The I Just Wasn't Made For These Times 'Sound'

[JoelKoster]

I've been studying Brian's production and arranging techniques on Pet Sounds quite extensively at the moment, and I just can't seem to get my head around this one so I figured I would ask around.

I'm particularly wondering about the general 'sound' of I Just Wasn't Made For These Times. I've been able to figure out the individual parts of almost all of the other PS tracks but it's this one that's got me stumped. There is just something awesome about the arrangement and production that gives it a huge heavy sound.

From the SOT Bootleg I am able decipher the Piano part quite easily because it is quite audible because of the mic leakage through the left channel. However because the main track is so drenched in Gold Star's Echo Chamber reverb it's really difficult to pick out what the Harpsichord, Guitars and other instruments are adding to overall sound. In this I'm mostly focusing on the chordal instruments (keyboards, guitars etc) rather than basses and horns and other stuff.

So basically This is what I've found in the chordal section after I've listened to it a load of times.

The Piano played by Don Randi is definitely a 'Honky Tonk' tuned Tack Piano which plays the main chords and does that insanely cool ragtime thing during the chorus so I'm pretty sure of what's going on in the piano part most of the way through.

The Harpsichord part played by Mike Melvoin I think is the crucial element to the sound and is adding that heaviness to the track. However the harpsichord is so buried in the mix and drenched in echo chamber reverb it's so hard to figure out what it's actually playing. It sounds like it is mostly doubling the piano part in the song and that's what I would assume it probably does because Brian used the 'doubling' technique a lot in PS. B

Glen Campbell's guitar definitely sounds like an Acoustic 12 String which I assume after Brian's direction he switched to from a Banjo after the 1st take (Brian didn't like the sound). It sounds like he's mostly playing chords throughout most of the song which are most audible during "Each time things start to happen again...".

Barney Kessel's guitar is much more buried in the mix and it definitely sounds like an electric 12 String. However It's much more diffucult to tell exactly what this guitar is doing because it's so buried and drenched in reverb but I it's definitely adding something to the sound. There is some really weird dissonant stuff going on I picked up on through the "Each times things..." section and also at the end of the chorus.

Also a little other thing I'll add, there is a sound that I hear which is mostly audible under the "They say I've got brains..." section that i swear sounds something like steel drums mostly sounding on the offbeats. Is it possible that this is also what is adding to the sound during the verse sections?

So yeah If anyone has any information to add to this or if anyone has any different opinions I'd love to hear. Even if anyone knows what specific inversions the chords are playing aswell I'd really love to know.

[puni puni]

Kessel's electric guitar just sounds like it's being played real high up. not unlike the 12 strings on Sloop John B

[zachrwolfe]

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[JoelKoster]

Thank you so much! That really does help me with the Guitar part in that section. I played the transcription you wrote and it pretty much sounds dead on to what is on the track.  I'm still though having trouble hearing the guitar part during the verses because it is so blended in with everything else. Any ideas on what is going on there?

[zachrwolfe]

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