[dance] A Look Outside The Box (stream & mp3 download)

[Mr.Eagle]

Hi everybody.

Today I'd like to present you a little dance-song with the title:

A Look Outside The Box (Updated version below)
(June 2011, 5:59)

Maybe some of you know that this is not really my kind of music. I just took some of the usual ingredients (or better "clichés") that I believe that they represent this genre:

- a bassdrum with quite a lot of pressure
- a simple and straight off-beat bassline
- some arpeggios and effects
- a somewhat "spherical" sounding pad
- a quite simple main-melody played by a heavy delayed and a little "clatter" sounding piano

The only unusual thing in this song are the guitar sounds during the end. I think they fit there very well even if they don't really belong to the genre 'dance'...but, hey, there is no "Mr. Eagles song" without guitar-sounds...

Anyway, I hope that you'll like my little excursion into this genre.

Kind regards,
Mr. Eagle

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Updated version:
A Look Outside the Box (2019 Edition) (YouTube)
(November 2019)


Mirrors (Box.com & Soundcloud):
https://theeaglesmusic.webnode.com/songs/alotb-2019/

[Rakib]

A little bit simple beat but nice melody on the song.

[Harbinger]

Notes as i'm listening:

I downloaded this track a couple of weeks ago, loved it so much i transferred onto my hard drive, but somehow i missed writing a proper review. Well, here's my two cents...

One is immediately unsure if this is truly an Eagle track, as the heavy dance-club elements start off right away. There are heavy FX and some interesting filterwork applied to some rhythmic arpeggiations that give away to a beat bridge, bringing in a chilly few measures without chords or melody.

Then our colleague's grand and storytelling design kicks in. There is a rich aura of something bigger than a silly dance hit, and one realizes that maybe this genre was chosen as the vehicle for bringing in a little divinity to normally a very suburban and common musical style.

The drive moves the song through affable chord progressions that are more educated than our composer's normal chord structure choice, and the simple bass line does well to bring this out. The choice of timbres is both mundane yet classical -- an echoing piano backed by reverbed string pads and pushed by a hodgepodge of classic percussion instruments make for a more human and warm dance track than one usualy hears for this genre.

Overall, very well done, worth the effort of its production and downloading for one's music set. The thing that makes this better than many of his other songs is the chord progressions; in this song he's improving his understanding of which chord sequences make for better emotional or "visual" movement for the listener, and i hope it continues in future projects...

[Mr.Eagle]

Thank you both for listening.

@Harbinger: I'm rather surprised that you like this song so much because its basic structure is really simple. And the chord progression is the same as in this song from July 2009:
http://forum.openmpt.org/index.php?topic=3273.msg26561#msg26561

Well, however. I always appreciate your detailed analysis and I would like to express my gratitude to you for that...

[Harbinger]

As a composer for over 20 years and a student of music analysis, i have learned that the best songs/tracks are those which are simple but not oversimplistic. The composer who wants his music to stick in people's heads after the song is over must assemble something in that area in which the song design is not overly "wandering" but also not devoid of substance. I've found that for most people this aesthetic runs along all artistic lines -- music, paintings, sculpture, cuisine, dance...it seems the artwork with the most appeal is that which is full of variety but not so much so that you begin to feel inundated. If you can compose like that, you'll have a following!

[uncloned]

The composer who wants his music to stick in people's heads after the song is over must assemble something in that area in which the song design is not overly "wandering" but also not devoid of substance.

I would agree with you when it comes to popular music genre, mostly, but surely not when it comes to classical or jazz music. And progressive rock music also goes against this analysis.

Just being the devil's advocate.

[Harbinger]

Then allow we me to refute the devil's attorney :

Even in jazz, classical, and progressive rock, simplicity makes a song more palettable and popular. Classical has to abide by a school's rules, but also has to walk a fine line between appeasing the academic critics and pleasing the listener's ears. I'll take the one of the most complicated pieces that is even more popular now than it was when it was first performed: Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". Academically it challenges the traditional rules of composition -- multiple and odd meters, thematic material that gets chopped into pieces thru each pass, harmonies based on multiple keys, and eccentric if not blasphemous song design. Stravinsky in his inspiration could have used traditional music theory and created something blase, but he created a new way of espressing the vision in its chaos but still simple enough to listen to. He could have thrown timbres and notes to together in some of the more hectic scenes but instead compartmentalized each view and provided a simple way to express it. Then combining them so that the listener would not feel overwhelmed sonically but could follow the story. Even in his chaos, Stravinsky simplified it for the listener.

Now jazz is more fluid. And yes, any group of improvisors can just belt out on the instrument they have and hope it sounds good. But there's even a simple formula for really good jazz, mainly that one sometimes two instruments become more prominent while the others hang back. Each does their thing in their own time so as not to overwhelm the listener. Think of the most well-known jazz groups/composers, Brubeck, Corea, Miles, they all have the penchant to go crazy musically, but their most memorable songs are the ones which tend to be simplified, even if they use timbral collages.

Progressive rock you would think would allow for a lot more chaos and complication in their tracks, but again i would argue that the progressive/art rock that stays in our heads is that which is easy to follow. Pink Floyd, early Yes, Rush, ELP, all had songs that could get complex, but the more memorable tracks, the ones we want to listen to over and over, are the ones which are simplistic even in their innovation.

In all these cases, chord progressions tend to be traditional (with variations allowed for contemporary ears), following not necessarily predictable paths but sequences that don't make us wince. Melodic lines may be unorthodox, but they're memorable, even if we can't exactly whistle out the tunes. And the instrumental progressions keep the song sectionalized, even when using transitional techniques, so that the listener can get a better idea of how the song is designed.

To sum up, i stand by my advice, and would also add that simplicity AND innovation is what makes music memorable.

I hope this exchange helps you in your future projects, Eagle, and i look forward to hearing more  ....

[Mr.Eagle]

I hope it doesn't annoy you that I bring this old topic back to life. But I just recently finished a new version of this song which I'd like to share with you (see first posting above).
In the last few months I have tried quite intensively to improve my mixing & mastering skills and this new version is one of the results of my efforts.

Again: I hope you don't mind...