We had to turn the tape upside down, and we also had to figure out where we were going to hit the gong so that, when it was turned around, the gong went backward in the right place, actually peaking where we wanted it to end. We worked on just one basic track — I can't remember which — and that was it. However, Stevie did not work on the album at his home, and Stephen St. Croix did not co-produce or engineer it, as I've read somewhere. Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise - tekst piosenki, tłumaczenie piosenki i teledysk. We had T-shirts with 'Are We Finished Yet?' At the end, there was a return to Crystal for the mix. Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise Lyrics videoMade by NerdTheMusic - Subscribe! 'I Wish' and 'Sir Duke' (a tribute to the recently departed Duke Ellington and other musical heroes) both topped the American pop and R&B charts; 'Isn't She Lovely', which celebrated the birth of Wonder's daughter Aisha, quickly became a standard (and a UK Top 10 hit for David Parton); and 'Pastime Paradise', a meditation on those who live in the past with little hope for the future, would be sampled and reworked by West Coast rapper Coolio into the 1995 Grammy-winning smash hit 'Gangsta's Paradise', a US and UK number one that was itself parodied by 'Weird Al' Yankovic's 'Amish Paradise' the following year. A pair of Stephen St.Croix's Marshall Time Modulators. Obviously, this changes as the song develops, but in his mind he hears the finished master. ", And he did, for the song's two bridge sections: "Tell me who of them will come to be, How many of them are you and me. "It was a great transition period back then, with younger musicians and artists no longer wanting to use the record labels' own studios. There was a democratic process where everyone voted for their favourite tracks, but then Stevie threw that all out and selected what he wanted anyway. That mic was unbelievable. "There were plenty of session guys, and Stevie would also bring in a lot of guest stars throughout the recording process," says Gary Olazabal. Living in a pastime paradise They've been spending most their lives Living in a future paradise They've been spending most their lives Living in a future paradise We've been spending too much of our lives Living in a pastime paradise. By that time, we were a team and I was very comfortable with the whole process. We even ended up using it on Stevie's vocals — if you listen to 'Village Ghetto Land', you can hear him wagging his head between two of them. Packed with a greatest-hits-calibre collection of tracks, from the infectious energy of 'I Wish', 'Sir Duke', 'Contusion' and 'Isn't She Lovely', through the social commentary of 'Love's In Need Of Love Today', 'Village Ghetto Land', 'Black Man' and 'Pastime Paradise' to the euphoric liberation of 'Ngiculela — Es Una Historia — I Am Singing', Songs In The Key Of Life was Stevie Wonder's masterpiece. We've got some stuff we have to play him.' He was gone for about six weeks! Paradis De Passe-temps. Automatically playing similar songs. We said, 'Where's Steve? I told my friend, 'I don't think so,' and he said, 'Oh, come on. Arguments over creative control had led to a rift with Motown, and when Wonder returned it was on his own terms. Pastime Paradise song from the album Tribute To Stevie Wonder is released on Jun 2012 . Since he isn't interested in the manual or sitting through a flashy demo at a NAMM show, he doesn't know what the technology is supposed to be able to do. Q. "Aside from a few bits and pieces, the stuff that ended up on the record was done at Crystal, and Gary and I were the only engineers, along with Dave Henson, who was the assistant engineer there. If we thought turning a cymbal over and filling it with nuts and bolts would be cool, we'd just do it. Pastime Paradise song from the album Tribute To Stevie Wonder is released on Jun 2012 . All contents copyright © SOS Publications Group and/or its licensors, 1985-2021. Listen to Pastime Paradise by Stevie Wonder, 458,243 Shazams, featuring on Feeling Good, and 70s Soul Essentials Apple Music playlists. The guy wants me to carry these. Behind him you can see Stevie's Moog Modular system and Rhodes piano.Photo: Steve Morley/Redferns"We didn't mix until the final stages, because there was so much material recorded that we had to get a run-down of all the songs. Publisher: Faber Music. Lyrics They’ve been spending most their lives Living in a pastime paradise They’ve been spending most their lives Living in a pastime paradise They’ve been wasting most their time Glorifying days long gone behind So, we didn't do the formalised mixing until the final stages of the project. ", The Yamaha GX1 'Dream Machine' used to great effect on 'Pastime Paradise'.Photo: Steve