"Grenade" - Bruno Mars Song Analysis

Today we're going to analyze the #5 song from this week's Ultimate Chart - Bruno Mars' "Grenade." It's the second single from his hit album "Do-Wops & Hooligans."

Let's get down to it. As with all analysis, we'll break the song down into four parts - the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and performance.

The Song - If you were going to write a straight down the middle pop song, this is the way to do it. The song is unusual in that it begins right with the verse with no intro, but other than it it's formula all the way, not that there's anything wrong with that if it works (it does here). Basically the song looks like this:

      Verse, Chorus, 2 bar interlude, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, 2 bar interlude, verse as the outro.

The good thing about "Grenade" is that it has a great melody, something that's sorely lacking in much of today's popular music.

The Arrangement - Just as the form of the song follows a formula, so does the arrangement. It develops from the sparse first verse to the big chorus, developing in a less sparse second verse, and finally peaking at the bridge. The tension is released by the stripped-down last outro verse, which is very unusual since most outros retain the tension to the end.

The 5 elements of the mix (check out this post for an explanation) look like this:

• The Foundation - As is the norm, the Foundation element is this song is held down by the bass and drums.

• The Pad - There's an organ that plays just underneath everything that acts as the Pad and glues the track together. Once again, pretty standard. You can never go wrong with an organ for this element.

• The Rhythm - This is interesting in that the arppegiated electric piano line in the verse act as the Rhythm element, but during the chorus it switches to the double time feel of the drums.

• The Lead - As almost always, it's the lead vocal.

• The Fills - The Fills are handled by the background vocals and the occasional percussion sound effect.

The Sound - This is a very well made record in that it's not too compressed and the ambience is layered in a pleasing, ear-candy kind of way. The vocal has a medium-long reverb decay on it in the beginning, but then a timed and repeated quarter note delay is added during the second verse. The other instruments have their own short ambiences that make them seem more in-your-face, except for the percussion effect that has a long reverb with a very long, timed pre-delay.

The Performance - Make no mistake about it, Bruno Mars is a star. He's got the chops and his vocal shows considerable passion that effectively sells the song. The background vocals are also well-executed and add to both the motion and the tension of the song as well.

Unfortunately, Elektra Records is restricting the video to YouTube only, so you'll have to go over there for a listen.

Feel free to send me your suggestions for songs to analyze, but make sure there's a YouTube video available.

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Where The Music Business Is Located

So you think you know where the music business is centered? Well, think again.

When one thinks of the music business, usually Los Angeles or New York City immediately spring to mind, but the chart below is a giant surprise. In a paper entitled The Economic Geography in the US, Richard Florida, Charlotta Mellander and Kevin Stolarick looked at numerous cities throughout the US and Canada and came up with some surprising results.

Yes, Nashville, although always a major music hub, far and away has the highest concentration of the music industry.

While everyone thinks of Nashville as the home of country music, it's a lot larger and more diverse than that. According to the report:

"Over the past several decades, Nashville transformed itself from a rather narrow country music outpost in the 1960s and 1970s into a major center for commercial music. In 1970, Nashville wasn't even one of the top five regions by this measure. By 2004, it was the national leader, with nearly four times the U.S. average. Today, it  is home to over 180 recording studios, 130 music publishers, 100 live music clubs, and 80 record labels."

But the big surprise is the 3 major Canadian cities ranking before New York, and some of the other cities that usually don't register when thinking about the music business.

The chart is a perfect example of the democratization of the music business in Music 3.0. You can be anywhere and not only register on the industry's radar, but be a major player as well.

For more on the study, check out this article in The Atlantic.

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The Most Annoying People At Gigs

There's a great article by Brian Frank over at miccontrol.com called The Top 10 Most Annoying People At Gigs that I thought was both funny and spot on. I haven't gigged in bars for a long, long time, so it's interesting to see that some things never change, and probably never will. I only included numbers 1 through 5, but you can read the rest of the article here.
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Now I will note that alcohol is a major player here in how people become annoying and at times more annoying at a gig.  In the words of Homer J. Simpson alcohol is, "the cause of and solution to all of life's problems."  With that said, let's get into the list.  For those of you non-musicians who happen to read this, I hope to God you're not one of these types and if you are, well....you know who you are.

