Shnootz thank you for highlighting my hometown heroes my idols and my friends BIG COUNTRY! I am also from Dunfermline, same as Stuart and Bruce. There are only guitars, bass and drums on this whole album. Also, the only bad thing, the "bagpipes" comparison! BC fans HATE that word and the band hate it even more, sorry. From experience I can tell you that the tones everyone identifies as Scottish so therefore bagpipes, are actually the tones of the Scottish folk and country dance music we all grew up hearing around here, and that is actually played on fiddle and accordion and THAT is what you are hearing. 😀 So impressed with you listening to it absolutely properly on record, as it should be. Turn it up loud and do the whole album, it's PERFECT! Thanks again for covering my friend and hero's music and keeping his amazing legacy alive.
fwiw, from wikipedia article on their album The Crossing: "Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes. Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the e-bow, a hand-held device which, through the use of magnets, causes the strings of an electric guitar to vibrate producing a soft attack which sounds more like strings or synthesizer."
Two of the members were from London, Stuart was Scottish, but born in Manchester and he hated that people thought they were trying to make a bagpipe sound!
I commented on your Tall Ships Go video using my other UA-cam channel by mistake! Heehee. Again, it's interesting as a long-time fan of Big Country, to see someone discovering them anew. This time, I suppose, re-discovering. I look forward to checking out how the other songs hit you, too. There are some absolute corkers in the band's overall catalog.
Welcome to a little slice of my home country. The guitar work on this was heavily engineered to sound 'bagpipes-esque' but it's still very catchy (I personally hate the sound of bagpipes 😄) . They're from a city called Dunfermline (pr. Dun-fermlin) which is on the east coast of Scotland just above Edinburgh. I'm not really all that familiar with their work apart from the singles they've released, so this will be something new for me too.
Hahaha, that's funny, because I absolutely love a good bagpipe tune. Indeed, back in '96, I was in Scotland, and my family attended the Edinburgh military tattoo and saw all the pipers and choreography. Cool stuff, still have the CD. We also went to Glasgow, Pitlochry (saw a play there), and a couple other cities I don't remember. And right on, happy to have you on board for the journey even if you're not super-familiar with their material. Appreciate you enormously, Phil.
The main "bagpipe" sound was using an ebow on the electric guitars. (edit) of course they used F/X pedals too, but it was the ebow that enabled the sound.
It was the MXR pedal that created the sound. You can't play the EBow that fast which is shown at the start of the Storm and after the first line of lyrics on Porrohman. Thats the Ebow playing
I've always been interested in rituals related to grieveing for the dead ; In my spare time I volunteer at a local cemetery / cleaning , organizing , decorating graves ... I knew the lead singer , Stuart Adamson had died from alcoholism but I looked it up and the actual truth is worse ... but not uncommon , unfortunately ... I learned this past week ... suicides are NOT reported in media ;as it has a triggering effect when people hear of it ... and suicide attempts go up . A very sad end to a talented musician ... Requiescat in pace ... " ... Dreams stay with you / like a lover's voice / fires the mountainside / stay alive ... "
Yes, your channel has grown! I was #116ish (or 117, 18, 🤔) & in just a few months, it's over a thousand, congrats 🎉🎉❤️🎶🎉 & love this song, those pipes are 🔥
Thank you, Debbie! I really do appreciate the interest and support for the channel, and you're right, you were very early to the party! And yes, such an iconic riff! Also cool to see you commenting on my reactions outside of Duran. Cheers! :)
The " bagpipe" effect was created by using the MXR effect pedal and not the E bow as is normally said. They used the Ebow very rarely. Also having dual guitars playing on the high end of the neck of the guitar helps also to create that sound. If you want to hear a track where they use the Ebow then listen to the song The Storm and you will hear the difference in the sound
This was the first album I ever bought when I was 13, and yes as Philip says it was guitars, even as a Scot albeit from the West Coast (Glasgow) I too hate the sound of bagpipes its the drone, however, none of that here and that sound is their signature within most of their work as you will discover, the lead guitarist singer Stewart Adamson used to be in a band called the skids who had mild success in years proceeding this, he obviously felt he could do better and did, won't spoil anything ahead but they were a fantastic live act last saw them in 91 for about the 6th time, Anway Matt just wanted to. thank you for your Depeche Mode and Erasure reviews also Vincle Clarke inspired me as a kid to learn piano keyboards and still play now...
Ha, I wasn't thinking about that, but you're right---it's like a pipe sound but without the accompanying drone. And you are very welcome! I love talking music and this channel really has become a big musical party with so many great groups and contributors to the comments. Cheers, so much more to come!
Big Country was a great Scottish band…with a uniquely Scottish sound. It seemed to achieve almost cult status after the sad death of lead singer Stuart Adamson. As I’m a Scot myself…the band has always had a special place in my heart.
Funnily enough this song pretty much killed their carrer before it even began. Not because its a bad song, its an amazing lyrical song. Its the choice of using that pedal they used. The MXR pedal that turned the band into a cliché. This has some of the greatest lyrics but its only remembered because of that sound affect. Amazing live but i hate that effect that ruined their career
Shnootz thank you for highlighting my hometown heroes my idols and my friends BIG COUNTRY! I am also from Dunfermline, same as Stuart and Bruce. There are only guitars, bass and drums on this whole album. Also, the only bad thing, the "bagpipes" comparison! BC fans HATE that word and the band hate it even more, sorry. From experience I can tell you that the tones everyone identifies as Scottish so therefore bagpipes, are actually the tones of the Scottish folk and country dance music we all grew up hearing around here, and that is actually played on fiddle and accordion and THAT is what you are hearing. 😀 So impressed with you listening to it absolutely properly on record, as it should be. Turn it up loud and do the whole album, it's PERFECT!
