Christmas Music… What makes it Christmassy? Beyond sticking a sleigh bell sample over something obviously…
Talking about this with regular contributor Alessandro Panella, it became pretty clear that Christmas music refers back to itself. All music does this but Christmas music in an interestingly elusive way. We recognise it but we struggle to define it.
So here is Alessandro’s, very tongue in cheek, example of Christmas music, with the silly, but extremely clever, ‘Merry Expert Christmas’. Over to Alessandro…
Christmas Music
When we decided to publish an article on Christmas music from a composition/arrangement perspective, my first idea was to analyze the most common styles, or clichés if you will, of what can be considered Christmas music, but there are so many different genres, styles and authors that I felt this article might become a mere list of something like: this author writes like this, this style suits this context and so on… rather boring.
Therefore, I decided to take some fun to the ‘didactic’ side of the story, and I tried to create the ‘definitive’ Christmas song for our readers, accompanied by some explanations on why I chose to write it.
First and foremost, when we write music we definitely need to feel good, have some fun and enjoy the process. That’s why I went into this direction.
Quoting Other Music
Before starting to write a single note, I decided to go for a three-part song, using quotations and arrangement formulas that characterize three specific genres to which I’m particularly attached, namely: orchestral “evergreen” songs (à la Nat King Cole in “Christmas song - Merry Christmas to You”), barbershop vocal quartets (I don’t know if these things still happen somewhere in the world, but I’m a bit of an old-fashioned guy…) and last but not least, a nod to Frank Sinatra and the great big bands. There are a lot of other styles to choose from, so if someone wishes to try their “best Christmas song ever” after reading this article, well you can choose what suits you best.
If you are wondering “why should I ever write a piece of music with quotations from other songs?”, that’s simply because the best Christmas songs ever have already been written, so… let’s not worry about it and have some fun!
Spoiler alert and apologies in advance: I’m the one singing, but despite my being a fairly good pianist, I’m no professional singer at all… I hope you’ll pardon me. And, obviously, the lyrics are taken from famous songs and adapted to our “lifestyle” (again, just for fun)
Orchestral Intro Section
Moving to the song, the first part is an orchestral piece nodding at the glorious music from the 40s and 50s. The line up includes a strings section, flute, oboe, bassoon, trumpets, piano, bass, and some orchestral bells.
The section begins with the first violins playing some glissatos, like falling snow, supported by staccato notes of the flute which should accentuate this impression. The progression leads to a suspended dominant 7th chord that resolves into Eb major by means of a very short phrase played by the oboe and the bassoon (both of them are very helpful in creating a Christmas atmosphere, as they are double-reed instruments, just like bagpipes). The choice of the key signature is rather important to set the mood. For psycho-acoustic reasons, flat keys are more “mellow” than sharp ones (well, that is already hinted at by their names…) and they are also easier to play for brass and transposing instruments in general. That’s why I went for a wide and open E flat major. Besides, it allowed my to sing in a register that fits my poor singing abilities (these “cunnings” are important too when writing music!).
As you will hear, this part is rather “standard”: it starts with straight piano and bass; flute and oboe enter at the second phrase together, accentuating the passage with a cantato-lyrical countermelody line, with some slow strings played in the mid-high register, to avoid “cluttering” in the low-mid range. A very quick modulation takes us to a quotation of “Joy to the World” by Handel which sees the addition of orchestral trumpets (to get that old-style baroque-ish classical feel…), and the section ends with a lighter orchestration consisting of piano, violins and bass playing a “rallentando and diminuendo” to take us to the next section.
Barbershop Breakdown
Here comes the “barbershop vocal quartet”. This style requires the voices to be written in close harmony, that is to say the single voices create the chords without spreading too much. We usually have the root note on the bass voice, while the baritone, tenor and counter-tenor complete the chords without making great movements and staying close together as much as possible. Sometimes it might be useful to create a little bit of interest by moving the third or the fifth interval of a chord to the bass voice, as it gives a sense of expectation that helps differentiate the various moments of a specific section, otherwise we may risk to make a very static piece of music, which is never a good thing. Another characteristic of this arrangement is the use of chromatic movements, i.e. connecting the notes of the melody with semitones (we can consider them some sort of “blue notes”); in this example, they can be mostly heard in the top voice. The chord progression, again, is rather standard: I - V, V - I in the first part, IV -I - III7/b9 - VI min in the second part, IV min - I - II7 - V7 in the third part. Another trick to make the section a little more interesting is to move the melody to the bass, as in the last part. In this way we change the colour of what we are listening to in a rather unexpected way, as the lead part usually stays in the upper register.
Big Band Section
The final section (well, the pre-final section…) makes use of a classic big band arrangement, with 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, a cimbasso (or a bass trombone), 5 saxophones (2 altos, 2 tenors and 1 baritone sax) and a rhythmic section (piano, bass, drums). As you can hear, the brass are playing stabs, some crescendo, and a few lines to accentuate the beat played by the drums, while the saxophones take the role of the strings section of a classical orchestra, playing legato notes to create the harmonic texture. In this respect, it is very important to spread the voices of the chords so as all the instruments of the section always play in their best range. In this way we can obtain a solid and focused sound, which is needed to adequately support the melody without creating confusion. The rhythmic session has to keep things together and running, so drums and bass play rather straight (no surprises here please!), while the piano has some degree of freedom, as it plays short lines now and then, to fill the gaps between the various phrases.
The Inevitable Sleigh Bells…
The song ends with a final quotation, which needs no explanations both as regards the notes and the instruments. As a matter of fact, I decided to use the infamous sleigh-bells in the end at least, as they cannot be missing in a proper Christmas song. The peculiar fact about this ending is that I decided to use some descending altered chords to drastically change the mood of the original song, because I needed a melancholic feel for this last morceau of music.
All these words, which may give new info to some of you (or maybe not) are actually aimed at having you listen to this small exercise, which in turn wants to be an amiable way for us to wish you a Merry Christmas!
Oh, one final word: if you can guess all the songs that are quoted (either in the music or the lyrics) you will be granted Clearmountain-like powers and your mixes will shine in the annals of music; but if you don’t, be aware that all your snare drums will sound like cardboard boxes for the rest of the year!
Merry Expert Christmas, folks!
Merry Expert Christmas – Lyrics
Have yourself a Merry Expert Christmas,
Not like the ones you used to know.
Just deck the halls with mics and plugins,
Let every heart prepare for mixing…
Joy to the band, the mastering has come!
And all they want to hear is…
Let it pump, let it pump, let it pump!
Oh what fun it is to ride a vocal take with you!
What fun it is to automate and trim that volume too!
When Expert’s articles come to my house, I would read them with you,
But then my DAW begins to squeak,
And all my fears come true!
You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry
If your mixes suck, the solution is nigh…
The Expert’s team is coming tonight!
With Julian and Russ, and Mike and the team
They’re giving you tips and tricks for the win!
The Expert’s team is coming tonight!
They see you when you’re miking,
And they see you when you mix,
And they know that even at Christmas time
You’ll be fixing things like this…
Mixing stuff, mixing stuff, mixing all the day!