[link to original on tumblr]
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A few weeks ago, I listened to The SMiLE Sessions again, along with The Pet Sounds Sessions, and it occurred to me that the way the box sets are formatted is sort of multi-directional in terms of construction. Sections of the songs are presented in different mixes or different takes, and overdubs are isolated so that the listener can start to see how Brian Wilson pieced together the songs. But it could also work the other way - as a sort of blueprint to putting together the songs yourself.
At the time, I'd been looking for an-other band whose catalogue I could learn. In 2012, I started doing this with the Zombies (my favorite band), and - while I'm still working on that (and will probably never finish) - it's progressed much further than I had originally thought.
I'm pretty nervous and apprehensive about this (especially considering the complexity and fame of the albums), but I'm going to try to learn all of the parts to the songs on Pet Sounds and SMiLE. (Eventually, I might add some other Beach Boys songs, but Pet Sounds and SMiLE are my foci for now.) I'll probably never finish, but I'm hoping the experience will be similar to what's happening with learning the Zombies' songs. Even though I don't know a lot of the parts yet, I've gained a much better understanding and appreciation of the music.
I don't own a lot of the instruments that are present on the albums, and it'll take time to learn the parts, so at the beginning things will be incomplete and very probably wrong. But I have to start somewhere. My primary focus is still the corresponding Zombies project, so things might be a bit sporadic here.
