The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was wondering how this was recorded? The piano seems to play a single note through the lines of the verses but then hits a big chord, joined by the organ. It's very addictive (especially the backing track in isolation) and an example of Brian's keep-it-simple approach post-Smile. The vocal is obviously gorgeous and probably in the top 5 leads on a BB single.

Now, I'm only using YouTube as my tool...but my ear isn't picking out any organ. Also, I can hear the piano moving through the chord changes on the entire track, I think the "single note" you're hearing is the left-hand of the piano bouncing between octaves as it is accented VERY heavily. The tone quality of the piano is similar to that of just about all piano usage from 1967-1969 on Beach Boys records.

Correct me of I'm wrong, but I think that's the Chickering piano that was in Brian's house.  It was out of tune on purpose.  It's very prominent on BB recordings in the few years after the demise of Smile. 

The piano plays exactly this:

https://youtu.be/OLnCk8OK1sU (https://youtu.be/OLnCk8OK1sU)

Yes. This is the famous tuning job Marilyn talks about, where Brian sang each note to the guy tuning it.

Thank you!

So with the original question being how it was recorded, I don't know the story behind it by any means, but it's obviously a great deal of reverb involved there. Considering it's Brian's home piano, I'd assume this was simply recorded naturally in his home and this was the sound that came back?

Thanks for sharing that. I feel stupid saying this, but it's nice to hear Brian Wilson playing a solid piano track.

This was recorded in Brian's home studio.  Love that piano on so many tracks of that era - especially Here Comes the Night.

I love that piano, too! Brian got such a robust sound out of it. One of the things that makes WH so great!

HCTN is a favorite of mine mainly due to the piano riff...good call!

The retuned piano creates it's own flanged effect with harmonics creating extra tonal nuances. This makes it sound fuller & you could be forgiven in thinking an extra instrument was at play. Plus the brilliantly undermined brass also blends in at times to add to this.
Didn't I hear on a previous thread that most - if not all - of the bass on this album was by Bruce?? Props to him if it was - epic & near as dammit to James Jamerson!

Thanks for the replies. The isolated track clearly shows I was way wrong on the 'one note'. I wonder to what extent those chord changes came out of listening to the Motown stuff of the era?

Consensus has been that it's their touring bassist Ron Brown, who actually was a motown guy.

Does the same piano tuning appear on the demos of Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder (Pet Sounds box) and Surf's Up?

What was the exact piano model that BW used?

It was a Chickering grand - not sure of the size.  It was sold to a collector in the late 70s.  I remember seeing the sale notice in the fan club news letter.  Anyone know who's got it?

I have an embarrassing (but hilarious) admission.   Thanks to this thread, I have only just worked out that 'Chickering' is the actual brand of the piano, rather than a description of its sound.  In other words, I thought it was 'the chickering piano', as in, say, the 'jangly' piano. 

I hereby demote myself to the slow stream...

 :lol

Of course it could just be cussing:

"Whaddya mean piano, SMiLe Brian? It was a chickerin' grand, fer crissakes!"

Perfect! :lol

Cheers, that makes sense! Still like to cling to some sense that it was Bruce given that his only other recorded contributions (besides vocals) appear to be on piano. Maybe he did sirens on Student Demonstration Time.....

:lol You're not the only one! Same here!

make that three  ::)

COMMENT to harrisonjon: 

1)  Take one 9 foot concert grand piano (a gift from Murry Wilson to his son, Brian) manufactured by The Chickering Piano Company of Boston, MA, established in 1853. . .

2)  Record one basic track

3)  Overdub one "padding" track, recorded with the recorder running slower by a few IPS, but with the piano notes played exactly the same as in (2). . .

4) Mix together into one MONO track.  The two tracks (one normal tuning and one slightly sharp) will cause the sound to hytrodyne or beat with itself, depending on the speed difference between the original and overdubbed tracks -- thus giving you that "sound" you like. Must be combined into one track in one position and not spread over the stereo panorama.

Rumor has it that Brian called in a piano tuner to de-tune the Chickering for the overdub, but that's rather expensive and inconvenient since the piano once detuned would need to be completely re-tuned once the overdub is finished.  Much simpler, cheaper and faster to VSO the multi-track's speed down a few IPS -- and that's how it's done.

Brain liked the Chickering, not necessarily because of its superb sound, but rather because of its action. It is a performance instrument, not a studio recording instrument. The action favored his playing style and heavy hand.

~SWD 


   

Terrific post and info, Stephen - Thank You!   :)

This kind of info is fascinating, as in how it was done almost 50 years ago yet the techniques carry on to the present day.

