Mike Oldfield and Tubular Bells

Johnathon EvansMUSC 1010

Instructor Craig FerrinFall 2011 Semester

Table of Contents• Mike Oldfield – Early Life

• The beginning of “Mike Oldfield”

• Tubular Bells

• Instruments in Tubular Bells

• Mike Oldfield on “Tubular Bells”

• Discography

• More Discography

• Discography continued

• Mike Oldfield on his music

• Mike Oldfield says...

• Fun Facts

• Mike Oldfield is a talented musician because

• Listening Guide to Tubular Bells

• Listening Guide continued

• More Listening Guide

• Listening Guide Continued

• Last of the Listening Guide

Mike Oldfield – Early Life Born in Berkshire, England on May

15, 1953

Been playing instruments his whole life

Played in a folk duo “Sallyangie”with his sister Sally at age 15

Played in the band “Barefoot” with his brother Terry

Guitarist for the band “Kevin Ayers and the Whole World” for two years

The beginning of “Mike Oldfield”

Started work on “Tubular Bells” in 1970

“Tubular Bells” rejected by record companies for not being a “profitable” type of music

Accepted by Richard Branson

Recorded after hours, mainly late at night

Became Virgin Records first major release

“Tubular Bells” has sold over 16 million copies to date!

Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield's first major release

Number one on the UK charts

The whole album is one 48 minute song, divided into two parts

Oldfield has released several versions of “Tubular Bells” over the years

Instruments in Tubular Bells

Grand piano, glockenspiel, farfisa organ, bass guitar, electric guitar, speed guitar, taped motor drive amplifier organ chord, mandolin-like guitar, fuzz guitars, assorted percussion, acoustic guitar, flagolet, honky tonk, lowrey, concert timpani, guitars sounding like bagpipes, piltdown man, hammond organ, violin, mandolin, spanish guitar, moribund chorus, and of course tubular bells.

Mike Oldfield on “Tubular Bells”“Everything on Tubular Bells

was done on the first take. It was lovely, so spontaneous. I had such a long time to prepare it, and I had just one little chance to do it, and now I listen to it and it has a lovely spontaneous energy. It's got mistakes, and I could easily have cut them out, but I left them on”

Discography

• Tubular Bells – 1973

• Hergest Ridge – 1974

• Ommadawn – 1975

• Incantations – 1978

• Platinum – 1979

• Five Miles Out – 1982

More Discography

• Islands – 1987

• Earth Moving – 1989

• Amarok – 1990

• Heaven's Open – 1991

• Tubular Bells 2 – 1992

• The Songs of Distant Earth – 1994

• Voyager – 1996

Discography continued

• Tubular Bells 3 – 1998

• Guitars – 1999

• The Millenium Bell – 1999

• Tr3s Lunas – 2002

• Light + Shade – 2005

• Music of the Spheres – 2008

Mike Oldfield on his music“All I want to express

with my music is my feelings. I think it's the purpose. To show images, landscapes, love, hate, fury”

Mike Oldfield says...

“I'd like to see somebody come and play differently from everybody else, not using the Blues scale, not turning into jazz, but making something new out of nothing”

Fun Facts• Had a minor planet named

after him in 1995

• Played all of the instruments on the original Tubular Bells, then layered them together

• Released 23 albums to date

• Tubular Bells released 10 days after Mike's 20th birthday

• Mike's sister, Sally, played on the original Tubular Bells recording

Mike Oldfield is a talented musician because

• Plays multiple instruments

• Creative and original

• Plays multiple styles of music

• Writes his own music

Listening Guide to Tubular BellsWe will start at 11 minutes 30 seconds (although I suggest listening to the whole piece)

11:30 An electric guitar softly joins in with chimes playing on a quintuple meter. A contra bass plays a drawn out note on the last note of each meter. There is a slow tempo. The melody is conjunct. There is a consonance in the

harmony. The form is repetitious, repeating itself every 4 bars. The music is not very dynamic.

11:52 Everything stays the same except for the electric guitar, which changes its chords. The melody is still conjunct, there is consonance in the harmony, the form is still repetitious

12:14 A keyboard instrument joins in with the rests of the instruments. The melody is still conjunct, there is consonance in the harmony, the form is still repetitious The keyboard adds more texture and timbre to the song.

The tempo remains slow and calm. The music is becoming more dynamic.

