Musical Analysis

Song Name: Horizons

Artist/s        : LTJ Bukem

Genre          : Jungle/Drum n Bass

Musical components: rhythm, melody, harmony, tonality, timbre, texture, dynamics, tempo, articulation, time signatures, syncopation, beats per minute (BPM),style of music and other music terminology that you have researched…..

Musical components- Vocals/ Instruments/ Textures/

Synths
presumably Akai S1000, Akai 1100, Akai 3200XL, Roland JD800, Roland JV-Series, Roland S-Series, Juno 106, Korg M1 (These synthesizers were popular among Jungle/Drum n Bass artists in the early/mid 90s). Very smooth, ambient, atmospheric tones. Also created ‘watery’ sounding effects

Drums
sampled from
‘Kurtis Blow – Do The Do’ (1981)
and sped up to approximately 160BPM, pitch was likely proportionately increased with the BPM increase, but may have been reduced slightly after increasing BPM.
Bass
Smooth sounding has depth/weight to it. Dub influenced. Compliments the keys. Relatively short length per hit.

Vocals
Sampled Maya Angelou quote from poem ‘On The Pulse Of The Morning’, originally spoken at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Also sampled crowd cheering however this source is unknown.

Keys
sampled from
‘Lemon Sol – Sunflash’ (1994)
sped up and likely pitch increased proportionately. Each bar in ‘Horizons’ has 8 keys; the same as ‘Sunflash’. There are also occasional reverbed piano jingles.
Structure description

Intro (0:00 – 2:00)
Intro has 6 bars with reverbed cymbal on every quarter note. Each of these six bars has a synth that plays in 2 different keys for an equal amount of time. A sound effect made on a synth is triggered at the beginning of the 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th bars. After these 6 bars, the keys that lead the main melody are introduced and layered over the synth used in the intro, this section is 8 bars long.

Chorus 1 (2:00 – 3:59)
12 bars into chorus until bass starts. Subtle use of pitching synth sound effects. 8 bars of chorus with bass until breakdown. 20 bars in total. Each bar consists of 32 drum hits.

Breakdown (3:59 – 4:24)
Breakdown lasts for 4 bars, with the Maya Angelou quote starting on the 3rd bar of the breakdown. Bass is removed on bar 3 and 4 of the breakdown. There are synth sound effects on the first 2 bars of the breakdown. These effects either pitch down or up as they are played.

Second Chorus (4:24 – 7:23)
On the second chorus, synth does not re-appear until the 5th bar starts. On the 9th bar, some new keys begin. On the 16th bar, the same keys from the first chorus are reintroduced but the new keys continue to play.

Outro (7:23 – 7:57)
All synths, keys and bass is removed. The drum break is changed to a different one but it plays in the same composition as the ‘Do The Do’ break.

Summary

‘Horizons’ is an atmospheric track with keys that are fairly simple and progressive. The sound is relatively soft and has emphasis on the mid and high frequency range (synth, keys and drums). The BPM is approximately 160. The time signature is 4/4. There is generally syncopation at the end of every 8th and 16th bar. The style of music is Atmospheric Jungle/Atmospheric Drum n Bass.

Critical Listening & Composition

Record Label:

Hyperdub

DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad – Dubby Feat Danny Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49cQHfWzn0o
Burial – South London Boroughs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU5LLPFzrBM
Dj Rashad – Feelin (feat. Spinn & Taso)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzEK5Z9ALU8

Hyperdub is a record label that started in 2004 and is based in London, which doesn’t pigeon-hole itself into a specific genre or style. The only way that all their music can be described as is ‘inner city, forward thinking music’. In essence, records on Hyperdub are an evolution of London’s electronic music history, with clear references to Hardcore, Jungle, Drum n Bass, UK Garage and Dubstep.

Hyperdub has also been one of the first European labels to release Juke/Footwork; a genre of music originating from the ghettos of Chicago, which has been at its popularity peak since circa 2011 to present day. The Juke/Footwork releases on Hyperdub have linked the similarities between jungle and Drum n Bass to Footwork by implementing some short sections of popular Jungle and Drum n Bass breaks such as the Amen break, as well as implementing dub and Jungle style bass lines.

Hyperdub has also had a lot of releases by Burial, who has pursued his own unique style over the years. Originally a Dubstep and UK Garage producer, Burial’s music has developed an ambient theme over the years, and has a style that doesn’t really have a genre at all (some consider it to be Dubstep though).