1. Freebird!!!

I have to say this falls as numero uno for me and from what I can tell other musicians.  I would venture to say at three quarters of my shows someone yells "Freebird!!!"  And once one person yells it, other people start yelling it too.  It is an awesome song,  but it's gotten tarnished because of the people that start yelling it out.  The thing about people who yell out this Skynard song is that they always think it's so funny.  Well, I'm sorry it's not an original thing to say and last time I checked the lyrics, it was not a funny, haha, kind of song.  The thing is, because this is done so often, I don't play the damn song.  And if you get on a musicians bad side we just might give you a freebird--yes, saluting you with the middle finger.

2. "I'm a professional/I can sing" so "let me play/sing"--followed by childish begging

I've run into many folks who want to come up on the stage and entertain.  In fact, often times they make a couple claims to try and accomplish this.  Some people say, "Oh, well I'm a professional musician, it's all good."  Others say, "I can sing, I'm really good."  Let me cut to the chase on why this usually ends badly and is annoying--nine times out of ten they're not a professional and cannot sing.  And if they do come on stage, it can ruin the energy of the show.

Here's why it's annoying though.  First the "professional musician" plea.  If you are a true professional, you don't ask the musician who's show it is to get up and play at their gig.  It's not your gig--time and energy are going into it and you're name is not on the bill.  It is different if the musician playing does happen to know you are a professional musician because there's a respect.  But I have asked people where they've played and they end up revealing they don't play out at all.

For the "I can sing really good" plea, it's a bit different.  If my gig was a karaoke gig, then sure anyone could come on stage and sing while I played.  But I'm not a karaoke host or musician and neither is my gig.  The times I've allowed someone to sing they don't really know the song or we can't agree on a song to play or (most often) they do not sing well (and many people fumble trying to use a microphone).  This situation reminds me of the initial rounds of American Idol--you know those people who think highly of their singing but actually suck.

I have learned to not say "no" to both these folks, but tell them to speak to the management at the venue.  Usually the venue doesn't want people on the stage anyway for liability reasons.  Many times though I've gotten into an argument with someone who starts to beg and whine and not believe they should ask the management.  If the manager allows it, then I'm cool--it's not on me then if suckage appears on the stage.

3. I'll just jump on stage anyway

Even after the management said they can't come on the stage, people do anyway.  Some venues I play have a security person to stop them, but those that don't I'm left on my own to handle it.  I try to just go with the flow, make it quick and get them off the stage.  It can be quite ridiculous at times if they're drunk and not in control--and I end up having a big old mess standing next to me.  Also, doing this worries me because I've had people step on my equipment or come close to spilling their drink all over or knocked into my guitar.  Musicians worst nightmare.

4. Let me make a request/give you a drink/talk to you/let's do a shot while you're in the middle of a song.

This bugs the hell out of me.  I'm playing a song and someone comes to the stage and starts talking to me.  Well, I'll be brutally honest--I can't have a conversation back while I'm in the middle of the verse.  I can't put my hand up to say, wait a sec, since it breaks up the chords of song.  But these folks are just impatient or maybe just clueless as to what is going on.  The best thing I have thought of doing is when there's a break in the song, I just keep strumming a chord over and over or the progression (I can sometimes talk and play at the same time) to see what they hell they want.  Usually I try and say, can you just wait til I finish the song--that has failed though.

I also can't take a drink or a shot in my hand while I'm strumming and I can't swallow liquid while I'm singing either--both are physically impossible.  Some people just can't wait though.

5. "You don't know any of the songs I am requesting.  You suck!"

