A music-wise analysis of Jan Hammer work for Mann's Miami Vice (long post)


Jerry B.

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Like many of you, I've been fascinated by everything in MV when it was on air. Music soon emerged as one of the most defining features of the show, not less than fashion, cars, colors etc. Being a young musician at that time (I was 24 to 29), I was impressed, and wanted to learn and master that music lexicon to recreate those moods on my own. Remember, it was something new back then. So I started to analyze, study, and decode every single aspect of the music of MV.

After many years, joining this community, I discovered there's still a huge interest  about it, and many young music lovers aim to recreate those moods today.
After sharing my tracks, I had a lot of requests concerning this subject, so I thought about writing a more music-oriented analysis of Jan's work.
While is pretty easy to find articles and investigations about his equipment, very little information is available about his writing and production.

I won't go too technical, but when a technical term is needed, I provided a bracketed explanation, so that even non musicians can enjoy it and hopefully find it interesting. Sure the ones who attempt to recreate that mood will be pointed in the right direction. I don't mean to be teachy, nor exhaustive. Feel free to ask questions or fix/add informations. After all it's something I did long time ago and I'm trying now to recollect, but beware: it's gonna be a long post.

 

post-5426-0-70313800-1434993816_thumb.jp

THE FAMOUS MIAMI VICE SOUND
I'd start from what is supposed to be the Holy Graal when it comes to Jan's music: the "sound". On music forums you can find people desperately asking about that particular keyboard, synth patch or piece of gear Jan used on MV. A frustrating research that - in my opinion - misses the very point.

The sound of Miami Vice is made of many ingredients, and the difference is often in the way they are blended and cooked. The timbre or color of the keyboards is just one of those elements. You recognize it's him after a couple of bars, like it happens with a Bacharach song. No matter who sings, no matter how's arranged, no matter if it's a cover: It's Burt Bacharach, you get it since the first bars. And this means one thing: strong personality and music identity.
It takes a lot more than "sound" to barely come close to it.

INSIDE MV MUSIC - WRITING
In my attempt to inject Hammer in my veins, back in the 80s I tried to analyze the way his tracks are written and arranged. Here we go.
1. Harmony - Though Jan's roots lie in jazz and jazz-rock, you'll hardly find a jazz chord on his MV cues. Most of them are built upon simple, naive triads (three sound chords). Their progressions often make the difference. Even when he starts obvious, sooner or later an apparently "foreign" chord comes in. The difficult part, when using such tricks, is to make you feel the whole progression as natural and consistent. And that's what he does.
2. Melody - One of the keys of JH success is being simple without being obvious. Many of the themes are real elementary, but - as for the harmony - they have a twist. And remember, changing a single note can dramatically turn a boring melody into an intriguing one. And viceversa.
More, when a theme is repeated, rhythmic variations in performance are added. Anticipations, displacements, delays of notes are introduced at every repetition. A good example of this concept can be heard on "Marina", where the melody is repeated with such variations. That's one of the reasons it never gets boring.
Some themes are made of moving chords instead of a single voice, so you have a full harmonization over the whole melody, like on "Alvarado Chase"  or "Candy In The Alley", kindly shared by our member Crockettt.
3. Influences - Jan's music life's been a 360 degrees journey through almost every kind of musical expression, and it happened during the years music was still important. So his influences are many, spanning from jazz to latin (mostly spanish and cuban), rock and blues, from classical to pop. No trace of funk or soul instead: when he goes black is always blues.

 

post-5426-0-68188600-1434993536_thumb.jp

INSIDE MV MUSIC - PERFORMANCE
Layering and changing in the lead voice are often used. "Crockett's Theme" is an example. Beyond the famous plucked sound, fuzzy guitars and synth voices are added as the track progresses. In addition to that, lead parts are not copied and pasted. They are played each time. That makes a big difference. Even if you play the same thing 10 times, it will sound different each time. Since we're not machines, micro time-floating and variations in dynamics always occur. You don't hear them consciously, but the melody keeps sounding fresh to you. It' doesn't happen with copy and paste.
More - while most of the rhythm parts are quantized (a software function allowing to set the recorded part "on time", even if you played it wrong) - many crucial parts are not. So 100% of the human feel is preserved. Sure, you have to be good at play to do that ;-).
Synthwave, retrowave etc. is 100% copy and paste and quantized, also because most of the people into it are not even trained musicians. That's one of the reasons why you probably won't listen to them in 30 years time.

