Blog Assignment #5

"Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Neil Young - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG1HY2zLc1s
Annie Lennox's cover version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1x6u1rkxS4

Neil Young version

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)

 Tempo [slow, medium, fast]
Medium, Moderato

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]

Acoustic guitar strumming

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]

Steady, syncopated

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]

Acoustic guitar

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

Intro/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Finale

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

See attached paint file

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency]

Medium-pitched frequencies throughout

- Width [stereo panning left/right]

None, same sound heard in both left and right speakers

Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness

Not deep, only acoustic guitar and voice

Annie Lennox version

LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm)
 Tempo [slow, medium, fast]

Slow, Andante

Source [where is the rhythm coming from?]

Drums and voice

Groove [describe how the personality of the rhythm]

Same as before, steady and syncopated

LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement)

Instrumentation [which instruments drive the song?]

Drums, synthesizer, piano, bass guitar, harp, strings

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

Intro/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Bridge/Piano solo/Verse/Piano solo/Bridge

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

See attached paint file

LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality)

Balance

- Height [high and low of frequency]

Reaches high frequencies often, occasional low frequencies

- Width [stereo panning left/right]

Vocals in left ear at end, piano in right

Depth [layers of instruments - via loudness

  Very deep, many layers of instruments

Emotional architecture -

Neil Young's song

Annie Lennox's song

Neil Young’s song “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” and Annie Lennox’s cover keeps the same melody but are drastically different in tone and arrangement. Beginning with the first level of the listening framework, the tempo varies between the two, both keeping consistent throughout but with Young’s version maintaining a more moderato tempo instead of the andante speed of Lennox’s version. The source of the groove is another variation, as Young keeps the rhythm with his guitar strums while drums keep the beat in Lennox’s cover. Both songs keep a very steady and syncopated groove.

In the second level of the listening framework, the instrumentation is drastically different. Young only uses an acoustic guitar, while Lennox’s version sounds very “produced,” using many varieties of instruments to create a dense sound, such as synthesizer, harp, bass guitar, and strings. The organization in Young’s song is straightforward and common, while Lennox adds embellishments like a verse repetition and a piano solo at the end. The emotional architecture for both songs is similar in their lack of substantial change, but Lennox’s version builds slightly more at the end with the added instrumentation. 

Annie Lennox has more intense sound quality in all three areas of the third listening framework. The height of Young’s version is very middling, as both his voice and guitar fall into this range. Lennox’s version has a great amount of height, using bass guitar for the low range of frequencies and high piano notes for the top of the frequency range. Lennox’s song takes advantage of width while Young does not, separating certain instruments to different speakers at the end of the song. As was explained before, her version has more depth as well, using a multitude of instruments while Young only utilizes acoustic guitar. 

I am partial to both versions of the song, but I prefer Annie Lennox’s cover to Neil Young’s original. I believe that the melody of the song is more suitable for the soft, dreamlike arrangement and tone created by Lennox. I suppose that my preference for larger, more varied instrumentation is also a factor. However, I like Neil Young’s version as well simply because I play acoustic guitar and appreciate the resulting sparse sound by use of that one instrument.