Blog Assignment #4

John Denver - Take Me Home Country Roads

Pretty Lights - Country Roads Remix

LISTENING FRAMEWORK ----John Denver – Take me Home Country Roads

(SIMPLIFIED)

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo [slow, medium, fast]

-The speed of the song is mostly driven by John Denver’s vocals and to a lesser extent the instruments drive the melody.

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]

-Piano and Guitar and vocals

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]

-Country/ Swing

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]

-Piano and Guitar

Structure/Organization [how is the song built? Order, patterns, etc.]

Guitar intro, then vocals followed by piano at the chorus which continues throughout the rest of the song.

Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?]

John Denver’s vocals increase the pitch until the chorus and then maxes out as the chorus starts. The guitar also speeds up before each chorus.

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency]

The pitch rises and falls each time the chorus repeats.

- Width [stereo panning left/right]

The stereo pans to the right

- Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness]

The vocals are the first layer followed by the guitar and piano respectively.

LISTENING FRAMEWORK ---- Pretty Lights – Country Roads Remix

(SIMPLIFIED)

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)

Tempo [slow, medium, fast]

The tempo changes. It starts out slow then builds up to a medium speed and after the drop it switches back from fast at the hook and medium for the rest.

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]

Guitar, piano, vocals, techno beats, electric keyboard

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]

Techno, country, dubstep

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]

The underlying techno beat carries the song but the melody is driven by the guitar and electric keyboard riffs.

Structure/Organization [how is the song built? Order, patterns, etc.]

Begins slowly with the guitar similar to the original, then a light techno beat comes in that slowly builds up and then the vocals and the drop.

Emotional Architecture [Draw how the song build and drop?]

The song builds from a lonely guitar to a techno beat behind it and then right before the drop the techno stops and it is only John Denver’s vocals with a light guitar then the techno bass hits.

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency]

The height of the pitch changes frequently and is controlled by the electric riffs of the keyboard as well as the vocals.

- Width [stereo panning left/right]

The song pans to the right at a much slower pace than the original

- Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness]

The first layer is the electric riffs and techno beat with different layers of guitar and vocals overlapping throughout the song

ESSAY:

The first song is Take me Home Country Roads by John Denver. It is a classic country song with folk and rock elements.  John Denver, Taffy Nivert, and Bill Danoff wrote the lyrics. The windy roads of West Virginia inspired the song.  The song is mostly lyrically based with the lyrics personifying West Virginia. For instance, “West Virginia mountain momma” and “All my memories gather round her” portray West Virginia as a powerful, mother like figure in John Denver’s life. It is a simple melody that places emphasis the chorus. There is build up to each time the chorus starts although it is slight and most of the build up is from the pitch of John Denver’s voice. The instruments used are the piano and guitar. The intensity of the song is very mild and laid back. The rhythm is steady and consistent throughout the song. In Pretty Lights’ remix the rhythm is much faster although the beginning starts out with a pace similar to John Denver’s. The pitch changes throughout the song in relation to the melody and rhythm.

In 2011, the DJ Pretty Lights did a remix of John Denver’s song for one of his albums. The song is techno based and incorporates several lines and musical notes from the original. He uses layering to place these original parts where he chooses throughout the song as his version has an unorthodox design. This remix is much faster than the original. It uses many different layers of instruments including the guitar and piano from the original as well as techno beats and synthesizers. Like the original version there is a buildup to each chorus although the chorus itself is what is known in the DJ world as a drop with techno riffs, and the lines from the original chorus are used for the build up as opposed to the actual chorus.

I am a big fan of Pretty Lights and his version, but I have to admit that the original is still the best simply because it is the original and it is how the song was meant to be heard. They are both great though and I would highly recommend either of them.