Sure, the most defining aspect in JH playing, is his bending technique (for the non musicians, it's the way you change the pitch of a note while playing, like the guitarists do. On keyboards it's done by moving a wheel back and forth). He's famous for that. I did spend lots of time trying to master it, and it's not easy, especially in fast passages, cause you have to play a "wrong" note thinking you're going to raise or lower it to the right pitch. He uses this technique with great skill and huge musical taste. Also listen to George Duke for that.

Rhythm textures are another trademark of MV. Sometimes they sound even overcrowded, but you can listen to the same loop hundreds of times without getting bored. Why? Cause they have depth and articulation.
Listen to the rhythm texture on "The Search" and try to spot how many percussion voices/parts you hear, and try to write down each part: you'll be surprised to see how complex it is. Other times they're basic, but set in a way a real player would never do. Sometimes "ghost notes" (the softer, non-accended hits between the accented ones) are used. They add an incredible realism to the sequence, as if it was performed by a real player.

 

INSIDE MV MUSIC - ARTICULATION
Articulation in writing, arranging and production. This alone could be the key advice for the ones who attempt to recreate the sound of Miami Vice. Even "obsessive" tracks like "One Way Out" or "Evan" have lots of subtle variatons and surprises. Jan's cues are articulated and change as the track goes on. They may have an intro, an A part, a B part, a solo, a breakdown, a C part, an outro e so on.
Lead instruments often pass the melody from one another. Just some of the features that set him apart from the music you hear today where - once  you start - you know it will stay like that till the end. Dynamics is also one of the keys. Changes in dynamics and articulation of themes, plus a moderate use of quantize, help to keep a track interesting time after time.

INSIDE MV MUSIC - THE TOOLS
I kept this for last, cause - as said - to me it's not so crucial as many think. On the other hand, it has its own importance. It's a fact Jan made a fashion from some particular instruments, and they are tied to his sound. Unlike I have read here, Memorymoog is not the most defining sound on MV. Yamaha DX7 is. Just a couple of notes played with this instrument are able to evoke the vision of a night-cruising Crockett or a sneaking Castillo.

Jan has been a master in blending the metal-sounding of the DX7's FM generation with the warmth of analog gear. We owe to the DX7 the amazing steel guitars you hear in "The Talk", "Last Flight", "Turning Point", "Lombard Trial", or the Spanish lead guitar on "Incoming" and tons of other cues. The DX7's been extensively used for slightly saturated guitar solos ("NIght Talk, "Rico's Blues") and for "country" guitars as in "El Viejo". DX7 is largely used on "Stone's War": the tremolo guitar/wurlie and the quasi-piano sound of the solo. Tons of bell-ish sounds, sitar-esque, eastern sounds etc. are made with this beautiful piece of gear. (I had 2 of them, shame on me I sold both).

Other instruments used in MV soundtrack include CMI Fairlight, Roland Jupiter 8, MiniMoog etc. but you can find these infos everywhere on the net.
Less people know Jan also played real guitars in his MV recordings (never for solos though), as well as modules from Kawai. Anyway, many sounds could come from a wide range of machines and this tells us one thing: it's not about what you use, it's about who you are.

CONCLUSIONS
Hope you have enjoyed this long investigation about the music of Miami Vice. I especially hope non musician have, cause that was my goal. Much more could be said, but I wrote a lot already. As we saw, "The Sound" is not just made of sounds.  It takes talent, strong personality, a great musical taste and - in this case - the right chance to show them. Jan Hammer himself said he had the best possible one with Mann and MV. And we all agree.

JB

Edited by Jerry Beck
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I am sure a NON MUSICAN :done:

I have enjoyed and I have learned a fully new understanding about Hammer’s music and generalities. :done: 

Gosh… I never thought to those things.
I understand what you want to tell Jerry and I now see this music, Jan’s music with a different mind.


Okay – as non musician I have used all time my ears.
I think I do not only speak for me if I tell how I have taken Jan’s music :

 

Well there is someone who had a good idea, who has good ears and who knows to use his hands just that way to create the best cocktail.

 

You have greatly expanded my perspective about Jan Hammer.
Please Jerry, see me thankful for the time you have taken to write such a detailed dissertation. :flowers:
 

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Yes indeed; and I think it is worth noting that, while the music is complex, Jan made a concerted effort to make the melodies accessible. Certainly to achieve that while still keeping the music interesting takes just as much work as belting out a virtuosic spectacle a la Mahavishnu?

