Miami Horror - Sometimes (TRACK TEARDOWN)

As I have now commenced into my second major project of AUD210, I have continued my practice in pop production, however this time in the style of Indie pop, rather than the usual mainstream.

As I am now working with a new style of pop music, It is important that I analyse a new track that I am referencing to inspire my own production. I am also looking to improve my skills in recording and mixing - so instead of analysing just the elements and overall aesthetic, I am also listening with more emphasis on how each of these elements fit in the mix, and some of the processing effects that have been put on these to achieve the sound that they have.

I will be dissecting the track Sometimes by Miami Horror, as it is one of the references for my upcoming project and is something that is a big influence on the sound of it.

Before delving too deep into the track teardown, I would first like to establish the general information of Sometimes.

The full structure of Sometimes is as follows:

INTRO, BUILD, INSTRUMENTAL, VERSE, BUILD, CHORUS, INSTRUMENTAL, VERSE, BRIDGE, CHORUS, INSTRUMENTAL, OUTRO

Background:

Miami Horror is an Indie Electronic band of 4, originating from Melbourne, Australia. The band had originally started as a solo project by producer Benjamin Plant, however it became a band when the 3 other members joined after 2008. The band often uses retro synth sounds from the 80's and are influenced by artists such as Prince and Daft Punk.

Sometimes was released as a single on October 30, 2009, It then later appeared on the bands debut album, Illumination, released on 20 August 2010 by EMI. ("Sometimes (Miami Horror song)", n.d.) ("Miami Horror", n.d.)

INTRO:

The intro of the song starts with an arpeggiator (arp) synth sound, heavy amount of reverb, and possibly a ping pong delay applied to create an ambient effect. Another arp (sounds to be the same synth without the reverb) playing at a faster rate rises in volume. These could possibly be created using square waves, a filter envelope and a slight attack. These synths appear at around the 400hz-1khz range of frequencies, and may have a low pass filter applied to them as there doesn't sound to be much high end, and the frequencies decrease in volume after 5khz.

at the 3rd Bar of the intro, the main synth riff plays, which sounds to be Saw waves. I have recreated a similar sound in my productions before, which I have created by using two saw waves with unison of about 7 voices and a slight detune. If you listen very carefully there is another synth behind this with a very heavy flanger effect, however this could be applied as an effect on the main synth. These are very bright sounding and have quite a loud high end sound.

The Arp's continue but start to decrease in volume and sound as though they are also being filtered out with a lowpass filter at the same time. If you listen very carefully there is a synth behind this

The bass guitar starts at a low volume and begins to increase, adding some low end to the overall mix, string sounds of the bass can also be heard.

at the 6th bar a fill is played that includes some percussion and a digital clap / snare sound, this is high passed with resonance and has what sounds like a flanger has been applied to it. The snare sounds like it may have used the gated reverb sound which was really common in the 80's.

BUILD:

An electric guitar has now been added which is playing singular notes and has some reverb effects applied.

A pre-shifted clap hits on every second beat, which has a short delay. this can be heard when multiple claps are layered and shifted slightly to create a slightly delayed, human effect.

A second guitar comes in that plays a riff, it sounds to be more distorted than the first, with some chorus on it as heard in many 80's songs.

On the 3rd bar of the build the fill from earlier can be heard, however this now have another clap layered onto it. Then again on the 7th bar, this is layered with another snare and a kick, which transitions into the Instrumental section.

INSTRUMENTAL:

-Same as build with the exception of full drums now added.

-Kick sounds to be an electronic sample, that has a bit of an airy high end sound to it.

-clap from build is now layered with a tight electronic snare .

-Electronic hats can be heard, though these have very high frequencies and are likely high passed.

VERSE:

-Square synth melody added

-Vocals introduced, likely some reverb however vocals sound relatively dry. These sound to have been doubled.

-Second half of verse, drums muted except for fills and occasional ride sound

BUILD:

-Synth riff from intro returns

-Clap from build now with tambourine or shaker hit layered within it

-in the 2nd to last bar the drums stop and there is a transition effect which sounds like a pad sound that has resonating filters on it. Reverb can also be heard on this as it echoes out into the chorus

CHORUS:

-All elements combined

INTRUMENTAL:

-Same as first, however intro arp returns

VERSE:

-Same as first except hats are louder

BRIDGE:

-There is a delay on the vocal which has the low end filtered out, this can be heard from the end of the verse where the lyrics say "we're at a loss", quietly in the mix this repeats through feedback. The delay can't really be heard applied all of the time in the vocals in the verses, I believe this may be used for the last phrases of each lyric to transition into the next part of the song.

-Layered / harmonised backing vocals can be heard which create a new vocal melody, this has a high pass filter applied to it and a heavy reverb.

-A music box sounding chime can be heard following the first notes of the vocal melody.

-The arp returns with a ping pong delay over it, blending it into the ambience of this section

-A synth bass can be heard with a heavy side-chain effect on it, this rises in volume

-A new guitar melody, with an 80's style chorus

CHORUS:

-Same as first with a detuned synth that has a slight attack time adjustment on the filter

INTSTRUMENTAL

-Intro synth

-Guitar solo, this same guitar can be heard in the intro. It sounds to have a heavy flanger on it in this section that is effecting the high pass filter resonance.

-Backing vocals return

-Synth

Outro

-Backing vocals

-Quiet clap from intro with a much wetter reverb sound

-Arp

-Intro synth, high passed(?)

-peak flanger resonance and echo out as song finishes.

Overall feel

This song to me specifically has a very summer feeling to it, the lyrics contain themes of escapism and I think that this is reflected in the sound of the song and also in the music video. In my opinion, the ambient sounds of the intro arpeggiator connote a mystical, adventurous vibe, a theme which appears in a lot of summer music. Other instances where similar sounding arpeggiators can be heard in this context is in songs such as Always by Panama and The City by Madeon. These songs both have lyrics and music videos which have themes of nature and escaping from society. I think that the use of the 80's style synths and chorus guitars in Sometimes are engrained in my upbringing to connote a vintage, nostalgic summer sound. Heavy ping pong delays and reverb that give off somewhat ambient effects can also be found in a lot of other songs of this nature.

Knowing this, I can take some inspiration from the elements that can be analysed in this track (and the effects put on them) to create a similar vibe.

References Future Classic. (2013). Panama - Always [Official Music Video] [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UylPrMcurB8

GuitarInstructor. (2016). Classic Chorus Pedal Guitar Sounds - GuitarInstructor [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMERxkrrUF0&

Klems - Official. (2010). Tutorial 2 : How to create your own pre-shifted claps in logic pro [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZaKWGcbcbY

Madeon. (2012). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEABPD4wNCg [Image].

Miami Horror. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Horror

Miami Horror. (2017). Sometimes [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DScIG94Or4

Sometimes (Miami Horror song). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sometimes_(Miami_Horror_song)

ThreeStepsOverJapan. (2012). What is an Arpeggiator? [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0bFALVi3-s&

Vox. (2017). How a recording-studio mishap shaped '80s music [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxz6jShW-3E