Metalheadz

Goldie – Inner City Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZzPBaDArKY
Doc Scott – Blue Skies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbCzY-oY4vA
Alex Reece – Pulp Fiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCnbPTpqq5Y

Metalheadz is a record label that started in 1994 by Goldie, Kemistry and Storm. Metalheadz is one of the most important and influential labels in Drum n Bass alongside the likes of Moving Shadow, Reinforced Records and V Recordings.  Metalheadz was heavily inspired by the Hip Hop scene of the 80s and 90s which is what made it stand out as a record label. The style Metalheadz pursued was a dark, yet deep style of music, using a lot of the same soul and jazz samples the US Hip Hop scene was using at the time, and backing them with both airy and gritty synths to completely change the vibe but still keeping the Hip Hop influence. The music wasn’t just inspired by Hip Hop as music, but also the Graffiti culture that Hip Hop had spawned as well.

Undoubtedly the label’s most well known track; ‘Inner City Life’ by Goldie was coincidentally commercially successful when it was released,  and was also a milestone for Drum n Bass, as well as electronic music over all, as it proved that electronic music can be ‘deep’. Very few tracks that had a lot of emotion in them were made before Inner City Life was released. Inner City Life was also groundbreaking at the time as it was a style that was completely new.

Radio Station:

Rinse FM

Mala – Lean Forward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW07NXej0R0
Pariah – Orpheus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blDqnFOSgOo
Wiley – Step 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbnLIf-S5PY

Rinse FM is a London-based station that started out as a pirate station in 1994. DJ Geeneus and DJ Slimzee were two of the main members that started Rinse FM.
When Rinse FM first started, they were playing jungle alike the majority of pirate stations in 1994, but soon they began playing UK Garage as well circa 1998, which then spawned Grime and Dubstep at around 2001 to 2003. Rinse FM played a major part in the development of Grime and Dubstep, and was one of, if not, the first radio station to start playing those genres. In essense, Grime and Dubstep were offshoots from the darker sounds of UK Garage. In 2010, Rinse FM finally got a legal license.

The style of music that Rinse pushes is a dark with UK Garage influences. The station is heavily influenced by inner city London life and culture.

Computer Games

Curren$y & Freddie Gibbs – Fetti (Featured in GTA V)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T7tmdFzyog
Flying Lotus – Getting There (Featured in GTA V)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JI1ydtq4E
Everything But The Girl – Blame (Grooverider Remix) (Featured in Gran Turismo 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTG1YWbt5d0

GTA V is a game based in city called Los Santos (A parody of Los Angeles) and Blaine County (A parody of California countryside) and is about gang violence in these areas. There are many references to a lot of California’s crime culture such as the Ballas  and Green which are based on the Bloods and Crips, The Lost which are based on Outlaw motorcycle gangs and so on.

‘Fetti’ by Curren$y and Freddie Gibbs is a song written exactly for GTA V and is about the lifestyle of the ghettos in Los Santos. The style is typical of West Coast Hip Hop with slower beats and slower style of rapping, but also has East Coast influence with a ‘sharp’ sound and gloomy use of Soul/Jazz samples.

Flying Lotus’s ‘Getting There’ is relevant to GTA V despite not having any crime related themes. Flying Lotus is an artist from L.A (where the game is based as a parody) who happens to be one of the most important artists in electronic music, as he has made experimental music that has managed to appeal to the general public as he has collaborated with well-known Hip Hop artists such as Kendrick Lamar. Flying Lotus is a good representative of contemporary Los Angeles music culture. ‘Getting There’ is a ‘dreamy’ track that has a clear soul influence with the chimes/bells, and hip hop influence with the ‘boom bap’ beat structure.

Gran Turismo 2 was one of the biggest and most influential driving games in history. When it was first released in 1999, it was by far the most advanced driving game at the time with excellent graphics, highly refined physics engine and huge range of cars. It would make sense that the makers of Gran Turismo wanted tracks in their game that reflected that. In 1999, Drum n Bass had evolved so quickly with earlier tracks from as little as 5 years earlier (than 1999) sounding nothing alike.  Grooverider’s remix of ‘Blame’ by ‘Everything But The Girl’ was one of many of very advanced, futuristic D&B tracks at the time, with features such as highly reverbed instruments and vocals, atmospheric synths, complex drum editing and original bass line.