If I can add something I thought you'd like to hear from the digital age and how this same technique is still in use today after it was pioneered by the true creative engineers like yourself: File under what is old is new again. Or something   ;D

Going back to 2003 when I and a partner were getting a studio/production operation going, a friend who was engineering in NYC at rooms like Platinum, Hit Factory, whatever the Record Plant was called that year said check this out, he was doing this regularly on R&B and hip-hop vocals with Pro Tools. he described this process: Take the lead vocal, copy and paste it so there are three of the same track. Take one of those, detune it slightly. Take the other, raise it slightly in pitch. Blend them behind the lead vocal into one track...

And it was the essentially the same process as you described with the piano track on '67! I don't remember if it was considered something new as of that time and via digital, or whether it was just the standard vocal mixing method in that genre at that time...but when I read how it was already being done 50 years ago, it is more testament to the creativity in how the truly great engineers and producers like yourself developed all of these techniques decades prior.

Guitarfool2000 - I've heard the tracking tape from the "Darlin'" basic session, and the piano Brian is playing on the incomplete takes sounds exactly like the piano on the final mix. It's obviously de-tuned, or specialty-tuned, but it's not standard concert-tuning. I believe he did overdub another piano part, with masking tape (or some other kind of tape, like gaffer's tape) applied to the strings - for that overdub, he seems to have played in a higher octave. But the essential, funky "Darlin'" piano sound we all know and love was created mostly by Brian playing a piano that had been "doctored" in some way before its sound ever hit the recording tape. 

Not if you just leave the piano that way for 4 albums and keep it maintained...


Right, and it's not like it's that crazy of a tuning.  It's just a very bright tuning, and you can hear similar tunings on pianos that the BBs used at other studios.

 I was just going to ask you… Do we know for how many albums beyond this one that this piano, with its unusual tuning, was still being utilized by the band?

COMMENT to Guitarfool2000: Yes, I've heard the tapes also (and added to them). The so-called treated piano was undoubtedly a composite (ping-ponged) track. Back when Darlin', and even before that, was recorded, certain Piano Tuners (a person who tunes a piano) specialized in tuning for studio recording. The standard approach to piano tuning will give you that "concert sound" or fairly straight forward sound. Studio Piano Tuners had variations on the regular tuning of a piano. Like the barber asks you, "want it long or short?", the piano tuner would ask you, "do you want it tight or loose?"
As you know each non-bass note in the piano is sounded by the hammer striking two or three strings simultaneously.  These two or three strings-per-note can be tuned to be sightly or widely de-tuned each string from the other. At times, Brian would ask for a loose tuning so that the piano had a more twanging sound.
I remember one Piano Tuner in particular had quite the reputation for this type of tuning -- even traveling up to Alan's Red Barn Studio in BigSur to loose-tune his piano for a session. He was not your Aunt Mary's upright in the parlor, piano tuner.  His fee in today's dollar value was between $500 to $750 per visit plus mileage.
As for the masking-tape-on-the-strings piano . . . It was probably the same Chickering with tape applied -- and probably by me, as I introduced that technique to the band early on.
~SWD    

Whether it's the same piano or not I do not know, but I can hear the same timbre in places on every record up to and including "Surf's Up" in '71.

Stephen - Your reply is to C-Man, that's not my quote nor my issue about the session tapes or piano tuning. I posted about the R&B and hip-hop vocal mixing technique that was digitally a similar technique as you had done analog, as you described.

The quotes somehow got mixed up in the replies.

 Very cool. Any specific examples of post-WH songs you hear it on?

It's all over the Friends LP. No doubt about that.

On 20/20, I can hear it on "I Went To Sleep" and "Time To Get Alone", albeit low in the mix...and maybe on the album version of "Cotton Fields" although that piano doesn't sound as jangly and wonky.

On Sunflower, "Slip on Through" "Our Sweet Love" and "Cool, Cool Water" all seem to be that same piano to my ears, I have no evidence beyond that.

I'd draw the line there. I can't seem to pick it out anywhere on the Surf's Up LP as I previously said, but that doesn't mean it isn't in there or on other tracks that I neglected to pick up on from 20/20 & Sunflower.

COMMENT to RS13:   Chickering Concert Grand Piano
  
(http://www.reederpianos.com/restoration/images/ch1704.jpg)

This is most interesting to me.  I have never seen such comments before. You must have extraordinary listening abilities. I say that because you are right-on with your observations.

