Thursday, March 8, 2012

Blogging Assignment #5

Listening Framework

"Brother" by Murder By Death

Listening Phase 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo Fast
Source Drum kit
Groove Very upbeat and continuous with little to no ritardando until the ending of the song. It is very articulate and accented throughout the song with loud hits and and obvious crescendo at the peak of the song and a decrescendo back to the original state afterward.

Listening Phase 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation Drum kit, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Cello
Structure/Organization Starts at a fast pace and continues to get faster and crescendo toward the peak of the song, where it decrescendos and slows down to the original pace and upbeat feeling till at the end it has a ritardando and stops slow. 
Emotional Architecture It is very fast as it builds up to the peak til the point it reaches that climaxes where it is very articulate and impactful, then returns to the upbeat until the end where it leaves the listener with a slow and last insightful thoughts of the song.

Listening Phase 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

-       Height Both high and low frequency.
-       Width Little to no panning, stays pretty situated in the middle.
-       Depth Several instruments that complete a very deep and complex sound that is sometiems hard to realize with the loudness of more important instruments layered above the ones that have less impact.

Listening Framework

"Good Morning, Magpie" by Murder By Death

Listening Phase 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo Medium
Source Electric Guitar/Cello
Groove A continuous, but ominous rhythm that sets the dark tune for the entire piece, highlighted with cello and creates a very longing and dark feeling and mood. The quiet of the instruments really highlighting the vocals.

Listening Phase 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation Drum kit, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Cello
Structure/Organization Starts very slow but as it builds through the chorus it gets a little faster and more in your face. The vocals develop into the higher pitches instead of the lower, the same as the cello and even the drums change from the snare and bass to cymbals.
Emotional Architecture Has a very smooth transition to the more intense chorus, but pretty much on the same level besides that. 

Listening Phase 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

-       Height Both high and low frequency
-       Width Pans to the left as the song continues
-       Depth The same as the first song with the less important instruments breaking through occassionally and then breaking all the way as they come to be more proiminant in the song.


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      Being by the same artist, this songs both have very strong similarities that inherently makes them sound the same. But Murder By Death expertly manipulated their song and their patterns to also make them unmistakably different. With the use of the same instrumentation, but changing what instrument is being focused on creates a very different sound and feel for their songs. By focusing and driving the first song with the drums, it is obvious it is a much more upbeat song than the second that is driven by the smooth strings of the electric guitar or the cello. Both songs share a similar, darker meaning, but the way they use their instruments tells them each with a different set of emotions they target. The first songs' melody is much faster than the second song, but as the melody changes to the chorus it is reversed while the second song has a faster chorus than the first song does. Out of these two pieces, I particularly like the second more simply because of the cello driving the song, which you don't hear a lot in music.
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