Someone Just Called the Police
- Roy Fry
- Nov 2, 2021
- 8 min read
The Police
The third Track Breakdown is by an awesome power Trio - The Police.
Picture below is of their first producer Nigel Gray. He produced their first 3 albums.
l have always loved bands with just the basic setup. One guitar, a bass guitar, drums and vocal. 'That's right just one guitar', where the band can create and still have a sense of space and freedom in the music.
Genre description for The Police was Reggae, Rock, New Wave.
Roxanne
BPM - 132 to 134
Key G minor
Time Signature 4/4
Length 3:12
A quick background look on the song Roxanne.
The Police had a gig to support an English group called The Damned in Paris. Since money was tight they had to stay in a sleazy hotel room. On the street opposite their hotel room, there was a sex shop with a book store just a few shops down, and between those two buildings prostitutes would be dressed in long coats and cheap boots so they could show off their wears. Sting couldn't help but take notice of the street life before the group went off to their gig.
Went The Police got to the gig, the gig was cancelled and The Damned were already going back to England. Sting then got captivated by a torn poster on a wall advertising a show called Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Ronstand, this along with the prostitutes street life still a vision in his mind, he thought what would it be like to be in love with one of the street workers. So hence writing the song Roxanne.
Sting originally had written the song as a jazz tinged bossa nova, but the song ended up being a hybrid tango. Once they had finished working on it in an afternoon, the song
sounded like a combination of reggae and punk song combined with a Reggae feel in the verses and some punk feel in the chorus, it was Stewart Copeland who suggested to Sting that the bass guitar should hit on the second beat of every bar with his snare for the verses.
Verse Groove below
Andy Summers rhythm guitar work is the glue to all the pieces in this song's puzzle. (but l'm looking at it as being a guitarist.)
Nigel Gray studio setup in the early days.
Nigel opened the studio up in 1974, so l should imagine that he would still be using the same microphones to record The Police in 1977, before they released their debut album in 1978.
The console was an Alice desk with 16 tracks and the tape machine was a Ampex MM1000 16 tracks.
His favourite microphones were the Valve Neumann U-67, AKG D-12 for the kick drum, a couple of Beyer Dynamics for the toms and some C-451 Neumann's for his overheads.
The Police did their rhythm tracks live as a three piece band and a guide vocal from Sting. Sting sat in the control room with Nigel and had his bass go through a DI Box with the amp being miked in another room. They mixed the 2 tracks together to get Sting's bass sound.
The drums were recorded onto 8 tracks - kick, snare, hi-hats, three toms and 2 overheads.
Nigel recorded Andy Summers guitar by recording 2 amplifiers at the same time and have a room microphone. He panned the amps left and right and had the room mic centre in the mix.
Stings vocals were recorded with the Neumann U-67 or an alternative Shure SM57.
Intro and Verses
When l listen to the mix of Roxanne, it really sounds like a three piece band being recorded. Andy Summers guitar is the opening riff with Sting and Stewart sitting just under the guitar, but that quickly changes to having the guitar supporting the drums and bass guitar, as they start to get ready for the first vocal verse. It's more likely that the bass guitar and drums are playing harder rather than the mix being altered. It's interesting how they brought in Stings Vocal, It feels like they must have used a metronome to bring in his first vocal lyric Roxanne, but I think they were well rehearsed.
Pre Chorus
Stewart brings in the cymbals and alters his drum rhythm to fill out the sound, and give the listener a new interparation and interaction of the progression in the pre chorus. Sting has altered his vocal melody and the bass guitar playing for preparation into the chorus. I can hear a scratchy muted sound coming from the bass guitar, which l think Sting uses to keep himself in time with the band on his bass guitar.
The chord structure of Andy's guitar work helps with the song character and he keeps the tonality of the guitar a little higher to give it some space. I just love the guitar sound and the way they have recorded it. ' I think I will have to setup 2 guitar amplifiers at home and experiment different sound possibilities. (There goes the neighbourhood)
l still think the DAW plug-ins are going to be more relevant in the future.
Chorus
In the chorus the harmony vocals of Stewart and Andy are bought up to the front while the guitar is shifted to the back position in the mix. This keeps the song in a trio format by shifting instrument in and out and but still keeping the audiences ear listening to a trio sound. (Just love it)
With Sting playing quarter notes on the the bass guitar and Stewart straightening out the drums in gives the song a sense of progressing and filling out the sound. This is artistry, talent and still being able to get the maximum out of your instrument and song writing ability. It sounds simple but technically shows off their skills as musicians.
Roxanne Song Analysis.