12:31 An electric bass joins the rest of the instruments already in play. The bass is playing in duple meter with simple division. The music is more dynamic with each instrument that joins. The form is less repetitious, because there are so many instruments playing and each one eventually changes its chords. There is dissonance building in the harmony as well. It is building very slowly in a way that is almost undetectable unless you are listening for it.

The dissonance builds until...

13:29 The electric guitar completely changes its sound and chords. It plays strong and with a high pitch. There is a complete dissonant feeling. The electric bass also becomes much louder and more dissonant. The melody is

conjunct, ascending and descending in an arch. The guitar is playing in common time. The music is less dynamic because only the electric guitar and electric bass guitar are playing.

13:49 The guitar and bass immediately stop playing and are replaced by a consonant piano and vocal humming choir. There are no lyrics to the humming, and they are are in unison and monophonic. The melody is conjunct. The

vocal notes are long and drawn out. The rhythm is still in common time. The music is still not very dynamic because only the piano and vocals are playing.

14:08 The vocals and piano stop playing and are replaced by the electric guitar. After a few introduction note the tempo picks up dramatically. The rhythm is still in common time. The harmony is dissonant. The form is repetitious.

The music is not very dynamic.

14:37 A second acoustic guitar joins in, playing a similar melody to the other electric guitar. The first guitar continues with its repetitious form. The second guitar makes the music more dynamic and adds texture to the music. There

seems to be a wide variety of timbre. The harmony is still dissonant.

14:53 The guitars fade out of their current melody and begin a new melody. An electric bass guitar joins in to make the music more dynamic and add range. The tempo is still fast. The harmony remains dissonant.

15:13 The electric guitar plays a solo that makes the song even more dissonant and disjunct. The other instruments continue playing in the same form, but the guitar creates a dissonant climax so that when the music returns to the

form that it was in at 14:52, that form doesn't feel nearly as dissonant.

15:23 The music returns to exactly how is was at 14:53. However, The volume has increased as well as the overall timbre of the music.

15:43 All instruments play one hard and loud note and stop playing. The only music that continues is ambient noise with the occasional hitting of a deep bell and an occasional drawn out electric guitar note. The bell and guitar play

the same repetitious note. The melody immediately turns conjunct as you feel resolution. The instruments all slowly fade out until there is silence. The music uses indeterminacy for a short time.

16:18 The acoustic guitar starts playing playing with contrast in common time. The melody is disjunct. The harmony is consonant. The tempo is slow, but slowly speeds up. The dynamics slowly build as well. The texture is

monophonic.

16:41 A flute joins the acoustic guitar to add to the consonant harmony. The flute adds long notes to the music and plays in an inverted arch. The guitar continues to follow the same tune that it has been playing since 16:18. The

dynamics continue to build until both the guitar and flute play their last loud notes and cut out.

Listening Guide continued

More Listening Guide17:02 The bass guitar begins to play a solo of its low pitch and harmony. It is playing in mixed measures. It plays

with an upbeat tempo, with dynamics that go up and down. It plays a duple meter with simple division. It is joined by some ambient noise created by the organ that adds to the consonance of the harmony. The texture is

monophonic.

17:22 The bass guitar starts playing at a much faster tempo. It plays melody in an arch. The dynamics are high. The ambient music continues to play long and conjunct notes. The harmony is still consonant. The form of the bass

guitar becomes repetitious, repeating the same ten bars.

17:31 The music returns to using indeterminacy by using the same music that started playing at 17:22, but turning the dynamics down to what feels like a whisper. The ambient music can be heard almost as well as the bass guitar.

The ambient music is conjunct, but the bass guitar is disjunct. The form is repetitious.

17:55 Although the ambient noise remains a prominent part of the music, the bass guitar is able to be heard a little louder. The bass guitar's dynamics begin to build very slowly. The harmony remains consonant. The form remains

repetitious.

18:41 The same music continues to play but the organ starts to play some long, high pitched notes to join in with the harmony to create more consonance. The bass guitar's dynamics continue to build. The timbre continues to

become more complex. The texture is polyphony. The form is repetitious.

19:14 The dynamics continue to build as the bass guitar gets louder and the organ can still be heard. As the dynamics build, the music becomes increasingly dissonant. The form is the same repetition it has been since

17:22. It is using mixed measures.

19:48 A voice says, “Grand Piano”. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. A grand piano starts to play a different melody than either the bass guitar or organ. The grand piano plays a contrast form. The

melody is conjunct. The tempo is fast. The piano makes the music more dynamic. The texture is polyphony. There is more timbre because of the increased number of instruments playing.

