He would've 100% programmed it on the drum machine itself and it would've actually been trivial to do. Whilst the snare fills do feel random there is actually not many of them. Every phrase is in groups of two bars which is the default Linn pattern length. Create a basic 4/4 beat, hold copy, dump it into loads of other pattern slots and record a couple different fill variations. Then you can use song mode to chain patterns together and disable "END" mode so it loops indefinitely. I have a Linn, and it's the single most user friendly machine I've ever used, so if he already knew what drum pattern he wanted to enter and wasn't experimenting he could've probably done all that in about an hour, if that? The crash is the stock ROM. Unmistakable sound to it. :)
Yup, in particular I hear nothing unique about the crash ROM other than it's pretty low in the mix with maybe a bit of EQing, perhaps a touch of a high pass filter.
Interesting, but I’m not sure the drum programming simply comes down to that. I transcribed the entire drum part to the best of my ability with the time I had available. It’s elusive and not very repetitive. Most people don’t own (and never will own) a Linn drum machine. At one point I owned the LM-1 and Linndrum at the same time. Also, there’s very little known about how this song was actually put together. To the best of my knowledge it was just George and the engineer in the studio. Who played the bass guitar? Did George program the Linn? I kind of doubt it. These are all things that contribute to the song’s greatness in my opinion.
Every December that comes around. I am reminded of what an awesome talent George Michael was. He is dearly missed. Not just one of the greatest artists ever. But a generous giving human being. We need more stars like him...
It took me quite a while to look past the pretty boy image of George Michael (and he was stunningly beautiful), and realise that he had a fabulous voice, and was just a very good musician overall. We're close to the seventh anniversary of his untimely passing, on Christmas Day of that horrible year, 2016. And how utterly ironic it is that we hear this song everywhere, every year, in the run-up to Christmas.
@@fender1000100 ...and Glen Frey (Eagles), Black ("Wonderful life"), Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), John Berry (Beastie Boys), Pete Burns (Dead or Alive), Leonard Cohen... and quite a few others.
Apparently George Michael wasn't a good musician at all and it took a lot of work to get his parts recorded to a good standard. Back in the day, I didn't care much for his singing, while my cousin was quite the fan boy, LOL. But I appreciate his voice now and definitely how captivating this song is to this day.
I like how the juno chords are a perfect answer to folks grumbling about 4 5 or 6 note poly analogues of today. Arrangement is everything. If you wanna play fancy chords there is always the bass player or bass synth.. And the use of inversions
Walked past the building a few days ago, where this was recorded in 1984. The same studio (Advision) in London, was also partly used to record the amazing 'War of The Worlds' soundtrack by Jeff Wayne.
Thank you Espen. You do not see this much detail analysis too often. I appreciate your knowledge and I can tell that you appreciate Sir Michael's craft (sorry pun). George Michael has always had a magical/spiritual tone to his vocals which pushes so much more emotion through a song.
Thanks a lot Mr. Kraft! “Last Christmas” is one of the best hits of 1980s and very in the theme of upcoming winter holidays. Actually 1983-1984 is fantastic period, that I adore. I always wanted to hear a 1:1 authentic instrumental of this hit, in a high, modern, digital quality of recording. Thanks a lot again.👍
@@David.L291 I said “one of the best”, not the best song of 1980s. Of course there are a lot of fantastic songs, from 1980s. This is my most favourite time, in all history. As for me, I adore Ryan Paris’s - “Dolce Vita” (1983). Cosmic, eternal song, of pure romanticism, beauty and harmony.
The extended version with longer intro ( the so called Pudding Mix ) also has some DX7 for sure. I can recognize that factory guitar patch immediately.
I played it live on drums just 10 days ago with two vocalists and a backing track, that I also created and had a great time trying to aproximate those snare fills. Amazing video!
