WHOLE LOTTA SCRIPT
Hello Steemit people, this is the script from a video I produced on Jimmie Page, Led Zeppelin and The Main Riff from Whole Lotta Love.
You can find the whole video on our home page for free.
SCRIPT
(1) INTRODUCTION (4:04)
Jimmy Page (0:50)
Jimmy Page was born near London England in January 1944, close to the end of the Second world.
In 1956 at age 12 he found a Guitar in his parents house left behind by the previous home owners.
As a teenager Jimmy devoted many hours to learning songs by Elvis Presley, Tim Burton and popular Blues artists of the day.
While at Art school in Surrey Jimmy Page would play shows with various bands in and around London.
In the early 1960’s, Jimmy page was getting a name for himself as a superior Guitar player.
In 1963 Jimmy was asked to record acoustic Guitar on an instrumental called “Diamonds” by Jet Harris & Tony Meehan, the song went to #1 in the charts.
Soon after the success of Diamonds, Jimmy Page was doing studio Guitar work many big names including The Kinks, The Who, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and even the Beatles.
Jimmy Page is known to have played on hundreds of recordings by other artists, many of which enjoyed commercial success.
Led Zeppelin (2:00)
By the late 60’s Jimmy Page was looking to form a supergroup with the best musicians he could find.
While not household names at the time, all the band members were respected in the London music scene for their obvious musical talents.
In 1968 Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant became “Led Zeppelin”.
Whole Lotta Love (2:30)
Jimmy Page came up with the riff for “Whole Lotta Love” in the Summer of 1968 while staying on his houseboat on the River Thames near London.
When he played the Riff for the rest of band during a rehearsal in his living room, they liked the Riff so much that they wanted to record it first and have it be the first song on their second album “Led Zeppelin II”.
The Song was recorded at Olympic Studios, London in April 1969 and released in October 1969.
In the months between coming up with the Riff and recording the song Jimmy had turned the arrangement into a five and a half minute experimental soundscape called “Whole Lotta Love”.
He deliberately made the song long, with an extended experimental section. He also made the songs on the Album run into each other to encourage Radio Stations to play the Album as a whole.
“Led Zeppelin II” became the number one album in November 1969.
Other hits in 1969 include “Sugar Sugar” by the Arches and “Honky Tonk Woman” by The Rolling Stones, the Abbey Road album by the Beatles was also very popular.
While Led Zeppelin may seem tame compared to Pantera, they were pretty heavy compared to other acts of the time.
(2) EQUIPMENT
GUITAR
There is no official record stating what equipment was used to record Whole Lotta Love.
These pictures from around that time show Jimmy playing his 1959 Gibson Les Paul that he had bought from Joe Walsh earlier the same month.
This Guitar became known as “Number 1” as it was Jimmy’s favorite Guitar.
Jimmy Page is quoted as saying he used the “Number 1” Guitar to play the weird noises in the middle of Whole lotta love, by detuning it and pulling on the strings.
Jimmy Pages other favorite guitar at the time was his 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom a.k.a. “Black Beauty”.
Regardless of which specific Guitar Jimmy page used to record Whole Lotta Love, he certainly used a Guitar with a Humbucking pickup.
If you are trying to replicate the sound on the recording, your best starting point would be a solid body Guitar with Humbucker Pickup in the Bridge position.
MY GUITAR
The Guitar I’m Using in this Video is a Carvin Carvin California Carve Top With a Mahogany Body and a Quilted Maple Top, very similar to Jimmy pages’s Number one “NUMBER 1” Guitar.
AMPLIFIER
While Jimmie Page is famous for using walls of Marshall stacks for live shows, his choice of Amplifier for recording was much more experimental. While “Whole Lotta Love” may have been recorded with the Rickenbacker Transonic shown in the studio picture, it could easily have been recorded on a smaller Tube combo like a “Vox AC30” or a “Supro Thunderbolt”.
Jimmy Page has said that he got the Distortion Sound on Whole lotta Love by turning up the Amplifier, really loud
Modern Amplifiers often have lead Channels that allow you to get the same kind of Distorted sound without using high volumes.
Alternatively you could use a distortion pedal, Jimmy Page was one of the first Guitar players to use a distortion Pedal.
He has a signature model called the “Page One” designed By Roger Mayer. He is also know to have used the Boss Super Overdrive Pedal
MY AMPLIFIER
The Amplifier I’m using in this video is a Bugera “Vintage 22” its a vintage voiced, all tube, combo amp.
I’m using the Distortion from the amplifier itself, the Control Gain is set on 4.
By modern standards there is not that much distortion on the original recording.
PICK
Jimmie Page is known to use Dunlop Herco Flex 75 Picks. These picks are made from Nylon, Nylon has a softer surface then the common Fender Celluloid Pick.