I know just over 300 cover songs, but I don't know everything.  I admit I feel bad when someone keeps coming up to make a song request and I don't know how to sing or play what they want.  Most people will move on or eventually we'll find something they want to hear.  But other times I've had people give me a look of being annoyed with me and I have had a handful say to my face that "I suck" because I don't know "anything".  Hey, I know what I know--don't get your panties in a bunch.

Read the rest of the article here.

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"Power" - Kanye West Song Analysis

Today's song was requested by our friend from Romania, Emanual Alexandru, and it's Kanye West's "Power." This is the first single from his fifth album, My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy, produced by Kanye and Symbolyc One, and features a sample from one of my all-time favorite songs, "Twenty-First Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson.

As with all analysis, we'll break the song down into four parts - the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and performance.

The Song - Like most rap songs, the form is fairly simple, with the same verse repeating and an interlude (The "21st Century Schizoid Man" sample) thrown in. That is, until the outro, when the song changes and basically turns into a bridge. Highly unusual but very cool. So the form looks something like this:

Intro, 2 verses, interlude,

4 verse (the lyrics could make the last one a chorus although nothing else changes), interlude,

4 verses (the last one could be a chorus), interlude

verse, verse, verse, bridge, outro

The Arrangement - This is a perfect example where the arrangement can make a song, since there's always something different happening in every verse. Instruments (including the drums) drop in and out, creating song dynamics and keeping the interest high. If we look at the musical elements, this is what we have (look here for explanations of the elements of a song):

• The Foundation - This one's easy, since it's the pretty standard bass and drums.

• The Rhythm - The rhythm element is an instrument that pushes the track along, usually double time or a complimentary rhythm to the foundation. Unusually, this element does not exist in this song.

• The Pad - This is highly unusual in that it's a sampled background vocal track that's repeated from the intro through most of the song.

• Fills - There are a lot of musical fills or contrary lines in this song, and there's not much room for them to stand by themselves. That's OK, because the mix is skillful enough to make them work.

The Sound - I'd love to see the track sheet on this song because I'm sure the number of tracks is pretty high. "Power" is a great example of modern layered ambience and accomplished exclusively with reverbs with short (1 second or less) decay times or short delays. You hear big sounding drums (rap records seem to love John Bonham these days), a separate short room on the background vocals, and most other instruments are either dry and in your face (like the vocal), or have their own short ambience.

Speaking of the repeated background vocal sample. it's a little squashed, but most of the rest of track is not.

The Performance - Kanye's vocal delivers on this tune but for me, it's the harmony background vocals way at the end of the song on the outro that really got me.

Don't forget to send in your requests for songs to analyze, but be sure to include a YouTube link.

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Enter To Win A Copy Of The Touring Musicians Handbook

Here's a brand new contest.

I'm giving away a copy of The Touring Musician's Handbook, the book all about the musicians behind the great touring artists, and how you can be one too.

Click here to enter the contest.

Bruce Swedien's Vocal Recording Tips

For anyone who doesn't know already, Bruce Swedien is truly the Godfather of modern day recording. Having been part of the team the produced Michael Jackson's greatest hits is only one of the things he's done over his long and illustrious career. He's also recorded so many of the jazz greats, from Count Basie to Dizzy Gillespie, and pop giants like Barbra Streisand as well.

There's a great article on ProSound Web (which also runs a few of my articles too) that's an excerpt from his great book, "Make Mine Music." Bruce also was kind enough to contribute an interview in one of my books as well - The Mixing Engineer's Handbook.

Below is an excerpt from the article over on Prosoundweb.com, from which I took some of his points about vocal recording.

• "First off, the type of music to be recorded is most important. Pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, country, and classical all require a different approach. The biggest single difference in studio mike technique for vocal recording comes from recording of vocal sound sources in classical music, contrasted with pop vocal sound sources. The first and most important consideration is that I would never mike the vocalist in a classical recording as closely as I would a vocalist in a pop music recording.

• Good choral recorded sound is best achieved by using as few microphones as possible, with the singers placed well back from the microphones. This technique places most of the sound mixing responsibility on the room acoustics and the vocalists. Obviously, this approach requires an excellent studio or a room with extremely good acoustics.

