Violinist

[eljobo]

Does anyone know whether or not PRR will be using any violin on the next album or on tour? I found the violin parts to be really awesome and would be disappointed to see them go, but as "violin" is not listed as any of the current member's instruments I think it may have been removed from their sound. Just wondering.

[blondeambassador]

They won't be using a live violin anymore, that member of the band is no longer with them and they have decided to stay as they are rather than attempting to replace him. Live, the tracks with violin have the sound built into a backing track so it's not gone completely but I think you'll find no violin in the new material.

[Lawrie]

Jim is listed in the credits of The Dark Third as the only member who played violin on that record, and he was certainly the only one to play the violin live during their gigs, so I think that a violin sound played by a real violin is unlikely to feature in PRR's future work.

However having said that, with Jon being so into the synths and programming side of his game, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that PRR's future material might contain some violin sounds in the mix - but just not played on an actual violin. By the same token, it's pretty unlikely we'll see a real violin in the live shows for the forseeable future, but as their post-Jim gigs have featured the violins on Bright Ambassadors/Trembling Willlows/Realms Of The Divine etc then it's pretty much a given that the violin *sound* from their live shows won't be abandoned any time soon.

For what it's worth, I used to enjoy seeing Jim playing violin in the live shows as well, but PRR have a revised line-up now and I'm cool with that. As I say, Captain Courtney's love of synthesisers and other such technical jiggery pokery should be enough to give the band a really rich, layered sound on stage both now and going forward, IMO.

[ryan]

Soon as Jim got his violin out all the cameras went from Chloe to him. Made me laugh.

[Lawrie]

Jun 13, 2008 11:15:59 GMT ryan said:

Soon as Jim got his violin out all the cameras went from Chloe to him. Made me laugh.

Ha ha, good point! *claps*

[Nikos]

who's to say it wasn't on backing track even when certain members were still in the band?

[Lawrie]

Jun 13, 2008 14:29:36 GMT Nikos said:

who's to say it wasn't on backing track even when certain members were still in the band?

Yeah, that's fair comment. Sometimes Jim's violin parts would be played truly live using a violin, and sometimes they'd be part of the backing track.

For anyone who's interested, you can see a clear example of both situations in the same setlist! Check out Jamie's videos for the band's set at V Festival: on Bright Ambassadors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMSRwKVXEIk) there is a real violin being played and it's quite clear to hear the imperfections in the sound that prove it's real; and on Trembling Willows (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3-rAhRuRns) it is quite clear that none of the band are playing a violin when the strings kick in during the song.

At the end of the day, doesn't really matter to me one way or the other. As I say, I enjoyed it when Jim used to play the real violin parts in the live shows, but I enjoy it just as much seeing the 4-piece PRR do their own thing on the new songs we've heard. And (IMO) there's no reason why we shouldn't necessarily hear violins in future PRR studio and live songs going forward (if that's what the band wanted in a song): they'd just be synthesised rather than played on a violin, but that's no different to any use of a synthesiser and is fine with me.

[eljobo]

Well if they use synths to play violin sounds thats pretty cool. If Porcupine Tree can pull it off then so should PRR, but a backing track would kinda suck live.

[the dark fourth]

Jun 13, 2008 20:23:30 GMT eljobo said:

a backing track would kinda suck live.

I assure you it doesn't.

[eljobo]

Jun 13, 2008 21:50:36 GMT the dark fourth said:

Jun 13, 2008 20:23:30 GMT eljobo said:

a backing track would kinda suck live.

I assure you it doesn't.

I'm sure the sound doesn't suck, but the idea that no one on stage is making the sound doesn't sit well with me. I can listen to recorded works at home, but live I want to see musicians "making" the sounds. It would still be a mindblowing show regardless (if they ever come to Vancouver )

[Nikos]

Jun 15, 2008 4:40:21 GMT eljobo said:

Jun 13, 2008 21:50:36 GMT the dark fourth said:

I assure you it doesn't.

I'm sure the sound doesn't suck, but the idea that no one on stage is making the sound doesn't sit well with me. I can listen to recorded works at home, but live I want to see musicians "making" the sounds. It would still be a mindblowing show regardless (if they ever come to Vancouver )

nah, trust me, the violin is/was a very very very small part of the band. it isn't missed, nor is ther person who played it. you pretty much don't even notice it!

[the dark fourth]

Yeah, but that said, it's undeniable that the use of backing tracks is a negative in terms of what the band can do live. I always feel that it's nice to see adapted versions of songs at live shows, but this is very difficult for PRR. Fortunately for them, their songs are so good that it doesn't matter too much.

[ryan]

PRR have always used backing tracks, there's only so much in all the layers they can reproduce, it was when they pretended they weren't at the MV support that was silly.

[ancientmariner]

Jun 15, 2008 18:27:35 GMT ryan said:

PRR have always used backing tracks, there's only so much in all the layers they can reproduce, it was when they pretended they weren't at the MV support that was silly.

Didn't really get that. Did they support The Mars Volta?
And what were they pretending?

I would like to see everything played live as well. And PRR don't just have violin parts coming from backing tracks but keyboard parts and some vocal bits as well I believe.

That said it doesn't bother me particularly, I realize having the right chemistry between the people in the band is more important than having certain instruments.

One of my favourite bands, Rush, use pre-recorded bits extensively, but trigger everything themselves realtime and don't use any backing tracks.
Don't know how exactly PRR do it, but I guess the deeper they venture into electronica the more inevitable using backing tracks will become.

[Lawrie]

Hi ancientmariner, welcome to the boards!

I'm not sure about the exact details of PRR's use of backing tracks, but I agree with your sentiments that the personnel of the band plays a large part in dictating how backing tracks are used in their live shows. The band are happy and settled as the 4-piece that they are, and by necessity the fact that some parts of the early material were played by a 5th member means that it's unavoidable for a certain amount of backing track to be used when songs from The Dark Third are played live.

Going forward with the material we've heard from the forthcoming second album, I'm also fine with the appropriate use of backing tracks in the live shows when it corresponds to how the studio versions of the tracks were recorded. For example, on Deus Ex Machina, if the studio version of that was created (presumably) with Jon programming/playing the main synth part of the track and then playing his own guitar part separately and mixing the two audio tracks together to give the finished studio product, then it's impossible for Jon to be doing the two things simultaneously in a live performance, so this is fine with me. Basically, as long as the band are doing as much as they can do on stage, then that's good enough for me and I'm happy to have a backing track present to 'fill in the gaps' left by the band members only being able to play one instrument at a time.

(That said, for a bit of legendary multi-tasking, Jonny Greenwood plays the high-pitched guitar line in the last verse of Street Spirit while simultaneously using the flat side of the headstock of his Fender to play the keyboard line as well: just quality! )