Blog Assignment 5

“Fatal” by the RZA            -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrasgjD25jY

“Combat” by the RZA      -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKY_12kdgD4

                  The RZA is one of my personal favorite hip-hop artists/producers and the prominent leader among the notorious Wu Tang Clan, which is why I chose two of his songs that were made to accompany both a great action suspense film such as Blade Trinity and the hyper violent animated series Afro Samurai. “Fatal” begins simply with a quite badass quote from the film as its slow but intense bass sets the dark mood of the lyrics which are from an inhuman vampire hunter’s point of view. As the song continues more instruments join the beat and add an undertone of tragedy to the overall mood of the song as epic quotes are dubbed over from the movie to summarize the characters backstory and Blade’s blood thirsty ferocity. Much of the song is driven by the RZA’s vocals, deep bass, and heavy use of a synthesizer; however the pattern to the melody of “Fatal” builds loudly with the lyrics until it suddenly drops as the chorus plays and through repetition and slow beat creates suspense. “Combat”, also by RZA, is the second song that I analyzed and contrasted with “Fatal”, but because of the rather awesome content of the series it was my favorite of the two. Like “Fatal”, “Combat” also begins with an intensely cool quote and a very slow beat but unlike the other song it maintains this slowness throughout the entire duration of the song and does not build or drop significantly other than the vocals. Another similarity between the two songs is that they both feature dubbed content from the media samples that they were created for, a popular convention used by many members of the Wu Tang Clan. The melodies of both songs are understandably dark and each ones layers of instrumentation are built up by the drums, bass, and guitar. Although the two songs have a similar rhythm, each one has musical qualities that are very different from the other. For instance “Combat” has a more complex timbre and a lower pitch, while “Fatal” is more intense, longer, and is more organized around the emotional architecture of the film it was created for. “Fatal” is a better song with a more interesting narrative progression, but my favorite of the two is “Combat” because of the awesome series that accompanied it and many other intense samurai raps that created a style of action I’ve never seen before.                          

LISTENING FRAMEWORK- “Fatal”

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo [slow, medium, fast] – Slow rhythmic beat.

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?] –The bass and drums mostly.

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm] –Dark, foreboding. 

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?] –The bass, drums, synthesizer, and by majority the vocals.

Structure/Organization [how is the song built?  Order, patterns, etc.] –The song is arranged according to the character Blade summarizing his backstory and skill with a repeated chorus and dubbed over in places with quotes from the film to add context.

Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?] –The song stays emotionally neutral until the vocals begin which is when it builds quickly and intensely with Blade’s anger and suffering. It seems to drop when RZA begins the chorus but rises again shortly after and then fades out.   

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency] –There is a high frequency for most of the song because how closely and loudly the music lines up with the loudness of the lyrics. During

- Width [stereo panning left/right] –RZA repeatedly pans the stereo sound of the music back and forth until the chorus begins, intensely builds, and ends.     

- Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness] –The loudness of the song increases from only one instrument in the beginning, to a cacophony of electronic sounds and ominous vocals whose volume and intensity increases as more sounds enter. The chorus is the transition period where most of the instruments rest and only bass and RZA can be heard, which builds exponentially.  

LISTENING FRAMEWORK- “Combat”

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo [slow, medium, fast] Very slow

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?] The drums and vocals create the rhythm

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm] Morbid, remorseful. 

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?] The drums, bass, and guitar.

Structure/Organization [how is the song built?  Order, patterns, etc.] The song is built upon slow instruments that keep the low rhythm while the deep chorus plays before and after the main lyrics while keeping with the beat.    

Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?] Beginning from neutral the spoken introduction builds a serious mood and raises the intensity until the scream and a transition into the actual song. The song then rises and falls back and forth according to the slow rhythm and booming vocals.  

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency] Low, the slowness and low frequency create the unhappy groove of the song.

- Width [stereo panning left/right] There is a great deal of panning back and forth because of shortness of the song and the rhythm that is created from the repetitive beat made up of drums and bass.

- Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness] Transitioning from only spoken words to a loud scream into the actual beat of the song made up of many instruments playing at the same time as the vocals creates a cluttered loudness that makes it difficult to place individual instruments, but easy to recognize the slow lyrics.