Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Robert Smith (musician)
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Musicianship== [[File:Robert-smith-cure-miyako-np.jpg|thumb|160px|Smith in 1985]] ===Songwriting=== In an interview in 2000, Smith said that "there is one particular kind of music, an atmospheric type of music, that I enjoy making with the Cure. I enjoy it a lot more than any other kind of sound".<ref name="nyrock">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2000/cure.htm |title=Robert Smith on Craziness, Commercialism and Cure by Numbers (NY Rock Interview) |website=Nyrock.com |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526031220/http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2000/cure.htm |archive-date=26 May 2011}}</ref> When Smith was asked about the 'sound' of his songwriting, Smith said that he did not "think there is such a thing as a typical Cure sound. I think there are various Cure sounds from different periods and different line-ups."<ref name="nyrock"/> ===Guitar playing=== [[File:The Cure - Southside Festival 2019 4765 - 2.jpg|thumb|right|Smith playing acoustic guitar at Southside Festival in 2019]] Smith is considered to be one of the most influential and underrated guitarists of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Total Guitar]] |title=The Cure |date=1 September 2014 |url=https://www.pressreader.com/australia/total-guitar/20140901/282381217722456 |quote=Robert Smith is highly underrated as a guitarist and songsmith, and this 1979 hit is a classic example of his proclivity for hooky singles.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Billboard Charts]] |title=The Cure's 'Disintegration' at 30: Amanda Palmer, Davey Havok, Randy Blythe & More on Its Impact |author=Ron Hart |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8509869/the-cures-disintegration-at-30-amanda-palmer-davey-havok-randy-blythe-more-on |date=2 May 2019 |quote=Underrated guitar hero Robert Smith}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=David Anthony |publisher=[[Vice magazine]] |title=The Guide to Getting into The Cure |date=8 November 2017 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-guide-to-getting-into-the-cure/ |quote=... Smith's proficiency as a guitarist—something he's long been underrated for...}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author=Will Brewster |magazine=Mixdown Magazine |title=Gear Rundown: Robert Smith |url=http://www.mixdownmag.com.au/gear-rundown-robert-smith-cure |date=24 August 2020 |quote=... often considered to be one of the most influential yet underrated guitarists of the 20th century...}}</ref> In 2022, Andrew Daly of ''[[Guitar World]]'' ranked him at number four in the "22 guitar heroes who shaped the sound of '80s indie and alternative rock", saying he "set the gold standard for [[post-punk]], [[gothic rock|goth rock]], [[new wave music|new wave]], and [[art rock]]" and praising his "skillful blending of melody and a never-ending desire to genre hop."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/22-indie-alt-rock-guitar-heroes | title=22 guitar heroes who shaped the sound of '80s indie and alternative rock | work=Guitar World | first=Andrew | last=Daly | date=14 November 2022 | access-date=27 October 2024}}</ref> In a 1992 interview with ''[[Guitar Player]]'', Smith shared insights from his first guitar lessons—undertaken at the age of nine years—and his guitar-playing style, such as [[alternative tunings]] as well as his habit of purposely detuning the high "E" (first) string on his guitars. Of his first lessons, Smith stated: {{cquote|I started on classical guitar, actually. I had lessons from age nine with a student of [[John Williams (guitarist)|John Williams]], a really excellent guitarist. [...] I learned a lot, but got to the point where I was losing the sense of fun. I wish I'd stuck with it. I still read music, but it takes me too long to work through a piece.<ref name="Pop">{{cite web |author1=Joe Gore |title=Confessions of a Pop Mastermind |url=http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/press/I10.html |website=Music Fan Clubs Organization (from Guitar Player magazine) |publisher=MacroMusic, Inc |access-date=29 August 2014 |date=September 1992}}</ref>}} Smith also described his detuning process: "I don't know what it adds, but the guitar just doesn't sound quite right to me normally. In the studio, I often defy the tuners, particularly with keyboard overdubs. I even change the speed of the tape to detune some parts. I think a lot of players presented with the same guitar and told to tune it themselves would come up with something drastically different. And the way you play [the guitar] affects the perceived tuning. If Porl [Thompson] and I tune together and play the same thing, but he plays hard and I play soft, it will sound completely off."<ref name="Pop" /> Speaking about ''Wish'' in 1992, Smith also offered the following input on how detuned instruments played a significant role in the album, and the challenges of capturing the sound live. "A lot of things on our record ''Wish'' that sound like heavy chorusing are actually just detuned instruments. The only drawback to that is onstage it's very confusing sometimes, especially with lots of phasing effects going on. It turns into this overwhelming pulsing sound, and you can't hear anything."