Entry #8: Musical effects- Part 2!

     Hello, and welcome. If you ended up here, chances are, you wanted to listen to some music. Or you simply came back from part 1. Either way, I came back with another selection of songs for us to analyze and enjoy together again! Last time, we looked at songs that tell a story, and through the story, our perceived emotions are evoked. This time, we will look at instrumentals that have no particular story, but still manage to have the listener (that's you and me) feel a certain way. So buckle up, because you're in for a treat. 

    Let us begin by listening to this first. If you recall, last time I helped guide you and decipher the different elements to the instrumental that cause us to perceive certain emotions. To change things up a bit, this time, I won't tell you what you should be feeling or what the elements the producer uses to achieve their aims are. All I will do is provide description of what we hear. Let's see if you can accurately pick up the emotions that the instrumentals are trying to convey, on your own. If you haven't yet, let us start.

    The piece begins with some strings on a guitar, and in the background, we can hear a synth slowly pick up in volume. Around the 15 second mark, the sound of drum cymbals can be heard. This sound introduces a new beat. It's just a beat. You know, thump thump thump. Now to be honest, I don't know how to describe it exactly, but throughout the intro to the piece, we can literally hear a fade in and fade out. Beginning around the 22 second mark, a new sound is introduced, which sounds like a swshhshs, and it picks up volume and cuts out at the 30 second mark. Beginning from the 31 second mark, the synth from before, which was picking up volume in the background at the very beginning, now sounds more full and in your face. Along with that, a sort of alien-like UFO beep sound is utilized too (man I suck at this). Starting from the 47 second mark, a marching-band type drumming beat is introduced and kept until we get to 1:17. Another beat of the cymbal at 1:03, and a clapping sound is introduced. Another set of guitar strings, with a different tuning from the set before, is introduced as well. The swshhhhs sound from before comes back in 1:11 until 1:16. The beat drop starts at 1:16, holds for a second, and the piece picks up from 1:17. After the beat drop, it seems like the genre changed all of a sudden, right. The piece sounds totally different. We have drums and electric guitar, and it just sounds like a concert. This part is ended with the swshshhh from 1:41 to 1:45. Then the piece transitions from that concert-like sound to the sound it had before, with beats from the drum and riffs from the guitar. Starting at 1:47, we return to the exact same sequence of sounds that we heard before from 0:31 to 1:16. As it is the same sequence, of course the concert-like sound will follow. After all that happens, at 3:02, we hear the fade in and fade out sound from before, with the same strings as the first set, followed by clapping. This time, they sound more isolated and cleaner. At 3:23, the swshhsh and drum cymbals build up to the final concert type sound, after a really extended beat drop. Then, the piece ends with the riffs from the electric guitar. 

    How was it? Did you pick up on the emotions of the instrumental? If you haven't, I don't blame you. This instrumental was intended to be sad and melancholic with the Part A of the piece, and Part B (the concert sound) although you might now think so, was also supposed to be sad. Part A is sad for obvious reasons. Lower notes and registers are often associated with sadness. Part A sounds like there is a problem in the world that creates sadness. The reason I say Part B is sad too, is because it sounds like Part B is all about acceptance of the problem that created the sadness in Part A. Acceptance can be wonderful, but when it's accepting a negative thought or feeling, naturally, it would be sad. Hopefully you agree and understand what I am saying, but if not, I understand. Now let's move on to something that sounds way more....ah! I'm not saying~

    Let's listen to this now. Once again, I won't tell you what feelings are going around. the piece begins with a lone piano. Pianos can sound very sad or very preppy. Who knows how it sounds here. At around the 1:18 mark, the piano is accompanied by quite a few new sounds. All of which, I have absolutely no idea how to describe for you. Forget describing, I don't even know what instruments they are (why did I decide to do this). Let's see, there appears to be a beat of drums, a serene sounding...violin? It is some variation of guitar that I'm not well-versed in. Those appear to be the only instruments that I hear, but they combine so perfectly well and they create a synergistic harmony. If you hear something else, or have something else to add to this piece, let me know!

    How did the second instrumental sound for you, or what emotions did you perceive? I bet the piano at the beginning had you pegging it for a sad song. To me, it sounds like a cheerfully relaxing song. It isn't sad, instead, it is a blissful sound. Like going on a vacation, or on a cruise. It's happy, but not happy, get it? Probably not, huh. Well, I was never good at explaining things, so if you have any input to add, please do let me know! I'd love to hear what you guys think on these two pieces. Well, until next time!