FrameWork

CRITICAL ANALYSIS TEMPLATE

Intro:

This will be where I will give a brief overview of the genre of the music, what’s common in this genre. The main purpose in an audio analysis is to break down a piece of music into it's smaller properties and define them. Practising doing this will help refine my ears as an audio engineer on what to listen for in a piece of music.

Critical Analysis vs Analytical Analysis:

There are two ways to analyze a piece of music, critical and analytical. Critical is a more technical approach that will tell you how the music was created, from the instruments and how they are mixed to the tones or dynamic ranges. This will be what something a true engineer can do with any piece of music. Where as Analytical is based on how it makes you feel, whether the music changes mood, makes you expressive or gives you the feeling of unease this is especially helpful when talking about lyrics. Both Critical and Analytical analysis should be used to give the best coverage.

Music Theory Section: Musical theory is very important in constructing a song and should therefore be a main section of an analysis; things I will discuss would be Tempo, Duration, Key, Timbre, Formants, and Panning. Is it a common key? Are there accidentals or unique changes to the song. What's the form of the song? (ABCBA)

Instrumentation & Processing:

Each instrument in the song should be able to be placed somewhere along the hearing spectrum, by laying this out one can easily visualise the total harmonic content of a song.

What instruments are in the song that I can hear, how were they recorded, what kind of production techniques were used, what effects have been put on them. What equipment was used in order to record these instruments like this? Mic choice, effect units including how they change throughout the song.

Where does each instrument fit into the spectrum of hearing?

Soundstage:

To create a good mix one must include elements to expand the sound, elements such as panning in a stereo mix will create areas in the mix or soundstage that highlight certain instruments to make them the centre of attention

A good example of a way to measure these is with Logic Pro 9's Multimeter Goniometer

Spectral Balance:

You can gain a more accurate spectral image with the use of an analyzer tool, such as the Multimeter in Logic Pro 9. This can give you a visual representation and help to visualise what parts of the mix are lacking or need a boost. For example you could explain that the muddy noise coming from the bass could be fixed by lowering the volume around 300 - 400 Hertz

Analytical Section:

How does the song make me feel? What techniques have been used to generate this feeling.

What was the final outcomes from the production aesthetic?

This will be where I will convey how the song flows, what messages it brings to me, and a guess as to what the artist was aiming for. A lot of effort goes into “the sound” of the song, because emotion is what music is meant to follow. And a final summary of my view on the piece References:

http://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/listen-learn-analysing-commercial-mixes http://www.music-production-guide.com/critical-listening.html