The master of last christmass is insane, in the end of the first chorus they turn up the speed of the tape recorder and turn up the pitch of the song by a quarter of a step🤯 and no one ever notices
Superb job Espen as always! Would love you to dissect 'Everything She Want's' equally a classic full of surprises, especially the sounds/synths that were used,
Great job and spot on! A great example of how chord voicings can make all the difference. Also, the synth patch selection really sounds like an amalgam of Christmas bells, strings and slushy snow.
Great video as always Espen. I'm a big fan of this song. Would love to hear your take on Everything She Wants. Another classic George Michael track, which I believe was also created using only the Linn Drum and a Juno 60.
Yeah great lesson and great song. The drums sound modern(at the time) plus nostalgic/heartfelt lyrics, and sad synth strings plus strong/great melody and great vocal tone and singing and cool video = timeless classic :)
Great video. Always loved this arrangement, especially the long instrumental intro into the chorus, then straight into another extended instrumental section before the first verse. Always found this to be unusual but flow totally naturally.
Hi Espen, once again a terrific post on 80s music and then from Wham too! Great analysis! I've been following it all on your channel for a while now (I'm a subscriber too, of course) and can only say that you're giving back so much great music from the 80s - it's like traveling back in time to the days when music still had melody and soul. Keep up the excellent work!
Brilliant analysis as always! There is something of a whistful mood around these chords, which is driven by the attachment of additional chord notes like 6ths, 7ths and 9ths - quite simple, but very effective. There maybe music with much more intricate and sophisticated harmonic content, e.g. in Modern Jazz, Impressionism or late Romanticism of the 19th century, however, this Wham! stuff is remaining beautiful as ever after all these years.- Cheers, Olaf
Great video, especially the chord part, on a classic, my girlfriend's favourite Christmas song. The alternations are different from how I would play them after analysing the song but then again, you're a specialist! To me, the main catch is the drum part. The fills are cleverly chosen and strangely do not become boring, because they serve a purpose, they fill the gaps, whereas many fills of the eighties tend to showcase the abilities of the drum machine used.
The bell sound used on this song is a stock patch from the Juno 60, called (appropriately enough) "Holidaze". I spent hours trying to recreate it, and then found the Juno 60 virtual synth on Roland Cloud and found the patch. As soon as I heard it I knew instantly. George used a preset! 🤣 I'm pretty sure the string patch used was also just a Juno 60 preset.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to see if my DS-61 has that patch! Any idea what the rest were? I want to make a master Pattern Sequence of all the instruments and mute each on and off as necessary. Then play the bells part live while singing it. Give the other guys in the band a break for a few minutes. THANKS AGAIN!!!
As someone who can't stand this time of year, this is about the only way you'll get me to watch Christmas content. Good breakdown. as someone who has a history of been finishing anything, I'm always astonished how simple so many classic songs are, usually with one unpredictable element to keep it interesting
Brilliant, as always, and useful. I'm just about to put Last Christmas in a little medley for a small competition here on YT, and . even if I heard the song a million times since it came out - this is very useful and appreciated. Many thanks.
What a great time the 80’s were! I bought a Yamaha SHS-10 in the late 80’s that I still have, Last Christmas is the demo song on that keytar! Thank you for this breakdown, throughly enjoyed it! Now I’ve got to go load the midi dump from the Yamaha and see how close it really is!
Yes, it does dump the midi data! It sends the accompaniment voice data over ch 12-15 and drums on ch 16. Our power is out here in Maine, USA, (wind storm yesterday) when it is restored I’ll find the midi file or create a new one.
Any synth can inspire a person to make incredible music compositions. I did it with my korg m1. Wow it was all programmed on the synth. Daw makes it very easy to follow and edit it professionally
I love this amazing dissection of a classic song! Its my dad's favorite song as well as mine and yes the Linn Drum is such a classic sound to this song
I'd like to think that this breakdown helped push Last Christmas to the number 1 spot in the UK charts 'This Christmas'. Just humour me in my delusion Espen. Quality stuff as always Mr Kraft.