• Extreme equalization is most definitely not the way to achieve a superb vocal recording, though a small amount of EQ may be beneficial. If you find yourself having to apply a great deal of EQ to the mike channel to achieve an acceptable vocal sound, it’s time to try another microphone.

• Your choice of vocal microphone should be made on the basis of the artist’s vocal quality and the sonic personality you want to project – nothing else.

• Stacking, or “doubling,” a lead vocal is helpful. I frequently change the tape speed of the master recorder slightly during the recording of the “double,” or “stack” (or pitch down the cue mix coming from the digital audio workstation) and play that to the vocalists while recording the “double.” During this process, the amount of pitch change used should be very small. The amount of pitching down that I do is usually only 3 or 4 cents in pitch.

• When recording vocal duets, I frequently look for microphones for the vocalists that have an obviously different sonic character. This difference in microphone character adds to the already different timbre of the two voices and makes the resulting sonic picture more fascinating. 

• When mixing a “stack,” or “double,” of a lead vocal track, I frequently keep the “double” at a slightly lower level in the mix than the basic lead vocal track. This serves to add support to the vocal without making it appear to be an obvious trick."

Read the entire article here.

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"Firework" - Katy Perry Song Analysis

Today we're going to analyze Katy Perry's hit "Firework," a song which, in my opinion, epitomizes the best of current production (done by the production team Stargate and Sandy Vee, who are also the co-writers). The song is the third single from her second album Teenage Dream and went to #1 on Billboard charts.

As with all analysis, we'll break the song down into four parts - the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and performance.

The Song - "Firework" is a more or less traditional pop song in that it has a common structure found in most hits - short intro, verse, B-section, chorus, chorus, verse, B-section, chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus, outro. The form looks like this:

A, A, B, C, C, A, B, C, C, D, C, C, C.

That doesn't mean it's boring though. The song builds nicely and takes us through a couple of peaks, thanks to the song's built-in dynamics. It even has an ending, which is unusual for a pop song.

The Arrangement - The arrangement is state-of-the-art. The intro and first verse are very sparse, with the strings entering at the first B-section and continue to build to a crescendo through the 1st chorus. The chorus repeats with additional movement from the entrance of the bass.

The first half of the second verse drops down to just 8th notes on the keyboards plus the drum pattern, but changes with the entrance of the bass into the second half - a very nice arrangement touch.

Some other things I especially liked is the line in between the repeat of the 2nd chorus, the harmony vocals on the repeat, and the background vocal answers in the outro. Also, listen to how the vocal melody subtly changes on the 2nd and 3rd choruses. 

I always preach about dynamics as the key to excitement, either live or on a record, and this song is an excellent example of how it's done.

The Sound - Once again, here's an example of how the sound of pop records has returned to the 80's/90's in that everything except has some depth to it. Katy has what sounds like a timed triplet delay on her voice that triggers the reverb, so there's depth and spaciousness without washing out. The same is true on the rest of the track in that there's some space around each instrument except for the bass and drums, which are dry and in your face.

The Performance - It's easy to think of Katy Perry as a lightweight because of her celebrity and exposure, but the girl has some pipes and this song proves it. She really sells the song and pulls you in. Plus, she sings harmony vocals very well with herself, which all singers can't do.

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5 Reasons For Bad Concert Videos

I hate concert videos. Not all of them, just the majority. It's not the music or the artist, it's mostly the directing. It seems like a whole generation of directors learned the wrong way just like a lot of live soundmen did (more on that gripe here).

Many times there's a concert I'd love to watch on VH1 Classic, Palladia, or PBS that I can't get past the first minute or two because it's cut too fast and flat. That might work for music videos (I'm not sure it does) but it sure doesn't for a concert. I want to be engaged, I want to be pulled in and I want to really see the performance in a way I never could before.

