Sources of Inspiration-Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel has had the greatest influence on me when it comes to recording. His 4th solo album, nicknamed Security, hit like a hammer; I couldn't listen to it enough. It was nothing like all the other records I'd heard at that time, that time being 1982. I found it mesmerizing, the textures, the timbre all through the songs; it was both very different and yet very familiar. Pop music/Rock done in a distinct voice.
I found you could make music that didn't have to sound like what was on the radio yet be accessible. Some of it was that I didn't have the tools or access to studios or the equipment and instruments that I would have liked and had to do with what I had, which at the time was a few guitars, a bass, a synth, and a drum machine. The biggest issue for me was the drum machine-a Drumulator-which had good drum sounds, but sounded like a machine playing drums using patterns mimicking real drummers. But, if like Gabriel, I could instead use rhythm patterns allowing space and beat, then the music took on its own character. It could be simple and effective.
As an example, listen to the opening track of Peter Gabriel 4/Security, The Rhythm Of The Heat. Note that the drums aren't what is typically used, not cymbals or straight ahead drumbeat, instead, percussion patterns common to African drumming that Gabriel often used during this period. Note the dynamics, the power of the drums, the insinuation of the synths, the spare guitar-unusual for the time in Pop/Rock. Finally, the quiet before the crescendo of the drums to end the song. This is how compression is used to its best effect.
The entire album is, to me, how to make a recording that pulls you in and surrounds you with sound. It's also an excellent album to use when buying speakers; if they can handle this album with clarity and dynamic, then they're excellent speakers!
Listen at Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/1SqdCJsKsRgQ8qEzjLtmPm

This Week's Song: Forgotten from the Apologia album. The song is a about coming to terms with the understanding that in time we become irrelevant as a relationship slips further into the past. However strongly we may have felt at the time, and my still feel now, for the other it is only a memory rarely revisited. Their life has moved on to more immediate and important matters. Musically, it's fairly simple, two synth lines, chords and bass, with a guitar and vocals. Listen on Spotify or at mrprimitivemusic.com.
©2018 David William Pearce