MJ’s “We Are the World” Synclavier Intro
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- In this video Kevin Maloney and I demonstrate how the intro to 1985 Grammy winning song “We Are the World” (written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson) was constructed. The synthesizer sounds on the original recording were programmed by Kevin on the Synclavier II Digital Music System using its FM synthesizer engine. We break down the patches for all the featured sounds in the intro including a special sound described by the song’s producer Quincy Jones as “Golden Bells”. This sound was created to “send out bells to call all the people of the world to come and hear this song”. The music, lyrics, performances and production were a worldwide commercial success. The song topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history. "We Are the World" received a Quadruple Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, becoming the first single to be certified multi-platinum. The promotion and merchandise helped raise more than $63 million at that time for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States.
Anthony's musical touch as both composer and performer is connected with some of the most influential creative minds over the last 40 years. He’s composed and conducted original orchestral scores for over 80 feature films including Young Guns, Internal Affairs, The Man From Elysian Fields, 15 Minutes and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his symphonic work "In the Family Way", written over one thousand TV commercials in a myriad of musical styles, co-founded Levels Audio Post (LA's premiere post production facility) and performed and arranged on big-box-office films and influential hit records such as Michael Jackson's Thriller.
His extensive work as a young arranger, orchestrator and performer for Quincy Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Lamont Dozier, Arthur Rubenstein and Giorgio Moroder was vital in launching his own career. His early years pioneering modular analog synthesizers along with his wide-ranging music scholarship positioned Anthony at the center of the music technology revolution. He attended the University of Southern California School of Music as a piano and composition major.
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Anthony, you are quickly becoming one of the most invaluable resources for music production on UA-cam today. Thank you again for the great content and expertise!
Thats true
Brilliant comment and so true.
I can't get enough of these Synclavier vids - my favourite synth that I've never touched! Thanks Anthony!
Yes. Its amazing for them to show us how they worked.
I love that synclavier
Synclavier should reissue it in its original form (even a pimped up FPGA box would be ok), it would be a hit 😮
@@jimbotron70 I've thought about that myself; With technology so much smaller with surface mount technology and multi layer PCBs, Synclavier was able to produce the Regen. So it is entirely possible that Synclavier could potentially produce the keyboard versions again. This time however all the technology could fit inside the keyboard units without the need for the additional rackmount boxes!
Imagine that - a fully loaded Synclavier; FM, additive, sampling, etc all inside one unit!
Maybe produce the weighted 76 key VPK *and* the synth weighted 61 key ORK with velocity and after touch.
@@Keyboardistmatt There would be queues in music stores. 💯
Proactively liking the video because come on now. It's another Anthony "Nothing But Bangers" Marinelli production! 😊 Thanks for sharing all that you do! 🙏
4:39 Bruce actually wasn’t the engineer on We Are The World. It was Humberto Gatica, another great engineer in Q’s arsenal at the time. From what I recall, Bruce was doing the Missing Persons LP at the time of WATW. (Thought I’d chime this in for anyone who’s curious)
Of course you guys have my respect, for a long history of synclavier expertise. i'd just like to mention that the bang at 2:34 is absolutely genious. Initially it wakes you up, like what is disturbing the serenity here, and then as it slowly fades the harmonics start to match and complete the bell melody that was already going on. Great!
And so nice to hear the story behind this intro.
So thankful that I discovered this channel, been listening to We Are The World for a while.
I also love songs that have a synth, so it's a win
Looking forward to it, really love this distinct sound in the 80s(it dominated my playlist)
Crazy revisiting this. I was in early grade school when this song came out and one of our teachers had the whole class sing it once a week. It's still an amazing song - I pulled it up recently to reminisce, and it ages well!
and hearing any small notes we recognize one of the greatest songs ever made
Anthony, thanks for this! Amazing history of an iconic song and synth! Soo cool! I always wondered how they got all that layering in that intro and to find out the whole thing was done on the NED Synclavier!
Once again another piece of music history! Thanks so much for sharing!!! 👍
Incredible musicianship. Beyond picking out the notes, this shows the incredible talents behind the scenes creating these memorable sounds and putting them in unforgettable melodies and motifs. Thanks guys!
The Synclavier is like a classy DX7 workstation/DAW before there were workstations/DAWs. I wonder how many operators the FM section has? And the fact you can layer multiple sounds, some amazing stuff!
Thank you for sharing this story with us Sir Anthony, Respect!
Even that intro? Amazing, you were in every hit from the 80s 😮
I'm sure you won't see this comment but if you do hear me out! I see content all the time on Michael's main hits, but never hear enough about his hidden gems. Specifically I would love to hear the synth layers and ideas behind "Baby Be Mine" my favorite song! It holds so much groove and synth beauty and I can't find anything on how it was created. Maybe you didn't work on it Anthony, but Greg P is credited with the synths and with your access it would be awesome to hear about these hidden Gems!
Anyway, I love your work Anthony and appreciate your contribution to the development of Sonic Sound
For once I thought those bells would've been a DX7's bells.
So cool hearing about the creation of that intro!!! Love this channel!
I used to look forward to reading your pieces and interviews in Keyboard magazine when I was first learning music in 1986 at school . I learnt music production in the early digital days and always remember lusting after the synclavier and fairlight series 3 which were like mythical beasts to us kids at the time . These videos add a whole new angle to my nostalgia of the time and you have a lovely enthusiasm which is fantastic . Thanks Anthony
Thats Is the Shiny Side Of YT , this kind Of sharing , gift Of god
If there is a better synth channel I'd like to know what it is. It is refreshing to have battle tested industry vets teaching us the ropes. Thanks a lot for sharing.
