Feed Me - One Click Headshot

Artist: Feed Me
Album: Feed Me's Escape From Electric Mountain (2012)
Track: One Click Headshot 

Headshot time: 
This multi-faceted electronic track keeps a steady 110 beats per minute with a simple groove which is filled in by building bass synths. It makes use of a video by FPS Doug as a 'pre-drop' cue... "I can dance all day... Boom! Headshot".

Drums:
To begin with, the drums that drive this track have a mix of elements to analyse. The opening kick drum sounds quite hollow like a wood knock but is soon opened up into a very 'meaty' punch. In that opening section we can hear a 'off beat' clap which fits between the kick and the snare. As we reach the chorus however, the hi hat sounds like it's synthesized from purely white noise. It's quite open sounding and the decay fills between each new stroke. As for the snare drum, I can hear that it covers a fair wide frequency range and is the loudest element in the mix. It is quite short and snappy and never leaves it's place on beats 2 and 4 other than in building up sections where it rolls 16ths.

Bass power: 
The other instrumental instrument of this track is led by powerful bass lines. The opening is played by a particularly lo-fi bass. It's quite coarse in its texture - slightly similar to a distorted guitar through some bit crunching filters. After the drop into the chorus the heaviest sounds are introduced. There is an alternation between massive bass swells and a higher register, more rhythmically sharp sound.

The drop: 
Let's talk about the all important drop. In this style of music, the drop is paramount. Building into a fever pitch and then releasing a brutal sounding bass line is central to this. FPS Doug's increasingly intense shouting is extremely effective in its placement within this track. Also note the snare building into a crescendo with the kick drum layered underneath. Also note the 'siren' that repeats itself in the background to add to the thickness. Finally there is a high pitch sweep that 'flys' up into the edge of our hearing range. All of this intensity is cut off for the length of one 8th note before that chorus drops in. This moment of almost silence is very effective in 'the drop'. I like to think of it as a ladder which the listener climbs - each beat being a foot hole. When you reach the top you loose your footing and that little fall makes the next sound so much more powerful.

Label: 
This album was released on Mau5trap Records (as seen on the artwork). Mau5trap is run by the hugely successful producer, Deadmau5.

Beastie Boys - Triple Trouble

Artist: Beastie Boys
Album: To The 5 Boroughs (2004)
Track: Triple Trouble

Kicking intros: 
The track opens with a short "kicking lyrics right to your brain..." and is followed by the percussion groove sample made famous by the Sugarhill Gang. Enter, Mix Master Mike's rhythmic scratching on the turntables to provide the rhythmic accents for the rest of the song.

Three emcees and one deejay: 
The emcees, Mike D, Ad Rock and MCA (RIP) rap simultaneously in the first section. The general system that is followed in Beastie Boys raps is that choruses contain all three voices. Verses are then traded with the final word or accents of each line accented by the others. A great example of the Beastie Boys performing (a different song) in the studio can be seen in this video: Notice the group dynamics with the verse trading and simultaneous accented sections.

The challenge of three vocals:
Rather than pan each vocal to create a separation between the voices they all positioned centrally. The challenges that I can imagine the producer having to deal with on Beastie Boys records is making each voice stand out. In any multi vocal track, avoiding masking and clashing must be challenging. The three emcees in Beastie Boys have unique textures to their voices which is a beneficial factor. Mixing these vocals would require dealing effectively with the frequently changing focus. That is, ensuring that any one time there is one leading vocal supported by two backings.

The beat: 
The beat for this track is particularly unusual in that there is no strong kick drum. Instead, Mike's scratches fill that roll along with a snare on beats two and four. I've also noticed after examining the WhoSampled link that the Beastie Boys have added an extra set of hi hats on top of the sample.

Release and success: 
To The 5 Boroughs was released in 2004 on the Capitol Records label. It was recorded between 2002 and 2004 produced by the Beastie Boys themselves. In fact, this album was their first separate from a co-producer. The album was extremely successful.

Year	Chart	Position
2004	The Billboard 200	#1
2004	European Album Chart	#1
2004	Top Internet Albums	#1
2004	Top Canadian Albums	#1
2004	Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums	#1
2004	UK Albums Chart	#2

Hans Zimmer - Gotham's Reckoning

Artist: Hans Zimmer
Album: The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack
Track: Gotham's Reckoning

Odd time: 
The first thing of note for this piece is that its time signature is in 5/4. It has one extra quarter note than your common 4/4 measure. The rhythmic structure is best described as two short and two long notes for each bar. This rhythm remains constant throughout the piece and so tension is built by dynamics rather than rhythmic shifts.

Dynamics and instrumentation: 
The piece builds up with staccato sounds from percussion and high strings playing the dominant 'two short, two long' rhythm. Underpinning this is a very low register bass changing notes with the start of each bar. Gradually more elements of the orchestra are added to the mix. Low frequency sounds from instruments like trombones and various baritone instruments begin to add a more coarse edge to the bass line.

A complex mix: 
There are too many sounds to name individually but the panning in this mix has created a wide stereo image. Generally there is a higher and lower version of a sound where one is panned to the right or left while the other is centre. The best example of this is the foot stamping and chanting. The thumping feet can be heard both on the left and the right. However, there is a higher pitch stomping sound panned hard to the right. The difference might be like stomping on stone versus stomping on leaves. Earlier there is a sharp and high pitched 'drum like' sound panned hard to the left adding another texture the the rhythm that underpins the whole piece.

