Friday LAW

Listening Framework

(Friday by Rebecca Black)

Listening Phase 1 (Rhythm)

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]

The pulsating synths and the drums drive the song.

Time/Tempo [guess at the time signature]

The time signature is 4/4 and the tempo is at a typical dance BPM

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]

It is a stiff pop groove with programmed electronic drums and electronic instruments.

Listening Phase 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]

The pulsating synths, synth bass, and the electronic drums drive the background, alongside a heavily auto tuned vocal.

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

 It has a typical pop song structure, a,b,a,b,c, then a breakdown and a rap verse but a guest rapper.

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

The chorus is explosive and the verses are more tame dynamically. There is not that much emotion coming from the singer due to the auto tune.

Listening Phase 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

-       Height [high and low of frequency]

The highs are occupied by the drums and the synth bass has a low frequency.

-       Width [stereo panning left/right]

Everything seems to be centered and not that much panning is taking place in the mix. It is very straight forward.

-       Depth [layers of instruments]

The instruments consist of: a wall of synths, electronic programmed drums and percussion, synth bass, and vocals.