MUSIC COMP ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME: Anuraag Chadha

Keeping in mind the assignment requirements I have selected the

following 3 songs:

1. David Guetta feat. Rihanna – Who’s that chick

2. Eminem And Rihanna – Love the way you lie

3. Owl City – Vanilla Twilight

All 3 songs are of different styles with different structures and

elements and include vocals suiting their respective style and
genre.

*DAVID GUETTA feat. RIHANNA – “WHO’S THAT CHICK” [Key:

D Major; BPM: 128]

This is a typical Guetta style commercial pop tune with a 4X4 House
rhythm and Rihanna on Vocals. The tune is made to dance to and
has a very bouncy feel to it. Compared to the other tracks its much
faster (higher tempo) with more percussions and beats. The main
elements in the track are the vocals, kick drum, snares and other
percussions with effects, the bass and the lead synth.

Track Arrangement:

[Bar: 1 to 4] The track starts with a 4 bar kick snare hi hat intro.

[Bar: 5 - 12] VERSE I: Rihanna steps in with the vocals bass and lead
synth.

[Bar: 13 - 20] PRE-CHORUS I: The bridge between the verse and

chorus bringing the twisty groove into the track.

[Bar 21 - 36] CHORUS I: The main hook and title of the track.

[Bar 37 - 46] VERSE II: The second verse very similar to the first.

[Bar 47 - 54] PRE-CHORUS II: Same as Pre-Chorus I.

[Bar 55 - 70] Chorus II: Same as Chorus I.

[Bar 71 - 90] Main Bridge: This is the breakdown with just the vocals
and an analog drum sound and with the snare coming in and going.
This basically adds the color to the tune.

[Bar 91 - 106] CHORUS III: Same as before at the end of which the
track ends with the vinyl break sounding effect.
*EMINEM AND RIHANNA – “LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE” [Key: Bb
Major; BPM: 87]

Nothing typical about this one, it’s a like a musical violent love
story with 2 of the biggest artists in the industry. It’s a 4X4 track
with a HipHop rhythm and a very melodic piano. It’s a very
aggressive song with a blend of angry and soothing vocals striking
the perfect balance. Much slower than the previous track but almost
at the same tempo as Vanilla Twilight. The main elements in the
track are the vocals, the Piano in the intro, Kick drum, claps and
other percussions, a guitar and other sound effects.

CHORD PROGRESSION: VI IV I V i.e. Gm Eb Bb F

Track Arrangement:

[1-8] CHORUS: Rihanna accompanied with the piano starts off the
song with the main Chorus.

[10-25] VERSE I: Eminem starts the first verse with remaining

percussive elements.

[26-37] CHORUS: Same chorus as the intro with the drums added.

[38-53] VERSE II: Eminem continues and brings back the aggression.

[54-65] CHORUS: Same as the previous Chorus

[66-83] BRIDGE/Verse III: A little softer compared to the other verses

completing the story.

[84-END] CHORUS: Same as before at the end of which the song

ends.

* OWL CITY – “VANILLA TWILIGHT” [Key: B Major; BPM: 83]

This song is deep alternative pop/rock tune mainly defined by the

beautiful keys and the vocals. It’s a 4X4 track with a happy uplifting
feel to it. The main elements in the track are the vocals, piano, soft
percussions and sound effects. Due to the slow tempo and minimal
percussions and rhythmic elements this songs seems much slower
than the other two.

CHORD PROGRESSION: I V VI IV i.e. B maj F# maj Ab min E maj

Track Arrangement:

One reason why I chose this song is because of its unusual song
structure. Unlike any other song, this song does not have well
defined VERSES, a CHORUS or a BRIDGE. With the presence of the
melodic key breakdowns it does not seem like that in the first listen
but the song actually is like one continuous story with no vocals or
piano parts in the breakdowns repeated.

The song starts off with 8 bars or intro with vocals and the piano.
The next 8 bars is just the uplifting piano with drums. I’ve
considered these piano parts to be the chorus. The next 16 bars
seem like the first verse with the piano returning at the end of the
16th bar with bridge like vocals. Again, this is my assumption of the
arrangement. After the piano part, the vocals return with new
energy to end the story with a mellow breakdown which is followed
by a new “feel happy” piano part till the end of the song.

NAME Who’s That Love the Way Vanilla Twilight

Chick you Lie

KEY D Major Bb Major B Major

TEMPO 128 87 83

STYLE Pop House Hip Hop Alt Pop/Rock

LENGTH 4:23 3:19 3:52

TIME 4X4 4X4 4X4

SIGNATURE

MOOD Bouncy Angry but love Happy uplifting

Thus in conclusion, we see how different chords, elements and song

structure can add color and variety to the song, change the
complete feel and style of the song. The bridge always helps reduce
continuity at the same time acts as the pre chorus helping create a
gradual build up. Vocals play a very important role in the feel and
the mood of the song as nothing can be more expressive than
words. Also with the example of the third song “Vanilla Twilight” we
see that there is no fixed pattern for song arrangements and trying
new ideas can work wonders.