So here are my 5 reasons why I think concert videos are so bad. By the way, there's a lot more about shooting and editing concert videos aimed specifically for musicians in The Musician's Video Handbook.

1. The cuts are way too fast.  Give me a moment or two to get a feeling for the artist.  If you cut on every beat I never get pulled into the performance.  There's no rule that says you can't keep a shot on the artist for 5, 10 or even 30 seconds.  I promise, if the artist and the music is great, it's not going to be boring!

2.  There's never enough of the supporting players.  Let me see the rest of the band.  And not just for a second either.  I want to know who the players are.  I want to see how much they're into the music.  And just maybe there might be a great mini-performance within a performance that's worth seeing.

3.  Too many audience shots.  Who cares about the audience?  Unless there's something really special about the audience, I don't have to see them in every song, and not more than once or twice at that.  This constant cutting back to generic audience shots just makes me loose interest.  Sure they like the band.  That's why they're there. You don't have to keep reminding us.

4.  Too many long shots from the audience.  Once I get the feeling of how large the venue is and how many people are there, I don't need to see it again.  Giving me that same shot over and over just disconnects me from the performance.

5.  The shots make the performer look smaller than life.  Please, learn how to frame a shot.  I'd like to see the performance from a perspective I can't normally get, but I don't need to count the singer's nose hairs.  Too many times the shooter frames the shot flat.  A concert is bigger than life so let's shoot it that way.

Too many times a director thinks that the project is his. It's not. It belongs to the artists. Let's give the fans more of them and less of you.

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The Sound Of Speaker Magnets

Most musicians and engineers know that raw speaker transducers sound different from one another, but few know exactly why. Each speaker has a wide variety of parameters, and most aren't that obvious unless you're a transducer engineer. The one that is obvious is the speaker magnet.

Speaker magnets come in all sort of different sizes and shapes, but the materials that they're made of really makes a difference in the way the speaker sounds. Here's a brief excerpt from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook that refers mainly to guitar speakers, but the explanation applies to speakers intended for any other application as well.
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"There are three different types of materials used in speaker magnets, Alnico, Ceramic, and Neodymium, with each material having a distinctly different effect on the tonal characteristics of the speaker.

• Alnico, an alloy of aluminum, nickel and cobalt, is the magnetic material used in the original speakers in all the vintage amps. It produces a classic tone that’s warmer and sweeter at lower volumes that many players feel reacts faster to the touch. Alnico was used for decades because of its strong magnetic field, but once the alloy became a bit pricey, many manufacturers opted for speakers with the less expensive ceramic magnets.

• Ceramic magnets were developed as an inexpensive alternative to Alnico and have the advantage of being more versatile with a wider range of tones. Speakers with ceramic magnets tend to weigh more, but generally handle more power and sound better at high volumes.

• Neodymium is the latest development in speaker magnet material. It’s not as expensive as Alnico but costs a bit more than ceramic magnet speakers. It has the advantages of both weighing about 50% less than other speakers and having stronger magnetic properties. Speakers made from neodymium respond to a player's touch similar to Alnicos and have a well balanced frequency response."

So the next time you buy a speaker, pay attention to the magnet. It's influence on the sound is greater than you think.

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"Right Down The LIne" - Gerry Rafferty Song Analysis

Jim Weishorn requested that for an analysis of an enduring hit and staple of FM radio, Gerry Rafferty's 1971 hit "Right Down The Line", the 2nd hit from his huge #1 City To City album from 1978.

As with all analysis, we'll break the song down into four parts - the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and performance.

The Song -  "Right Down The Line" uses a fairly simple form consisting of an intro, verse, 2nd verse, chorus (some might call it a bridge), verse, guitar solo, chorus, verse and outro chorus. That seems like a lot of parts, but there are only two that keep repeating, so it looks like this:

A, A, A, B, A, A, B, A, B

The Arrangement - This is a rather sparse arrangement with lots of space and not many overdubbed layers or doubles. The chorus gets bigger thanks to the introduction of a grand piano and three part harmony vocals.