With this track breakdown l will also study the sonic wave pattern through different sections of the song. This will help with the understanding on how they have mix the song. Since the mix is for a trio group.
Intro and intro verse
This is the verse intro before the vocals come in. They have mixed Andy's guitar a little higher that the bass & drums. If you have a look at the middle of the spectrum analyser you can see it peaking a bit higher in the 470Hz to 2kHz. When the drums and bass guitar play, you can see the dynamic characteristics of the instruments being played out.
Verse 1
In verse 1 you can see that Nigel has increased the band overall sound a little bit or, the band members are playing a little harder and Stings vocals have been EQ to cutting through on the 470Hz to 5kHz. his vocals sound a little bit higher than the band. Andy's guitar work is still the focused instrument and helps with the transition to highlight Sting's vocals.
Verse 2
The second verse is very similar to verse 1, but we can see the vocal melody has changed and progressed higher in the frequency. It sounds a lot more intense by the way the graph is shaped. (The vocals in the analysis chart are still cutting through the mix, especially the 1Hz.)
Pre Chorus
The Pre Chorus lyrics are more sparse with the verses and the evidence is with the spectrum analyser dipping down a little. The drums and bass guitar still have pole position in the mix 47Hz through to 220Hz. Even though the vocals are higher at different stages. The main reason for the increase of vocal volumes is when Sting sings the lyric Roxanne, the frequency analyser really spikes up in the 1Hz to 2Hz.
Chorus
In the chorus is where the punk vibe happens and it also raises in volume.
The volume goes up as the beat is moving into a simpler straight structured rhythm. Sting is hitting the bass harder and driving the beat with quarter notes and Stewart has straighten the drum rhythm beat out and he is also hitting harder. Andy's guitar work seems to get lost with all the energy being lifted by drums and bass guitar with Stewart and Andy doing harmonies on the lyric Roxanne and repeating it as a rhythmic hook line, it gives the chorus a climax feel and makes the song into an anthem vibe.
Intro 2
Intro 2 volume levels are being carried through from the chorus level. The snare level seems to be loud and at 150Hz to 200Hz it pops out at you.
Verse 3
Verse 3 seems to sound fuller than the other verses to date. Andy's guitar is sitting in the back ground.
Sting's vocal is still resonating through, and the drums are used to keep the rhythmic flow happening with Sting's bass guitar work. I think there is a very slight tempo increase after the chorus and you can feel it in the third verse.
Verse 4
The rhythm section feels as if it has been brought up a fraction higher in the volume mix, and the vocals have been left at the same volume. I feel it's not the volume from the mixing console. I think they are using band dynamics to give the song some feel, color and a sense of progression.
Pre Chorus 2
The Pre Chorus 2 volume is about the same as the Pre Chorus after Verse 2.
Getting setup for the last Choruses. Sting is really trying to give his vocals as much expression as possible, so the vocals fill out the pre chorus 2 and keeps the listener interested by changing the vocal sound and feel as he sings.
Choruses and Outro
The Choruses and Outro look similar to the first Chorus done earlier and back to the anthem feel, and getting the crowd to sing along. Stewart is pumping the kick pedal like he did in the first chorus by playing quarter notes on his kick drum. Sting's playing quarter notes on the bass guitar and is pumping the sound out, which creates a wall of sound.
Andy's guitar is right back in the background which allows the harmony vocal to be brought up towards the front.
In the outro Stewart makes the drumming more exciting by making the song into a controlled jam session on the last section of the song.
Conclusion and thoughts
I love the way the song was mixed. The band was record as a live three piece rhythm section and they were able to control the tempo feels as they went along. The dynamics in the song sounded as if the band had complete control and had enough space to give the song a personality of its own.
I think that once Nigel Gray had set the mixing console with the panning positions it was left to allow the song and musicianship of the band to play out in a natural format. His ability to shape the song and band is amazing. I feel he probably didn't have to make many adjustments to the volume once it was recorded.
The music has space, so you hear everything and the natural tones of the instruments were captured and enhanced rather than altered. This is a lesson in how getting the sound from the microphone first is so important and saves you time trying to fix a problem later on, which you might not be able to fix.
As l was told in Nashville when l first went there. It's all about the song (whether you are successful or not.)
To me it's about being able to record the song correctly that gives the song life and an individual personality.
Reference
The Police - Roxanne (Chords). (2016, August 17). Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/the_police/roxanne_chords_408544
Hughes, R. (2019, February 05). The Stories Behind The Songs: Roxanne by The Police. Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-stories-behind-the-songs-roxanne
Recording Studio Surrey & London: Surrey Studios. (n.d.). Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.surreystudios.com/
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