Morley/Redferns"And a lot of times, as soon as something starts working reliably, he loses interest," Arbittier adds. Fmaj7 Bm7-5 E7 Am They've been wasting most their time, Glorifying days long gone behind. "He wasn't being preachy," says Olazabal. Columbia, RCA and Capitol all had terrific facilities, but they also had the older union engineers who worked specific hours and wouldn't let a producer move a microphone or touch a tape machine. You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address. That unit cost $20,000, which was a lot of money back in 1973. The classic was released as part of Stevie’s unparalleled album “Songs in … Inside Track: Steps ‘What The Future Holds’. I didn't live that far away, so I could get there before he was ready to work.". Stevie Wonder is the stage name of Stevland Hardaway Morris (b. Stevland Hardaway Judkins, 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, MI, USA - a.k.a. Compartir en Facebook Compartir en Twitter. Instead, assembled piecemeal, its synth strings were supplemented by percussion courtesy of Ray Maldonado and Bobbye Hall, with finger cymbals playing a vital role, while Wonder utilised a clapboard for the snare backbeat. As things turned out, he and I tag-teamed, got along really well and never had a disagreement. He asked Stevie where we did the strings, and Stevie replied that we'd used the London Philharmonic. Listen to Audio Idols Pastime Paradise MP3 song. It became part of the joke of our lives.". Yet today, this song is as well known as the hits; perhaps more so. ", According to Olazabal, Wonder is always interested in obtaining equipment that nobody else has. admin July 10, 2020 No Comments. A pair of Stephen St.Croix's Marshall Time Modulators.Photo: Steve Morley/Redferns Although the Marshall Time Modulator — a unit with custom integrated circuits that produced effects such as delay, flanging, double-tracking and vibrato — was utilised on tracks such as 'All Day Sucker', its inventor Stephen St. Croix did not, contrary to a myth that he himself perpetrated, play guitar on the track, and neither did he host Stevie Wonder in his own home for six months so that they could work together on Songs In The Key Of Life. Date: 1976. He has an unbelivable understanding of what the technology can do, and that's why he's always pushing it beyond its stated limits. Label: Motown - TMGLTD05 • Format: Vinyl 7 Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise (1976, Vinyl) | Discogs "And I think if I can just accomplish one fraction of an iota of that, dealing with life, my life, and the lives of the people who hear the album, I'll be very happy. All rights reserved. GX1 voices were programmed onto matchbox-sized cartridges. We didn't do comps. He'd do a lot of different takes until he found one that he liked, and then we would fix that, word by word, syllable by syllable. This is the story of how it was created. "He just didn't want the song to sound too light. He just knows what he's hearing it do and what he thinks it could do next. A huge and powerful polyphonic analogue synthesizer, with chrome pedestals and a curved metallic body, the GX1 — introduced in 1973 as a forerunner to the CS80 — housed three keyboards, a pedal-board, a ribbon controller that produced modulation changes, two swell pedals and a spring-loaded knee controller, along with a variety of buttons and switches to program, store and recall sounds. But you know, one of the great things about doing this album, and one of the things that I will always be grateful for, was the freedom that Gary and I had to do whatever we wanted to do. Seventy cartridges in total were loaded into racks that emerged from the top of the console. I mean, if one of us was in the middle of recording something and needed to have a break, the other would take over and continue doing exactly the same job. Stevie Wonder : Pastime Paradise paroles et traduction de la chanson . They've been spending most their lives Living in a pastime paradise They've been spending most their lives Is he with you? From the Book: The Stevie Wonder Anthology It was like, 'OK, Steve, let him off the hook,' but he wouldn't.". To disable, switch Autoplay to ‘OFF’ under Settings. Pastime Paradise by Stevie Wonder - discover this song's samples, covers and remixes on WhoSampled Pastime Paradise By Stevie Wonder. Pastime Paradise, Songs in the key of life, con una ambición ilimitada y lleno de canciones diferentes pero a la vez grandiosas, obra maestra de la historia musical popular del R&B, Pop, Funk, Afrobeat, Soul Each cartridge had 26 screw-sized dials on it to change the VCO, VCF, VCA and envelope of the voice. Consultez des crédits, des avis, des pistes et achetez la référence 1976 Vinyl de Pastime Paradise sur Discogs. The song was one of the first to use a synthesizer (the Yamaha GX-1) to sound like a full string section. