What is Al Jorgenson doing with tone in "Everyday is Halloween"?
November 14, 2022 9:51 AM Subscribe
I don't have the musical language to describe what's going on here, but in the song (see this video at around 1:40, for instance) Al Jourgenson pushes his voice up, like, a half-step or something. "...all the people seem to stop and stare / They say why are you dressed like it's Halloween..." To my uneducated ear the rest of the music is unchanged; he's just forcing himself to be... musically off-tone, and it's subtly disconcerting (which I like). Is there a name for this? Is it a thing in music "oh yes, that's the Brechstein Tonal Squanch"?
If you enjoy German portmanteaus, you could call it sprechgesang, like this.
In an industrial music context, it's got a similar feel to what Groovie Mann does in "The Days of Swine and Roses" in the service of sounding disconcerting.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:06 AM on November 14, 2022
In an industrial music context, it's got a similar feel to what Groovie Mann does in "The Days of Swine and Roses" in the service of sounding disconcerting.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:06 AM on November 14, 2022
It might be intentional - it is a thing in jazz, and yes, it can be used to increase tension or great something that grab's the listener's ear to emphasize a key part of the lyrics (or whatever).
But to me it sounds like someone who wasn't a great singer (in the classical sense) and would have been on a relatively low budget as far as retakes making a recording in the pre-Autotune days and being a bit off pitch.
posted by Candleman at 11:40 AM on November 14, 2022
But to me it sounds like someone who wasn't a great singer (in the classical sense) and would have been on a relatively low budget as far as retakes making a recording in the pre-Autotune days and being a bit off pitch.
posted by Candleman at 11:40 AM on November 14, 2022
I feel like Nick Cave does this sometimes, too—and I could never tell whether it was (as Candleman notes above) just lack of pitch control, or intentionally out of tune.
posted by pepper bird at 11:47 AM on November 14, 2022
posted by pepper bird at 11:47 AM on November 14, 2022
Best answer: To my ears, it sounds like he's singing along with the bassline, and it sounds like just for that one line the bass is going up a semitone to form an augmented chord or something, and he's just going up a semitone along with it.
It's more apparent in the Stabbing Westward cover.
posted by credulous at 12:30 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's more apparent in the Stabbing Westward cover.
posted by credulous at 12:30 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I don't think there is anything particularly noteworthy about what's happening in the recording. For most of the song the synth bass is playing the pattern E-flat - G-flat - A-flat - D-flat over and over and over again. To my ear this pattern feels like E-flat harmonic minor. When it gets to the lyrics "why are you dressed like it's Halloween" the synth bass modulates up a half-step and so does the singer.
The overall phenomenon you're describing is called a "blue note." In movable pitch instruments it's usually done by taking a note slightly flat; in fixed pitch instruments it might be done by playing an entire half step below the expected pitch; and in fixed pitch instruments that can play multiple notes simultaneously it's often done by playing the expected note and the note a half step below together at the same time. In practice, this can be perilous, because not every note of the scale is amenable to this treatment. A singer hitting the correct blue notes can be great, whereas a singer "blueing" the wrong notes just sounds off-pitch. For my taste it can also be overdone. Not everu7y note that can be blued should be blued.
posted by slkinsey at 12:33 PM on November 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
The overall phenomenon you're describing is called a "blue note." In movable pitch instruments it's usually done by taking a note slightly flat; in fixed pitch instruments it might be done by playing an entire half step below the expected pitch; and in fixed pitch instruments that can play multiple notes simultaneously it's often done by playing the expected note and the note a half step below together at the same time. In practice, this can be perilous, because not every note of the scale is amenable to this treatment. A singer hitting the correct blue notes can be great, whereas a singer "blueing" the wrong notes just sounds off-pitch. For my taste it can also be overdone. Not everu7y note that can be blued should be blued.
posted by slkinsey at 12:33 PM on November 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
I refer to this song as "The time Uncle Al goes 'bop-bop.'"
posted by heathrowga at 1:34 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by heathrowga at 1:34 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think his pitch is a little rough, but it has a feeling of authenticity and could indeed be an intentional blue note as slkinsey observes above. I find the pitch of the electronic bassline a little unclear too, (it's probably to do with the tone, not the most generous of sounds. I mean it's kind of squidgy and compressed? Or something.) it was really hard to "tune in to it" haha pun not intended. I listened to this live version of it for contrast and it sounds like they took that chord change out altogether! He doesn't change note in that spot either.
posted by Coaticass at 9:26 PM on November 14, 2022
posted by Coaticass at 9:26 PM on November 14, 2022
I mean, it's a song about not fitting in. And on those notes, he's deliberately creating that feeling. Genius. This is potentially an example of word painting AKA tone painting.
posted by Coaticass at 9:36 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Coaticass at 9:36 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by Rash at 9:59 AM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]