Trends (Arrangement, Production)

[the captain]

Lately I've been thinking about trends in arranging and producing, the kinds of things that help us date music when we hear it years after the fact, or identify what older sound a modern producer may be emulating. I don't intend this as a judgment-thread, just observation and comment. I guess we'll see if anyone else is interested, won't we. Yes, we will.

Ukelele.
When did the guitar's little nephew weasel its way into pop music? And let's be clear, the term pop music here is inclusive, because that little f*cker has been everywhere for at least the past five years or so.

In hindsight, there was plenty of uke on the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, though I don't recall thinking about it at the time. The first time I recall being really conscious of a uke in pop was circa 2006 or 2007, when I got as part of a package of CDs to review (yes, there was a time when labels sent physical discs ... weird, eh, kids?) a yellowish case with drawn artwork and a weird name attached: David Ivar Herman Dune. The album was Ya Ya, which I later learned was the artist's nickname/alter ego. I couldn't decide whether it was the worst or best thing I'd heard in a while, so I gave it enough tries to decide it was the latter. The songwriting was spectacular, the performance was ... unique. But the artist primarily used a uke. Appropriate representation from that album isn't immediately identifiable on youtube, so here is a live performance of a tune from it (though the album shown here is actually not the one I am talking about, or on which the song is found). But hey, it's a uke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4zSjazG2k

Still firmly in the indie pop world, it was a couple years later when a friend of mine talked about the opening act for Fiery Furnaces being a solo performer on a uke singing funny songs with great pop sensibilities. He was talking about Dent May (who has since expanded his sound), whose 2009 The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele was the first I heard of him. Here is "You Can't Force a Dance Party."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk0k9pmCB28

In 2010, we got an R&B/pop hit with some prominent uke, Janelle Monae's "Tightrope." (2:10 in Big Boi's verse and the outro in particular.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc

I trust you're familiar with 2012's "Isn't It Time," by the BBs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZMlkyY3STM

Meghan Trainor has been everywhere this summer, and the title track of her recent EP Title has prominent uke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqc-akOWPe8

Several years ago I recall there being uke-oriented hootenannies at bars, where hipsters--mostly female--would congregate and jam on their ukes. Eddie Vetter did a uke album. It has spread across genres. I hear it all the time, whereas 10, 15, and definitely 20 years ago there was virtually nothing.

I suspect its rise was part a response to increasingly electronically generated sounds in music, partly hipster contrarianism and irony, and partly just a then-unique tool for the toolbox to add a percussive, high-pitched (thus not often competing with vocal range) instrument. But anyway, it is definitely something I think of as part of the sonic backdrop of the pop music of the past five years or so.

Anything current or old you want to talk about? Its rise, its fall? The phased guitars and keys of the '70s? The DX7 of the '80s? Anything? I'm interested in what you think about.

[guitarfool2002]

Oh it definitely came raging back, honestly I think some of it was generated as a marketing push by music instrument retailers. All of a sudden, you had catalogs offering all kinds of ukes, you had music stores offering in-store group lessons and tutorials for the uke, and of course they'd have ukes and accessories available for purchase.

At or near the beginning of this trend, I had a student who bought one, the standard entry model. We started to go over some of the chords, learned a few tunes, etc. But what struck me was that she had told a family member about getting a uke, and they apparently asked if she was going to play any Tiny Tim, like "Tiptoe...". So *that* is still the image and rep apart from Hawaiian music that certain generations of listeners carry for the uke.

I don't know what it is about the revival, maybe something to be different or buck the trend in a subversive way, if we look at image-consciousness?

Consider Zooey Deschanel has played one prominently with She & Him, and I'm a fan of Zooey, M Ward, and She & Him in general so I thought that worked quite well with their music.

Also, one of the musician-centric events around the modern uke was when Jake Shimabukuro exploded on YouTube with covers like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"...which also tied in nicely with its composer George Harrison who loved ukes and would invite any guests to his house to grab a uke and play...then Jake got bigger and started appearing on TV and on tour. Jake's approach was very technical and virtuosic, but he also added a modern element by running through guitar effects pedals and an amp, which the uke had never really done to the extend Jake was using it. So that opened up some possibilities, and that may be where you can now find transcriptions of everything from "Crazy Train" to Van Halen for the uke players.

Then in a more traditional way, there was Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole, who died in the later 90's but whose version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was used in film and television to the point where it kind of entered the pop culture. Maybe a lot of guitarists or musicians in general heard and liked that recording from Iz, and decided to go out and buy a uke. Who knows.

I see the trend has definitely cooled off, at least from a few years ago where every music catalog and music store 9at least the ones I know) were going pretty heavy on selling and advertising ukes.

[the captain]

Then in a more traditional way, there was Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole, who died in the later 90's but whose version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was used in film and television to the point where it kind of entered the pop culture. Maybe a lot of guitarists or musicians in general heard and liked that recording from Iz, and decided to go out and buy a uke. Who knows.

That's a great and obvious choice that I accidentally omitted entirely. It also adds another couple elements to the return:

• First, it was beautiful. I mean, beautiful-beautiful. I have literally cried to that song out of nowhere.
• Second, it might have added a visual concept to things: he was a big, big man playing a small, small instrument. I'm not saying that made people want to start playing ukes, but I think it was so striking as to be memorable.

