boombapdame
Member
http://www.soulhead.com/2015/01/08/...xclusive-soulhead-interview-rza-erickablount/
One of my many fave producers of all time.
One of my many fave producers of all time.
RZA On The Soul Of Music
- Thread starter boombapdame
- Start date
Bloody Glove
Active member
Great article, always set himself apart by having musical context that reach into other media and genre's.
Thanks. I am a big RZA fan. He was very innovative but he also made a lot of substandard duds. His great stuff was great and his bad stuff was just bland and uninspiring. I didnt like all those keyboard beats. I love the first album, the single Triumph and even a few songs on 8 diagrams. His influenced a whole generation of beat makers;like Kanye and 9th Wonder. I knew about Stax but never heard of Hi Records.
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Desire Inspires
New member
So what instruments does RZA play?
There's a video of him on the Blacroc project hittin licks on the guitar, I think his style was termed unique by the cat from The Black Keys in a nardwar interview.
Desire Inspires
New member
Hitting licks on a guitar, like Lil Wayne does? So basically Rza doesn't know how to play an instrument. Got it.
SMH at these cats preaching what they don't practice.
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SMH at you being directed toward source material so you can investigate your own question, yet still deciding to go with a suppressed evidence fallacy.
Pumpthrust
New member
I've seen the video you guys are talking about and honestly, as a guitarist...shit...as someone with ears, if you consider what he's doing "hittin' licks", then I can't really trust your ability to discern musical ability. I am almost certain when The Black Keys called his style "unique", I really don't think they were talking about his guitar playing. If so, they were being very diplomatic about it.
im1ufo
New member
when reading the title of this thread I was reminded of a cool interview with RZA that I can't find on youtube at the moment
he was talking about how MUSIC ONLY NEEDS A PULSE...he went on to say it doesn't really matter if the bass and kick drum land where they're supposed to in a beat(as long as a pulse is there)
I don't have a clue if music theory explains what this 'pulse' is but I know we all can feel it when we hear it....haven't read the article yet but I imagine this 'pulse' relates to what we call Soul music
he was talking about how MUSIC ONLY NEEDS A PULSE...he went on to say it doesn't really matter if the bass and kick drum land where they're supposed to in a beat(as long as a pulse is there)
I don't have a clue if music theory explains what this 'pulse' is but I know we all can feel it when we hear it....haven't read the article yet but I imagine this 'pulse' relates to what we call Soul music
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Pumpthrust
New member
Pulse is the underlying feel and rhythm of a song. Like an internal metronome. When you bob your head to a beat, that is the pulse. Notice that you never bob your head out of sync, right? In jazz, we are taught to feel the pulse of the music when playing as the rhythm section. If you can keep the pulse going, you will never get lost when playing alongside other musicians. This is why you have guys that can do some siiiiiiccccccckkkkk polyrhythmic stuff, trading fours and eights, and all kinds of wild shit and always manage to keep it together. If you can't keep the pulse going, if you can't follow and feel the pulse, you are dead weight. The movie Whiplash that just came out is all about this.
im1ufo
New member
never heard of Whiplash..I'll have to check that out
on the subject of 'internal metronome'...
metronomes are known for being very accurate...RZA's early beats are known for being very off beat
If we don't bob our heads out of sync are those early beats off his truly off beat? (I know I'm not the only one that bobs their head to those early RZA beats)...this is what I still don't understand
Pumpthrust
New member
Syncopation, my friend.
Though I don't want to give RZA too much credit here, sometimes when you're off beat, you're just off beat.
im1ufo
New member
haha that makes sense...so weird that it has been a long time since I've seen or heard the word syncopation
Desire Inspires
New member
Rza does not know how to play the guitar. That is a fact.
boombapdame
Member
RZA went through stages in his production. I liked him best when he sampled. Glaciers of Ice, Brooklyn Zoo, Can it all be so Simple were some of my favorites. Much of his stuff was off beat. He also was a dust head. The Bobby Digital projects were his PCP days. Being high off that stuff will defintitely have you approach things differently sonically. Drugs are a big part of the Wu's recording process. He sampled, then he bought 20 something keyboards, then a Roland MV8000 then he started messing with the guitars. That's when Raekwon called him a hippie. I thought he did okay with the samples on 8 diagrams though.
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I didn't know you had an agenda when you asked
but nothing can change the fact that this dude has enough ability with that instrument to express himself. Keyboards and beat machines are the primary instruments he uses to make music but he also plays the guitar. You can debate his level of skill and ability on any of those particular instruments, but you can't deny that he can use each with enough ability to express himself.
ultra auris
New member
re
no way, ive seen him play guitar, calling it unique is being nice at best. Dan is a real guitar player, he knows whats up in many different ways and is a serious studio master himself. just cause you have a guitar in your hand doesnt mean you play. I could say he's better than wayne, though. and he's a great producer, thats enough.
no way, ive seen him play guitar, calling it unique is being nice at best. Dan is a real guitar player, he knows whats up in many different ways and is a serious studio master himself. just cause you have a guitar in your hand doesnt mean you play. I could say he's better than wayne, though. and he's a great producer, thats enough.
Just because he isn't at a skill level you approve of doesn't mean he is not a guitar player. Just because it is a status indicator to a lot of folks doesn't change the fact that he has enough ability to express himself with it. Which is exactly what the thing was made for.