This softer surface leads to a different feel and less “clicky” sound
MY PICK
In this video I’m using a modern Dunlop Nylon 73 Max-Grip Pick. These picks are very similar to the Herco 75 and are much easier to find online or in stores.
STRINGS
Jimmy Page is known to use Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings, Gauges .009 -.042
Whole lotta Love is in Standard Tuning. E A D G B E
MY STRINGS
In this video I am using DR Hi-def Orange Strings, Gauges .009-.042 also.
EFFECTS
DELAY
During the intro you can hear some sort of echo or delay on the Guitar Sound. In the studio picture you can see a box on top of Jimmy’s amplifier, that is a Vox CO2 Delux, Tape Echo.
To replicate a tape echo your best bet is to use an analog delay pedal, digital delay pedals can repeat the sound of the Guitar perfectly as many times as you want, analog delay pedals lose fidelity as the delay repeats. This loss of fidelity is similar to the effect produced by an Tape Echo unit, many people prefer the more organic decay sound produced by an analog delay.
The delay on the recording is approximately at 16th note which at the tempo of the song is approximately 225ms. Set your Delay to for 1 repeat with the mix set between 1/4 and 1/2.
The main Guitar and the delayed Guitar are panned slightly left and right.
COMPRESSION
The Guitar sound on “Whole Lotta Love” sounds compressed.
Compression is a method using electronics by which the Guitar signal is Compressed, causing the higher volume strums to be artificially reduced in volume.
The result is a more even overall volume for the entire Guitar part. Compression can be applied using a Compressor pedal a Studio Rack mounted Compressor or a Software Compressor within your Computer recording software. While compression helps to prevent your signal from clipping, it also changes the sound of the Guitar in a way that many people find appealing.
There is no record of what type of compressor was used on “Whole Lotta Love”. Olympic studios at the time had the popular PIE Compressors available, these may be what was used.
While original PIE Compressors are rare but you can buy a “Pie Compressor” plug in for your DAW online.
Additionally, Jimmy Page recorded on Tape. The process of recording onto tape also adds a small amount of compression known as “Tape Compression”
To record this video I’m using a software based Compressor plugin.
MICROPHONE
Jimi Page is well know for experimenting with distant miking in the studio. He chose the large room at Olympic Studios to give him more miking options.
It was common for Jimmy to have a Dynamic Microphone within a couple of inches of the speaker cone and another Condenser Microphone as far as 20 feet away from the Amplifier.
Mixing the feed from these two or more Microphones provided both definition and space to the recordings, making the Guitar sound bigger.
In the studio picture you can see one of these distance Mic’s next to Jimmy’s right knee.
MY MICROPHONE
To record this video I’m using a Shure Sm57 dynamic microphone within one inch of the Grill Cloth.
I’m also using a Shure Beta 87C Condenser Microphone a little over 2 feet from the Grill Cloth.
When you are using more then one Mic on the same source, don’t forget your rule of thirds to keep your mikes in phase.
(3) MEASURE ONE
PICKING (0:35)
While it’s possible to play the intro and Verse riff with all down strokes, Jimmy Page uses alternating picking.
Alternating picking starting with an UP stroke works well for the 1/16th note feel of this riff.
The first measure is picked, UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN.
Sheet Music (1:00)
Whole Lotta Love is in 4/4 Time. There are 4 1/4 notes in each measure.
The first two 1/4 notes are taken up with a 1/2 note rest.
The first half of the 3 beat is taken up by an 1/8 note rest.
NOTE ONE (1:15)
The first note we play is with our
3rd Finger on 5th fret of the low E string.
Pick this note in an (UP) direction
This note is a Grace Note, you can tell from the small size of the number 5 and this Grace note symbol above the note that looks like an 1/8th note with a line through it.
A Grace note symbol means the 5th fret note on the Low E String gets no place in the count, instead we play it quickly in order to slide to the SECOND NOTE on the 7th fret of the low E String.
Because we are sliding, we don’t pick the second note, we just need to arrive on the 7th fret on the ‘&” after the 3rd beat
NOTE THREE (2:00)
The third note is played on the “a” after the third beat.
We play this note using our first finger on the 5th Fret of the A String, the second from thickest string.
Pick this note in a “Down” Direction.
This note should be given a 1/4 note bend over its duration. This 1/16th note is tied to a 1/16 note on the the fourth beat, so you have two 1/16 notes to bend the string slightly.
A good technique for this kind of bend is to pull the string down with your 1st finger by rotating your wrist.
Keep your fingers and palm stiff and let your forearm do the work.
NOTE FOUR (2:35)
The fourth note is played on the “e” after 4th beat.