 

Also, I agree that the DX7 is the defining Miami Vice sound, although playing two bass notes an octave apart in a descending order via Memorymoog might make you think twice.

Edited by Touch of Class
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Very nice piece! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

 

Indiana Crockett

"It's not the years, Tubbs. It's the mileage..."

 

 

 

 

 

Like many of you, I've been fascinated by everything in MV when it was on air. Music soon emerged as one of the most defining features of the show, not less than fashion, cars, colors etc. Being a young musician at that time (I was 24 to 29), I was impressed, and wanted to learn and master that music lexicon to recreate those moods on my own. Remember, it was something new back then. So I started to analyze, study, and decode every single aspect of the music of MV.

After many years, joining this community, I discovered there's still a huge interest  about it, and many young music lovers aim to recreate those moods today.

After sharing my tracks, I had a lot of requests concerning this subject, so I thought about writing a more music-oriented analysis of Jan's work.

While is pretty easy to find articles and investigations about his equipment, very little information is available about his writing and production.

I won't go too technical, but when a technical term is needed, I provided a bracketed explanation, so that even non musicians can enjoy it and hopefully find it interesting. Sure the ones who attempt to recreate that mood will be pointed in the right direction. I don't mean to be teachy, nor exhaustive. Feel free to ask questions or fix/add informations. After all it's something I did long time ago and I'm trying now to recollect, but beware: it's gonna be a long post.

 

attachicon.gifjanhammer.jpg

THE FAMOUS MIAMI VICE SOUND

I'd start from what is supposed to be the Holy Graal when it comes to Jan's music: the "sound". On music forums you can find people desperately asking about that particular keyboard, synth patch or piece of gear Jan used on MV. A frustrating research that - in my opinion - misses the very point.

The sound of Miami Vice is made of many ingredients, and the difference is often in the way they are blended and cooked. The timbre or color of the keyboards is just one of those elements. You recognize it's him after a couple of bars, like it happens with a Bacharach song. No matter who sings, no matter how's arranged, no matter if it's a cover: It's Burt Bacharach, you get it since the first bars. And this means one thing: strong personality and music identity.

It takes a lot more than "sound" to barely come close to it.

INSIDE MV MUSIC - WRITING

In my attempt to inject Hammer in my veins, back in the 80s I tried to analyze the way his tracks are written and arranged. Here we go.

1. Harmony - Though Jan's roots lie in jazz and jazz-rock, you'll hardly find a jazz chord on his MV cues. Most of them are built upon simple, naive triads (three sound chords). Their progressions often make the difference. Even when he starts obvious, sooner or later an apparently "foreign" chord comes in. The difficult part, when using such tricks, is to make you feel the whole progression as natural and consistent. And that's what he does.

2. Melody - One of the keys of JH success is being simple without being obvious. Many of the themes are real elementary, but - as for the harmony - they have a twist. And remember, changing a single note can dramatically turn a boring melody into an intriguing one. And viceversa.

More, when a theme is repeated, rhythmic variations in performance are added. Anticipations, displacements, delays of notes are introduced at every repetition. A good example of this concept can be heard on "Marina", where the melody is repeated with such variations. That's one of the reasons it never gets boring.

Some themes are made of moving chords instead of a single voice, so you have a full harmonization over the whole melody, like on "Alvarado Chase"  or "Candy In The Alley", kindly shared by our member Crockettt.

3. Influences - Jan's music life's been a 360 degrees journey through almost every kind of musical expression, and it happened during the years music was still important. So his influences are many, spanning from jazz to latin (mostly spanish and cuban), rock and blues, from classical to pop. No trace of funk or soul instead: when he goes black is always blues.

 

attachicon.gifjan_hammer_studio.jpg

INSIDE MV MUSIC - PERFORMANCE

Layering and changing in the lead voice are often used. "Crockett's Theme" is an example. Beyond the famous plucked sound, fuzzy guitars and synth voices are added as the track progresses. In addition to that, lead parts are not copied and pasted. They are played each time. That makes a big difference. Even if you play the same thing 10 times, it will sound different each time. Since we're not machines, micro time-floating and variations in dynamics always occur. You don't hear them consciously, but the melody keeps sounding fresh to you. It' doesn't happen with copy and paste.