I always thought those were some cleverly programmed Yamaha DX7 patches in the intro!
Beautiful song ❤
The first time, to my knowledge then, I ever heard the sound of a Synclavier (I didn’t know that this instrument was used on Michael Jackson's Beat It or in the movies Starman and Color Purple, amongst others) was on Eddie Jobson's “Theme of Secrets”. I bought the album when it was released in 1985. What an incredible album. I listen to It daily in -85. Still have that LP. Those deep, incredible and heavy sounds he made on that thing… I wanted that instrument, looked up the price… A little steep for a 16-year-old kid from Norway. It costs the same as a house. Well, I enjoy Arturias version now, It’s affordable. 😄
Great reading from Eddie Jobson before receiving the gear:
“The first thing I did was get hold of the [Synclavier] operating manuals, about two months before the system was delivered. I remember sitting on a beach, on vacation in the Caribbean, reading these three giant manuals so I would be able to hit the ground running when the system finally arrived. When I made the Theme of Secrets album a few weeks after the arrival of the Synclavier, I was already familiar enough with the programming software to input many of the electronic motifs, such as the famous ‘bouncing balls,’ typing it all in using only the qwerty keyboard. And as I did the whole album with only a 10MB hard drive and a now unbelievable 4MB of RAM, I also had to develop some novel micro-looping techniques and use the FM synthesis module as much as possible.”
1 word: GOOSEBUMPS
We Are The World released 1985.
E-mu Emulator I - first affordable polyphonic sampler - released 1981.
(The EII released in 1984.)
Wow! Can't stop watching this, amazing artists.
NO WORD ....... JUST AWSOME.......
Very Blade Runner opening with the big boom and swells, nice sounds. Thank God I found this channel, very inspiring.
As a Swede, seeing the Nord in center stage warms my heart 😀
I never liked the song, but you made me listen to it again with another set of ears.
I remember loving that intro as a kid! (More than the actual song!)
Yes, the same. the intro was awesome, then the song was blah.
Just listened to the song and the intro was "simply" cross faded into the existing recording upon mastering from what my ears catch. Of course with years of experience making mix tapes like everyone did back then, I am sure the studio professionals could've timed it correctly.
You had Emu Emulator 1 which could be up to 8 voices poly and many times more expensive Fairlight sampler.
We are the world song was released in 1985. So already had Emu Emulator 2 since 1984. Which was a huge step up from Emulator 1
Great content. It seems very clear that the Synclavier was a really forward-thinking product.
Another very interesting video. I've been trying some synclavier sounds with the Arturia Analogue Lab since seeing your vids. A
Incredible video ! Thanks a lot ! ❤
great show as always!
What a treat.
Thank you so much.
Now I know why Frank Zappa went so deep into the synclavier in the later years….a dense machine with so much potential
what an amazing channel
crazy wonderful!
I had to go listen to We are the World to hear the final result. ❤
haha same, Cindi Lauper sings her heart out!
I knew it was a synclavier 😁 again
Also the synclavier was a big part of Michael ‘s sound through out the 80s that’s what gave him the edge of a sound also forgot to mention Humberto Gatica who engineered this song he’s also another guy who can get super clean mixes 🧽🧼 like Bruce
Those videos....Goshhhhh :) :) :)
1:00 Before I even watched the video, I was thinking the bell sound would be the same as the one in the intro of Beat It, but at a higher octave.
Who knew that same sound was used in other Michael Jackson songs.
can't wait !!!
I would really love to see a "How to program" of some of Stromae's Art, like the Bass Intro from Alors on Danse maybe?
Or the Lead Synthesizer of Papauitai?
Would be awesome!
❤ from Burundi 🇧🇮
My answer are: How Bruce made the synchro between all the multi tracks that they use to mixing beacause I remember thriller was 96 channels and I never see a 96 channels mixing desk on pictures or videos from that era. I remember big mixing desk only in film reinforcement production
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
3:52 and i am hearing the brass in my head
We STILL are the world!
That swell pad was a granddaddy to the D-50 by the sounds :)
Here's a deep cut for you Anthony. In 1984 Q was on a record to celebrate the L.A. Olympics. Beautiful all synth track called 'Grace' (I think). Did you or Kevin do any Synclavier work on that track? 🙏
Man i so want the smooth criminal intro .....i mean what was that sound aaaaarrrggghhh please read this Anthony and do the vid with Christopher Currel please please .
…….
man I wish I was him thats my dream job
So what’s difference between silver bells and gold bells ?
I'm guessing silver is higher frequencies and gold has lower freq with a warmer sound.
Sir we need "the final countdown" video
Could I recreate that bell sound that swells in stereo on my Novation MiniNova?
What your fav MJ's song?
I think its „Man in the Mirror“. Full of Emotions…amazing Composition….timeless Sounds…the outstanding Mix of Bruce.✨The Moment i start playing the Song i have a big Smile in my Face 😋 whats your fav Song?
I was never really into Michal Jackson, but very much into synthesizer programming.
And so this chanel is awesome.
Thanks again to both of you for this great video !!! I love the third sound ! I'de love to have the timbre parameters to reproduce it on my Synclavier II. Kevin do you remember these tutorial video K7 ? You appear on the 3.1 one at 19'50" :-) ua-cam.com/play/PL703veIr3LQIw7SgWkDc30Bhoek4nuWaI.html
My mom like this song
Luke, I am your Father. :)
3:51 :)
For comparison: ua-cam.com/video/s3wNuru4U0I/v-deo.html
sin-CLAH-vee-air
Not
SYNC-la-veer
Chomo!!!
Nice. Much better than the Zelensky ripoff.
"You turned silver into gold": an underrated Anthony's comment @ 1:27 :-)