  * The Foundation is the bass and drums, both which basically play the same simple repeating patterns, as well as a staccato guitar figure played mostly on beat two.

  * The Pad is provided by a nice Hammond organ with the Leslie on the chorale setting. This is enhanced during the chorus with a grand piano.

  * The Rhythm is an interesting stereo wood block that jumps from speaker to speaker and provides motion to the song.

  * The Lead is a doubled lead vocal and lead guitar playing in the intro and solos.

  * The Fills are provided by two different sounding guitars, one that's fairly clean with a bit of high end, and the other during the verse with the high-end rolled off. The piano also plays flourishes that act as fills during the chorus.

The Sound - This song was recorded during what many consider to be the "golden age" of audio, so the basic sound is great. There's not a huge amount of compression, so the track breathes nicely.  There are two reverb layers; a short one on the the guitar playing the fills, and a longer one on most of the other instruments. The piano stands out as being particularly well recorded.

The Performance - This is one of those songs that a particular performance doesn't jump right out at you until the chorus, where the three part harmony shines. The guitar parts fit the song well, but again, don't jump out as anything particularly virtuoso. That being said, the song has endured for 34 years, which is a tribute in itself to the song and the performance. In the end, it doesn't get any better than that.

Don't forget to send me your song analysis requests, but it helps if you can also send a YouTube link as well.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.

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The 6 Rules For Auditioning

Yes, I have another new book out, this one called The Touring Musician's Handbook, a book that tells you everything you need to know to be a musician on a tour with a signed act. Of course, you've got to get the gig first, and here's an excerpt from the book regarding the 6 rules for auditioning.

You can read a few additional excerpts about The Touring Musician's Handbook here.
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Depending on how you look at it, an audition can be really fun or so stressful that it makes you want to loose your lunch. The more prepared you are, the less likely you are to do the latter, so here are a number of things to help you through the process.

1) Know The Material

You can be a great player with chops that came from Mount Olympus, but the only thing that the artist or MD cares about is if you can play the artist’s material well show after show. If you go into an audition thinking that you’re going to wing it, you’re wasting everyones time, in which case you should be prepared for a very short audition. 

First off, I want the person auditioning to play the music exactly like the record. I don’t want to hear them improvise, and I don’t want to hear their take on it. I want to hear them play it exactly with the right feel, just like they were playing Mozart or Beethoven. I want them to respect the music regardless of if it’s Pink’s music, or Cher’s or Janet Jackson’s, I want them to play it exactly as you hear it on the record. Then if I ask them to change it, they’re changing it from a place where I know that they know what it is so they can take their own spin on it after the fact.

Paul Mirkovich

Go-to guys like guitarist Peter Thorn (Melissa Etheridge, Chris Cornell, Jewel, Don Henley) will learn as much of the artist’s catalog possible before the audition, going as far as to dial in the tone of the parts as well. It’s a lot of work, but if you’re up against another guy that did that and you didn’t, who do you think will get the gig?

The other thing is that you have to be not only better than everyone else, but you have to be different. It’s basically a sales pitch. In five or ten minutes, you have to prove to them that if they hire you, they’ll get more for their money than hiring anybody else. 

Ed Wynne

2) Don’t Be Late

This will just about eliminate you right from the start. Being late indicates that you have a reliability problem, which is the last thing anyone wants on the road. There are a lot of great players out there, and most of them are punctual and reliable. Who do you think they’re going to pick?

3) How You Look Counts

Not only does clothing and grooming make a good first impression, but it’s important to see how you visually fit on stage with the rest of the band. It’s possible to fit the bill perfectly as a player but still not get the gig because of the way you look. 

As an example, an accomplished touring player that I know recently got a gig with a major artist that lasted one day. He went back to the hotel and received a call saying, “We’re good. Don’t come back to rehearsal tomorrow.” They just didn’t like the way he looked against the other players in the band. 

