B TEC LEVEL 3 EXTENDED DIPLOMA IN MUSIC TECHNOLOGY Beats, Bars and Bb Ryan Murray Review Title: Deadmau5 Strobe

e (10.37) The song I will be reviewing is from an artist called Joel Zimmerman (most famously known as Deadmau5). Joel is a Canadian progressive, electro, and house producer based in Toronto. Over the years of his success he has managed to produce 4 outstanding albums. The album featuring Strobe is called For lack of a better name which is his second album in the line of his work. Strobe is situated lastly on the album and is over 10 minute long. This is commonly regarded as one of his best tracks to date. In the space of just a couple of years Deadmau5 has released 4 studio albums and 2 compilation albums that managed to appear on a popular radio shows such A State of Trance.From this it was then shown on the In Search of Sunrise compilations which is a series of albums by the widely known D.J Tiesto. Not content with following the generic code of the progressive House genre, Joel seems much more content with quickly glancing at the rulebook, and then ripping it up. He prides himself on keeping clear from some of the more common styles of production and instead adds his iconic stamp on his own tracks, for example Strobe. The track proves how flexible deadmau5 is as an artist. Beautiful, slow-building, crystal melodies that seem to interweave and counteract each other seamlessly, coupled with the most delicate subtle details. It begins with a luring 4 minute instrumental intro made up of some slow and deep piano chords, some high bell type pads creating a calm and serene atmosphere, an electro synth hums over in a vibrato state. When listening ever closely some strings and even some tambourines can be heard in the gradual build up. This introduction builds for around 4 minutes thus creating an atmospheric build up until a snare sparks the bass drum off and dark and interesting background sounds are added in order to create more character to the mix. A rattle snake sample can also be heard around 4.16 to again emphasise the excellent blend. By having samples and other elements in the mix it helps increases the tracks warmth thus creating a disparate sound. However if too many elements and samples are incorporated together it can contribute to making the track sound muddy and out of sync. This fine line is clearly recognised by Deadmau5 as the blend of the production is dead on. I also noticed that a new kick drum is introduced at 4.26 which has a more rounded and punchy sound to the previous. When listening to the dynamics of the track it is evident that he wished to add velocity to some elements. This is evident at 2.35 whereby a Co2 cannon sounding sample is used in order to gradually sweep the electro synth hum out of the mix. By this it solos the melody and filters back the

rattle snake samples before it all fades out whilst the melody speeds up from an 1/8th note to a 1/16th note timing. Personally I feel that this transition could have been made more gradually as the change is evident due to the space in the mix at this point. This change then makes way for a classic build up of adding a dynamically higher kick and a bass drum in which is set at a common tempo of 128 beats per minute. The time signature of this is beat is in 4/4. This is a common signature within dance music (that common that it can be written on sheet music as a C at the beginning of the sheet). By incorporating this tempo it forms a platform for the syncopated elements such as the bass line and the percussions in which are cleverly placed into the mix. The curved synth melody is accompanied by a saw line synth melody and all the drum and percussion layers are faded away, leaving just the curve and saw synth melodies to organically build and mesh together into a big and crisp analogue sound. A filtered organ type piano finds a frequency between the chunky synths and just as you have a hold of all three melodies, a reversed hi-hat snaps your attention to the drop which locks back the drums, bass line and percussions in an exceptional manner. This all equates to a homogeneous blend within the mix thus creating a distinct texture and well programmed timbres in order to make the track sound farfetched from another. One element I think Deadmau5 could have done better during this part of the track however is add syncopation to the time signature. This could be done on the last beat by changing the 4th crotchet note into a beamed quaver like this:

By doing this it would add variation to the beat as 4 crotchet beats to the bar can start to sound repetitive. This change will therefore add versatility to the final mix. When looking into its harmony it is evident that it is in B Major. This is a major scale based on B. The pitches are: B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. As you can see it uses a lot of black keys, in which the majority are sharps in order to create a complex and diverse chord structure. B major's relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equivalent is C-flat major. In addition to this it is also the least sharp key signature with three "lines" of sharps. In conclusion Strobe is another exquisite Deadmau5 moulding of a large chunky house beats blended together with a driving trance bass and wonderfully warm progressive analogue synthesizer sounds. These 3 key

elements have helped formulate what is already regarded as one of the best electronica tracks in the last decade.

Ryan Murray