I like the three voice/two voice alternation playing the cords. Gives a bit more depth, and keeps it from sounding like someone hit a note on an arpeggiator to fill the measure. 👍
I've done a backing track of this song on my channel, in 3 keys. I've paid great attention to detail with the arrangement, as I do with all my instrumentals. In addition to the staccato string chords, I think there is a string pad that comes in behind to support those chords. It's a very cleverly arranged and produced song.
To me the most important part of this song is the synth chords. Basic chords could be just boring, but the way it's arranged, it's more complex and very catchy. Because it always stays on these chords/riff, you get an hypnotic/addictive feel. Then, there is a very good melody on the chorus, with catchy lyrics. Then comes the drums, especially the snare. Perfect 80's pop.
Great break down of a great song thanks! One question please, I don't understand why you've said that it doesn't have a chorus? Isn't that the whole "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.." section?
@@EspenKraft The exact words occur in three pairs of twice each. Chorus? Then there are two sets of two stanzas that are different in between those. Verses? I think it may be more that the choruses and verses just always are the same chord progression and basically the same melody. That's just how I took it.
Thanks Espen!! I like your comment: A song with only 4 chords and no chorus shouldn't work, but it does because it's so clever. I agree completely and I actually always liked this song....To me it was unique GOOD new Christmas music instead of hearing all the classics redone by everyone..... Thanks for the breakdown as I'd like to try this sometime....
Nice to see the old Nuendo. That must from 20 years ago? I really liked that DAW. I left them when they started parting out features from what was supposed to be their flagship daw, that never sat well with me, paying more for features that were stock with Cubase (at the time, don't know if it ever changed). I have often thought about trying to get it running again. I use Reaper now and while it's arguably more powerful, the fact is I was more productive on Nuendo v1 & 2 and with a 1.8ghz xeon processor too!
I didn't realize he played the keyboards on I Want Your Sex. and the drum machine was synced with the synth which gave those weird sounding notes at the beginning of the song. a "happy little accident" I suppose. very talented artist - I still have my Faith 45 record from 1987 that I bought new at Kmart.
This is a very random thing I’ve noticed about the track. I’m pretty sure that to my ear, it actually speeds up slightly just after the first chorus in the lead bell part. Plus, I’ve compared the beginning chords to the chorus chords in the second chorus and to my ear, it’s definitely a higher pitch than the beginning of the song. Someone must have leaned on the tape machine or something during the mastering 😂
Not the only record from the 80s where the tape machines were wonky and as the result the pitch between the first and last bar could vary as much as a whole semi note. Or more.
The netflix documentary on wham is very good and they talked about this song and how George Michael expected this to be a #1 and then it wasn't ... but then later is was!!
Mr. Kraft, please, is there a chance of you to upload and share the final sound sample of the layered snare? I find this snare sound cool but hard to get. Or maybe a specific tutorial of the process to get it. I have a lot of Linndrum samples and also the AlyJamsLab VPROM with the LM2 sounds. Thank you so much, and happy new year.
Great video. The only thing left out is the synth solo. That’s also a Juno 60 with heavy chorus. Quite easy to replicate those notes with the right board and fx If you have a Juno you’ll find it in seconds 😊 I suspect it was doubled in the original track
You wouldn't happen to know the patch names? They MAY be present on my DS-61, and that would save me a ton of work finding them! Someone said that the bells were called HOLIDAZE.
The crash sounds pretty much like the standard LinnDrum crash, just very thinned out with the EQ. I wonder where the bells are coming from.. Juno as well?
the chordal riff seem to go from A/D to Asus4add9 then briefly A6, Bm does similar Bsus4add9 to Bm, bar 3 the Em7 seems to be Em7 to Em7(sus 4 add 9) to and the A chord goes from A6 to A.... but i could be wrong ;) Maybe it could be looked at as a harmonized ostinato or counter melody ?
I was thinking "You know, those things have names, right?" Lots of variation. Hopefully I can get close, love using those SUS chords!!! There are some slashes on the bass part, too.
@@EspenKraft of course fair enough. George Michael was such a talented and lovely man and such a loss. I will never forget how he performed somebody to love and how he could do that song justice.