5/4 used to great effect: 
A final note on rhythm: Throughout the film the use of this 5/4 meter has shown to be very effective building and releasing tension. The 5/4 meter seems to 'push' itself across the bar line due to its 'extra' beat. Furthermore, it is sped up and slowed down for different scenes in the film creating the dynamics I have been writing on,

Incubus - Anna Molly

Artist: Incubus
Album: Light Grenades (2006)
Track: Anna Molly (3:46)

Panning in: 
The track opens with a lightly distorted guitar panned hard to the left speaker. The hi hat that accompanies it is centre if not panned slightly to the right.

Hi hat dynamics: 
There's a large dynamic variation in the hi hat playing. The accents (on beats two and four) are noticeably louder. I compared the MP3 version to the FLAC at this point as it was a good point of reference. This dynamic distinction is slightly more evident to me on the FLAC version.

Enter bass: 
When the bass slides in with the second half of the introduction some bells fill the right side of the stereo image. When we reach the next section of the song the mixer opts for a narrower panorama. Although the guitar is panned to the right it is by a smaller degree.

Washing the drum kit: 
Something to note about the drums sound on this track is the huge wash produced by the cymbals. In the sections where the crash cymbal is 'ridden' I find its volume dwarfs the kick and the snare. This kind of drum kit sound is favoured in other Incubus songs too. The overhead microphones are given priority in the mix. There are a few instances of hard panning with the percussion in this song. Auxiliary percussion such as the tambourine is only on the left.

Vocals: 
Some factors that I have noticed with the vocals on this track are as follows: There are some sections where it sounds double tracked. The sound is thickened quite a deal in the chorus, I can hear the second voice whenever the diction varies or the length of the word varies. It would appear that for the most part the second voice (mixed behind the first) gets to each word slightly later. You can hear a second trail on most words. I don't think it is a short delay mainly because the delivery sounds different on each word. I believe it's possible that the producer nudged the second vocal track forward/later a bit.

Great: 
This track has been a great example for listening to depth as I was able to compare it to the MP3 version. The stereo panning techniques used were also quite evident throughout. I've been fully objective about this listening but I just want to add that I love the overhead heavy drum kit mix. There are so many variables in a single crash cymbal stroke that are lost when mixed low. The extra swell and 'radiance' you get with this system is a great addition I think. This is probably one of my favourite records for drum kit at the moment.

Producer and label: 
Light Grenades was produced by Brendan O'Brien (very impressive list of work) and released on Epic Records.

Extra notes (Presentation Notes): 

Time:

• Tempo about 150bpm
• 4/4 time signature
• Strong beat 2 and 4 emphasis 
• Snare in big sections, kick in lighter sections 
• Maintains the feel but lowers the intensity 
• Pairing of sub-divisions between the guitar strumming and hi hats. 
• Time slows slightly in the drum break 3/4 through the track. 

Tonality:

• Overdriven guitar
• Mid to high register tone. 
• Very open and washy
• Makes for a washy high and punchy low approach. 
• More reliance on the kick and snare to punch through and keep groove.
• Overall bright sounding track with lots of 'sparkle' 
• Cymbals are primary in this aspect.
• Tambourine also quite powerful in parts.
• Hard to listen to this song in the car (hearing mostly cymbal wash). 
• Bass has distinct picking sound in some parts and sometimes no pick noise at all. There is definitely a pick to finger swap at some point I feel. 
• Snare has a strong metallic ping that cuts the mix well I think. 
• Does a good job breaking through all the sound. 
• Hats are bright, crisp with a very short attack. 
• Lots of open hat used though... Lots of open sounds in this track.
• Double tracked vocals

Dynamics: 

• LOUDNESS: Barely a moment under -3db to be found. 
• Drums are right up all through the track.
• Dynamics are created through adding and removing sounds like the guitars rather than increasing and reducing volume. 

Space: 

• Opening with guitar left and hats right.
• Break/buildup has backing vocals on right.
• Backing vocals continue to be hard right, 
• Tambourine is hard left 
• and so on...

Ta-Ku - Day 7

Artist: Ta-Ku
Album: 50 Days For Dilla Vol.1 (2012)
Track: Day 7

Would you like a sample? 
The track opens with what sounds like the raw sample on which the rest of the track is based. Something that I don't like though is the small gaps in the audio. It might have been chopped up to fit in time with the tempo of the track. Although the vocal chops don't cut away at the same times as the strings beneath them. Either way, I'm relieved when the main beat drops in.

Tonality: 
The orchestral sounds are warm and swell very nicely. The little bit of grit that can be heard in the texture from the trombones adds a slight bit of aggression. A second string part comes in panned to the right speaker after the first rotation of the verse section. Just before it drops in, the drums are muted and we can faintly hear the original drums on the sample. If they are not the original drums then it's a faint hi hat pushed slightly out of time. Coming in with this secondary strings part is a backing vocal (female "oooh") which is panned to the left speaker. This panning arrangement is also evident in the original sample.

Shaking the groove: 
The hi hat/shaker shuffle adds a lot to the groove - it somehow makes the downbeat of the kick drum more effective. The kick drum is set very loud to punch through the mix while the snare is set back. The snare is softened by a large sounding reverb.

Vocals: 
The male vocal sample is very interesting in this context I think. It's a very low register and spoken / sung with little intensity for the most part. So when it's up at the top of the mix it plays with my perceptions a bit. With a later section of the track the vocals are cut up more sharply precisely into briefer pieces.  

How it came to be: 
This is an interesting read about how 50 Days For Dilla came to be. The 50 Days were released on HUH WHAT & WHERE.