Using our 3rd finger on the 7th Fret of the Low E String.
Pick this note in an “Up” direction
NOTE FIVE (2:50)
The fifth note is played on the “&” after the 4th beat.
Using our 1st finger again on the 5th fret of the A string.
Pick this note in a “Down” direction.
This note should also be given a 1/4 note bend over its duration. It’ s an 1/8th note so you have the same two 1/16th notes as before to bend the string slightly.
And that’s the end of the first measure.
(4) MEASURE 2
PICKING (0:10)
Like measure one, measure two is picked using alternating picking starting in a DOWN direction .
Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up
Sheet Music (0:30)
Measure Two repeat’s the same sequence of notes 4 times, once on each quarter note.
By taking a look at the the first beat we can understand the entire measure
All of the notes in measure two are 16th notes.
NOTE ONE (0:48)
We start with an E5 Power chord using our 1st finger on the 7th fret of the A String and our 4th finger barring the 9th fret on both the D and G Strings.
Use your flattened fingers to mute the B & High E Strings that we are not using.
Strum the 3 string our fingers are on in an DOWN direction.
NOTE TWO (1:12)
We follow the E5 Power chord with an open low E String.
Pick this note in an UP Direction
NOTE THREE (1:20)
The next note is another open low E string, this time picked in a DOWN Direction
NOTE FOUR (1:25)
The last note in beat one is also an open low E, this time picked in a UP Direction.
PALM MUTE (1:30)
The P.M. Symbol tells us to palm mute the strings as we play them.
The dotted line continues to the point where the Palm Mute should be removed.
We end up lifting our Palm Mute on and off. Off for the Power chord and on for the open Low E string notes.
Its in your best interest not to lift to far away, keep the movement only as big as you need for it to work.
Repeat the same pattern of notes in beat one for the rest of the measure.
When you play the E5 Power chord, press your fingers down, when you are playing the open Low E string, relax your fingers to help mute the strings.
And that’s the end of Measure Two.
(5) MEASURE 1 + 2 LOOP (50 b.p.m.)
A good way to practice the Intro Riff is to make a loop out of the first two measures.
We start part way through the first measure, after we play the second measure we loop back to the beginning of the first measure and add two more beats of the second measure riff.
On the 3rd beat we play the E5 Power chord by picking in a DOWN direction before sliding down to start Riff again with the Grace Note on 5th fret of the low E string.
Here are the first two measures looped together at 50 B.P.M.
(6) VARIATIONS
NO GRACE NOTE (1:10)
Its possible to play measure one without using the Grace Note. When playing the song live Jimmy Page often leaves out the Grace Note.
We simply start on the 7th fret of the Low E String with our 3rd Finger on the & after 3 with an UP pick.
Here is Measure One WITH the Grace Note.
Here is Measure One WITHOUT the Grace Note.
HARMONIC ON THE D STRING (0:30)
On the recording you can hear a bell sound at the same time as the Guitar plays the 5th fret note on the A String. This sound is made by a harmonic on the 5th fret of the D String.
You can play harmonics by lightly touching over the fret. The dotted frets in the middle of the neck are the easiest to make Harmonics from.
While it sounds like the harmonic is dubbed on later, it is believed that Jimmy Page made the Harmonic by lightly touching the D string with the same finger he is using to play the 5th fret note on the A String. That means when we play the 5th fret note on the A String we need to pick both the A and D Strings at the same time.
SECOND E5 POWER CHORD (1:20)
In Measure three at the end of the first intro Riff. Jimmy Page changes the ending slightly.
The last open low E string note before the 3rd beat, is replaced with a second E5 Power Chord.
The strumming direction doesn’t change, we still play alternating picking, up on the first E5 and Down on the second E5.
Don’t forget to remove your palm mute for this added E5 Power Chord.
POWER CHORD FINGERINGS (2:00)
To play the E5 Power chord in these videos I’m using my 4th finger to Barr the D and G strings at the same time.
This Technique is also handy for muting the B and High E Strings that we don’t want to ring out.
Alternatively you could bar the D and G Strings with your 3rd Finger.
Another option would be to not use the Barr at all and put your 3rd Finger on the D String and your 4th Finger on the G String.
LIVE (2:30)
Jimmy page is known for his overflowing creativity, he is the kind of player that doesn’t play things exactly the same way twice.
Jimmy plays Whole Lotta love quite differently live, with more of a alternating strumming approach then a pedal tone, this is a typical example of what he might play.
(7) THEORY
Jimmy Page was heavily influenced by American Blues & Rockabilly music.
Early American Blues and Rockabilly music inspired many British bands including the The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Kinks & Pink Floyd.
