“My heart’s beating, my hearts beating, my hands are shaking, my hands are shaking, BUT I’M STILL SHOOTING!!! I’M STILL GETTIN’ THOSE HEADSHOTS, IT’S LIKE BOOM, HEADSHOT! BOOM, HEADSHOT! BOOOOM, HEADSHOT!!!” -Rick Wakeman during the challenging production of Close to the Edge, circa 1972
To me, this piece of music has always been beautiful, perfect. But, listening to this, it should be a lesson to every musician out there. There are tiny mistakes here and there. It shocked me because I’ve always considered Rick to be an amazingly gifted musician, which he defiantly is. But, in the mix, which I’ve listened to countless times since it came out, I’ve never noticed them. Your tracks don’t have to be flawless. Not everything should be put ‘on the grid’. It takes the humanness out of it. Play yourself, be human, stop trying to be perfect. Yes, you should strive to be the best at your craft that you can be, but don’t sweat the tiniest of mistakes.
Yeah- it's about capturing the best energy and timing; anything but perfection. Townshend's guitar is all over the place and most of us would have gone back to "correct" those performances when they're iconic.
Wow - thank you! I’ve always suspected that Wakeman was the more traditional “glue” that held this amazing, avant garde and ground breaking piece together...this proves it.
As amazing as this is it makes you appreciate just why prog is so great. So many instruments and vocals working together to create something unique and mesmerising. Still, fascinating to hear wakeman’s work. Pure genius.
Rick Wakeman genio assoluto. Numero Uno! (And among the several masterful things here... that historical Hammond solo and that very original Mellotron at min. 7:08!)
I have to kick myself... I took this all for granted. It wasn't until I saw Tuber Doug Helvering (The Daily Doug, watch esp 19:17) react dramatically to the church organ, that I thought "I've never really listened to this". Now, with this isolated track made prominent, I can make up for 50 years of ignorance. Thankyou, nicodegallo!
I’d say it starts earlier - from “On a hill we viewed the silence of the valley” - the piano and Mellotron are just beautiful - prog rich didn’t get any better than this album!
I remember try to learn the insane part at the beginning and wondering if it was humanly possibly to play it or if Wakeman was using some primitive sequencer, but when you hear it on its own you can hear the timing is lumpy as hell and realise it's just barely possible for a godlike entity like Rick to pull it off with a lot of mistakes, and you feel a lot better!
@@Tom-ok2rh The tone is kind of similar but the Karn Evil thing is really obviously a sequencer, but there's so much "human element" in Rick's part, it's definitely played by hand
It's fascinating to hear which inversions of the chords he plays. He surprised me many times as I listened, as to what I thought he was playing... Bravo!
His keyboards must have massive effects on them, especially that RMI as mine never sounded like that. And, those Mellotron strings sound almost reversed, then cut off. And that Hammond before the synth solo, just sounds too massive for a regular Hammond. Love the decay on the Hammond solo after the synth solo, but it really sounds compressed. I didn't realize Rick played piano after the Hammond solo. Amazing stuff!
While Yes is a band of collective creativity these isolated keyboards can show us how relevant the instrumentation of Yes is. Not to discredit Jon Anderson's vocals or writing but music today it seems the vocalist is all that matters. Today musicians or music programming means little to nothing in popular music , the vocals and presence of a vocalist persona in marketing is all that matters. Yes had shown us the instrumental outreach was key ingredients of what made prog. While listening to isolated vocals or any instrumental section is interesting it's the collection of all the parts that make Yes. If I had to listen to isolated sections I'd be far more inclined to play musical instrumental sections or the band sans vocals than just listening to vocals. Fortunately the album exists, these isolated tastings are unique and entertaining. Parts of any given instrumental section can get lost in the mix. Seems like vocals don't get lost that much but those isolated vocals are entertaining as well.
Thank you so much!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I've spent 50 years wanting to hear exactly what he's playing when the band swoops in together for the first time -- etc. How did you manage to do this?
Just discovered this isolated version of CTTE. Between Genesis and Yes it has always been a toss-up in terms of which band I love more. The rawness of Rick’s playing on this is interesting in comparison to Tony Banks. Of course their roles were very different but this helps to show that beneath the surface Yes was a more gritty Prog rock band.
