Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneDigger
I was listening to this song by John Prine. The first verse and chorus have no percussion, then the rest does. I think the whole song could have been done without drums, but the percussion does add a little and make it more rhythmic.
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It's a way to build energy in a song and there was more than just drums going on there. A second guitar comes in on the back half of the 1st verse, a bass came in at the same time as the drums, background oohs came in on the 2nd verse, then switched to background vocals on the chorus. A whistle gets added on the bridge, and then the energy drops a bit only to start building again.
It's a common technique. You can hear the same kind of thing going on in this Richard Shindell song. It's just him and his guitar in the beginning. By the time we hit the second verse a piano has come in, and the song continues to add parts until the music break. Then it drops back down and starts to build up again.
This is why great producers get big money.