canvas

Rezonate - Canvas

daniel veldhuizen
4vd
05-10-2014

Rezonate - Canvas

Canvas Rezonate

Introduction
Nick Rennie, better know as Rezonate, is a Canadian music producer born in
Mississauga, ON. He is a young content creator who partnered with the
popular music label Monstercat. Not much is known about his personal life,
but his music is loved by many. In this review we will be looking at (or
rather listening to) one of his more popular songs: Canvas. The songs
genre is Nu-Disco, this name given to 21st-century dance music that is
influenced by 1970s & 1980s disco. It is a type of electronic music with
occasional heavy synthesizer melodies. One should not be overwhelmed by
the phrase heavy synthesizer, although the song is mostly listened to by
people who generally like electronic music, I think everyone can like this
song if they listen to is open-mindedly. Please do remember every song
sounds better with headphones on, the increase in sound quality massively
enhances the listening experience.

Description
The song starts very simple with drums into syntactical piano sound with
vocals. After this percussion is added
with electric guitar sound following
First impressions in 5 words:
the pitch of the vocals. On the
Relax
background you can hear a wavelike
Piano
sound. All of this happens at a slow to
Transitions
moderate pace. After about 50 seconds a
Slow/Calm
piano kicks in which plays a quite
Silence
complex combination of notes. The
chorus is a mix of some heavy base and
a lot of synthetic and trumpet sounds,
without the vocals, that sound seemingly random when I first listened to
the song. The chorus is followed by a piece that might be considered a
bridge. The percussion and bass are back but this time they are
accompanied by and acoustic guitar playing chords in the background and a
heavily distorted electric guitar playing just notes. What follows is a
transition using the wavelike sounds previously mentioned into a part that
is similar to the start of the song. The volume now goes slightly down and
everything except for the acoustic guitar, percussion and the now less
loud bass. The chorus plays again and all sounds fade away. After three
second a windy sound becomes louder and louder eventually ending with a
clap and the piano kicks in once again, this time without vocals. All
sounds other than piano and acoustic guitar fade away with the windy
sound. The two instruments keep playing for another fifteen seconds and
finally the song end with a high piano note.

Analysis
The song has a clear intro, multiple verses and a very apparent chorus.
This piece of music really differentiates itself from other piece by its
variety. There is an obvious contrast between the verses and chorus but

Rezonate - Canvas

even the verses arent all the same. The song is relatively long which is
why there is so much room for variation. This is achieved by using a
variety of instruments and sounds while still ensuring the piece is a
piece and not just some random sounds put together. The first verse is
very calm while the tempo and volume and the overall aggressiveness of the
sound goes way up in the chorus while still being true to the calm nature
of the song. This breaks up the piano, percussion and especially vocals
very nicely.
The song contains a substantial amount of timbral changes; a good example
is the distorted guitar right after the first chorus. The emphasise is on
this guitar and it is what defines this specific part or sequence of the
song.
One of the best parts of the song in my opinion is the harmony between the
vocals and the piano in the first verse, the piano almost sounds like a
second singer. This is also one of the more hooking parts of the song. It
definitely made me concentrate on what I was hearing and I kept doing so
for the duration of the song.

Interpretation
In my opinion this song is a true masterpiece, it combines chill,
calm sounds with more eruptive and vibrant ones. It creates a
harmony between traditional acoustic instruments and modern day
synthesizer music. Every time I listen to this song I have to either
whistle along quietly or drum with my fingers. I feel comfortable
and just generally happy whenever I am listening to this while doing
my homework. Feeling happy while doing something that is not so much
fun is of course always nice.

The Artist
I stumbled upon this song after I download the new Monstercat album.
Mostercat is a music label that combines songs made by young independent
artists and releases them in albums. Rezonate himself has a huge variety
of other songs with his name on them. Ranging from Ambient to all possible
types of house music, and even dubstep are to be found on his SoundCloud
page. All of his music are influenced by classic piano play and his works
are generally quite calm and low in pace. Still every song is a surprise
to your ears.

Conclusion
Overall I really like the song and the artist and I highly recommend you
try it for yourself. You might be surprised what electronic music can
sound like. I am aware that this music is not for everyone, however it is
divinity for me. After having listened to this song for about a hundred
times it still does not bore me.