You might get rejected because you have a shaved head and so does the artist or another player player in the band and they don’t want two people on stage with that look. Or you might have blond hair and so does the artist. Or you have facial hair and no one else in the band does. Nothing personal, sometimes you just don’t fit in. 

I always felt that if someone is auditioning players that he’s not already aware of, it’s a clue that he’s looking for something else besides the way you play or the gear that you have. It’s a good tip that they may be looking more at how you look or at your age. I’ve seen that a lot.

Mike Holmes

4) Your On-stage Demeanor Also Counts

If possible, get a DVD or watch a video of the artist and her band playing live and take notice of the on-stage demeanor of the players. A lot of people get gigs because their physicality is right, which means how they look when they’re playing the music. Maybe the artist wants energy on stage and really likes it when a player is so into it that he’s moving all around. On the other hand, some artists just want you to stand there and play, leaving any showmanship up to them. You’ve got to know your place, so you have to tailor your demeanor to the artist.

5) Bring The Right Gear

You’ve got to tailor the gear to the gig. If you were auditioning for the job as the Strat player for Lynrd Skynrd, it wouldn’t be a great idea to bring a Les Paul or what some perceive as a metal guitar like a Jackson. If you were auditioning for the touring band of 50 Cent, you wouldn’t bring a drum kit with the snare tuned up high for reggae or ska. Can the artist or MD imagine how you’d play with the right gear? Sure they can. But once again, if everything were equal between two players, the one who will get the gig is the one that has the right sound at the audition. That way, no guessing, imagining or wondering come into play. Remember, what the artist wants most is security and one less thing to worry about. Whoever can provide that gets the gig.

6) Be Nice To Everyone

It’s important that you’re nice to everyone, including the crew, while you’re at the audition. If these people are going to spend months on a bus with you, they’d prefer that you didn’t have an attitude of superiority and were very easy to get along with. Remember, if it’s a toss-up between you and someone else, the one who will get the gig will be the one that everyone believes they can live with.

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"I Need A Doctor" - Dr. Dre Song Analysis

As promised, here's an analysis of this weeks #1 song according to The Ultimate Chart, and it's "I Need A Doctor" from Dr. Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey. We'll break the song down into four parts - song, arrangement, sound and performance.

The Song - It doesn't matter what genre of music, a hit is a hit and they all closely follow a form. "I Need A Doctor" is no exception. This form uses chorus as an intro, followed by a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and last verse with a final chorus. This is just about as close to a formula form as you can get.

The Arrangement - There are 4 elements always in the mix (see yesterday's post for an explanation of arrangement elements). In the verse, chorus (except the intro) and bridge, the foundation of the track is held down by the drums, and the rhythm is by the right hand of the piano. In the intro and verses, the pad can be attributed to the left hand of the piano playing whole notes. In the chorus, the bass acts more as the pad (which is opposite from most songs where the bass is part of the foundation of the song). The lead element is held down by Eminem and Dre in the verses and Skylar Gray in the chorus.

The arrangement development is also classic, with the intro fairly sparse with only piano and vocal and sound effects, and the verse sees the introduction of the drums and an additional synth on top of the piano. The chorus gets very big with the introduction of the bass and the 3 part harmony. The bridge adds an additional pad element with the introduction of a high synth pedal note, then it drops down to a sparse last chorus which Dre raps.

The Sound - For the last 10 years or so the sound of most records was very much dry and in your face, but "I Need A Doctor" returns to the bigger sound of 70's and 80's. The drums are John Bonham-like huge (almost too big for the record, especially the kick), and as a result, the other instruments have to be a lot smaller to fit into the mix. The vocals are drenched in delay and a long reverb, which is a welcome return to slicker sound from long ago.

The Performance - Eminem just smokes this song. You can feel his passion, his heat, his aggression jump right through the speakers at you. Skylar Grey is one of those vocalists that sings well with herself and the harmonies sound bigger than just stacked parts as a result.

Like most hits, "I Need A Doctor" is a twist on a well-used formula that never lets the listener down.

Send me your suggestions for other songs to analyze.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.

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