<ref name="Pop" /> While recording the Cure's debut album, ''Three Imaginary Boys'', in 1978, Smith was using a Woolworth's Top 20 electric guitar, and he was advised by [[Chris Parry (producer)|Chris Parry]] to use a better instrument. Smith bought a [[Fender Jazzmaster]], having recently seen [[Elvis Costello]] playing one on ''[[Top of the Pops]]''.<ref>[http://www.iconicguitar.com/2011/03/robert-smith-white-jazzmaster.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711082305/http://www.iconicguitar.com/2011/03/robert-smith-white-jazzmaster.html|date=11 July 2011}}</ref> He then decided to have the Top 20 pickup installed in the Jazzmaster, giving it a third pickup. Smith explained this guitar customization in 1992: "The third pickup [in the Fender Jazzmaster] is from a Woolworth's Top 20 guitar, my very first electric. I took it in to record our first album, along with a little WEM combo amp. [Manager/producer] Chris Parry, who was paying for the record, said," you can't use that!" We went out and bought a Fender Jazzmaster, and I immediately had the Top 20 pickup installed in it, which really upset Chris. I played the entire ''Three Imaginary Boys'' album through a Top 20 pickup. It's a brilliant guitar, though I actually bought it because of how it looked."<ref name="Pop" /> Smith's guitar work was first heard on the first Cure single "Killing An Arab", which was released in December 1978, where Smith performed an intricate Middle Eastern sounding descending and ascending guitar riff to accompany the song, as well as the B-side "10:15 Saturday Night", where Smith played a heavily-distorted 'tremolo bar' solo. Smith would soon expand on his guitar style further with the Cure's second album, ''Seventeen Seconds'', notably on the single "A Forest", where Smith played an extended solo-outro on his Jazzmaster, as well as the single "Play For Today", where Smith demonstrated an intricate use of [[harmonics]]. With every Cure album release onward, Smith would incorporate a number of different guitars and sounds into the Cure's repertoire with stylistic versatility and craftsmanship over the course of 30 years. Notably, starting with ''The Top'', in 1984, Smith started incorporating Spanish acoustic guitars (notably on the songs "Birdmad Girl", and "[[The Caterpillar (song)|The Caterpillar]]"), and from the mid-80s onward Smith included more acoustic guitar instrumentation on later Cure songs such as "The Blood", as well as notable singles such as "[[In Between Days]]", "Just Like Heaven", and "[[Friday I'm In Love]]". On the 1987 release ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'', Smith showcased a diverse style of guitar playing across the 17-track album. Notably on the opening track "The Kiss" where Smith played an extended [[Wah-wah pedal]] introductory solo that opened the LP, as well as the single "Hot Hot Hot!!!" where Smith included an intricate [[funk]] playing style that intersected with Porl Thompson's guitar lines. Another ingredient of Smith's guitar sound is the [[Fender VI]]. It proved to be a staple of the Cure's sound during the early 1980s on albums such as ''Faith'', was used as the main instrument on the [[Carnage Visors]] instrumental soundtrack that the band recorded that same year, and was later played by Smith extensively on the 1989 release ''Disintegration''. Smith shared the following input of his use of the Fender VI: {{cquote|I added the six-string bass on the Faith album. I think [producer] Mike Hedges stole it. I'm not sure from whom, but he said they'd never miss it. He worked with a lot of big-name artists and he felt it was his duty as a socialist to relieve them of some of their worldly possessions. So he gave me that at the end of Seventeen Seconds. I actually wrote "Primary" on it and incorporated it into a few other things.<ref name=guitar>{{cite book |title=The Gothfather [Robert Smith interview] |work=Guitar World |date=June 1996}}</ref>}} Smith wrote several songs on bass. He commented during an interview for the British magazine ''Making Music'' in 1987: "A lot of the songs that we've done over the years I've written on the bass. I think I've been influenced by listening to [[Steven Severin|[Steven] Severin]] play really, strumming bass chords. I was given the six-string bass... and as soon as I got that I thought — ah, unusual sound, and I translated that back on to guitar".<ref>{{cite journal|first=Jon |last=Lewin|title=Miracle Cure [Robert Smith interview]|journal=Making Music |date=August 1987}}</ref> Smith started incorporating more distortion and feedback sounds and textures on albums such as ''Wish'' where Smith predominantly played a Gibson Chet Atkins as well.<ref name=guitar /> Speaking to ''The Hit'', Smith gave a frank assessment of his approach to guitar playing, and musicianship in general. "I'm not technically a good player but at least I don't sound like anyone else. For me the idea of being a musician has nothing to do with technical ability, but I suppose you have to have a certain amount to be able to put ideas into music. I think it's important to get past the stage of being comfortable with an instrument. You need the capacity to learn – most people tend to stay at the same level, which [I think] is boring to listen to."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imaginaryboys.altervista.org/english/cure/articles/criticalguide.htm |title=Robert Smith's Critical Guide to Robert Smith |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405072235/http://imaginaryboys.altervista.org/english/cure/articles/criticalguide.htm |archive-date=5 April 2015}}</ref>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Robert Smith (musician)
(section)
Add topic