More - while most of the rhythm parts are quantized (a software function allowing to set the recorded part "on time", even if you played it wrong) - many crucial parts are not. So 100% of the human feel is preserved. Sure, you have to be good at play to do that ;-).

Synthwave, retrowave etc. is 100% copy and paste and quantized, also because most of the people into it are not even trained musicians. That's one of the reasons why you probably won't listen to them in 30 years time.

Sure, the most defining aspect in JH playing, is his bending technique (for the non musicians, it's the way you change the pitch of a note while playing, like the guitarists do. On keyboards it's done by moving a wheel back and forth). He's famous for that. I did spend lots of time trying to master it, and it's not easy, especially in fast passages, cause you have to play a "wrong" note thinking you're going to raise or lower it to the right pitch. He uses this technique with great skill and huge musical taste. Also listen to George Duke for that.

Rhythm textures are another trademark of MV. Sometimes they sound even overcrowded, but you can listen to the same loop hundreds of times without getting bored. Why? Cause they have depth and articulation.

Listen to the rhythm texture on "The Search" and try to spot how many percussion voices/parts you hear, and try to write down each part: you'll be surprised to see how complex it is. Other times they're basic, but set in a way a real player would never do. Sometimes "ghost notes" (the softer, non-accended hits between the accented ones) are used. They add an incredible realism to the sequence, as if it was performed by a real player.

 

INSIDE MV MUSIC - ARTICULATION

Articulation in writing, arranging and production. This alone could be the key advice for the ones who attempt to recreate the sound of Miami Vice. Even "obsessive" tracks like "One Way Out" or "Evan" have lots of subtle variatons and surprises. Jan's cues are articulated and change as the track goes on. They may have an intro, an A part, a B part, a solo, a breakdown, a C part, an outro e so on.

Lead instruments often pass the melody from one another. Just some of the features that set him apart from the music you hear today where - once  you start - you know it will stay like that till the end. Dynamics is also one of the keys. Changes in dynamics and articulation of themes, plus a moderate use of quantize, help to keep a track interesting time after time.

INSIDE MV MUSIC - THE TOOLS

I kept this for last, cause - as said - to me it's not so crucial as many think. On the other hand, it has its own importance. It's a fact Jan made a fashion from some particular instruments, and they are tied to his sound. Unlike I have read here, Memorymoog is not the most defining sound on MV. Yamaha DX7 is. Just a couple of notes played with this instrument are able to evoke the vision of a night-cruising Crockett or a sneaking Castillo.

Jan has been a master in blending the metal-sounding of the DX7's FM generation with the warmth of analog gear. We owe to the DX7 the amazing steel guitars you hear in "The Talk", "Last Flight", "Turning Point", "Lombard Trial", or the Spanish lead guitar on "Incoming" and tons of other cues. The DX7's been extensively used for slightly saturated guitar solos ("NIght Talk, "Rico's Blues") and for "country" guitars as in "El Viejo". DX7 is largely used on "Stone's War": the tremolo guitar/wurlie and the quasi-piano sound of the solo. Tons of bell-ish sounds, sitar-esque, eastern sounds etc. are made with this beautiful piece of gear. (I had 2 of them, shame on me I sold both).

Other instruments used in MV soundtrack include CMI Fairlight, Roland Jupiter 8, MiniMoog etc. but you can find these infos everywhere on the net.

Less people know Jan also played real guitars in his MV recordings (never for solos though), as well as modules from Kawai. Anyway, many sounds could come from a wide range of machines and this tells us one thing: it's not about what you use, it's about who you are.

CONCLUSIONS

Hope you have enjoyed this long investigation about the music of Miami Vice. I especially hope non musician have, cause that was my goal. Much more could be said, but I wrote a lot already. As we saw, "The Sound" is not just made of sounds.  It takes talent, strong personality, a great musical taste and - in this case - the right chance to show them. Jan Hammer himself said he had the best possible one with Mann and MV. And we all agree.

JB

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I too have found that he usually finds a melody, repeats it, and adds layers on top of it. You are correct, it's not the same melody EXACTLY ( it's played by Jan live in person, rather than the melody repeating itself because it's perfectly programed ), as it does slightly change as a real person is playing it. In fact, the drums are him "hitting" it everytime, and not just programmed in sequence.

 

When we used to have the JAN HAMMER.NET website, I was the top contibutor with over 1,000 posts. I'd put up information on Jan all the time, just like I post MIAMI VICE things here. I did both sites simultaneously.

