MOTHERS OF PREVENTION - JAZZ FROM HELL: THE SYNCLAVIER #1

In 1983 Zappa achieved a synthesizer that could play computer-programmed compositions, called a synclavier. The synclavier provides means to execute high tempos and the constant repetition of accompanying figures, which would become fatiguing to impossible for human players. Zappa in The real FZ book: "Anything you make up, can be played or typed by the machine. One of the things I'm using it for, is the creation of complex rhythms, that I can have executed accurately by different groups of instruments. With the Synclavier you can have every imaginable group of instruments play the most complex passages because the little fellows inside will always play it with a millisecond precision degree... Some things live musicians do and machines don't are good and some are bad. One of the good things live musicians do is improvise. They respond to the moment, and can play with more expression than a machine. (Not that a machine knows no expression, but I have to type in a lot of numbers to instantly get the same amount of expression as of a well rehearsed band)...Machines don't get drunk, stoned, or fired and don't need help to carry their families with them from here to everywhere in cases of emergency."
The synclavier was first used for accompanying the spoken parts of "Thing-Fish". Next compositions performed on it appeared on "The perfect stranger" and the 1985 release "FZ meets the mothers of prevention". With the exception of one guitar solo the instrumental album "Jazz from hell" (1986) is all composed on the synclavier. The album makes full use of the instrument to get perfect high tempo recordings of complex compositions. The following fragment is the opening from one of of the albums more accessible pieces, G-spot tornado, that also has been orchestrated to serve as the finale for "The yellow shark" (see the Counterpoint #2 section).

G-spot tornado, bars 2-6 (midi file).
G-spot tornado, 2:08-2:22 (midi file).

G-spot tornado, sections (notes).

This section is in B Dorian and harmonically basically regular. You could accompany it with for instance I 7th in the first bar, I 7th-II 5th-I 7th in the second bar etc. The general structure of "G-spot tornado" is A-B-A. In A the main melody is played over a repeated bass counterpoint melody (or extended vamp, or it's a passacaglia in baroque terms, if you like), B is the free variation part and the theme returns at the end. The second example is from the middle B block, following all harmonic formations, though staying in one key. The bass is making an irregular quasi-improvised movement, using G natural as opposed to the G sharp of the main melody. Because of the large register difference between the low G of the bass and the discant melody, the dissonance effect of this difference isn't conspicuous. For the later "Yellow Shark" version this whole bass line from the middle block eventually got left out. As it comes to sound, instrumentation and the human element, the "Yellow shark" version is far richer. As a composition however, "G-spot tornedo" is more articulate on "Jazz from hell". The A-B-A construction from "G-spot tornedo" is also used in "One man one vote" from "FZ meets the mothers of prevention". Whereas "G-spot tornado" is fit for human performance, this applies less to "One man - one vote", because it's deliberately using the synclavier for creating odd rhythms. "Aerobics in bondage" opens with two melodies that are alternating each other. It apparently has no constant meter, but I can't guarantee what meters Zappa used typing it in. Below I've followed the returning high E note. The eighth note is used as the time unit all through these bars.

One man - one vote, fragment (midi file).
Aerobics in bondage, opening (midi file).

One man - one vote, fragment (transcription).
Aerobics in bondage, opening (transcription).

"Night school" from "Jazz from hell" has something of a written out improvisation, for it's an ongoing melodic movement without returning themes. It's played over a repeated bass motif, sometimes interrupted for a bar to make change. The section below is from the part where the motif is moving from C pedal to A flat pedal. "Damp ankle" is an atonal composition of the free kind. As "Night school" it has no thematic structure. It moves on slowly in many layers over an ongoing accompanying figure. Its beat is clear, the downbeats not. I've notated 4/4 in the example because it's the most common meter, but Zappa may very well have used other meters.

Night school, section (midi file).
Damp ankels, opening bars (midi file).

Night school, section (transcription).
Damp ankles, opening (transcription).

Despite of all the new possibilities the instrument was giving him, the coming years saw a decrease in the flow of new compositions and the accent shifted to the compiling of already recorded material. We'll continue with the synclavier in the Civilization Phaze III section.

"The mothers of prevention" originally had different U.S. and European LP versions. Luckily it's all united on the current CD version, because it's all worthwhile. The "porn wars" issue was American politics, but understandable for everybody, and likewise discussions are raised elsewhere as well. The CD was clearly compiled for the occasion. It's a mix of unreleased recent material from Zappa's closet without being related, but with enough quality per item. The opening piece "I don't even care" for instance has nothing in common with the two synclavier examples from above.
It features Johnny Guitar Watson on a Zappa album for the fourth time. Zappa admired Watson as a guitar player; he was one of his examples when he started to learn to play the guitar. On Zappa's albums however Watson was invited for his voice. He could improvise in a funny agitated way and gets credited for the lyrics on this one. He's singing and talking over a vamp all through, in this case made up of a bass movement and a chorus. Photo to the right of Watson downloaded, source unknown.

I don't even care, opening (midi file).
What's new in Baltimore (1982), 0:32-0:57 (midi file).

I don't even care, opening (transcription).
What's new in Baltimore (1982), 0:32-0:57 (transcription).

"The mothers of prevention" album sleeve hardly gives any information about the recording dates. The personnel stems from both the 1982 and 1984 tours. Apparently Zappa didn't feel like including live material from the 1984 tour, for which he already had a CD in mind. "What's new in Baltimore" exists in three versions. One from the 1982 tour, one from the 1984 tour and the one on "The mothers of prevention". According to the bootleg collectors this last version is the way the band played the song during the 1981 tour. There are also two musical reasons for why this version precedes the other two. First it's played closer to the draft score as Zappa probably wrote it down. That is a lead melody, bass pedal notes and chord indications. The Ludwig study includes a transcription of the "The mothers of prevention" version in this form. The 1982 version, transcribed here, already includes an amount of freedom that you can take when you're playing it for a while. The bass opens a bar with a pedal note, the vibes take care of the lower notes of the melody and the keyboard has its accents on the higher notes. For the remainder the parts don't have to be in exact parallels. Secondly the 1982 version is played a bit faster and the 1984 version considerably faster. The metronome tempos of a quarter note are approximately:
- The mothers of prevention (1981): 150.
- YCDTOSA V (1982): 155.
- Does humor belong in music? (1984): 175.
The song is made up of two almost unrelated halfs. The opening part is a sequence of various shorter melodies in meters and keys that keep changing. The transcribed part shows the use of 5/8, 4/8, 3/4 and 7/8. The opening melody (bars 1-6) is in E Dorian. Bars 7-8 are making a transition. The second theme (bars 9-16) is in E. Bars 17-20 offer an atonal variation upon the opening theme. The second half of the song on the other hand is a guitar solo in normal 4/4 with only the last chord of the first half making a link.

Zappa and Philip Michael Thomas. Source: NBC television, publicity photos.

At the time of the "Jazz from hell" release in 1986 Zappa had a guest appearance in the Miami Vice tv-series as the drug dealer Mario Fuentes. Fuentes was living on a boat just outside the territorial waters of the U.S., so that he couldn't be taken into custody by the Miami Police. A set up was constructed, where detective Crockett and a FBI agent could take action against Fuentes (I don't recall what the idea behind it was). But on their way towards Fuentes' boat Crockett found out that the FBI agent was corrupt and that the plot was actually against himself. He just managed to shoot the agent before the agent could shoot him. That was the end of the episode.