Instrumentation - Dr. Scott D. Lipscomb

Musical Close-up: Instrumentation in Rock & Roll

Spotify playlist for this Musical Close-Up

6-string guitar

acoustic
electric
amplification (common since mid-30s; T-Bone Walker & Muddy Waters)
- 1954—Leo Fender's solid-body Stratocaster
effects

Robert Johnson - Me & the Devil Blues

Robert Johnson - Hell Hound on My Trail

B. B. King - Sweet Sixteen (Parts 1 & 2)

Bill Haley & the Comets - (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock (solo @ 0:45)

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode

Van Halen - Eruption

Bass Guitar

acoustic bass was used in early rock
mid-50s, Fender introduced solid-body electric bass
- 50s rockers continued to prefer the acoustic, but by the 60s the electric dominated (except folk & country)

acoustic bass:

Miles Davis - So What

Elvis Presley - That's All Right

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

electric bass:

Golden Earring - Radar Love

Rickenbacker electric bass:

Rush - Yyz

Voice

Crooners

Nat "King" Cole - Unforgettable

Patti Page - Tennessee Waltz

multi-tracking--harmonizing with herself

Shouters

"Big Joe" Turner
Wynonie Harris
Mama Thornton

"Big Mama" Thornton- Hound Dog

James Brown

James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good)

In-betweeners

Fats Domino - The Fat Man

Beach Boys - Surfin' USA

Barry Manilow - Mandy

Barry Manilow - Nice Boy Like Me

Those who could "do it all"

Elvis Presley

Are You Losesome Tonight?

Jailhouse Rock

Heartbreak Hotel

Drums

acoustic trap set

The Surfaris - Wipe Out

In-a-Gadda-da-Vida (drum solo @ 6:30)

late 70s—electronic pads
Drum machines

Thompson Twins - In the Name of Love '88

Phil Collins - Sussudio

Keyboards

acoustic upright piano & electronic organs (Hammond B-3, Farfisa, & Vox)
mid-60s—electric piano (solved portability problem)
- variations: clavinet (switch between two sounds)
turn to electronics
- Mellotron—used tapes of prerecorded tones (Moody Blues)
- late 60s/early 70s—synthesizer (MiniMoog)
  - --oscillators produce vibrations
  - --modified & manipulated with filters

new digital generation--sampling
sequencers/MIDI (Howard Jones)

acoustic piano:

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire

organ:

Dave "Baby" Cortez - The Happy Organ

electric piano:

Supertramp - Logical Song

Mellotron:

Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin

various synthesizers:

Rick Wakeman - "Sir Lancelot & the Black Knight"
from Myths & Legends of King Arthur & the Knights of the Roundtable

computer sequencer:

Michael Jackson - Speed Demon

Saxophone

variety of pitch ranges; from highest pitch to lowest pitch: soprano, alto, tenor, bari, & bass
frequently soloed in early 50s rock (e.g., "Tequila")

Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle, & Roll (solo @ 1:20)
bari(tone) sax (deeper, lower-pitched sound)

Fats Domino - I'm Walkin' (solo @ 0:39)

Little Richard - Long Tall Sally (solo @ 0:47)

The Champs - Tequila

Word About Words

music is nonverbal expression, a language of its own … apart from the lyrics