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Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio

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album by Led Zeppelin, released in 1973.

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It's the first album they gave a title

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to and it contains songs such as No

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Quarter, the song remains the same and

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The Rain Song, which would go on to

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feature prominently in their live

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performances going forward.

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Stylistically, it represents a

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significant step in the band's musical

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evolution. Following the immense

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commercial success of their untitled

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fourth album, commonly referred to as

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Led Zeppelin 4, the band used this

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opportunity to expand their sonic pallet

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and push their creative boundaries. They

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maintain their hard rock foundation, but

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now they were incorporating elements of

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funk, reggae, and progressive rock to

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create a broader musical experience that

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continues to captivate listeners decades

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later. By 1972, Led Zeppelin had

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established themselves as one of rock's

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biggest acts. Their previous album had

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featured classics like Stairway to

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Heaven and Black Dog set in an

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incredibly high bar for their next

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release rather than repeating the same

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formula. Though the band chose artistic

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growth over commercial certainty, the

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album's title, Houses of the Holy refers

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to concert venues. The Sacred Spaces

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where the band connected with their

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fans. Interestingly though, the song

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Houses of the Holy didn't appear on the

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album, but was held back for their next

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release, Physical Graffiti. Recording

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for the album began in May 1972 at

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Stargroves McJagger's country home in

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Hampshire, England. The Rolling Stones

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mobile studio, a state-of-the-art mobile

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recording unit built into a truck, was

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utilized for these initial sessions.

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This mobile studio was equipped with a

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customuilt Helios console which had

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become something of a signature for many

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British rock recordings of the era. The

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only plan Zeppelin had was to write and

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record some songs. Paige said, "When we

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first went down there, we had no set

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ideas. We just recorded the ideas each

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of us had at that particular time. It

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was simply a matter of getting together

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and letting it come out." Eddie Kramer,

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who had engineered earlier Zeppelin

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albums, was heavily involved,

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particularly at Star Groves, but later

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Keith Harwood came in for certain tracks

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and overdubs at Olympic and Island

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Studios, with the final mixing completed

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at Electric Lady Studios in New York.

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before the band reconvened at Stargrow.

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Paige had already begun writing and

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producing some of the album's key songs

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in his recently put together home

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studio. The band's success had enabled

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him to assemble a really well-featured

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facility where he could record fully

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formed pieces on his multitrack machine.

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Jones also had a similar facility at his

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house and was able to do the same. In a

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Rolling Stone magazine interview from

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2020, Paige said on the Rain Song, "I

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recently found a really early personal

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demo tape that had been missing for a

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long while, but it's got a full

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orchestration of Rain Song. It goes all

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through to the very end, the same way

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you know it, even with the bits in the

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middle where it gets a bit heavier

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before it goes back to the light and

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caressing parts. It's all in there, the

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melatron and everything. And it's not

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played as well like the John Paul Jones

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version because I knew he could do a

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really good job on it, but it's there,

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every part of it. For recording, Paige

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was still mainly using his Gibson Les

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Paul number one through Marshall heads

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during this period, often favoring the

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JMP Superbass over his 100 W Super Lead.

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For microphones on the cabs, he usually

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had one close mic and one set further

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back to capture more ambience. This

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could vary from a ribbon mic like the

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Bayer M160 or a dynamic such as the

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Shore SM57, then with a condenser as a

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far mic like a Noman U87 or 67. When

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layering guitar parts, Jimmy would

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slightly change the tuning. Maybe only

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by plus or minus 5 cents, but just

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enough to cause an interesting chorus

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effect that would give the parts a much

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richer sound. For the song remains the

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same. The famous double necked Gibson

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EDS 1275 would become synonymous with

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the song for live performances. But he

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didn't need this convenience in the

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studio. So, the 12 string parts are

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actually played on his Fender Electric

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12, the same one he used on Stairway to

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Heaven. His main acoustic guitar for the

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album was the Harmony Sovereign H1260,

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which was used on Over the Hills, the

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same guitar he used on Stairway to

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Heaven and Ramble On. He also had his

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Martin B28 in use around this time, as

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you can see him use it here on Black

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Country Woman, which would actually end

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up on physical graffiti, but recorded

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during the sessions for Houses of the

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Holy. Robert Plant's vocal chain was the

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Noman U67 into the Helios console with a

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touch of compression from the Yuri 1176

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and reverb from the EMT 140 plate with

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occasionally some tape echo. John Paul

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Jones mainly played his 62 Fender Jazz

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bass into a custom DI box for a direct

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sound and also into the acoustic 360

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amplifier with an AKG D12 mic on the cab

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compressed with the Yuri L2A. I'm

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recording John Bonum. Kramer said,

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"Here's the thing about Bonum. If you

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put him in the room and you only had

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three mics, you could record John Bonham

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because that's the way he hit the damn

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drums and the way he tuned the kit." At

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Star Groves, we had an opportunity to

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put Bonso in a room entirely by himself,

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which was this huge sort of

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conservatory, basically a big wooden

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room with a carved wooden window frame,

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very ancient sort of room with

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incredible acoustics. So, I set him up

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in there with just a stereo pair of

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overhead mics, a snare mic, tom mics,

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and bass mic, and he just banged away.