Listening Guide Continued20:11 A voice says, “Reed and Pipe Organ”. The grand piano stops playing. The organ and bass guitar continue to

play the same repetition. A reed and pipe organ starts to play the same chords the grand piano was playing. The reed and pipe organ plays a contrast form. The melody is conjunct. The tempo is fast. The reed and pipe organ

makes the music about as dynamic as it was with the grand piano. The texture is polyphony. There is more timbre because of the increased number of instruments playing.

20:36 A voice says, “Glockenspiel”. The reed and pipe organ stops playing. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. A glockenspiel starts to play the same chords the grand piano and reed and pipe organ were playing. The glockenspiel plays a contrast form. The melody is conjunct. The glockenspiel makes the music

about as dynamic as it was with the reed and pipe organ. The texture is polyphony. There is about the same timbre.

20:57 A voice says, “Bass guitar”. The glockenspiel continues to play. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. A different bass guitar starts to play the same chords the grand piano was playing. The bass

guitar plays a contrast form. The melody is conjunct. The tempo is fast mixed with slow. The bass guitar makes the music more dynamic because the glockenspiel continued to play. The texture is polyphony. There is more timbre

because of the increased number of instruments playing.

21:21 A voice says, “Double-Speed Guitar”. The second bass guitar stops playing. The glockenspiel continues to play. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. A double-speed guitar starts to play the same chords the grand piano was playing. It plays in a higher pitch. The double-speed guitar plays a contrast form. The

melody is conjunct. The stays about as dynamic as before. The texture is polyphony. The timbre continues to increase because of the increased number of instruments playing.

21:42 A voice says, “Two Slightly Distorted Guitars”. The double-speed guitar stops playing. The glockenspiel continues to play. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. Two slightly distorted guitars

begin to play the same chords the grand piano was playing. The guitars play a contrast form. The melody is conjunct. The harmony is nearing dissonance. The tempo is fast. The guitars make the music more dynamic. The

texture is polyphony. There is more timbre because of the increased number of instruments playing.

22:06 A voice says, “Mandolin”. The two guitars do not stop playing, but play lightly in the background. The organ and bass guitar continue to play the same repetition. The glockenspiel also plays in the background. A mandolin starts to play the same chords the grand piano was playing. The mandolin plays a contrast form. The melody is

conjunct. The mandolin makes the music more dynamic. The texture is polyphony. There is more timbre because many of the instruments we have heard are currently playing.

Last of the Listening Guide22:28 A voice says, “Spanish Guitar and introducing Acoustic Guitar”. The organ and bass guitar continue to play

the same repetition. The guitars play the same chords the grand piano was originally playing. Every instrument that has been introduced is now playing in harmony. The melody is conjunct. The music has become increasingly

dynamic. The texture is polyphony. The timbre has also continued to build throughout the introduction of instruments.

22:53 A voice says, “Tubular Bells”. The tubular bells start to play the same chords the grand piano was originally playing. Every instrument continues to add to the harmony. The melody is conjunct. The tempo is fast. The tubular

bells make the music the most dynamic it has been in the entire song. The tubular bells add dissonance. The texture is polyphony. There is also the most timbre we have heard in the entire song. The song has reached its

climax.

23:19 Wordless female vocals enter the song as the rest of the instruments continue to play the same measures. The vocals have a repetitious form. The dissonance felt by the tubular bells is lessened due to the consonant

vocals. The music slowly becomes less dynamic and the timbre begins to drop.

23:42 Some of the instruments begin to fade out as the music becomes less dynamic. The vocals continue, as due to tubular bells. The tempo begins to slow down. The harmony becomes more consonant.

24:01 The few instruments that are still playing fade out. Only the vocals and the acoustic guitar continue to play. The harmony is very consonant. The vocals have a repetitious form, as does the guitar. There is still polyphony.

The music is not very dynamic, and the timbre continues to drop.

24:25 The vocals fade out, leaving only the acoustic guitar playing a new contrast form. The music is monophonic and conjunct. The harmony is consonant. It is playing in mixed meters.

24:52 The acoustic guitar continues to play by itself, but with different measures. It still plays a contrast form. It is still monophonic and conjunct. The harmony remains consonant.

25:11 The timbre and dynamics are almost non existent as the guitar begins to play softer and softer. There is a feeling of indeterminacy as the guitar is fading out, leaving practically no noise.

25:22 The guitar lets off one final strum as the song comes to an end.