I Want to Break Free

[aircadet]

Hi All,

Does anyone know how I can get the guitar synth sound on Queen's "I want to break free"?

Thanks

 

[scarr]

I'm not able to recall the sound you might be referring to offhand, but I thought Queen was one of the "no synths used" bands throughout their career. I know Night at the Opera specifically mentioned that. It's just creative guitar playing in most cases.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

As a Queen fan, there are tons of synths and other electronical gadgets on every album from the late 70s and forward. Radio Ga Ga anyone? That was a huge hit, you can't have missed it Scarr

"I want to break free" is a synth solo, played by Fred Mandel. It's not a guitar synth or anything like that.

 

[javajunkie]

I'm not able to recall the sound you might be referring to offhand, but I thought Queen was one of the "no synths used" bands throughout their career. I know Night at the Opera specifically mentioned that. It's just creative guitar playing in most cases.

I want to break free was a later work (1984). It has a synth solo as well as throughout the song. I do not believe it is a guitar synth though. As Fred Mandel, a keyboard player, is credited with it. Live, May played the solo with guitar, but it was his standard May sound.

 

[javajunkie]

As a Queen fan, there are tons of synths and other electronical gadgets on every album from the late 70s and forward. Radio Ga Ga anyone? That was a huge hit, you can't have missed it Scarr

"I want to break free" is a synth solo, played by Fred Mandel. It's not a guitar synth or anything like that.

Scarr is a youngin', I believe. He very well could have missed that

 

[Sebastian]

I just did a bit of research and it's indeed a synth playing the solo on the record, but live B. May played it on the guitar.
I'm not remembering the solo sound well but I think with the modulation effects and/or the synth (maybe mixed together) you should be able to get into the ballpark.

Seb

edit: sorry, had this thread opened for a while and didn't see all the answers

 

[scarr]

As a Queen fan, there are tons of synths and other electronical gadgets on every album from the late 70s and forward. Radio Ga Ga anyone? That was a huge hit, you can't have missed it Scarr

"I want to break free" is a synth solo, played by Fred Mandel. It's not a guitar synth or anything like that.

Scarr is a youngin', I believe. He very well could have missed that

I have their first eight albums, seven of which had the "No Synthesisers were used on this Album" marker. I never really noticed it on The Game. I know "Radio Ga Ga", but mainly just the chorus, which was mostly Freddie and clapping.

Ahh, how music changes through the years.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

As a Queen fan, there are tons of synths and other electronical gadgets on every album from the late 70s and forward. Radio Ga Ga anyone? That was a huge hit, you can't have missed it Scarr

"I want to break free" is a synth solo, played by Fred Mandel. It's not a guitar synth or anything like that.

Scarr is a youngin', I believe. He very well could have missed that

I have their first eight albums, seven of which had the "No Synthesisers were used on this Album" marker. I never really noticed it on The Game. I know "Radio Ga Ga", but mainly just the chorus, which was mostly Freddie and clapping.

Ahh, how music changes through the years.

The Game is the first record where I know for a fact they used synths (the first 17 seconds is a synth intro, so it's hard to miss). I don't know about Jazz, does that one have the sticker too?

 

[scarr]

The Game is the first record where I know for a fact they used synths (the first 17 seconds is a synth intro, so it's hard to miss). I don't know about Jazz, does that one have the sticker too?

No, The Game was the first. You say the intro is obvious, but I've heard Brian May do crazier things than that on a guitar, so between that and reversed cymbals, I didn't think much of it. Heck, "Another One Bites the Dust" has a very similar sound effect in it that doesn't use a synth.

 

[javajunkie]

The Game is the first record where I know for a fact they used synths (the first 17 seconds is a synth intro, so it's hard to miss). I don't know about Jazz, does that one have the sticker too?

No, The Game was the first. You say the intro is obvious, but I've heard Brian May do crazier things than that on a guitar, so between that and reversed cymbals, I didn't think much of it. Heck, "Another One Bites the Dust" has a very similar sound effect in it that doesn't use a synth.

The intro to the game sounds like reversed samples of cymbols and something else.


I want to break free is an entriely different story. My organic patch can probably get the intro. The solo is monophonic, sounds like a saw analog synth (brassy). then a bunch of ther polyphonic synth stuff thru out (strings, electric piano).

 

[guitarnerdswe]

The Game is the first record where I know for a fact they used synths (the first 17 seconds is a synth intro, so it's hard to miss). I don't know about Jazz, does that one have the sticker too?

No, The Game was the first. You say the intro is obvious, but I've heard Brian May do crazier things than that on a guitar, so between that and reversed cymbals, I didn't think much of it. Heck, "Another One Bites the Dust" has a very similar sound effect in it that doesn't use a synth.

The intro may not be synths, but at least Freddie is credited for playing synths on the album, so we don't have to spend more time on that matter On to getting the tone!

 

[scarr]

The Game is the first record where I know for a fact they used synths (the first 17 seconds is a synth intro, so it's hard to miss). I don't know about Jazz, does that one have the sticker too?

No, The Game was the first. You say the intro is obvious, but I've heard Brian May do crazier things than that on a guitar, so between that and reversed cymbals, I didn't think much of it. Heck, "Another One Bites the Dust" has a very similar sound effect in it that doesn't use a synth.

The intro may not be synths, but at least Freddie is credited for playing synths on the album, so we don't have to spend more time on that matter On to getting the tone!

Oh, I think you're right about the intro from what I've read since. I just wouldn't have guessed they did it with a synth.

As for the IWtBF tone (thanks YouTube!), there is a filter quickly opening on each note, but it also sounds like the timing is a little funny and it is all a hair behind the beat.