MasterClass Monday: The Fascinating Creation Of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You And A New Use For Legos

January 15, 2018 by Masterclass Lady 2 Comments


MasterClass Monday: The Fascinating Creation Of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You And A New Use For Legos.About a month ago, the New York Times published a great article about the conceptualization of Ed Sheeran’s humongous hit, “Shape Of You“. I was busy enjoying Christmas so thanks Heavens for loyal MCL readers like Rachel for bringing this to my attention. A month late but better late than never. Thank you Rachel.

So, here we go but hold on – this is one wild ride. And, the video, of course, is included below.

Now, though I mentioned LEGOS in the subject line, they were not used to actually create the song – although, I see a potential use of this product in the future if someone has the creativity and genius to figure it out.

The LEGOS were used to keep Ed Sheeran busy in between recording segments. Yes. Like a young school boy with a relentlessly creative mental process, Ed Sheeran needed LEGOS to help him focus and, sort of , wind down while the producers worked on finessing tracks of the song. Hilarious. Simply hilarious. Sounds like my oldest grandson. For me, this was the best part of the video.

But there was more. So much more. Like how they built a Number One hit from the basis of a couple of simple chords and a melodic hook that captured the sort of calypso-like nature of this song, strengthening its acoustic essence. What a breath of fresh air from all the noise and confusion that permeates so much of today’s music.

And Ed Sheeran, with his youthful impatience and ingenuity, decided to create his own percussion track on his guitar. Why wait for a drummer or drum kit when you can acoustically and, more importantly, do this yourself in a heartbeat?

It was fascinating to watch and hear how all the musicians added more acoustic layers to the original melodic hook. This really was a marriage of the minds and I applaud the cumulative musical genius responsible for creating this hit song – a hit song which has broken tons of records, so to speak, in the recording industry.

You can stream this song on Spotify or Apple Music or download it on iTunes Music. Like his music, even his album cover is minimalist in design. Kind of peaks your curiosity.

And have a listen to Ed Sheeran’s music over on iTunes Music or Apple Music. And, of course, the video is ready to go for you below.

Ed Sheeran, Recordings, Singing, Videos
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About Masterclass Lady

Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli. When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler. She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8. In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman. In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins. In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright. In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins. Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
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2 Responses to “MasterClass Monday: The Fascinating Creation Of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You And A New Use For Legos”

  1. rereader January 15, 2018 at 9:55 pm

    I too really loved the idea of Ed’s co-writer Johnny McDaid dragging a suitcase full of Legos to every writing session, just to keep a layer or two of Ed’s brain otherwise occupied!

    I also was fascinated this bit from the accompanying article (https://nyti.ms/2oXv3lJ), from Steven Mac, the one that was working with Ed for the first time with “The Shape of You”:

    ‘Along with melodies came percussion created by Mr. Sheeran tapping, slapping or strumming his guitar with the strings damped. Mr. Mac was surprised to find that Mr. Sheeran didn’t need to hear what he had already constructed. “He’s not actually layering over the top,” Mr. Mac said. “He’s doing one part, then he does the next part, then he does the next part. And then he says, ‘Put all of those on top of each other.’”’

    That’s sort of how he does it live–he records all the bits, and then puts them all on top of each other, but who knew that’s how he writes, too?!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Masterclass Lady January 16, 2018 at 12:04 am

    It really is innovative and totally out there. Lol. I love it though. He so internalizes every aspect of his musical compositions. Pretty amazing stuff. Thanks for recommending this to me. You have great taste as always. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person