According to what I've read (This was on Spotifys song trivia about a year ago) Michael didn't really know how to play the piano (or keyboard for that matter) but insisted on playing everything on his own (Quick look on the songs history on Wikipedia confirms this).
Good question, this keyboard has MIDI, but doesn't send the demo song. Before this, I had a PSS 170 what played "Just The Way You Are" with all rhythms.
Sure, amazing track but he had alot of help & not from Andy Ridgely¿ ...i think the Linn is bolstered by Simmons SDS (cymbals) ,Juno-60 is backed up by DX7 ofc & superb vocals:..just my take of what makes this song Christmas gold¡ ur still the best EK thanx again dude
I always enjoy the snare fills in this song. :D I noticed that it actually repeats, but it doesn't follow the parts in a classic manner, I don't know how to explain it, I don't know proper terms.
Is there a reason why you used the Juno 106 instead of the 60? Is it just what you had available? EDIT: Never mind, I hadn't watched the whole video yet. :)
I can't see a reason why he didn't program it in the Linn. Ian Anderson did the same with the wonderful and more complex drum tracks on Walk into light and Underwraps in 1983/1984
In George's own words. " The drum programming was abysmal, because we were rushed into the studio at the last minute to record a Christmas song, it all had to he done very quickly. It was hurried and released almost in its demo form". George programmed the drums in a rush and he hated it, there's no magic deep theory behind it.
He would've 100% programmed it on the drum machine itself and it would've actually been trivial to do. Whilst the snare fills do feel random there is actually not many of them. Every phrase is in groups of two bars which is the default Linn pattern length. Create a basic 4/4 beat, hold copy, dump it into loads of other pattern slots and record a couple different fill variations. Then you can use song mode to chain patterns together and disable "END" mode so it loops indefinitely. I have a Linn, and it's the single most user friendly machine I've ever used, so if he already knew what drum pattern he wanted to enter and wasn't experimenting he could've probably done all that in about an hour, if that?
The crash is the stock ROM. Unmistakable sound to it. :)
Sounds spot on to me
Yup, in particular I hear nothing unique about the crash ROM other than it's pretty low in the mix with maybe a bit of EQing, perhaps a touch of a high pass filter.
I love the Linndrum. Agree it’s the most user friendly to use
Interesting, but I’m not sure the drum programming simply comes down to that. I transcribed the entire drum part to the best of my ability with the time I had available. It’s elusive and not very repetitive. Most people don’t own (and never will own) a Linn drum machine. At one point I owned the LM-1 and Linndrum at the same time. Also, there’s very little known about how this song was actually put together. To the best of my knowledge it was just George and the engineer in the studio. Who played the bass guitar? Did George program the Linn? I kind of doubt it. These are all things that contribute to the song’s greatness in my opinion.
@@benanderson89 He felt really comfortable in a studio environment having access to the most incredible musical equipment from those days.
Every December that comes around. I am reminded of what an awesome talent George Michael was. He is dearly missed. Not just one of the greatest artists ever. But a generous giving human being. We need more stars like him...
He made very bland music. Cool guy but totally overrated 😂
Last Christmas Espen promised me his synths, but the very next day he gave them away. This year to save me from tears I'll go ahead and go virtual.
It took me quite a while to look past the pretty boy image of George Michael (and he was stunningly beautiful), and realise that he had a fabulous voice, and was just a very good musician overall.
We're close to the seventh anniversary of his untimely passing, on Christmas Day of that horrible year, 2016. And how utterly ironic it is that we hear this song everywhere, every year, in the run-up to Christmas.
That was a tragic year for celebrity deaths.
DAVID BOWIE
PRINCE
MUHAMMAD ALI
GEORGE MICHAEL
CARRIE FISHER
All left us that year.
@@fender1000100 ...and Glen Frey (Eagles), Black ("Wonderful life"), Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), John Berry (Beastie Boys), Pete Burns (Dead or Alive), Leonard Cohen... and quite a few others.