I think they’re out there somewhere, they made a full 5.1 mix of the album which means they still have the stems to remix it. That being said I’ve looked a long time and haven’t found much, they must be in some vault somewhere lol
@@nicodegallo7886 yeah, for now I've found this channel you were referring to elsewhere (dont remember the name rn) and it has a bunch of Tales tracks given that treatment, the problem is that the stems coming from the 5.1 versions are set in this weird way where you have eg. some of the keyboards, some guitar and some backing vocals grouped into one track, probably not a lot that can be done about that, but still a mightily interesting find
@@georgesonm1774 Those aren't stems, that's taken from the 5.1 mix by either isolating channels outright or using phase cancellation between two or more channels in order to extract the tracks further. Basically, it's just a trick you can do when you have a 5.1 mix to isolate some instruments. The real master tapes from the Topographic sessions aren't all cluttered like that, most likely they are individual instruments (similar to how they are in CTTE). Hopefully they surface online sometime soon.
@@nicodegallo7886 yeah I get it - and you're right, I used the term "stem" in a basically incorrect, but a kinda loose metaphorical way to refer to a bunch of tracks - I think the person whose channel includes all these 5.1 selections does that too btw : ) But yeah you're right. It would be awesome if bands started to publish their albums in the form of original studio tracks/stems for the ppl to mix :) or if the original tracks surfaced somehow. I'm especially curious about Topographic because it seems so packed with interesting background parts, especially from Wakeman
Fascinating. Lots of noodling, Then he carts a bloody big church organ out 😊 then, a moog bellows a fanfare, then a Hammond solo to end all Hammond solos, then, piano then mellotron.....😊😊😊 genius....
There are definitely some softwares that do that (like Spleeter) albeit with mixed results. However, these specific keyboards come from the actual tracks used when mixing the song, no isolating programs necessary.
Search for “Behind The Multitrack” on TH-cam and you’ll find all the instruments for all the songs on the record (in high quality.) I only keep this up because this version has all the synths at the end part, whereas the version on his channel is primarily piano.
@@keymbord Shit you’re right. What a bummer. You can still find most of the tracks floating around on TH-cam, but it’s a real shame that channel got taken down.
Hey Joey - I'd like to ask you the same thing- could you please send me the vid in case it disappears? It's absolute gold to me, I'm a keyboard player and a yes fan. Please reply I'll send you my email
0:00 - I. The Solid Time of Change
4:45 - II. Total Mass Retain
7:08 - III. I Get Up, I Get Down
12:53 - IV. Seasons of Man
rick wakeman gaming
(not clickbait)
Rick Wakeman 👍
L’intro déjà,il faut la tenir…
This is the best and funny comment! 😂😂😂😂
Bro was cooking
“My heart’s beating, my hearts beating, my hands are shaking, my hands are shaking, BUT I’M STILL SHOOTING!!! I’M STILL GETTIN’ THOSE HEADSHOTS, IT’S LIKE BOOM, HEADSHOT! BOOM, HEADSHOT! BOOOOM, HEADSHOT!!!”
-Rick Wakeman during the challenging production of Close to the Edge, circa 1972
As a life long Keith Emerson fan I must admit this is my favorite keyboard/synthesizer solo I’ve ever heard👍👍
And then one realizes that this is not a "solo" but the actual orchestration of the keys for a complete composition.
HUH? WTF did you just say?
Close but no cigar…I love them both but Keith stands alone. I am thrilled that isolated parts are now in play.
Mainly because Keith was ELP and Wakeman was part of the group with no writing credits.
@@SM-ie8gn Classed as arrangement and not writing.
mighty trio: Minimoog, Hammond and Mellotron - a foundation of Yes keyboard sound.
Correct plus an RMI electric piano for this album and tour.
To me, this piece of music has always been beautiful, perfect.
But, listening to this, it should be a lesson to every musician out there. There are tiny mistakes here and there. It shocked me because I’ve always considered Rick to be an amazingly gifted musician, which he defiantly is. But, in the mix, which I’ve listened to countless times since it came out, I’ve never noticed them.
Your tracks don’t have to be flawless. Not everything should be put ‘on the grid’. It takes the humanness out of it.
