Song Deconstruction

Song #1: Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTH569Eop9Q

Song #2: Trent Reznor, Karen O and Atticus Ross "Immigrant Song" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkP3urtYCkc

Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song"

LISTENING FRAMEWORK

(SIMPLIFIED)

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm) 


Tempo [slow, medium, fast]- Medium


Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]- Drums and Bass. Guitar as well during some parts.


Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]- Funky, flowing, constant and energetic.


LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement) 


Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]- Guitar, drums, bass and vocals.


Structure/Organization [how is the song built? Order, patterns, etc.]- Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, Intro Riff, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Bridge, Outro.


Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?]- Starts right away getting you into rhythm of the song. Emotion is calm during verse and gets you excited during the chorus, until it slowly drops off at the end.


LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality) 
Balance


-  Height [high and low of frequency]- Low instruments and voice, but voice gets high during intro and chorus. Decent amount of hight.


-  Width [stereo panning left/right]- No change in width. All sound comes out of both speakers simultaneously.


-  Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness]- Not much depth. Four instruments constantly playing together.

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  Trent Reznor, Karen O and Atticus Ross "Immigrant Song"
  LISTENING FRAMEWORK
  (SIMPLIFIED)

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm) 


Tempo [slow, medium, fast]- Fast


Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]- Drums. Synths and bass play the rhythm for some of the song.


Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]- Distorted, complex, driving, electronic and atmospheric.


LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement) 


Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]- Drums, synthesizers, vocals, bass, guitar.


Structure/Organization [how is the song built? Order, patterns, etc.]- Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, Intro Riff, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Bridge, Outro.


Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?]- Starts off slow and quiet. Rhythm gradually builds and is exciting through the verse. During the chorus it is louder and more complex giving more excitement or even confusion. The end is equally exciting and up and down.


LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality) 
Balance


-  Height [high and low of frequency]- Very low instruments. Voice gets very high and low. A lot of height. More the the first song.


-  Width [stereo panning left/right]- No change in width. The stereo stays constant and does not pan.


-  Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness]- A lot of depth. Many instruments coming in and out and playing at the same time. They are complex and distorted.


          For this blog assignment I chose to deconstruct "Immigrant Song" originally by Led Zeppelin in 1970, and the cover by Trent Reznor, Karen O and Atticus Ross from 2011.

     The lyrics in both songs are the same. The lyrics are about Vikings sailing their ships to discover and ultimately conquer new land in the west. Led Zeppelin’s version has a male singer (Robert Plant), while Karen O sings on the cover version. Both are unique voices and each gives a different feel to the song. Plant gives a more powerful performance of portraying Vikings. Karen O gives a desperate, helpless and somewhat crazy feel.

     The drums and the bass create the melody of both songs, with the guitar and synthesizers helping for some of the song as well. Both songs have similar melody. However, the cover version gives a more technical and electronic melody while the original has a clean melody. The bass and drums drive the song with a "bu bum, bu bu bu bum, bu bum, bu bu bu bum" kind of melody and rhythm.

     Next is the musical quality of the songs. The intensity of both songs is loud, but the cover version reaches a much higher level of loudness. The pitch of each song rises from low to high, but once again the cover version has a much wider range of pitch. Led Zeppelin's timbre was simple with all four instruments playing together. The cover version had a very complex timbre. Multiple instruments come in and out of the song at various points and they and the vocals have a lot of distortion. Led Zeppelin's version is medium speed with the cover being slightly faster to where I think it could be described as fast speed. The organization for both songs is the same, going from intro to verse to chorus, repeating, and then going into the bridge and outro. The rhythms of both songs were regular, with the cover version going out of synch for only a couple seconds.

     I like the cover version the best. I think this is a very well put together piece of music with a modern twist on a classic song. I love rock and roll, but I think the cover version has enough of that feel while adding some amazing electronic elements as well. I also enjoy the complexity and the singer's voice.