Case Study 1
Plan: Influence on music, Musical techniques, Studio Techniques, Song-writing.
Throughout this case study I will be taking a look into MGMTs album Oracular Spectacular.
"Oracular Spectacular combines an abstract, euphoric sense of nostalgia for things that hadn't necessarily happened with very real thoughts and feelings about being young, being human, and, basically, the existence of spacetime."
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
This album is very much synth driven and uses a lot of effects in the songs. This is probably for me the most inspiring part of the music. They're instantly recognisable melodies make the music impossible to forget and creates a very youthful feel.
To start with I'll be focusing on probably my favourite track off the album called Electric Feel (out of the 3 main singles they released for the album, I found the least amount of compositional information on this one). This song has a very psychedelic pop feel to it with its high pitched vocals that feature a lot of reverb and maybe a little bit of delay on them, this coupled with the funky bass line and oriental sounding melody that plays throughout the intro creates a very distinct sound that for me separates this track from the others on the album. The drums have a constant flow to them like a pulse which for me drives the atmosphere of the song. So from this I know I need to incorporate a pulsing drum beat in my music to carry the songs.
The melody that I mentioned earlier that plays throughout the intro and outro of the song sounds like a harp or mallet with a lot of reverb on it and what I believe to be some delay as well. One thing I've noticed whilst researching this song and listening to it is the fact that the vocals seem to match the melody to a degree in terms of the effects. Maybe this is something else I'll keep in mind as well if I get around to putting lyrics over my songs.
The following video shows you the 2 members of the band making "Electric Feel". You can see one of them playing the guitar with a lot of effect pedals over it. Before watching this video I had no idea they put a guitar into the mix so it must be fairly low-dow in it as I still struggle to hear it over the bassline. Other than that you can see that they use multiple synth tracks over it.
The next song I will be focusing on is "Time to Pretend". When I mentioned the album being very synth driven earlier, this song is probably a prime example of that. Everything other than the drums and the vocals sounds like a synth. The song features a lot of mono and poly synths on it which give it a computer game vibe. The intro features a bubbly synth intro(probably played on a mono synth) which then fades away and lets the first melody of the song take the listeners attention. This first melody is played on a poly synth which has a fast attack and barely any release meaning the notes are quick which for me adds to the youthful and carefree feel of the song. Its simple and not overly complicated yet the song feels like it has a lot of meaning.
The next melody to come in is the lead hook of the song and this was yet again probably played on a mono synth. This synth has a very chip tune feel to it adding to the computer game vibe that I mentioned earlier. The drums are also very interesting as it is a kick and snare 4/4 pattern but the open hi hat is off beat creating accents.
This song inspired one of my tracks that I have made for the FMP. I wanted to make something similar to it to see if I could actually do it. As a guitarist I feel like I can be out of my depth when I'm using logic or synths but I feel like I done a good job for what it is.
So overall from researching MGMTs "Oracular Spectacular" I have learned to use simple melodies and synths to create good hooks and to have a strong drum beat that will guide the song.
Bibliography:
Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
Cannon, J. (2018). Forensics Of A Song: MGMT "Time To Pretend". [online] Musformation. Available at: http://musformation.com/forensics_of_a_song_mgmt_time_to_pretend/ [Accessed 22 May 2018].
Freund, K. (2018). A Compositional Analysis of "Kids" by MGMT | FIX YOUR MIX | Official Blog. [online] Blog.fixyourmix.com. Available at: http://blog.fixyourmix.com/2009/a-compositional-analysis-of-kids-by-mgmt
Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
Throughout this case study I will be taking a look into MGMTs album Oracular Spectacular.
"Oracular Spectacular combines an abstract, euphoric sense of nostalgia for things that hadn't necessarily happened with very real thoughts and feelings about being young, being human, and, basically, the existence of spacetime."
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
This album is very much synth driven and uses a lot of effects in the songs. This is probably for me the most inspiring part of the music. They're instantly recognisable melodies make the music impossible to forget and creates a very youthful feel.
To start with I'll be focusing on probably my favourite track off the album called Electric Feel (out of the 3 main singles they released for the album, I found the least amount of compositional information on this one). This song has a very psychedelic pop feel to it with its high pitched vocals that feature a lot of reverb and maybe a little bit of delay on them, this coupled with the funky bass line and oriental sounding melody that plays throughout the intro creates a very distinct sound that for me separates this track from the others on the album. The drums have a constant flow to them like a pulse which for me drives the atmosphere of the song. So from this I know I need to incorporate a pulsing drum beat in my music to carry the songs.
The melody that I mentioned earlier that plays throughout the intro and outro of the song sounds like a harp or mallet with a lot of reverb on it and what I believe to be some delay as well. One thing I've noticed whilst researching this song and listening to it is the fact that the vocals seem to match the melody to a degree in terms of the effects. Maybe this is something else I'll keep in mind as well if I get around to putting lyrics over my songs.
The following video shows you the 2 members of the band making "Electric Feel". You can see one of them playing the guitar with a lot of effect pedals over it. Before watching this video I had no idea they put a guitar into the mix so it must be fairly low-dow in it as I still struggle to hear it over the bassline. Other than that you can see that they use multiple synth tracks over it.
The next song I will be focusing on is "Time to Pretend". When I mentioned the album being very synth driven earlier, this song is probably a prime example of that. Everything other than the drums and the vocals sounds like a synth. The song features a lot of mono and poly synths on it which give it a computer game vibe. The intro features a bubbly synth intro(probably played on a mono synth) which then fades away and lets the first melody of the song take the listeners attention. This first melody is played on a poly synth which has a fast attack and barely any release meaning the notes are quick which for me adds to the youthful and carefree feel of the song. Its simple and not overly complicated yet the song feels like it has a lot of meaning.
The next melody to come in is the lead hook of the song and this was yet again probably played on a mono synth. This synth has a very chip tune feel to it adding to the computer game vibe that I mentioned earlier. The drums are also very interesting as it is a kick and snare 4/4 pattern but the open hi hat is off beat creating accents.
This song inspired one of my tracks that I have made for the FMP. I wanted to make something similar to it to see if I could actually do it. As a guitarist I feel like I can be out of my depth when I'm using logic or synths but I feel like I done a good job for what it is.
So overall from researching MGMTs "Oracular Spectacular" I have learned to use simple melodies and synths to create good hooks and to have a strong drum beat that will guide the song.
Bibliography:
Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
Cannon, J. (2018). Forensics Of A Song: MGMT "Time To Pretend". [online] Musformation. Available at: http://musformation.com/forensics_of_a_song_mgmt_time_to_pretend/ [Accessed 22 May 2018].
Freund, K. (2018). A Compositional Analysis of "Kids" by MGMT | FIX YOUR MIX | Official Blog. [online] Blog.fixyourmix.com. Available at: http://blog.fixyourmix.com/2009/a-compositional-analysis-of-kids-by-mgmt
Bootle, E. (2017). The Timeless Wonder of MGMT's 'Oracular Spectacular'. [online] Noisey. Available at: https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/59djya/the-timeless-wonder-of-mgmts-oracular-spectacular
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