Count start Analysis Desperadoes Final 2018
Some recent comments, somewhere on this WST Forum, users were lamenting a crazy start count to the Desperadoes 2018 Finals rendition of Year For Love (Upendo Riddim) (2018) (Arr 'Zanda').
With the aide of the recording made by the good UTT MTech team (https://soundcloud.com/panorama_live_2018), who don’t ‘talk over’ the start of everything, we can now take a closer look at what happened to Desperadoes.
Applying a little Noise Reduction and some amplification to the ‘count’; the following Desperadoes 2018 count start Analysis clip will let you hear what transpired.
To get a better feel for what happened; the sound clip was digitally slowed with FFA to leave the pitch about the same, but slowing the pace by about 33%. You can now distinguish if the players start scattered, or in sinc from the Desperadoes SLOWED start Analysis clip.
My view is that the count start was a bit off; but the band recovered immediately (they know Zanda). If there is any complaint; it’s in the overall arrangement, not the band.
What’s your shout?
Cheers tobagojo4sure
Replies
It's not that big a deal. The count could be anything as long as the band doesn't sound a mess when they start. Last year the count was too fast and the band had to drastically slow down. In this case they start together and hold it. Which is not to say that I believe this is how it was meant to be counted. But that's not a problem, Bradley miffed the count once and even so that arrangement and performance was a winner. This too is a brilliant arrangement which I have been listening to non stop since first hearing it prelims night and watching them offstage at finals the hair on the back of my neck stood up so powerful was the performance.
Anyway, forget the count, if we're going to pick apart the execution of this arrangement the actual mistake is in the middles where somebody played an extra phrase after the band was done.
P.S. That's not a "faint drum beat" you're hearing. The UTT mics are picking up the sound of players tapping/stomping to the count on the wooden stage. This is present in most bands' recordings from this year.
This is why I referred to it as a faint drum beat. It even proved my point more that the musicians (not just pan players) knew the count and the nature of it. It was practiced just as it is. Here we are speaking about Carlton Zanda, an experienced musician and a very sober man. No drug addict here. No alcohol here. No marijuana here. There was no perceived mistake anywhere in the playing of extra notes. The explanation came directly from him through another close source to me as I asked. There were no such extra beats by players. These were attempts to justify their third place by many people, which should have tied with Renegades if not first place. The music is slightly more elevated in vibration than Renegades. That's what you are picking up as well by your listening to it over and over. The frequencies are lighter then Renegades and the he made the bass the top instrument that also spoke that frequency. The guitars also delivered that inner frequency. Technically I say it was the better arrangement. Nothing faulty I heard indeed. It was just the faulty judging as usual. Carlton in an interview recently even expressed that Panorama judges do not actually know sufficiently about the pan instrument. They are mostly piano players or singers or play some other instrument or teach music. There should be more international judges that arrange orchestration not only for steelbands but other bands he said. It is in orchestration that one picks up what the arranger is doing with the song. He also was a panorama judge and knows what is what there as well. They do not actually know orchestration. Some judges when they can't understand a piece of the arrangement do not put much points he said. Conversations he had with judges drew him to those conclusions. Not all of them know what they are doing really.
The explanation of the count is as follows from near the horses's mouth. First is, the count was used throughout the practice sessions. The first three groups counts indicates the actual tempo of the song. The very last three single counts gave the reminder for the basses, a reference note timing and spacing between the first bass note to the second and then the second to the third note slightly faster. If you notices the tenors and rhythm picked up on the actual tempo of the song. The bass was reminded of their note timing. It was arranged and explained to them and they practiced this. There is no "drunken" count as one pan player referred to Zanda'a count. It was not the usual run of the mill count. The tenors immediately came in with a 5 note run with the same timing of the first 3 groups of counts which were given. The bass took up the very last three count reminders of the third and final count. This is a genius at work There was no foul up. Strictly speaking the music itself was more advanced than Renegades. But it was Renegades who started the lead and maintained it. If the judges thought the count was off they are also wrong and misunderstood why it had to be done that way. Also listen to the faint drum beat at the back of the count. A well rehearsed count according to the feel of rhythm used throughout the song.