Unfinished Sympathy

几年前，自己整理出来《blue line》的采样原本，对massive attack有了点可笑的【不屑】之情，甚至怀疑91年羽翼未丰的他们在照搬《Ultimate Breaks & Beats》系列。从那时起，便有一个不解的疑问：【Unfinished Sympathy】中的弦乐到底是不是被采样？

前阵子闲暇时翻八卦资料，才知道负责string arrangements的叫wil malone，他现身说法：

when I first spoke to jonny dollar,the idea was that there would be no specific bassline.the bass would the double basses.so the bass strings are very prominenet,and I think that’s what makes it sound so dramatic. high-pitched strings tend to sound a bit cute,low-pitched strings are more suited to beats.they sound darker,growlier. I thought I’d scored the piece quite straight, and the string charts are quite conventional, until shara’s voice drop out about three minutes in. beacause the chords are quite repetitive,my string arrangements start getting a bit more elaborate. the violas start playing the occasional augmented fourth. there’s lots of chord extensions, a slight jazz air, the kind of chords that gil evans might use with miles davis. it starts to become more of a jazz groobe,but on strings。

wil malone提及到的 jonny dollar，他是【Unfinished Sympathy】的制作人，2009年死于癌症。

翻开wil malone的资历表，原来也是一位相熟多年却不知其名的老朋友，一一列出他参与制作的专辑有显摆之疑，说一张足矣。比方说97年，他为一张专辑担任string arrangements，那张专辑名为《urban hymns》。

有趣的是，wil malone在1970年也出版过个人专辑，开枝散叶聊下去的话就收不住了。

所谓【音乐人生】总比所谓【乐史】有趣很多。