 

Jerry, your analysis was spot on. It's easier to copy Jan's Tracks, but It's hard for someone to compose a new piece of music to sound like Jan Hammer, even if we know basicly what he does, and has the equipment, as we are missing one key element. We don't have the mind of that composer. We don't have his mind, his experience, his background, or his training. We can attempt to copy, but no matter how good....it is only a copy of the real thing.

 

Jan is unique.

 

Great Post Jerry!!

Edited by COOPER&BURNETT
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Very interesting, Jerry, thank you for this post! I always loved Jan's music in MV and you helped me understand why it's so good.

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Thanks for your kind words, guys,

it took time to recollect ideas and put everything down on paper - sorry, on screen ;-) so I'm glad it worth the effort. Much more could be said, but I didn't want to be boring. Anyway, if you have questions, feel free to ask. As far as I can do, I will gladly answer. I stopped producing stuff like that long time ago, the requests of the market have changed a lot since then, so it's a trip on the memory lane.

For the ones who didn't do it already, in my signature there's a link to some music I scored in 1989, when I was in my Hammer music phase. I recovered those demo tracks just for sharing them with the members of this community. It may be interesting listening to them after the reading of my script.

JB

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  • 1 month later...

I am sure a NON MUSICAN :done:

I have enjoyed and I have learned a fully new understanding about Hammer’s music and generalities. :done: 

Gosh… I never thought to those things.

I understand what you want to tell Jerry and I now see this music, Jan’s music with a different mind.

Okay – as non musician I have used all time my ears.

I think I do not only speak for me if I tell how I have taken Jan’s music :

 

Well there is someone who had a good idea, who has good ears and who knows to use his hands just that way to create the best cocktail.

 

You have greatly expanded my perspective about Jan Hammer.

Please Jerry, see me thankful for the time you have taken to write such a detailed dissertation. :flowers: 

Very interesting, Jerry!  As another non-musician I agree with all Bluepearl has said.  Thank you for sharing.

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Jerry, I  am also a non musician, but I must say your writing is very understandable and well organized.  It reads like a college term paper that would get a 4.0 grade. Well done!

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  • 1 month later...

You presented a very complex phenomenon (at least to a non-musician like me) by employing a very thoughtful and analytical style of writing that was easy to follow and understand. While reading, I also realized why many of the modern day synthwave tracks do seem, I don't know, recycled? After one or two repetitions of a leading part, that is.

Thanks a lot for shedding light on the magic of the legendary Miami Vice sound! :-)

Edited by vatdim
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Thanks Vatdim, that was my goal, and it looks it worked ;-)

 

As far as synthwave, you nailed it! Most of that genre rely on heavy repetitive patterns and is highly derivative too. But this is not totally musicians' fault.

The grade of wear & tear of the music - I mean all the music - is a complex matter which would need hundreds of pages to be thoroughly and correctly analyzed and explained.

 

Western music as we know it is an (at least) 100-years old dude, and it's a limited system. It's not my opinion, it's a fact.

Like it or not, it means it has an end. That's why all, I repeat *all* the music we hear on the radio today is something already been done.

 

Even bright intuitions, or the work of sparkling talents has been decoded and re-encoded dozen of times. How many Mariah or Whitney have you heard? How many Zimmer? It's not about debating how much the clones are close or far compared to the originals. Sure the latter are still recognizable, but that's not the point. The point is how much the scheme, the system's been used.

 

As I wrote elsewhere, Mozart, Debussy, Elvis (not the alligator ;-), Sinatra, The Beatles, are all products of their respective era. They are the result of an intricate, and somehow inexplicable process that involves social trends, fashion, plus (in the case of modern ones) technology, media, record label investments, records promotion and... everything's been done before. That's the key.

 

Great composers of the past took a lot one from another but no one did clone or copy. Ravel and Gershwin had a great reciprocal influence, but no one could mix them up. Can you say the same for what comes out from the radio now?

 

Philosopher and sociologist Jean Baudrillard talked about a "Xerox grade of culture" already in 1988....

 

More, the meaning of music in people's life, and the use everybody does of it has changed a lot, which is amazingly revealed in this quote from incredible composer, arranger and orchestrator Johnny Mandel:

 

"Music before the early 80s was far more interesting cause music itself was far more important".

 

Should I add something else?

Edited by Jerry Beck
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