Apparently George Michael wasn't a good musician at all and it took a lot of work to get his parts recorded to a good standard. Back in the day, I didn't care much for his singing, while my cousin was quite the fan boy, LOL. But I appreciate his voice now and definitely how captivating this song is to this day.
I like how the juno chords are a perfect answer to folks grumbling about 4 5 or 6 note poly analogues of today.
Arrangement is everything. If you wanna play fancy chords there is always the bass player or bass synth.. And the use of inversions
I quite like the sound of notes cutting off due to lack of polyphony - gives a more distinct, uncluttered sound IMO.
Finally WHAMageddon is well and truly over so I can watch this.
Walked past the building a few days ago, where this was recorded in 1984. The same studio (Advision) in London, was also partly used to record the amazing 'War of The Worlds' soundtrack by Jeff Wayne.
The beauty of simplicity.
Thank you Espen. You do not see this much detail analysis too often. I appreciate your knowledge and I can tell that you appreciate Sir Michael's craft (sorry pun). George Michael has always had a magical/spiritual tone to his vocals which pushes so much more emotion through a song.
Cheers!
Thanks a lot Mr. Kraft! “Last Christmas” is one of the best hits of 1980s and very in the theme of upcoming winter holidays. Actually 1983-1984 is fantastic period, that I adore. I always wanted to hear a 1:1 authentic instrumental of this hit, in a high, modern, digital quality of recording. Thanks a lot again.👍
I wouldn't agree being the best cuz they're were many good tracks in the 80's tbh
@@David.L291 I said “one of the best”, not the best song of 1980s. Of course there are a lot of fantastic songs, from 1980s. This is my most favourite time, in all history. As for me, I adore Ryan Paris’s - “Dolce Vita” (1983). Cosmic, eternal song, of pure romanticism, beauty and harmony.
The extended version with longer intro ( the so called Pudding Mix ) also has some DX7 for sure. I can recognize that factory guitar patch immediately.
That intro is super cool. Pudding mix for the win
Definitely DX7
I played the Pudding Mix on my DX7.
I played it live on drums just 10 days ago with two vocalists and a backing track, that I also created and had a great time trying to aproximate those snare fills. Amazing video!
The master of last christmass is insane, in the end of the first chorus they turn up the speed of the tape recorder and turn up the pitch of the song by a quarter of a step🤯 and no one ever notices
Superb job Espen as always! Would love you to dissect 'Everything She Want's' equally a classic full of surprises, especially the sounds/synths that were used,
Snare fills is something that has almost disapeared in modern music. That's sad because I love that :(
Great job and spot on! A great example of how chord voicings can make all the difference. Also, the synth patch selection really sounds like an amalgam of Christmas bells, strings and slushy snow.
Did this on my Linndrum and Juno last year! Such an eye opener to see what they did there
Brilliant, charming, intelligent and beautiful remake. Thank You ❤
Great video as always Espen. I'm a big fan of this song. Would love to hear your take on Everything She Wants. Another classic George Michael track, which I believe was also created using only the Linn Drum and a Juno 60.
Thanks! It sure was.
Yeah great lesson and great song. The drums sound modern(at the time) plus nostalgic/heartfelt lyrics, and sad synth strings plus strong/great melody and great vocal tone and singing and cool video = timeless classic :)
Very clever and expert breakdown. Thank you so much for making this.
Cheers!
By the way Espen - thanks so much for showing how to play this on synth!!
Great video. Always loved this arrangement, especially the long instrumental intro into the chorus, then straight into another extended instrumental section before the first verse. Always found this to be unusual but flow totally naturally.
Hi Espen, once again a terrific post on 80s music and then from Wham too! Great analysis! I've been following it all on your channel for a while now (I'm a subscriber too, of course) and can only say that you're giving back so much great music from the 80s - it's like traveling back in time to the days when music still had melody and soul. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks man!
Nice concise breakdown of one of my favourite Christmas songs. Thanks.
Cheers!
