Brian Wilson....Multi-Tracking Master

One of America’s greatest musicians is Brian Wilson. His work with the Beach Boys and numerous other artists pushed the boundaries of music, both in production and in writing. In the mid sixties, Brian Wilson stopped touring with the Beach Boys to concentrate on writing and made one of the greatest records of all time, Pet Sounds. His use of multi-tracking allowed for him to group layers of vocals on top of layers of vocals with a process that was inspired by his mentor, Phil Spector. The result was spectacular.

Brian Wilson was pushed to create such a great record by his rivals, the Beatles, who released Rubber Soul in 1965. They were rivals and friends, yet they were trying to create a record better than the one before. Pet Sounds has an amazing sound to it, something that has not been equaled since. The songs “Wouldn’t it be nice”, “God Only Knows” and “Sloop John B”, in particular, are three of my all time favorite songs. One interesting thing about this album is that it was so good that the Beatles were pushed even harder and their response to it was Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, which has been listed as the greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. It was contributing factor for Brian Wilson’s nervous breakdown. His response to Sgt Peppers was going to be Smile, which he started in 1966 but it took him until 2004 to finish.  Pet Sounds is listed as the second best album of all time on that same list.

Iconic Music

50's Bo Diddley- "Bo Diddley" a local Gainesville legend
60's Beach Boys- "Good Vibrations" Decades after its release, I still jam out to it
70's The Eagles- "Hotel California" First song I learned on the guitar
80's Queen- "Another one bites the dust" still gets sports fans amped up
90's Cher- One of the first songs I loved to sing along with
00's Jay-Z and Alicia Keys- "Empire State of Mind" Immediate classic.

Iconic Music and Film Influences

50's - "Yakety Yak" - The Coasters, Film Ref. Twins (1988)
60's - "What'd I Say" - Ray Charles, Film Ref. Black Rain(1989)
70's - "Rapper's Delight" - Sugar Hill Gang, Film Ref. Kangaroo Jack (2003)
80's - "Push It" - Salt N Pepa, Film Ref. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
90's - "Gangsta's Paradise" - Coolio, Film Ref. Bad Teacher (2011)
00's - "Ms. Jackson" - Outkast, Film Ref. No Strings Attached (2011)

Multi-Track Recording

Multitrack recording is one of the best things to ever happen to sound design. It allows for a more dynamic  sound and gives more opportunity for artist to explore different avenues, especially for jazz musicians and classical composers who record most if not all their music simultaneously. With the mutiltrack recording technique, you no longer have to spend hours upon house trying to edit mess ups or glitches in a track that is direct to stereo. You can now edit certain elements of the track that were recorded separately instead of all at once.

Also, another great invention along with mutlitrack recording techniques that Les Paul invented was the Sound on Sound recording method. This allowed artist to be able to record and play along with previously recorded sounds so that you would be able to hear and play along with the other tracks.  This invention has had monumental effects on today's music with dubbing, ad-libs, chorus, etc.  Without Les Paul, Ross Snyder, Mary Ford, and Patti Page I don't think half the music we have today would even exist.