[guitarfool2002]

Then in a more traditional way, there was Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole, who died in the later 90's but whose version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was used in film and television to the point where it kind of entered the pop culture. Maybe a lot of guitarists or musicians in general heard and liked that recording from Iz, and decided to go out and buy a uke. Who knows.

That's a great and obvious choice that I accidentally omitted entirely. It also adds another couple elements to the return:

• First, it was beautiful. I mean, beautiful-beautiful. I have literally cried to that song out of nowhere.
• Second, it might have added a visual concept to things: he was a big, big man playing a small, small instrument. I'm not saying that made people want to start playing ukes, but I think it was so striking as to be memorable.

I agree on that song, one of the most beautiful and moving covers I have ever heard. I also don't think it was part of what sparked the uke revival, but I'm guessing a lot of working guitarists might have bought a uke because of that song, and because I'm sure there were probably a lot of wedding and function bands who got requests to play it after the public heard it on various TV shows and movies.

One I forgot to mention with a direct Beach Boys connection, going back to the 60's, was Lyle Ritz, the terrific session bassist. He was considered a master of the ukelele, specifically playing jazz on what was pretty much a non-jazz instrument unless you delve deep into the history and the various traditional players from Hawaii, and the novelty elements of it from 20's and 30's-era performers such as "Ukelele Ike". Apparently Lyle is regarded as one of the best if not the best "modern" uke players, "modern" meaning later 20th century. He can of course be heard playing it on a few Beach Boys tracks from the 60's like Diamond Head.

[the captain]

Funny you mention uke and jazz, because it could have just as easily been a huge jazz instrument in the same way banjo was in early (Dixieland style, for example) jazz. Same function. In fact, Freddie Green's jazz guitar was the same kind of function, a pitched percussive/rhythm instrument more than anything else.

By the way, anyone wanting to discuss anything other than uke, go for it! This isn't just a uke thread. (I was also thinking about writing about whistling, specifically. Another "goshdarn, that's everywhere recently" thing.) Any trend, new or old, if the spirit moves you...

[guitarfool2002]

The amount of time spent on the uke already suggests the scope and volume potential of a topic like this is huge! 

It's not specifically production or arrangement related, which I could talk for hours about, but something that comes up often in conversations with my musician and non-musician friends is one of the biggest trends we've seen in terms of visuals, with bands and artists: beards. Not just beards, but long and prominent beards. Up until recent years you'd see them in certain genres and sub-genres, but in recent years take a look at any number of bands and performers, or even the backing musicians who support an artist on television and concert appearances. The beards or so prominent, it makes you wonder what led to *that* trend among musicians as of 2014.

And again, I'm actually serious about this, in kind of a joking way, but it ties in I think to the topic of musical trends in 2014. Why are so many musicians now sporting beards?

Related: My dad grew up in the 30's/40's, and used to play baseball with a local team. Stay with me...it ties in. Sometimes before the current trend, we might be watching a concert or something on TV and one of the musicians had a longer than usual beard, and he'd say "that guy looks like he plays for the House Of David", and we'd get a good laugh. Turns out his baseball team used to play exhibition games with the House Of David baseball team, who would tour around in the early 20th century playing one-off games, and they could be a very good baseball team, but never went beyond semi-pro status. I think they even showed up in the film "A League Of Their Own", if I remember. Anyway, they had a trademark of wearing long beards, and here is just one of many photos you can find of their teams:



So my dad was onto something when he said that, only now you'll find many bands and artists wearing those same long beards, and any one of those players from the House Of David team photo above would not look out of place playing on stage in 2014 with that look.

Again, like the production sounds, it had to come from somewhere. Where?

[the captain]

The beard! No doubt, this is a major music trend as well. Seriously... As a Minnesotan, I've been especially exposed to them. There is a certain Minnesota-Wisconsin kind of hipster (as opposed to the ironic mustache kind) who has been sporting beards for almost a decade now. I'm not sure whom to blame. Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), maybe? Maybe ol' Sam Beam. But there is a very specific lumberjack look going on amongst our burly population here. We dress down, we're husky, and we're hairy. And we go to brewpubs, we're giving the impression we're locavores, and we play in bands, every last goshdarn one of us. (Those two sentences are mild exaggerations at most.)

[Vegetable Man]

You know, another musical trend that's been gaining momentum has been the kick drum/tambourine combo that has been plaguing rhythm sections for a couple of years now. While I think it's effective, I also believe that it's being overused (which is a shame, as I'm a sucker for it every time).

[Please delete my account]

As a big fan of both the Magnetic Fields and David-Ivar Herman Dune I got a ukulele pretty early on but I rarely play it now it has such a bad name for being the sound of annoying songs on annoying commercials. Even since I've been to Hawaii and got to like Hawaiian music. I suppose its a natural choice of instrument for the casual dilettante, being so cheap, easy and portable, so lots of casual dilletantes pick it up.

I remember at a Herman Dune gig circa 2003 David-Ivar pulled out his uke and drunk people were laughing uproariously about "the little guitar".

[the captain]

As Maeby Fuhnke from Arrested Development would say, "marry me!" You are literally the first person I've ever heard mention Herman Dune outside the context of the few friends I have who, after me introducing them to HD, are now fans. Outside my circle, literally nobody I know has even heard of them, much less likes them. (Or in the case of DIHD, him.) In fact, for my week on Listening Project thread, I was thinking about picking a Herman Dune album to try to broaden the audience.