Music Analysis free essay sample

Music for radio, film, Television and Multimedia. Analyses listening log, Year 12 Music 1, Max Tuckering. 1) Discuss why your chosen piece fits into its specific genre, style or musical culture. My chosen piece for this analysis task is Roll On, (2001. Album: Roll On) by The Living End, an Australian rockabilly Icon from the suburbs of Melbourne. This song was the opening anthem for an American comedy film The Cheats (2002). The song was chosen due to Its attractive nature for a young rebellious audience. Quote Chris Cheney, some of our songs are a bit juvenile (FIFO, 2004). The youthful rebellion influences are seen in the early sounds of The Living End, combined with stylistic traits of the ass Rock n roll and late ass-ass Punk genres. The lyrical topic of the song Roll On song was based on the 1998 Australian Waterfront Dispute at the shipyards In Melbourne.Lyrics to suggest this Include: First Verse, The shipyards are deserted on the docks on Melbourne town, The warless standing strong, They gathered round to see what the union had to say, Theres too much work and not enough pay. Lyrically, and sonically the bands music speaks to the working class audience of Australia. The songs topics reflect a voice of the people, a youthful rebellion, seen again in the early punk influences and the lyrics of to just Roll On but the whole demographic of their track listings. 2) Analyses your chosen piece in terms of all the concepts of music. Duration Classic Susie rock and roll Rock-Beat 1 count in, sets up the simple, quadruple meter with accents on the 1st beat.The rhythm section, in this case bass and drums, are providing a steady rhythm for the melodic and harmonic material to be played by guitar and vocals The regular tempo is approximately BPML The time signature is common 4/4 time The backseat is emphasized with the bass drum on the 1 and 3 with the snare drum on the 2 and 4. At approximately miss, assess there is a diminution drum pattern, going from crotchets to quavers to create tensions and excitement before the end of the piece.The prominent drumbeat gives the song a sense of propulsion between sections. This is a mainstream song where people will want to dance, 4/4 is therefore a good choice by the composers in creating a very common and enjoyable meter. Pitch A very rock influenced vocal melody, where there is a major key that also borrows from non-diatonic alterations such as flat ethos and minor 3rd. Major Key (at times a Myocardial mode with a both). Although the guitar is playing minor pentatonic riffs and the solo is played with notes of the A blues scale.The verse tonal center is A major, with the chord progression being power chords of: [A I C ID ] The chorus tonal center is C major, again power chords of the root-notes: [C I F C I F C At 0:assess, there is the first example of 2 modulations from C. Mac to Mamas for the verse. The Lyric Sky follows the chord progression of F-G-A, where as the melody follows major thirds A-B-C# to the roots of the chord progression, ascending in pitch, creating a consonant and prepared modulation between sections.Dynamics and Expressive Techniques The introduction is intentionally loud, a live energetic performance that sounds as if its performed on stage. This is achieved through the method of recording; not only is it recorded on to analog tape, yet it was a live performance with each member isolated in the studio to still create a quality mix. There is also clearly some analogue tape saturation, achieved through high gain recording, creating a very warm/ overdriven tone, mainly heard in the rhythm guitar track. Guitar Pedal Effects include: -Dig-Tech Whammy, a pitch-shifting pedal with a rocking foot mount.Features at imminences. -Beanie Tube Screamer, engaged the whole song -Boost pedal for the guitar solo (increase volume and heighten tone) Expressive techniques: During the Guitar Solo 1:28-1:58: Vibrato, double-stops, slides and bends feature, creating a interesting and stimulating solo. Tone Color Loud chanting styled vocals fits the theme of protest and voice of the people concept. Cheney achieves a pure, husky tone for the lead vocals by singing with full volume chest voice. The backing vocals feature an even more aggressive shout tone, seen in the motif of roll on, roll on, roll on in the introduction.Guitar amplification: Tube amplification provides the clearest and truest sound of the instrument with natural boosting of the upper harmonics of the guitar strings. Thus a raw and majestic tone is accomplished. The solo is played on the higher register of the guitar; this creates interest through contrast and disparity between sections. Bass Recording: The double bass has been modified to handle the volume and tone required for a rock band. The instrument has two split pickup single coil precision bass pick-ups, allowing for optimum output to an amplifier.This provides a rumbling powerful low-end tone to support all the high end treble of the guitars. Drum sounds: The drum sounds of the song are hard-hitting and snappy. This is necessary as the bass and guitar are dominating the low end, where otherwise the drums would be lost in a low, muddy mess. The bright tone of the drum components is primarily due to the style of the player. He hits the skins and cymbals with a lot of energy, often playing at the peak dynamic output of the instrument. Texture The overall texture of the piece is predominantly Homophobic, Vocal melody ND accompanying rhythm section.Roll on is a perfect example of a modern contemporary Rock production. A bright, crisp sounding analogue recording that remains true to the instruments natural amplified sounds. The texture is Dynamic. The Doubling of the chanting motif with the guitar riff is effective. The lead singer and lead guitarist fits the melodic role Rhythm guitar, backing vocals and double bass fit the harmonic role, a constant choral accompaniment. The double bass and the drum kit fill the rhythmic role, they lock in together through the syncopated bass drum line. Traditionally a rock song will have a heavy, solid and rich density, in this case it does. Loud volume, thick-sounding instruments: Heavy distorted guitars; fat bass lines and hard-hitting drums create this density in the performance. Structure Intro,reverse: Intro with the count in 1 ,2,3,4 Each instrument is introduced separately, building layers and texture. The verse introduces the motifs to be developed such as guitar riff and backing vocals Chorus: The chorus develops the feel of the rock beat, and the meter effectively Introduction Riff: Continues the feel of the song similar to the introduction