Songs that fade out, don't resolve

[Fuzzy125]

I remember reading somewhere, someone wrote about keys, chords progressions, harmonization, and ended by posing a question: why do some songs fade out?

Just yesterday it occurred to me: if the song fades out, it never gets back to the home chord. So that makes it . . . special? More memorable? A studio trick?

[stanron]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy125

Sorry. I meant to start a second thread and accidentally replied to my first thread. Don't know how to delete this post.

If you get to the reply page by mistake hit the browser back button without entering any text, or try posting an empty reply. It won't let you.

[Silly Moustache]

Fuzzy,

For pop songs where the fade out is used - I always felt it was just laziness.

I don't always resolve on the root chord esp. where the song/lyrics are pensive/thought-provoking.

It is a simple "mood creating or retaining device to keep the audience in the moment.

From memory I think such pieces would end on a IV.

I hope that helps.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy125

I remember reading somewhere, someone wrote about keys, chords progressions, harmonization, and ended by posing a question: why do some songs fade out?

Just yesterday it occurred to me: if the song fades out, it never gets back to the home chord. So that makes it . . . special? More memorable? A studio trick?

Fade outs can often be on the tonic chord, so it's not always because the sequence has no natural ending.
It's more likely because they couldn't think of a good-sounding way to stop. Or maybe they screwed up the ending on every take! Studio time ran out before they got it right? Or maybe the guitar player kept his solo going too long for the record?
Occasionally, it might be because they felt a fade-out was just the effect they were after (even though they could have ended it neatly), but that would be rare for a gigging band, who'd need a convincing ending for live performance (so why not have one in the studio?).

[mc1]

often there will be an outro solo that keeps the end repeating. i suspect it is often faded just before it got ugly. hgowever, often i want to hear just a little bit more of that outro solo.

btw, i have a fingerstyle arrangement by the great howard morgen that ends with "repeat and fade".

however, i have heard bands/guitarists do the live fade out.

[rick-slo]

Fades aways can be cool sometimes. Perhaps harder to do in a live performance but in a recording you just fade out the volume to zero.

I have used it in a couple of my recordings:

"In The Mists Of Time" I wanted the mood I set up to fade out rather than come to an abrupt stop.

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Music/MistsOfTime.mp3

"Hannah And Her Chickens" represented (in my mind) a lovely lass (with dreams in her heart) feeding the family chickens. It fades away with the chickens continuing to do their chicken thing.

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Music/Hannah.mp3

[Bob Womack]

I think the fade out became popular for the same reason many other studio techniques became popular: because it became technologically possible. The industry transitioned from rotary master faders to linear master faders in the 1960s. They were either the funny humped faders of the REDD consoles at Abbey Road or the flat ones that eventually became the standard but they made a predictable long fade-out practical. Somewhere along the line a song was being recorded and they either couldn't come up with an ending or ran out of time and decided to simply have the band vamp on the last section of the song and do a fade out. The radio DJs liked it because it gave them something to talk over.

However, from that point on it became a form that was specifically designed into a song. The technical term used was "coda and fade." A section was repeated ad infinitum until the producer felt he had enough material and then when they go to the mix they executed the fade. The next thing you knew, when lead guitar became popular it became, "coda, guitar solo, and fade." By then it wasn't haphazard, it had turned into an art form all its own.

By the way, some of the greatest solo material occurred as the song was fading out. If you ride the volume as it drops and keep it up you can often hear where the guitarist was getting warmed up.

Bob

[jseth]

A GREAT example of the "guitar solo fade-out" is at the end of Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne"... Larry Carlton is absolutely KILLING IT with his soloing on that tune, and as the song fades, he just continues to ramp it up! Like Bob said, if you ride the volume level at the end of that track, you can hear that he's just ripping it up! I always wanted to hear "the rest' of that outro! Come to think of it, there were other Carlton solos on Steely Dan records where they faded out on his brilliant guitar work... and not just with that guitarist, either...

I don't think it's a function of "laziness" as much as other factors in the decision-making process... I know that I used a couple fades on the record I made for specific reasons that I felt supported the tune, and none of those reasons were because I was lazy or didn't know how to end the song...