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The first time he hit the snare, oh my

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god. And when he came into the truck to

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hear it, he said, "Nice, mate. It's all

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right." Kramer didn't specify what mics

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we used, but it's likely the AKG D12 or

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Zenheiser MD421 on the kick, the Noman

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U87 as overheads, along with the Shore

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SM57 on the snare. The tom mics I'm

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unsure of, but you can see them used

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here. Kramer's remarks about three mics

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was not just hypothetical. Apparently

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for Jamaica only three mics were

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actually used according to the book Led

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Zeppelin All the Songs. These being the

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D12 on the kick and just two overheads

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which were the U87s. This would go on to

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be Bonham's preferred setup as he really

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wasn't a fan of close micing. The album

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is characterized with the band really

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starting to venture away from their

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strict rock style and trying out other

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genres they were listening to at the

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time. The Crunch was a James Brown

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inspired funk experiment. It showcases

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Jones clavinet work and Bonham

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syncopated drumming. It was mostly

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recorded live in the studio with Jones

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using a Hana Clavvenet D6 run through a

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Wawwa pedal. Jamaica, the band's venture

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into reggae territory was recorded with

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a focus on capturing a live feel. The

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song's title is based on an old British

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joke. I took my wife to the Caribbean

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last week. Jamaica? No, she wanted to

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go. Paige used his Telecaster for the

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rhythm parts and his le Paul for the

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solo sections. The rain song was

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apparently in response to George

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Harrison's reservations about the band

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not having any ballads. The result is

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one of their most beautiful songs

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featuring intricate guitar work from

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Paige using a Dan Electro guitar tunes

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an unusual open tuning of DG C GC D. The

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song's orchestral feel was achieved

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through Jones's melatron and piano work.

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According to the recording notes, the

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piano was a Steinway Grand Island

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Studios recorded with the lid fully open

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and the microphones placed strategically

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to capture the room's ambience. No

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quarter is a great example of how the

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band used very speed tape manipulation

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to change the tonality and pitch of

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Robert Plant's vocals. This was done by

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deliberately altering the speed of the

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tape during the recording. slowed down

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typically by 15 to 20%. Then played back

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at normal speed, creating the pitched up

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vocal effect. The ambient sounds

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throughout this track were created using

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an EMS VCS3 synthesizers noise generator

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rooted through the voltage control

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filters that were manually manipulated

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during recording to create the swirling

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atmospheric effects. Digital effects

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such as delays weren't available at this

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point, so it's still tape delay. Many

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use in the Echoplex, which were used on

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other sources such as vocals. Also, at

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the highly productive Star Grove

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sessions with Kramer, six houses of the

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holy tracks emerged. The song remains

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the same, the rain song, Over the Hills

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and Far Away, Dancing Days, Jamaica, and

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the Ocean. Two songs from the Starrove

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sessions actually ended up on physical

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graffiti, the Rover and Black Country

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Woman. This is a photo of Paige and

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Plant recording the latter here. The

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sessions were highly productive but also

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fun with Kramer saying the lads were

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really happy there recording with the

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amazing acoustics of the old mansion and

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frolicking around in the park-like

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setting. The band were great to work

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with. They were so confident and so

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happy at what was going on. The general

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feeling was excellent. This is shown

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here with the band dancing to the

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playback of the newly recorded Dancing

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Days. Kramer said the truck doors are

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open and we're playing back what was

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just recorded. So the lads decided to

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get into it and dance around to this

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great new track. Houses of the Holy

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represented a crucial artistic step for

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Led Zeppelin by expanding their sonic

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pallet without abandoning their core

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sound, demonstrating remarkable music

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versatility. The album reached number

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one on the Billboard charts and has

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since been certified diamond, selling

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over 11 million copies in the United

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States alone. 50 years after its

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release, it remains a testament to Led

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Zeppelin's artistic vision and technical

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prowess. A perfect marriage of

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musicianship, songwriting, and studio

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craftsmanship that continues to inspire

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and influence new generations of

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musicians and producers.

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[Music]