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Alan White
(May 2002 Issue)
Yes Magnified
"Chris Squire,
Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, and I wrote all of
the material in the
studio," explains drummer Alan White of Yes about their recent album, Magnification.
With a rare
keyboardist-free Yes lineup, the band decided to utilize a
symphony orchestra as an integral part of its compositions.
According to White, "We were in Santa
Barbara for a couple of months
making the album. Then our arranger, Emmy Award-winning composer Larry
Group, would
come into the studio every week and summarize what we'd
done. He'd do orchestral arrangements on keyboards and
bring them back
the following week. We'd either sanction them or ask for revisions."
Once Yes had okayed his backing
tracks, Group scored the compositions
using the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
Yes was very conscious to
leave space for the orchestral arrangements.
As far as White's specific contributions, "Most of the parts I wrote
were on
keyboards. So we started that way, then I played the drums, and
then later I redid the keyboards for the final mix." "In The
Presence
Of" particularly shows White's ability as a composer. In fact, it's a
little-known fact that his keyboard
contributions have been a mainstay
of Yes's music ever since he joined the group in the early '70s.
As Group was scoring the album, some bandmembers suggested he take his
cue from composers like Sibelius
or Ravel. "But I wanted more extreme
types of arrangements," White chuckles. "I kept suggesting Stravinsky
and Wagner."
Alan's long been fond of symphonic music. "When you play
forty shows in a row of progressive rock, you tend to want to
listen to
something completely different."
Robert Kaye
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