I'm going to try that synth part on my alpha juno
Brilliant analysis as always! There is something of a whistful mood around these chords, which is driven by the attachment of additional chord notes like 6ths, 7ths and 9ths - quite simple, but very effective. There maybe music with much more intricate and sophisticated harmonic content, e.g. in Modern Jazz, Impressionism or late Romanticism of the 19th century, however, this Wham! stuff is remaining beautiful as ever after all these years.- Cheers, Olaf
Great video, especially the chord part, on a classic, my girlfriend's favourite Christmas song. The alternations are different from how I would play them after analysing the song but then again, you're a specialist! To me, the main catch is the drum part. The fills are cleverly chosen and strangely do not become boring, because they serve a purpose, they fill the gaps, whereas many fills of the eighties tend to showcase the abilities of the drum machine used.
Cheers!
Well, I'm never gonna hear this song the same way ever again...Cheers!
Actually I am one of the few people who loves it and can't wait every year to get his radioplay!
With all those fills, it almost sounds like a Lars Ulrich drum track haha. Great video Espen! lml
amazing recreation!
The bell sound used on this song is a stock patch from the Juno 60, called (appropriately enough) "Holidaze". I spent hours trying to recreate it, and then found the Juno 60 virtual synth on Roland Cloud and found the patch. As soon as I heard it I knew instantly. George used a preset! 🤣 I'm pretty sure the string patch used was also just a Juno 60 preset.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to see if my DS-61 has that patch! Any idea what the rest were? I want to make a master Pattern Sequence of all the instruments and mute each on and off as necessary. Then play the bells part live while singing it. Give the other guys in the band a break for a few minutes. THANKS AGAIN!!!
Thank you. Please also present the bell solo in "Last Christmas"
A brilliant breakdown of a classic! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂👍
Thanks!
great
George could play bass very well.. He heared all the music in his genious head and tried to translate it himself.
As someone who can't stand this time of year, this is about the only way you'll get me to watch Christmas content. Good breakdown. as someone who has a history of been finishing anything, I'm always astonished how simple so many classic songs are, usually with one unpredictable element to keep it interesting
You’ve made this nice song so much more interesting. Thanks
Merry Christmas, Espen Kraft! Thank you for your wonderful content as always.
Thanks Espen... 4 the amazing tutorial 🎉
You are the GOAT for this.
Brilliant, as always, and useful. I'm just about to put Last Christmas in a little medley for a small competition here on YT, and . even if I heard the song a million times since it came out - this is very useful and appreciated. Many thanks.
What competiton?
This one: ua-cam.com/video/WtYIUuGhdKw/v-deo.html
@@wonderwheel80s
What a great time the 80’s were! I bought a Yamaha SHS-10 in the late 80’s that I still have, Last Christmas is the demo song on that keytar! Thank you for this breakdown, throughly enjoyed it! Now I’ve got to go load the midi dump from the Yamaha and see how close it really is!
Did the demo mode dump midi? I can't remember that it did.
Yes, it does dump the midi data! It sends the accompaniment voice data over ch 12-15 and drums on ch 16. Our power is out here in Maine, USA, (wind storm yesterday) when it is restored I’ll find the midi file or create a new one.
Demo song of good old Yamaha SHS-10!😊 Got a red one as xmas present so many,many years ago and it triggered my everlasting interest to synths...🤗
Any synth can inspire a person to make incredible music compositions. I did it with my korg m1. Wow it was all programmed on the synth.
Daw makes it very easy to follow and edit it professionally
I love this amazing dissection of a classic song! Its my dad's favorite song as well as mine and yes the Linn Drum is such a classic sound to this song
I think it was actually a Yamaha RX11 that was used on the track, as I had one at the time and the sound was absolutely identical.
No, it was a Linndrum. Well documented.
Then I stand corrected, sir! 😁@@EspenKraft
I'd like to think that this breakdown helped push Last Christmas to the number 1 spot in the UK charts 'This Christmas'. Just humour me in my delusion Espen. Quality stuff as always Mr Kraft.
