With No Regrets
Michael Sadler the lead singer for Canadian band Saga has announced his intention to leave the band at the end of the year. The rest of the band has not announced what their intentions are after Sadler's departure.
If they decide to continue with a new singer that would present one dilemma. Michael Sadler is not just a singer; he's a multi-instrumentalist. If they hire a new singer who doesn't play any instruments, they would need to rearrange songs where Michael plays Keyboards or Bass. If not, they'd have to drop those songs from their live sets. That shouldn't be much of a problem with most of their songs.
There is one song in particular that presents a challenge. No Regrets (Chapter V). Every band member plays a different role than usual. The Drummer and Guitarist don't play on this song. The Bass player, Jim Crichton plays Keyboards. He plays Keyboards on a lot of Saga songs, but usually he plays Synth Bass. On this song, he plays Synth Pads. Keyboardist Jim Gilmour sings lead and plays Clarinet. Finally, Michael Sadler plays the main melody on Piano. Michael plays secondary Keyboards on most Saga songs, but here he plays lead.
I will now list the possibilities of rearranging the song with the band hiring a new singer who can't play the Piano part.
First suggestion. Jim Crichton learns to play the Piano part. The Piano part really isn't that difficult to play. It certainly doesn't require Jim Gilmour's nimble and lightning-fast fingers. One might think Crichton can't play it because he never plays melodies, either as a Bass Guitarist or a Keyboardist. However, since he and Michael Sadler are the main songwriting team, for all we know he might have written that part.
Second suggestion. Guitarist, Ian Crichton plays the Piano melody using MIDI Guitar. Where talking about Ian Crichton here. He can play anything.
Third suggestion. Jim Gilmour puts away his Clarinet to play the Piano, and Ian Crichton simulates a Clarinet on his Guitar. How do you simulate a Clarinet on an Electric Guitar? By sustaining the strings. There are doohickeys that do this such as the Sustainiac, the Fernandes Sustainer, and the eBow. There's also the well-known technique of creating Violin-like sounds by messing with the tone knob.
Okay, we'll have to wait till next year to find out if the Saga will continue.
© 2007 Ronnie “The Cruiser” Cruz
Saturday, July 7, 2007