Thanks again for covering my friend and hero's music and keeping his amazing legacy alive.
fwiw, from wikipedia article on their album The Crossing:
"Stuart Adamson and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson used the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 effect pedal to create a guitar sound reminiscent of bagpipes.
Also contributing to the band's unique sound was their use of the e-bow, a hand-held device which, through the use of magnets, causes the strings of an electric guitar to vibrate producing a soft attack which sounds more like strings or synthesizer."
Such an anthemic tune. I love the way the guitars are played to almost mimic bagpipes, appropriately, as they were a Scottish band
Indeed, I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out the source of that layer! Such a classic song.
Two of the members were from London, Stuart was Scottish, but born in Manchester and he hated that people thought they were trying to make a bagpipe sound!
Love this tune! It makes me think of ATVs! Thanks, MTV! 😂
I commented on your Tall Ships Go video using my other UA-cam channel by mistake! Heehee. Again, it's interesting as a long-time fan of Big Country, to see someone discovering them anew. This time, I suppose, re-discovering. I look forward to checking out how the other songs hit you, too. There are some absolute corkers in the band's overall catalog.
I really liked this song back on the 80s...still sounds great!
Welcome to a little slice of my home country. The guitar work on this was heavily engineered to sound 'bagpipes-esque' but it's still very catchy (I personally hate the sound of bagpipes 😄) . They're from a city called Dunfermline (pr. Dun-fermlin) which is on the east coast of Scotland just above Edinburgh. I'm not really all that familiar with their work apart from the singles they've released, so this will be something new for me too.
Hahaha, that's funny, because I absolutely love a good bagpipe tune. Indeed, back in '96, I was in Scotland, and my family attended the Edinburgh military tattoo and saw all the pipers and choreography. Cool stuff, still have the CD. We also went to Glasgow, Pitlochry (saw a play there), and a couple other cities I don't remember.
And right on, happy to have you on board for the journey even if you're not super-familiar with their material. Appreciate you enormously, Phil.
The main "bagpipe" sound was using an ebow on the electric guitars. (edit) of course they used F/X pedals too, but it was the ebow that enabled the sound.
It was the MXR pedal that created the sound. You can't play the EBow that fast which is shown at the start of the Storm and after the first line of lyrics on Porrohman. Thats the Ebow playing
I've always been interested in rituals related to grieveing for the dead ;
In my spare time I volunteer at a local cemetery / cleaning , organizing , decorating graves ...
I knew the lead singer , Stuart Adamson had died from alcoholism
but I looked it up and the actual truth is worse ...
but not uncommon , unfortunately ...
I learned this past week ...
suicides are NOT reported in media ;as it has a triggering effect when people hear of it ...
and suicide attempts go up .
A very sad end to a talented musician ...
Requiescat in pace ...
" ... Dreams stay with you / like a lover's voice /
fires the mountainside / stay alive ... "
Yes, your channel has grown! I was #116ish (or 117, 18, 🤔) & in just a few months, it's over a thousand, congrats 🎉🎉❤️🎶🎉 & love this song, those pipes are 🔥
Thank you, Debbie! I really do appreciate the interest and support for the channel, and you're right, you were very early to the party! And yes, such an iconic riff! Also cool to see you commenting on my reactions outside of Duran. Cheers! :)
@@mattsnider2667 LOL, yea I've only caught a few outside DD. You present good music & you're enjoyable to watch & listen too 🎶
@@debbieburris9453 Aww, thank you so much. I love talking music no matter what, but it means a great deal hearing that. Cheers, Debbie. :)
Ugh ugh ugh loooooove it!!!
The " bagpipe" effect was created by using the MXR effect pedal and not the E bow as is normally said. They used the Ebow very rarely. Also having dual guitars playing on the high end of the neck of the guitar helps also to create that sound. If you want to hear a track where they use the Ebow then listen to the song The Storm and you will hear the difference in the sound
Right on, appreciate that clarification. As you can tell in the video, I was really struggling to figure how they made the guitars sound like that!
This was the first album I ever bought when I was 13, and yes as Philip says it was guitars, even as a Scot albeit from the West Coast (Glasgow) I too hate the sound of bagpipes its the drone, however, none of that here and that sound is their signature within most of their work as you will discover, the lead guitarist singer Stewart Adamson used to be in a band called the skids who had mild success in years proceeding this, he obviously felt he could do better and did, won't spoil anything ahead but they were a fantastic live act last saw them in 91 for about the 6th time, Anway Matt just wanted to. thank you for your Depeche Mode and Erasure reviews also Vincle Clarke inspired me as a kid to learn piano keyboards and still play now...
Ha, I wasn't thinking about that, but you're right---it's like a pipe sound but without the accompanying drone. And you are very welcome! I love talking music and this channel really has become a big musical party with so many great groups and contributors to the comments. Cheers, so much more to come!
Big Country was a great Scottish band…with a uniquely Scottish sound. It seemed to achieve almost cult status after the sad death of lead singer Stuart Adamson. As I’m a Scot myself…the band has always had a special place in my heart.
I might have to dig out some songs by The Skids. It was the band that Stuart Adamson was in before he formed Big Country.
Into the Valley was their biggest hit
Funnily enough this song pretty much killed their carrer before it even began. Not because its a bad song, its an amazing lyrical song. Its the choice of using that pedal they used. The MXR pedal that turned the band into a cliché. This has some of the greatest lyrics but its only remembered because of that sound affect. Amazing live but i hate that effect that ruined their career