Cheers!
Direct and simple. thanks!
Wow, what a brilliant video, thank you
Excellent work!
I like the three voice/two voice alternation playing the cords. Gives a bit more depth, and keeps it from sounding like someone hit a note on an arpeggiator to fill the measure. 👍
👏👏👏
I've done a backing track of this song on my channel, in 3 keys. I've paid great attention to detail with the arrangement, as I do with all my instrumentals. In addition to the staccato string chords, I think there is a string pad that comes in behind to support those chords. It's a very cleverly arranged and produced song.
Simplicity at its best. And you as always. Cheers! S
To me the most important part of this song is the synth chords. Basic chords could be just boring, but the way it's arranged, it's more complex and very catchy. Because it always stays on these chords/riff, you get an hypnotic/addictive feel. Then, there is a very good melody on the chorus, with catchy lyrics. Then comes the drums, especially the snare. Perfect 80's pop.
Great break down of a great song thanks! One question please, I don't understand why you've said that it doesn't have a chorus? Isn't that the whole "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.." section?
It's just verse after verse. ;-)
@@EspenKraft The exact words occur in three pairs of twice each. Chorus? Then there are two sets of two stanzas that are different in between those. Verses? I think it may be more that the choruses and verses just always are the same chord progression and basically the same melody. That's just how I took it.
Very nice. Well done.
Excellent work! Thank you!👍
Cheers!
Thanks Espen!! I like your comment: A song with only 4 chords and no chorus shouldn't work, but it does because it's so clever. I agree completely and I actually always liked this song....To me it was unique GOOD new Christmas music instead of hearing all the classics redone by everyone..... Thanks for the breakdown as I'd like to try this sometime....
Nice to see the old Nuendo. That must from 20 years ago? I really liked that DAW. I left them when they started parting out features from what was supposed to be their flagship daw, that never sat well with me, paying more for features that were stock with Cubase (at the time, don't know if it ever changed). I have often thought about trying to get it running again. I use Reaper now and while it's arguably more powerful, the fact is I was more productive on Nuendo v1 & 2 and with a 1.8ghz xeon processor too!
It's still my main daw. Did a video about it a few weeks ago.
I didn't realize he played the keyboards on I Want Your Sex. and the drum machine was synced with the synth which gave those weird sounding notes at the beginning of the song. a "happy little accident" I suppose. very talented artist - I still have my Faith 45 record from 1987 that I bought new at Kmart.
This is a very random thing I’ve noticed about the track. I’m pretty sure that to my ear, it actually speeds up slightly just after the first chorus in the lead bell part. Plus, I’ve compared the beginning chords to the chorus chords in the second chorus and to my ear, it’s definitely a higher pitch than the beginning of the song. Someone must have leaned on the tape machine or something during the mastering 😂
Not the only record from the 80s where the tape machines were wonky and as the result the pitch between the first and last bar could vary as much as a whole semi note. Or more.
@@EspenKraft that’s the weird thing with this track, that it literally speeds up to 440hz tuning from a slightly slower speed in about a second 🤣
This is cool, hoping for more "how did they do it" videos. Peace.
Great breakdown. Thanks.
The netflix documentary on wham is very good and they talked about this song and how George Michael expected this to be a #1 and then it wasn't ... but then later is was!!
That song is a good example of how a drum machine can be a meaningful part of an arrangement, not just a lousy replacement of a real drummer.
A drum machine a synth AND a vocal. Yes. :)
Mr. Kraft, please, is there a chance of you to upload and share the final sound sample of the layered snare? I find this snare sound cool but hard to get. Or maybe a specific tutorial of the process to get it. I have a lot of Linndrum samples and also the AlyJamsLab VPROM with the LM2 sounds. Thank you so much, and happy new year.
It's all about layering, compression and EQ. Cheers
Great video. The only thing left out is the synth solo. That’s also a Juno 60 with heavy chorus. Quite easy to replicate those notes with the right board and fx
If you have a Juno you’ll find it in seconds 😊
I suspect it was doubled in the original track
Di da da da Daaaaa? I always thought that must be a DX7...
