tBS: Laura's Plastic Swords midi...

[Steven Tice]

Here's the Laura's Plastic Swords midi file I've been working on...I'd
originally intended to simply transcribe the drum line, but I just kept
going...:-)  This is the first time I've ever transcribed a song without at
least a little sheet music as a guide, so please forgive me any errors in
advance.  This is far from polished; I have yet to do the detail work, such
as working the pitch bends into the guitar and vocal lines, and the volume
will need some adjustments in spots.  I've also omitted the scritchy guitar
noises during Deb's vocal sections--it's hard to do those correctly with the
Cakewalk program I'm using.   The guitar vibrato is similarly difficult to do
with Cakewalk, unfortunately.  And, as with any midi file, your mileage may
vary depending on your sound card and/or midi program.

A little analysis...  There are some interesting details in this song.  The
quarter note pattern from the beginning (throughout Albert's vocal sections)
reappears in double time (well, I've transcribed it in double time, at least)
during Deb's vocal sections, but with the middle two quarter notes removed
from the bass line, and all but the first chord removed from the guitar
lines.  And, of course, there's a completely different drum line for the
second section.  This accomplishes an effective mixture of variety and
cohesiveness.

Also interesting is the 7/8 section that appears three times.  It's tricky in
that it sounds like three measures of 7/8 followed by a return to 4/4 with
the whole note chord.  In actuality, there are only TWO measures of 7/8, and
the chord comes in on the syncopated last beat of a measure of 4/4.  This
threw me for a little while...:-)

One fun aspect of the drum line is the foreshadowing Albert uses in the
initial section.  Instead of simply echoing the main rhythm lines of the bass
and guitars (quarter-quarter-quarter-eighth-eighth), Albert places the two
eighth notes (in the bass drum) on the THIRD beat instead of placing it with
the other instruments on the fourth beat.  In this way, the drum line
foreshadows the main rhythm lines, while at the same time breaking up the
pattern enough to keep it from being too monotonous.

Please send me any alterations and corrections that would help me to improve
this file.  It was a lot of fun creating it!

Steven Tice

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