Play yourself, be human, stop trying to be perfect. Yes, you should strive to be the best at your craft that you can be, but don’t sweat the tiniest of mistakes.
This was Jimmy Page's philosophy in regard to a lot of led Zeppelin's music, the mistakes were what set it apart
exactly.. no click track.. all human musicianship!
Wise words!
Recorded 50 years ago, so a different mindset totally from todays machine music crew……
Yeah- it's about capturing the best energy and timing; anything but perfection. Townshend's guitar is all over the place and most of us would have gone back to "correct" those performances when they're iconic.
The collection of keyboards he is using match so well in this "retro futuristic spiritual forest city scape" of a track!
Wow - thank you! I’ve always suspected that Wakeman was the more traditional “glue” that held this amazing, avant garde and ground breaking piece together...this proves it.
This is the keyboard sound that changed Yes from an average band into a legend.
You think YES were just an average band before this? You need help.
Along with the bass by Chris squire, drums of bruford, guitar of howe and the ethereal vocals of Jon anderson
@@anuraggdeshpande286 Those are some promising young people.
The legend of YES started when releasing The yes album
Strange how just seeing the grainy green gradient preview image was enough to let me know this is about Close to the Edge.
As amazing as this is it makes you appreciate just why prog is so great. So many instruments and vocals working together to create something unique and mesmerising. Still, fascinating to hear wakeman’s work. Pure genius.
Rick Wakeman genio assoluto. Numero Uno! (And among the several masterful things here... that historical Hammond solo and that very original Mellotron at min. 7:08!)
Wakeman is who got me into Yes. Heard the organ solo on roundabout and that was that
Same here, since the 5th grade
Yep, same here! :-)
1:38 A GLORIOUS SOUND
I have to kick myself... I took this all for granted. It wasn't until I saw Tuber Doug Helvering (The Daily Doug, watch esp 19:17) react dramatically to the church organ, that I thought "I've never really listened to this". Now, with this isolated track made prominent, I can make up for 50 years of ignorance. Thankyou, nicodegallo!
Doug's a douche - doesn't tolerate conservatives, only those who think like him.
That ending is just joyful!! From ‘now that you’re whole’ on. Genius
I’d say it starts earlier - from “On a hill we viewed the silence of the valley” - the piano and Mellotron are just beautiful - prog rich didn’t get any better than this album!
@@M400fan you’re absolutely right!
Hello fellow human who is both into Yes and Super smash brothers Melee. What a strange coincidence.
Melee and Music are similar skills imo
I’m just really glad I got to live to hear these isolated tracks❤❤❤❤❤
I remember try to learn the insane part at the beginning and wondering if it was humanly possibly to play it or if Wakeman was using some primitive sequencer, but when you hear it on its own you can hear the timing is lumpy as hell and realise it's just barely possible for a godlike entity like Rick to pull it off with a lot of mistakes, and you feel a lot better!
I’m not sure how he did it but it kind of sounds like what Emerson did at the end of Karn Evil 9 third impression if you ask me.
@@Tom-ok2rh The tone is kind of similar but the Karn Evil thing is really obviously a sequencer, but there's so much "human element" in Rick's part, it's definitely played by hand
It helps when the mistakes are buried in the mix of the full ensemble.
You mean the riff that goes from 0:00 to 1:32? It's not even that difficult to play even with one hand
@@Vasily_dont_be_sillyI’ve got it slowed down to .25 speed and still can’t get it
It's fascinating to hear which inversions of the chords he plays. He surprised me many times as I listened, as to what I thought he was playing... Bravo!
He surprised me many times as I listened, as to what I had thought he was playing... Bravo!
[there - fixed it for you]
A masterpiece on itself.
The interlude before the"In her white lace...." part is where this track gets really magical
we would have killed to have isolated tracks of our favorite rock gods back in the day. unreal
51 years after... its a miracle, thanks for your time and you art 👍🏿💯☀️🇲🇽🙏
Good job, learned a lot! Sometimes its so simple and so effective, and with other parts you can break your fingers!
Show! Ainda me emociono com essa obra de arte !! Depois de 50 anos !!
Eu idem
3:34 rick wake man is such a genius, he told everyone to fuck off in morse code...
Really?