Rock music is the result of this fusion, Blues music turned up to 11.
Whole lotta love is in the Key of E Major.
Blues music often uses a Major Chord Progression with blend of Major and minor Notes played over the top.
Whole lotta love is typical of a Blues influenced I-IV-V progression. At its heart, its a Major chord progression, though it gets mixed with some minor intervals.
In Whole lotta Love the Key of E minor is suggested by the use of the D note in the Intro which is a Minor 7 interval, and also the Minor scale melodies used by the Vocal and Guitar later in the song.
There are not many notes in the Whole Lotta love riff, the ones that are used are pretty Juicy.
(1:00)
The notes in the riff are.
(E) which is the ROOT
Which we see the E used as the Root and Octave of the E5 Power Chord and also as the the Open Low E Pedal Tone.
We also have the
Perfect 4th which is (A)
and the
Perfect 5th which is (B)
The riff starts on the the Perfect 4th with a Grace Note before sliding quickly to the perfect 5th.
Both are pretty agreeable intervals in the Key of E major or E minor.
So far we have the same intervals that you would find at the heart of a classic I-IV-V Blues progression.
The other note used in the intro riff is a D which is a Minor 7th interval.
One of the signatures of the Blues is the sound of the Dominant 7 Harmony.
Dominant 7th chords have an unfinished sound that we now associate with the Blues genre.
This sound could also be express as a dominant 7 scale or the Mixolydian Mode which is a Major scale with a Minor 7 in place of a Natural 7.
The minor 7 interval used in the Dominant 7 chord wants to be resolved causing tension.
In the Whole lotta love riff Jimmy page uses the minor 7th interval to add a cool tension and release feel to the end of the riff that makes is want to resolve back to the E5 Power Chord and start the riff again.
(2:20)
You can see this same approach in songs like:
Hey Joe, by Jimi Hendrix,
also You Really Got Me by the Kinks,
Cocaine by Eric Clapton
Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor.
and Holy Diver by Dio.
1/4 NOTE BEND ON THE MINOR 7th (3:30)
Another signature sound of the blues comes from playing with both major and minor scale notes in the same song.
In this case the minor 7 is bent a 1/4 tone, putting it between a Major 7 and a Minor 7. It is being used to suggest and then begin the movement back toward the Root.
PEDAL TONE (2:25)
The Riff uses a repeated note on the open low E String between the E5 Power chord.
Anytime you have a repeated note that you are playing against you are said to be using a “Pedal Tone” “Pedal Point” or simply “Pedaling”.
It comes from Pipe Organ players playing bass notes with their feet on a floor mounted “pedal” keyboards.
(8) FUN FACTS
LED ZEPPELIN NAME (0:10)
The name “Led Zeppelin” started with Keith Moon and John Entwistle of “The Who”.
In the early days of Led Zeppelin, Keith and John were both originally going to join Jimmy page in his new “Supergroup” band project.
“Supergroups” have a reputation for being less then the sum of their parts,
with this in mind Keith Moon said the band would go “Down like a Lead Ballon’ a common British phrase suggesting that the project would fail.
Jimmy Page changed the spelling of “Lead” to “Led” and changed “Balloon” to “Zeppelin” because he though it sounded cool.
PLAGIARISM (0:40)
While the Whole lotta Love Guitar Riff and Arrangement remain Iconic, the lyrics generated a copyright claim from Bass Player and Songwriter Willie Dixon.
“You need Love” a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded in 1962 by Muddy Waters has some obvious similarities to led Zeppelins “Whole Lotta Love” which was recorded 7 years later.
In 1985 Willie Dixon won a co-writing credit and a share in the royalties from “Whole Lotta Love”.
Willie Dixon donated substantial sums of money to help young people gain access to Instruments and Music Education through his Blues Heaven Foundation.
Its thought that Robert Plant first became interested in the song when he saw it covered live by British band “The Small Faces”.
You can certainly hear the influence in the Small Faces recording of “You Need Loving” from 1966, three years before the recording of “Whole lotta Love”.
ONE TAKE VOCAL (2:00)
Lead singer Robert Plant is known for his amazing vocal abilities
The main vocal you hear on the finished track was all done all in one take.
LUCKY MISTAKE (2:10)
In the studio you sometimes have lucky mistakes, there is one one whole lotta love at the 4 minute mark.
During the breakdown vocal you can hear an ethereal sounding Robert Plant sing his own lyrics before the main vocal.
According to the songs engineer, Eddie Kramer, this was not intentional. A previous vocal take accidentally bled through to the Master recording.
LAST SONG (2:40)
“Whole lotta Love” was also the last song performed live by the original Led Zeppelin Lineup on July 7th 1980 in Berlin Germany.