From your post (above) all named songs or LPs in red have in common that the featured piano in all of these songs was the same Chickering piano miked and EQed by the same engineer. However the tuning of the piano was not constant, so I could assume what you hear is probably common to the instrument. From your comments, you are able to recognize the sonic signature of this instrument from others.

To underscore that observation, the named LP in green, where you did not hear the sonic signature, featured a piano located at Columbia Studios (pre-dating all the others by many years) and the other prominent piano used on the Surf's Up LP were holdover tracks from Western Studios using a Steinway piano. Interesting that you were able to not-hear the Chickering when it was, in fact, not recorded -- and hear the Chickering on songs in which it was recorded.

Man, you are blessed with some great ears !!

Just to show you how large a concert grand piano is, take a look from the angle below. And to think we had two of these behemoths in the house studio, side-by-side.

(http://www.pianoseeker.com/UserFiles/Image/DSC_8046.JPG)

Chickering & Bros. when out of business in 1983. But the company is old enough to have made a Chickering Piano owned by President Abraham Lincoln and played at the White House.

Here's an interesting history of the Chickering Piano Company >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4yfS1bEHz8

If you wish to see a demo guide video of a Chickering Concert Grand simular to the one owned by Brian Wilson, here is a good example >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRyOIjkhMpI
 ~SWD  

Now THIS is an example of a great thread with tremendous historical detail and analytical value-added. Capped off, of course, by Stephen's encyclopedic recall, helping to confirm some fascinating (and impressive) analysis from RubberSoul.

I remember reading Arthur Schmidt's reviews of Friends and 20/20 for ROLLING STONE--Schmidt was more on top of the music than any of the other reviewers--and he specifically talks about the high preponderance of tracks that were anchored by what he called "subtle, humorous, but nonetheless driving piano" and indicated that the piano had become the central instrument in what he called at the time (1969) Brian's "later work."

Though Schmidt clearly wasn't in a position to know about the particularities of piano model and the special tuning it received, we can connect the dots here to confirm that for Brian (and the tracks mentioned are, with only one exception, all tunes where Brian is the lead writer) he was using the sound of that piano to establish the overall sonic signature for his songs in this time frame.

And the reason why it would seem to be absent from SURF'S UP (the LP) is because the primary insturment that Brian was using to anchor his tracks was not the piano, but the organ.

Question: what about the piano tack on "Don't Go Near The Water"? Stephen, do you have any recollections regarding that track? And RubberSoul13, what about the piano that dominates Dennis' "Got to Know the Woman"??

Thank you for the kind words...what can I say, I just might happen to be a Jazz Piano/Music Education major!  ;)

"Got To Know The Woman" definitely does not sound like the same piano at all. I don't know what it is, but it's not the Chickering.

 

COMMENT to Don Malcolm: DGNTW is detailed in part two of my book -- whenever I get time to publish it.  ~swd

COMMENT to RubberSoul13:  You are right again Mr. Jazz Man!  At the time GTKTW was recorded, a rented 9-foot Concert Grand piano manufactured by Baldwin was sitting next to the Chickering in the studio. Dennis preferred the action of the Baldwin and so that was the piano sound you hear for GTKTW.  ~swd

I will never get tired of reading all these stories on here, it's nice when these threads function properly...how's that book coming along?  :lol

As an aside - I think in the Tom Nolan article from Rolling Stone in 70 or 71 Brian mentions Marilyn getting him a new piano for he 30th birthday.  He mentioned that some of the "keys stick".  I believe it was a Steinway.  So much for the Chickering at that point.

Which would make perfect sense on the timeline, as it seems its usage extends from Wild Honey ('67) through Sunflower ('70) !

COMMENT:  Sorry you guys, but that's how we mortals would interpret those stories. Think BIG. Brain's house in Bel Aire had a Steinway in the formal living room, an upright in one of the upstairs bedrooms, another smaller Steinway (baby grand) in the upstairs family quarters and a Chickering 9-foot Concert Grand accompanied at times by another Baldwin 9-foot concert grand in the studio. That's four to five pianos. Seems like a lot of pianos, but they were pocket change to buy for Brian ... and he likes pianos. M's Steinway was in the family area where the children played. Who knows what gum or soda pop found its way into the mechanism. But these stories have little to do with the reality of the house. The Chickering was a magnificent piano. (Go back and take time to review the history of Chickering Bros. Co. -- a few of my posts back there is a link.) It was given to Brian by his Dad early in their carrier. Many people consider a Chickering piano more desirable than a Steinway. They are louder, therefore produce greater playing dynamics (pianissimo to forte -- hence the actual name for a piano is "piano-forte" meaning soft to loud, in contrast to the other competing keyboard instrument, the harpsichord. It was all the same level or loudness, no soft or loud.), and can fill a concert hall with authority. However, they require a heavy hand to play. Chickering predates Steinway. Because Chickering had patents and used design techniques before Steinway entered the market, the Chickering sound has more emphasis in the lower overtones, more "bloom," a more romantic sound. Steinway, being a lighter harp (chassis) leans more toward upper harmonics, making it more suitable to popular recording. Don't get me wrong, Steinway is certainly a treasured concert instrument, but Chickering is no lightweight. It's just that you don't see too many of them since their market value is sky high, usually higher than Steinway if an older instrument.  