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life, Pastime Paradise, lyrics. Thus commenced an incredible four-year stretch during which he released five classic albums that would define his artistic legacy: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and his magnum opus, Songs In The Key Of Life, an expansive two-album-plus-EP set that displayed the breadth and depth of Wonder's talents. For extra presence, an AKG 414 was used to record the percussion on 'Pastime Paradise', yet overall the sound of the song was extremely dry, and this included Wonder's vocal, since he wanted it to match the stark lyrical content. ", At least there was little chance of a fight breaking out. "In the old days, before Pro Tools, Stevie's vocals could take a really long time. However, there was one point where Gary and I were working on something at the studio and Stevie came out of his office and said, 'You guys keep working. It was a great, great experience, and later on people wouldn't be allowed that kind of freedom.". It was fantastic. "I remember, Gary and I were working in the mobile truck on the album Characters [1987]. If you just rubbed two fingers in front of them it sounded like sandpaper. We had a pan pot, a fader and an echo send on each tape return, but it was a pure path. From the Album: Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life. Fmaj7 Bm7-5 E7 Am They've been spending most their lives, living in a Pastime Paradise. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1976 Vinyl release of Pastime Paradise on Discogs. The top three-quarter-scale, three-octave, 37-note keyboard had half-size keys and offered unprecedented touch control; the other two five-octave, 61-note standard-size keyboards were equally functional, with horizontal position control enabling the player to achieve effects such as vibrato by moving the keys side-to-side. The duration of song is 03:27. ", Whenever Wonder is ready to work, his methods are, according to Olazabal, "frighteningly spontaneous. 'Pastime Paradise' is, consequently, among Stevie Wonder's best-known and most successful compositions, his own version being distinguished by its Krishna-sect/gospel group backing vocals and unabashed playing of synthesized strings, as well as the politically charged Bicentennial-year lyrics. Seventy cartridges in total were loaded into racks that emerged from the top of the console. Composed, Produced & Arranged by Stevie Wonder Raymond Maldonado, Bobbye Hall - Percussion All Other Instruments - Stevie Wonder Hare Krishna, West Angeles Church Choir - Background Vocals In album: Songs in the Key of Life (1976) In addition, he also contributed a keyboard bass part, before recording the main vocal and then having the song's closing section adorned with backing singers in the form of the aforementioned Krishna devotees and a separately recorded gospel group. "We would put song one on one stereo two-track and song two on the other," Olazabal explains. It had great equalisers, really great mic preamps, and there was a whole separate monitor section. "I mean, through the years we've experimented and come up with the craziest technology and ideas, but as soon as the stuff is working fine, Steve will say, 'OK, well, what's next?' It had these monolithic speaker cabinets, and we would tilt them toward the ceiling and place overhead mics far away — either AKG 414s or Group 128 419s — capturing it as though it was a stringed instrument. Dissipation, race relations, consolation, segregation, dispensation, isolation, exploitation, mutilation, mutations, miscreation, confirmation, to the evils of the world... Proclamation, of race relations, consolation, integration, verification, of revelations, acclamation, world salvation, vibrations, stimulation, confirmation, to the peace of the world.". "A friend of mine in LA who owned a stereo store asked me if I wanted to try it. Pastime Paradise Stevie Wonder. ", Aside from a lone exception. However, he didn't really expect that. Product Type: Musicnotes. Stevie Wonder and Gary Olazabal in Wonder's Wonderland Studio, 1986.Photo: Steve Morley/RedfernsGeorge Benson, Herbie Hancock, Minnie Riperton, Deniece Williams, Stevie's ex-wife Syreeta Wright — these were just a few among the more than 120 musicians, many of them vocalists, who have been credited with contributing to the album; including, as already mentioned, the Krishna devotees who sang backup on 'Pastime Paradise'. Get Notified about the latest hits and trends, so that you are always on top of the latest in music when it comes to your friends. "Stevie started getting into more classical sounds," says Gary Olazabal. "And while he might not always express it in a real obvious, logical way, he knows when he hears through his ears what he's hearing in his mind, and he knows how to steer something toward what he wants it to be. We were prepared, but we also had a lot of good luck, working not only with Stevie but with James Taylor, Jackson Browne, War, REO Speedwagon, the Jackson 5, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye — the list was truly unbelievable. Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise Lyrics. Photo: Steve Morley/RedfernsCrystal Sound Studios in Los Angeles, where the majority of work on Songs In The Key Of Life was completed. We both had our favourite songs that we liked to work on, but there never was a point where one of us did everything on one song. When the owner died, his obituary stated that Songs In The Key Of Life had been recorded at his studio. Each cartridge had 26 screw-sized dials on it to change the VCO, VCF, VCA and envelope of the voice. "Pastime Paradise" was first released on Songs in the Key of Life, which has become Wonder's most highly praised album. He still operates the same way, as far as I know, and his voice still sounds amazing. It was those kinds of sessions that led to Gary and me forming our own company.". In fact, we recorded the Dream Machine as if it was an actual string section, with Stevie playing the cello part, the violas and so on. Key and BPM for Pastime Paradise by Stevie Wonder. Rob Arbittier demonstrates how the GX1 modules are inserted. He was the one who aligned the machines, and if you go to any of the tapes from all the time that we did the album, there's not more than a quarter of a dB difference on any of them. It's never-ending, and that continues to this day. Those mics were amazing on piano, vocals, you name it. Smartphone & Tablet. "I'd produced Carole King's Writer album there, and then became partners in the studio with its owner, Andrew Berliner, who was an electronics genius, a classically trained pianist and one of the world's great engineers. The Yamaha GX1 'Dream Machine' used to great effect on 'Pastime Paradise'. That's why there was an EP — he couldn't even fit some of the songs onto a double album, but they were important enough that he wanted them to be included in the package. The setup at Crystal comprised a home-made 32-input console, George Augsberger monitors, two Studer 24-track machines, three Studer two-tracks and an array of new and vintage microphones. Stevie Wonder and Gary Olazabal in Wonder's Wonderland Studio, 1986. 12 Things People Worry About Too Much When Mixing, Distant City Studios - A Drum Room With A Difference, Mastering Essentials Part 6 - Final Delivery: Requirements & Specs. Mixing / Production; By Richard Buskin. Rather than taking samples from Wonder’s song, Coolio and co. replayed and re-sung sections of “Pastime Paradise.” "Pastime Paradise" Track Info Written By Stevie Wonder Michael Jackson considered it Wonder's best, whilst Elton John told interviewers it was "the best album ever made," a sentiment shared by many in the listening public. So he might come up with a hook or an idea for the chorus, and then everything will flow from there.". Like when DSD recording finally became stable for stereo, he immediately said, 'Now we need a multitrack.' Epic in every sense of the word - running to 21 songs, involving more than 120 musicians and taking almost two years to complete - Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life was in many ways the high-point of an already illustrious career. "That is a very broad statement," Stevie Wonder commented shortly afterwards, referring to the album's title. "Crystal was one of the first facilities to use Dolbys and have all-Studer machines, and the first to have an EMT 250 reverb. Are you sure you want to continue? Rob Arbittier demonstrates how the GX1 modules are inserted.Photo: Steve Morley/Redferns"The one important thing that we did at the Record Plant in Sausalito was the backward gong on 'Pastime Paradise'," says John Fischbach, who since 2000 has been running Piety Street Recording in New Orleans. "That would have never happened," says Gary Olazabal. When he hears a device make a certain sound, he has a good idea of what other sounds it could make, and he likes to push that envelope. Pastime Paradise. "Almost everything that was recorded at Crystal over the course of three or four years turned into a hit," says Fischbach, who originally encountered Stevie Wonder at New York's Electric Ladyland in about 1971, and then had him record at Crystal a couple of years later. "That was the greatest double-tracking device ever made. "We had decided it would be great to have them on the song, so he went and talked to a bunch of those people and made arrangments for them to come to the studio.