Bobby Owsinski (http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.co.uk/) is quite obviously a very good technical musician (it's hard to glean exactly what his musical tastes are though), and, in his blog "The Big Picture", he takes this one apart completely. I confess I do not know about half of what he is saying, but some of you musicians will!
"The mix of 'Tom Sawyer' is as interesting as is the song form. Neil Peart's drums are way up front and the snare has a nice pre-delayed medium room on it that you can only hear in the beginning when the drums are played by themselves. All of the other drums are dry. The snare is fairly bright, as is the high hat, which is featured in the mix since it keeps the motion of the song moving forward. The kick and snare are compressed well to make them punchy and in your face without seeming squashed.
"The cymbals are nice and bright but pulled back in the mix. Geddy Lee's vocal has a timed delay with a medium reverb wash that blends seamlessly into the track, which also has a bit of modulation that you can hear as it dies out. Once again, you can only hear it during the intro when the song is fairly sparse. His bass has that Rickenbacker treble sound yet still has a lot of bottom, despite the distortion.
"Alex Lifeson's guitar is doubled using a short delay, and slightly chorused with a medium reverb wash for the huge sound that glues everything together. In the case of the solo guitar, the reverb is effected and then spread hard left and right. It also uses the same guitar sound as the rhythm guitar, which is unusual, since solos usually have a different sound on most records.
"Listen Up: To the modulation at the end of the reverb on Geddy Lee's vocal; to how large the stereo synthesizers on the intro of the song are; to the stereo effect on the Moog synth at the beginning of the solo and the outro. The Production: Any power trio has to have great musicians to have everything sound big and cohesive, and Rush does just that. Peart's drumming is absolutely rock solid, without a beat ever feeling like it drifted even a microsecond out of time, yet still feels organic.
"The way he's placed in the mix totally holds it together, yet it never feels as if he's the one featured. As with most other hits, it's the energy of the track that pulls you in, which goes to show you that without a near perfect basic track, it’s difficult to keep the track interesting." One of Rush's best-known songs and is a staple of classic rock radio. It reached No. 25 in the UK Singles chart in October 1981, and in the US peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
14 Comments (since 26 Oct 2014)
leejohnson
Bobby Owsinski (http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.co.uk/) is quite obviously a very good technical musician (it's hard to glean exactly what his musical tastes are though), and, in his blog "The Big Picture", he takes this one apart completely. I confess I do not know about half of what he is saying, but some of you musicians will!
leejohnson
"The mix of 'Tom Sawyer' is as interesting as is the song form. Neil Peart's drums are way up front and the snare has a nice pre-delayed medium room on it that you can only hear in the beginning when the drums are played by themselves. All of the other drums are dry. The snare is fairly bright, as is the high hat, which is featured in the mix since it keeps the motion of the song moving forward. The kick and snare are compressed well to make them punchy and in your face without seeming squashed.
leejohnson
"The cymbals are nice and bright but pulled back in the mix. Geddy Lee's vocal has a timed delay with a medium reverb wash that blends seamlessly into the track, which also has a bit of modulation that you can hear as it dies out. Once again, you can only hear it during the intro when the song is fairly sparse. His bass has that Rickenbacker treble sound yet still has a lot of bottom, despite the distortion.
leejohnson
"Alex Lifeson's guitar is doubled using a short delay, and slightly chorused with a medium reverb wash for the huge sound that glues everything together. In the case of the solo guitar, the reverb is effected and then spread hard left and right. It also uses the same guitar sound as the rhythm guitar, which is unusual, since solos usually have a different sound on most records.
leejohnson
"Listen Up: To the modulation at the end of the reverb on Geddy Lee's vocal; to how large the stereo synthesizers on the intro of the song are; to the stereo effect on the Moog synth at the beginning of the solo and the outro. The Production: Any power trio has to have great musicians to have everything sound big and cohesive, and Rush does just that. Peart's drumming is absolutely rock solid, without a beat ever feeling like it drifted even a microsecond out of time, yet still feels organic.
leejohnson
"The way he's placed in the mix totally holds it together, yet it never feels as if he's the one featured. As with most other hits, it's the energy of the track that pulls you in, which goes to show you that without a near perfect basic track, it’s difficult to keep the track interesting." One of Rush's best-known songs and is a staple of classic rock radio. It reached No. 25 in the UK Singles chart in October 1981, and in the US peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
leejohnson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sawyer_%28song%29
rumn8tr
I love Rush. Hard to believe that Peart is also the lyricist.
metallicagirl
Rush is never a bad thing.
curtywyshart
What @metallicagirl said!
isajward919
i've played this 5 times in a row this morning
cbinseoul
Nice Jam! Beyond The Lighted Stage is a great documentary if you haven't seen it yet :)
aldusd
What @curtywyshart said.
leejohnson
What @aldusd said.