Elements of Music

Elements of Music By: Terence Singh

The band!

Artist Summary Band –August Burns Red • Song – Meddler • Album – Constellations • Band Members • Jake Luhrs • JB Brubaker • Brent Rambler • Dustin Davidson • Matt Greiner

Melody • It begins with a guitar having heavy distortion playing a very quick riff and the drums playing intensely • Jake begins to scream with a powerful mid ranged voice having a lot of emotion • The rhythm guitar plays power chords to give more depth to the song • The bass plays quickly and more complicated riffs than normal pop bands would

Rhythm • The song is played quite fast • The riffs are very complex moving from the low c string through the g, c and f for the main riffs and up to the higher strings for the solo • The solo is quite intricate and played quickly as well • The drums maintain a fast pace utilizing double kick pedals giving the song a very intense and powerful feeling

Harmony • The guitars mesh together well, the rhythm guitar backs up the lead nicely • During certain riffs rather than rhythm playing power chords they both play the same riff on different parts of the guitar so it harmonizes well • The bass gives the song a heavy backup working well with the drums • The vocalist works well with the harsh style of music, it just wouldn’t be the same with clean vocals

Timbre • The guitars and bass are all electric, they are down tuned to give the band a heavier feel • The singer screams and growls in a mid to low pitched voice to help add to the heaviness • The bass can be heard well and isn’t drowned out in the mix, it is also tuned lower so it fits well with the lower tuning of the guitars and the vocals • The drums have a deeper sound to them too compared to a pop band kit • The low sounds of the instruments are what make this genre so heavy as well as the vocals

Texture • The song has a homophonic texture throughout the entire song • The guitars, drums and the vocals all occur at once except for in the intro and the solo

Dynamics • This song maintains a Fortissimo (very loud) sound throughout the whole thing which gives it an in your face, go rage in a mosh pit attitude • However the solo goes to a Mezzo Forte (moderately loud) sound because the vocals come to a stop so we can hear the solo

Form • Intro • Verse • Breakdown Lead in • Breakdown • Verse • Breakdown • Verse • Solo • Breakdown Lead in • Breakdown • Outro

Form • As you can see it isn’t the usual form of music these days • August Burns Red implements the use of breakdowns in their songs very often and now have more solos. • The form seems quite random and unorganized but it’s what gives the band a good sound to those who like this kind of music

The Meaning Behind This Song • I feel that the song is about being selfish but one must realize there is more going on around them that what goes on in their lives. Also that mankind is just too self centered. • When the line “Trying to untie the knot we thought we were untying our entire lives” comes up, it sounds like we make big deals of something rather insignificant when there are bigger issues at hand • The ending “Stop, listen, and learn. You won't ever fly fast enough to make time stand still” says people should be more selfless and should stop and smell the roses rather than rush through everything because things don’t always go the way you want it to.

What I Really Liked About This Piece • I like the very positive theme of the song, it gives me motivation to do good and be selfless to others • I like the musical aspect, the song is quite technical regarding all of the instruments used and the vocals give it such a powerful and emotional feel • I get generally really stoked when I hear this song come on, it makes me feel unbreakable!

What I Least Liked About This Piece • I feel that the solo could have included some sweeping because that’s one of my favorite aspects of guitar solos however it was still good • Also if they did a dual solo that would have been pretty awesome

Elements of Music