Can you explain the chords and harmonies in this song
January 11, 2013 10:01 PM
I was listening to this song by disasterpeace and I was struck by how it has a different "earfeel" than other music. I don't know how to describe it, other than that it feels fatter. There's something in the way the notes harmonize that makes them resonate or something. Can someone please explain a bit of the theory behind why this sounds the way it does?
Two things I hear:
1- The tones are somewhat square-waved. Or perhaps triangle-waved. This adds a lot of harmonics that make it sound sort of "crunchy".
2- It sounds very unprocessed. Rather than sounding like a keyboard through an amplifier that is then mic'ed and recorded, this sounds like it is being generated by the playback device. I don't know the technical terms to how to describe this. Sort of like how a recording of a phone ringing sounds different than an actual phone ringing. There are no "room" acoustics on the track.
posted by gjc at 4:56 AM on January 12, 2013
1- The tones are somewhat square-waved. Or perhaps triangle-waved. This adds a lot of harmonics that make it sound sort of "crunchy".
2- It sounds very unprocessed. Rather than sounding like a keyboard through an amplifier that is then mic'ed and recorded, this sounds like it is being generated by the playback device. I don't know the technical terms to how to describe this. Sort of like how a recording of a phone ringing sounds different than an actual phone ringing. There are no "room" acoustics on the track.
posted by gjc at 4:56 AM on January 12, 2013
Sounds like the some of the tracks are doubled (i.e. two identical copies of a part 'pasted' into different parts of the stereo field, usually left and right), which can give a more in your face sort of 'hotter' sound. Also it sounds like there isn't much reverb added, which confers a sort of 'closeness' to the sound, i.e. you're in a room with the music instead of in a hall watching it from afar.
The chords and harmonies themselves, while quite cool, aren't, I don't think, responsible for the 'earfeel.' I think production techniques are.
posted by TheRedArmy at 11:05 AM on January 12, 2013
The chords and harmonies themselves, while quite cool, aren't, I don't think, responsible for the 'earfeel.' I think production techniques are.
posted by TheRedArmy at 11:05 AM on January 12, 2013
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posted by empath at 10:07 PM on January 11, 2013