@@saftpackerl I can get the exact sound with my Juno 60
You wouldn't happen to know the patch names? They MAY be present on my DS-61, and that would save me a ton of work finding them! Someone said that the bells were called HOLIDAZE.
On do they know it's Christmas by band aid is it synth bass or electric bass? Also a breakdown of that song would be awesome
The song was created during the"make it big "album at Miraval studio south of france a place so calm and stresslesd......
Last Christmas was recorded in London.
This was wonderful. Thank you. xXx ❤🎉
I would like to.know more about the patch settings
The Junos are extremely simple synths. Nothing to it. A string patch.
The crash sounds pretty much like the standard LinnDrum crash, just very thinned out with the EQ. I wonder where the bells are coming from.. Juno as well?
Thanks for this brilliant tutorial and remember (...whispers) Happy Christmas 🎶
those chords are not easy to resolve by ear. good job. a lot of variations going on there.
Enjoyed this video a lot Espen
Great video 👍
Cool video!
the chordal riff seem to go from A/D to Asus4add9 then briefly A6, Bm does similar Bsus4add9 to Bm, bar 3 the Em7 seems to be Em7 to Em7(sus 4 add 9) to and the A chord goes from A6 to A.... but i could be wrong ;) Maybe it could be looked at as a harmonized ostinato or counter melody ?
I was thinking "You know, those things have names, right?" Lots of variation. Hopefully I can get close, love using those SUS chords!!! There are some slashes on the bass part, too.
very nice cheers
Great enjoyed listening to this ,have you heard the pudding mix Espen ?
It has a lovely intro
Thanks! Of course. I even have it on vinyl and I also recorded that part for this video, but cut a lot out to be able to keep the video monetized.
@@EspenKraft of course fair enough.
George Michael was such a talented and lovely man and such a loss.
I will never forget how he performed somebody to love and how he could do that song justice.
According to what I've read (This was on Spotifys song trivia about a year ago) Michael didn't really know how to play the piano (or keyboard for that matter) but insisted on playing everything on his own (Quick look on the songs history on Wikipedia confirms this).
Has anyone been able to get the arrangement from the Yamaha SHS-10?
Good question, this keyboard has MIDI, but doesn't send the demo song.
Before this, I had a PSS 170 what played "Just The Way You Are" with all rhythms.
Sure, amazing track but he had alot of help & not from Andy Ridgely¿ ...i think the Linn is bolstered by Simmons SDS (cymbals) ,Juno-60 is backed up by DX7 ofc & superb vocals:..just my take of what makes this song Christmas gold¡ ur still the best EK thanx again dude
I always enjoy the snare fills in this song. :D I noticed that it actually repeats, but it doesn't follow the parts in a classic manner, I don't know how to explain it, I don't know proper terms.
Dx7 bells was a big part.
Everytime this comes on I shout "RX11"!
Not even close.
Hi Espen, what is the processing chain on the snare?
EQ, compression, layering etc. All my usual stuff.
👍👍👍
Is it a DX7 for the bells sound?
No Juno imho
Is there a reason why you used the Juno 106 instead of the 60? Is it just what you had available? EDIT: Never mind, I hadn't watched the whole video yet. :)
🎄
I can't see a reason why he didn't program it in the Linn.
Ian Anderson did the same with the wonderful and more complex drum tracks on Walk into light and Underwraps in 1983/1984
In George's own words.
" The drum programming was abysmal, because we were rushed into the studio at the last minute to record a Christmas song, it all had to he done very quickly.
It was hurried and released almost in its demo form".
George programmed the drums in a rush and he hated it, there's no magic deep theory behind it.
That's how the best stuff is done. In haste and not overthinking.
U make my day, dude! 😊
Synced delays.. which delays? Oooo! 🎉
Also the famous yamaha dx7 ep
That software looks like it's from 1984 too.