Performance and Production Analysis. 'Music, Sonics and Function' radio how critique by Kairo parish

Don't Stop Me Now- Queen

kairoparish — 2017-11-17 09:36:52 UTC

'Don't Stop Me Now' is a great driving piano and up beat rock song which is significantly memorable and well known due to its uplifting tone, that motivated many of those in the early 80's who would relate to "having a good time". The song is seemingly simple in terms of arrangement and form. The most interesting details are the non-repetitive long lead melodies, the syncopations and the overall structure of the song.
The structure of the song stands as follows...

 Intro | Verse | Chorus |
              | Verse | Bridge |
         | Solo/Verse | Chorus | Outro (Intro)

In contrast with the syncopations the drum work is quite simple throughout.
The harmony uses mostly the standard chord set of the homekey plus some secondary dominants, chord inversions, sevenths and simple step-wise figures built in the piano accompaniment.
The form shows mainly three cycles of Verse - Chorus the second cycle featuring a bridge (break) instead of chorus. The guitar solo is placed in the first half of the third verse.
The dynamics of the song change from quite to loud at the start of the song. (crescendo)
The tempo of the song is relatively fast at 157bpm

kairoparish — 2018-01-05 16:35:40 UTC

kairoparish — 2018-01-05 16:37:00 UTC

Feedback from James

james_meads — 2018-02-22 15:18:40 UTC

Cairo, what you have written so far is quite good, as you have identified some key Musical characteristics of the song. It is not enough though for a level 3 assignment yet.

What you haven't mentioned though, is the production features and how it sounds overall.
Consider these following points and comment on them:

1. The use of effects.
2. The Clarity of the mix (Can you hear each part easily & are any parts too loud, too harsh or a bit dull sounding).
3. Stereo position - Which parts are panned left & right, or in the center.

If you make these improvements, then the assignment will be at Merit standard.

Effects and Stereo posistion

kairoparish — 2018-05-16 12:08:42 UTC

Although the effects used throughout the song are very subtle, i was able to pick out a few including:

Piano - This key instrument has effects such as a small plate reverb. This instrument has also been positioned to the middle of the mix
Base guitar- you can clearly tell that this instrument has been compressed with a long attack in order to keep the track balanced
Electric guitar- This instrument has a distortion effect and is placed at the front of the mix with central pan
Hats and bells- both have 1-2 tracks that have been panned to both sides and sent to the back of the mix
Vocals- have been centered to the front of the mix, you can also hear that it has a hall reverb by the end of the track

Mix

kairoparish — 2018-05-16 12:08:49 UTC

The mix is very clear as all components of the song are heard individually as well as a part of one sound.

We can mainly here the vocals in the foreground of course along with the percussion instruments (snares, kick, hats and symbols ect) and the electric guitar which comes in later on in the track.
Throughout the track, the backing vocals were also great as part of the song as it gave the vocals more depth.

I would say though that the base guitar couldve been brought up higher in the mix as it seems dulled down too far in the background of the track.