Actors - Bohemian Rhapsody

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	Actors - Bohemian Rhapsody

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song written by rock-pianist/vocalist Freddie Mercury, originally recorded by the band Queen for their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It was primarily composed on Freddie's Yamaha baby grand piano. The song has a somewhat unusual musical form for a piece of pop music, with three very different sections, no chorus, and both a capella and heavy metal sections. However, it was released as a single, and became a huge commercial success. This was a decisive point in Queen's career, setting them on the way to become one of Britain's biggest rock groups. The single was accompanied by what is generally cited as a groundbreaking "promotional video", which helped establish the visual language of the modern music video. The song was included in all Queen's subsequent live concert performances, and still enjoys great popularity in many parts of the world. It is touted by many as the most popular song in the world.

Recording

The song was recorded over three weeks by the band and producer Roy Thomas Baker, beginning on August 24, 1975 at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth. Further recording was done at North London's Scorpio and SARM Studios. According to some band members, Freddie had worked out the entire song in his head and directed the band through the song.

A backing track of grand piano (Mercury), bass guitar (Deacon) and drums (Taylor) was recorded first.

The multi-part vocal harmonies took 84 hours to complete. Since the studios of the time only offered 24-track analogue tape, it was necessary for May, Mercury and Taylor to overdub themselves many times, and "bounce" these down to successive submixes. In the end, eighth generation tapes were being used. The band claimed these had passed over the recording heads so many times that the normally opaque tapes could be seen through, as the oxide layer was beginning to wear off. The various sections of tape containing the desired submixes would have to be cut with razor blades and reassembled together in the correct sequence using adhesive tape (a process known as splicing).

When they first heard the song, record company executives requested that the middle section of the song be cut. This was due to fears that the song was twice the normal length of a single — radio stations would not play the song, and other record labels would object to it getting double the airplay.

Their equipment consisted on:

- Bechstein D 9 ft 2 in Concert Grand Piano, the same Freddie used for the video and the UK tour.

- Fender Precision Electric Bass

- Red Special Electric Guitar

- Ludwig Drums

- Paiste Gong

Structure and analysis

Introduction (0:00 to 3:03)

The song, almost six minutes in length, begins with a four-part harmony a cappella introduction, which are entirely multitrack recordings of Freddie Mercury. The grand piano enters halfway through this intro (this section appears to be based on the chorus of a piece by Mercury's former band, Ibex), and the vocals change from harmony to a moving solo by Mercury. A roughly 30-second guitar solo by Queen guitarist Brian May serves as a transition from the introduction to the operatic part.

The "opera section" (3:03 to 4:08)

An abrupt key change from E flat major to A major introduces a pseudo-operatic midsection, which contains the bulk of the elaborate vocal multitracking. The dynamics vary greatly from bar to bar, from a single Mercury voice and solo piano, to a multi-voice choir. The choir effect was created by having Mercury, May and Taylor sing separate low, mid and high sections at least three times. The band used the bell effect for lyrics "Magnifico" and "Let me go." Also, on "Let him go", Taylor singing the top section carries his note on further after the rest of the "choir" have stopped singing.

"Hard Rock" section (4:08 to 4:52)

This operatic section leads (with the voices singing "for me" on a block B-flat major chord, topped by a remarkable sustained high B-flat falsetto from Taylor), into an aggressive hard rock musical interlude with a guitar riff that was written by Mercury. After double tracked vocals by Mercury over the top of the guitar, there are three ascending guitar runs, which May described as something he had to "battle with" when performing the song live.

Reprise of slow section (4:52 to 5:55)

After Mercury plays ascending octaves of notes from a B-flat-seven chord, the song then returns to the tempo and form of the slow section. A guitar accompanies the lyrics "ooh yeah, ooh yeah", to give the effect of trumpets. This was done by playing the guitar through an amp designed by Deacon. The song progressively becomes quieter through Mercury's lyrics "anyway the wind blows" until finally closing with the barely audible sound of a gong.

The sections may appear separate, but there are numerous lyrical and musical motifs that they share. For instance, there are melodic motifs that occur in the ballad which foreshadow parts of the operatic section.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Bohemian Rhapsody ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Bohemian Rhapsody; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

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