@@anuraggdeshpande286 nope it is a joke
Ok then lambda
This is wonderful! Thank you for creating this! An invaluable resource for many, I’m sure. And just fascinating to listen to in general.
Hugs from Brazil 🎉
12:51 - Eargasm!
Extremely crystal clear articulation!!
Magnificent
Amazing sounds! Wakeman is great!
His keyboards must have massive effects on them, especially that RMI as mine never sounded like that. And, those Mellotron strings sound almost reversed, then cut off. And that Hammond before the synth solo, just sounds too massive for a regular Hammond. Love the decay on the Hammond solo after the synth solo, but it really sounds compressed. I didn't realize Rick played piano after the Hammond solo. Amazing stuff!
Total genius
absolutly incredible
Absolutely amazing!!!
That is a nice ringtone! The first minute, I mean.
All done without sequencers or effects - amazing speed and technique.
Hammond solo at 13:41
The C3 solo is his finest IMO. Emerson and Wakeman are both outstanding keyboardists but they are vastly different. Love them both. RIP Keith
Thank you for this post! Amazing 🤩
Fascinating. And beautiful.
That was incredible.
How did you manage to get these isolated keyboards? I'd die to hear the isolated keyboards of Anne of Cleves 🤩
While Yes is a band of collective creativity these isolated keyboards can show us how relevant the instrumentation of Yes is.
Not to discredit Jon Anderson's vocals or writing but music today it seems the vocalist is all that matters. Today musicians or music programming means little to nothing in popular music , the vocals and presence of a vocalist persona in marketing is all that matters.
Yes had shown us the instrumental outreach was key ingredients of what made prog. While listening to isolated vocals or any instrumental section is interesting it's the collection of all the parts that make Yes.
If I had to listen to isolated sections I'd be far more inclined to play musical instrumental sections or the band sans vocals than just listening to vocals. Fortunately the album exists, these isolated tastings are unique and entertaining. Parts of any given instrumental section can get lost in the mix. Seems like vocals don't get lost that much but those isolated vocals are entertaining as well.
13:40: Solo
Have many of you learned this solo and how did you learn it?
I learned it with this :)
th-cam.com/video/9LEvhxMy7RM/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=RiccardoFagiani
I always wondered what wakeman was doing on keyboard in the intro it sounded so chaotic, however by itself it's actually not that difficult
7:08 this is what I want to hear as my soul leaves my body
Que coisa maravilhosa!
Thank you so much!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I've spent 50 years wanting to hear exactly what he's playing when the band swoops in together for the first time -- etc. How did you manage to do this?
Amazing perdormace! Can you tell which program you have used to isolate? Sounds pretty decent!
I don’t think this can have been isolated using stem separation software. It’s too clean. I reckon this is from the original multitrack.
Oh mannnnn!!!! Thank yoooooou!!!!!!
Totally 10:50, always has been for me!
Holy shit
what can i say..........if god wanted to play keyboards he would have asked wakeman to teach him.
Thank you
What a holy grail
Now we know why we call him The Wizard.....Keith Emerson also for that matter..👍👍
Any of you have tried to guess if the beeping on total mass retain means anything?
He’s like sequencer at the start
magnifique !
14:58 yes yes yes
Increible
I’ve got it slowed down to .25 speed and still can’t figger out the opening progression! HELP ME!!!!!😵💫😱
Its the same as bass at doble speed
The human sequencer!
Wasn't he (they) inspired as hell when he (they) wrote and performed this!
He sure was. I can imagine the blast Rick had while playing the organ.
Epic epic epic.
The first lick you hear that’s repeated until the organ is actually the Bass line, 16 times faster!
The organ solo didn't come from the keyboard, The was recording with real church organs.
Pre appeggiators or midi sequences.
RW genius!
2:29
The F major chord progression is forgotten here😂
Read in an interview that the morse code spells Abraxas ... peace
Hey, any chance you remember the interview he said this? I’m looking for the actual quote but it’s nowhere online.
@@nicodegallo7886 I have a Yes Scrap bokk. I'll try to find it.
