina (flute) solo on "The Chauffeur" (I prefer the live version from the Arena album, as it's a more expressive solo). *I've now maxed out my allowable Duran Duran references by a significant margin.

--the outro to David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes". Lot's of weird overlapping synthesizer effects.

--Pipe organ on Arcade Fire's "Intervention"

 

[Pavelski2112]

The distinct jangle of a Rickenbacker 12-string. The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" film/album, along with The Byrds music, of course, are saturated with it.

A few more Beatles sounds I like:

--the mellotron on "Strawberry Fields Forever"
--Harrison's guitar pedal effect on "I Need You"
--Ringo's drum fills on "A Day in the Life". It's not just his style of playing I like, but the "muted" sound of his drums.
--Lennon's driving rhythm guitar on "She's a Woman" (the mono recording has a more aggressive and pleasing tone than in stereo, at least to my ear)

Random others:

--The Roland Jupiter-8 keyboard used on Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer". Also from the Rio album, the ocarina (flute) solo on "The Chauffeur" (I prefer the live version from the Arena album, as it's a more expressive solo). *I've now maxed out my allowable Duran Duran references by a significant margin.

--the outro to David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes". Lot's of weird overlapping synthesizer effects.

--Pipe organ on Arcade Fire's "Intervention"

YES. Can never have too many Duran Duran references as far as I'm concerned. Rio is a masterpiece album.

 

[aufheben]

Eric's Trip by Sonic Youth.