Another instrument that Brian loved to play and to record was owned by United Recorders, where Chuck Briz worked. It was a Yamaha C-7 7-foot Grand Piano, I believe. Everyone loved that piano. It was famous among pop musicians. I've seen side-man keyboard players just sit at instrument with their hands on the keys in a trance -- socking in the vibs from this piano's legacy.  Everyone tracking with a piano in the mix liked to record using that piano. Name any half-way famous song and I'll bet you that piano was involved. It was never moved out of Studio B, it's home. On more than one occasion Brian offered a small fortune for the piano, but the studio would not sell. The piano was in constant use. But it was no beauty. Forgotten cigarettes left numerous burn marks to the sides and near the music sheet holder. It's finish was dull from scratches and use. Over the years the hammers had become hardened, seasoned hard. That gave the sound a slightly elevated leading edge when the string was struck. This tactical advantage would cut through a complex mix of sounds and instruments, so for recording it was fantastic. And the mechanism was so used it was very free and easy to play. A good player like RS13 could move up and down and all around the keyboard with great speed and dexterity. Players would say they could play many more notes in succession (you know, like on a run, a progression, a round or a trill) because the keys were so responsive. That old piano was probably the most recorded piano in modern rock music -- at least on the West Coast.  When United was sold, the piano remained in use -- even today.

And what discussion about Brian's pianos would not be complete without a mention of his toy piano. (see >>> https://www.etsy.com/listing/109924907/vintage-toy-piano-wooden-upright-natural). It really wasn't a piano, more like a chime played by a keyboard. But once in a while Brian would pull that little thing out for one sweetening track or another. Check out the sound and you may just remember hearing it somewhere. (Sound >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gxyoR5Ss2g)

~swd

what, 5 pianos there and no Bluthner?

COMMENT to hideyosuburaya  Since Bluthner is used by The Beatles, I doubt he would be interested. I played a few chords on that piano while visiting Abby Road Studios, where it resides. Whoopee!?!    ~swd

two ways to look at it and the other's of course Brian could be interested (in a Bluthner) BECAUSE the beatles utilized it (if he knew).  pocket change (for him)?  well that's also debatable.

not that I have one, I vowed to stick w/ made in USA's, an old Lyon-Healy grand plus Charles Walters (last USA mfgr, w/ original pratt-read action) console

COMMENTS to hideyotsuburaya are underscored above.  ~swd

Don't forget the Baldwin organ! ;D

 

There have been some great posts in the history of this website, and this, IMO, is up there with the best.  Thank you for your insights Mr. Desper.

Yeah that was pretty awesome!

RubberSoul--thanks, that's what I thought as well, and what a thrill to have Stephen give us the exact lowdown on the GTKTW session...

Now, what about the piano in "Mess of Help"--I'm thinking it's two different pianos, the first for the "framing" sound and the second for the "descending motifs" at the end of the verses. Or same piano with some treatments--maybe "tacked" up somehow. Hard to tell because there is so much else going on in the track...even though it's not Desper-engineered.

This thread is a reminder of the caliber of people that are still here, who really bring out the questions and observations that lead to the type of fascinating recollections evinced above. And it reminds us just how invested the band was in making the best possible music in the "Desper era."

Thank you so very much Mr. Desper for such phenomenal stories!

It definitely has some sort of tack deal going on, but the trick must be in the recording process and not so much the instrument itself. Honestly, it's always reminded me of the sound on "Heroes and Villains", not that I necessarily think it's the same piano. I really don't think it's the Chickering, but I'm certainly not exempt from being wrong...I've just had a good record on this thread so far!  :lol

COMMENT to RS13:  Given the H&V initial recording session (where Brian would add the piano), it could be a piano at Gold Star, United, Sunset Sound, Capital, or any of the other studios he used. So your reputation for keen ears is still good. ~swd

Wracking my brain to figure out what tracks use that toy upright!