@@rogerhennie8939 damn a scrap book? That’s badass, thanks a million for looking for me
Except what would be the S
(…)
of ABRAXAS is actually an O
(- - -)
.- -… .-. .- -..- .- - - -
@@Ronnie1001 Artistic licence :)
🎼And The Incredible Fact Is This: Back then you could by a brand new Strat (w/ hard shell case) for $110.00 !! 🤯
Just discovered this isolated version of CTTE. Between Genesis and Yes it has always been a toss-up in terms of which band I love more. The rawness of Rick’s playing on this is interesting in comparison to Tony Banks. Of course their roles were very different but this helps to show that beneath the surface Yes was a more gritty Prog rock band.
Anyone knows if there are any separated tracks from Tales out there?
I think they’re out there somewhere, they made a full 5.1 mix of the album which means they still have the stems to remix it. That being said I’ve looked a long time and haven’t found much, they must be in some vault somewhere lol
@@nicodegallo7886 yeah, for now I've found this channel you were referring to elsewhere (dont remember the name rn) and it has a bunch of Tales tracks given that treatment, the problem is that the stems coming from the 5.1 versions are set in this weird way where you have eg. some of the keyboards, some guitar and some backing vocals grouped into one track, probably not a lot that can be done about that, but still a mightily interesting find
@@georgesonm1774 Those aren't stems, that's taken from the 5.1 mix by either isolating channels outright or using phase cancellation between two or more channels in order to extract the tracks further. Basically, it's just a trick you can do when you have a 5.1 mix to isolate some instruments. The real master tapes from the Topographic sessions aren't all cluttered like that, most likely they are individual instruments (similar to how they are in CTTE). Hopefully they surface online sometime soon.
@@nicodegallo7886 yeah I get it - and you're right, I used the term "stem" in a basically incorrect, but a kinda loose metaphorical way to refer to a bunch of tracks - I think the person whose channel includes all these 5.1 selections does that too btw : ) But yeah you're right. It would be awesome if bands started to publish their albums in the form of original studio tracks/stems for the ppl to mix :) or if the original tracks surfaced somehow. I'm especially curious about Topographic because it seems so packed with interesting background parts, especially from Wakeman
I heard the gaps for the “aaaaah”s
3:16
5:09
5:27
13:40
14:52
Fascinating. Lots of noodling, Then he carts a bloody big church organ out 😊 then, a moog bellows a fanfare, then a Hammond solo to end all Hammond solos, then, piano then mellotron.....😊😊😊 genius....
Insane
this real music is more complicated than my missus's brain, einstein and hawking put together....
It stands completely alone
That first section…..
What software is used to isolate keyboards?
There are definitely some softwares that do that (like Spleeter) albeit with mixed results. However, these specific keyboards come from the actual tracks used when mixing the song, no isolating programs necessary.
Interesting how sloppy it is when you zoom in. Especially given how neurotic they were while producing this record.
Cover bands are like: Shit! That's what it really was!
10:50
Tony Banks gaming
Do you have the isolated tracks for the other instruments?
Search for “Behind The Multitrack” on TH-cam and you’ll find all the instruments for all the songs on the record (in high quality.) I only keep this up because this version has all the synths at the end part, whereas the version on his channel is primarily piano.
@@nicodegallo7886 I believe his channel is gone, or atleast blocked in the US.
@@keymbord Shit you’re right. What a bummer. You can still find most of the tracks floating around on TH-cam, but it’s a real shame that channel got taken down.
Never again will I feel embarrased to have played an incorrect note or been out of tempo on a recording 😊
First
Bad
Funny how sloppy it is!
It works! The isolated bass and guitars are equally as sloppy but in the mix it works!
hey, please could you send me this video in case it gets taken down again? i can give you my email
Sure
Hey Joey - I'd like to ask you the same thing- could you please send me the vid in case it disappears? It's absolute gold to me, I'm a keyboard player and a yes fan. Please reply I'll send you my email
@@georgesonm1774 i havent even got it yet :/ try recording the sound into your computer from youtube if youre worried about this
@@joeyhardin5903 good idea, thanks
@@joeyhardin5903 @georgeson m
I can still send it to both of you guys, I need an email though
This is wonderful! Thank you for creating this! An invaluable resource for many, I’m sure. And just fascinating to listen to in general.
14:58 yes yes yes
This is wonderful! Thank you for creating this! An invaluable resource for many, I’m sure. And just fascinating to listen to in general.