Chloé - The Dawn (Dixon Remix)
When I was first approached by Amor to collaborate on a techno tune I was unsure where to start. He suggested this song as a reference track. I thought I'd break down my process for you all and share my insights on this track.
Check out my previous post Guide to song analysis to better understand my process.
Background
The song:
(Lumière Noire, 2017)
Get your copy from Beatport.com
Released 29 May 2017 on Lumière Noire Records this remix of the Chloé original (Check it out here). The original is Chloé's first release in 4 years and is a ambient vocal track. This is Dixon's 2nd remix release of 2017 (Discogs, 2017) and has charted 19 times since its release (Resident advisor, 2017).
Key:
B Minor
Time Signature:
BPM:
122
Length:
6:31
Genre:
Deep House
House music as a genre sprang forth at the end the Disco era in New York in the late 1970’s. Early pioneers of this sound and legends of the scene Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles drew the attention of some Chicago promoters who’d recently launch the “Warehouse” nightclub; this nightclub is where the name “House” music came from (Complex.com, 2017). The combination of disco vocals over drum machine beats was a massive hit.
"Deep House is a subgenre of house music that is revered by its fans for its faithfulness to Chicago house and New York Garage. Deep house cooks up a tasty sonic stew from disco, gospel, soul, jazz, funk, Latin, and R & B. Like its predecessors, it simmers at 120 - 125 BPM. What distinguishes deep house from its progenitors is its tendency to overuse shrieking divas, ominous organs, and chord progressions to whip up dance floor drama."
(M'Baye, 2013, p. 153)
The Artist:
Dixon
(Discogs, 2017)
Born Steffen Berkhahn; 21 December 1975. Dixon is the undisputed king of Deep House & Techno. He has been voted number one DJ on Resident Advisor’s Top DJ Poll 4 years in a row. Co-Founder and label boss of Innervisions who's sound has forever changed the techno and house landscape of Berlin and the world at large. (Resident advisor, 2017)
Starting out in the early 90's he is known for his skill at reading a crowd and technicality behind the decks. In an interview with Crack Magazine he speaks of how he has a masterplan for each set and like to create 2 peak moments and one of which being a strange or weird track that keeps him interested and shares his passion with the crowd (Bates, 2013).
Not much can be found online about his production techniques as he shy's away from interviews and prefers to let his craft do the talking and he certainly doesn't disappoint with this epic remix. He captures the spirit of the original and the intent of the vocal; while bringing it to life as a club epic sure to be heard on dance floors across the world.
Structure
Using Logic Pro X I have created a map of the structure of this piece. As you can see in the picture below I've broken down the piece. This piece follows a classical type structure of theme and variations with 16 bar phrases of four to the floor.
Deep house and in fact almost all electronic dance music (EDM) is designed for DJ's to play in nightclubs, to that end has a 3 phrase intro (red) and outro (purple) designed to let the DJ mix in from the previous track and out to the following track with ease (For a little more information on bars, beats and phrases click here). With the intro and outro taking up 6 phrases this leaves 7 of the 13 total phrases left for the bulk of the tune. I've broken these 7 phrases down to 2 for the initial theme (yellow) 4 for variations (green) where the theme is developed and expanded which leave one odd phrase of 6 bars that I've called the breakdown (blue) which bridges the peak of the track to the outro.
Instruments
Next I extrapolate the sounds I've heard and create midi regions to represent each individual instrument/voice/sound. See the picture below for what it looks like. I will discuss the main instruments in this piece in detail and give a brief account of the rest.
Echoed Stab (7. Neon Green):
Initially when I started listening to this piece I thought this was an off beat stab hence how I've labeled it. However, the longer I listened I realised it was a staccato 16th beat rhythm with an automated filter sweep and send to a stereo ping pong delay on the 2nd off beat and third down beat. This synth line is the main theme of the entire piece with every other part following this lead in its own way. I believe it uses a triangle wave on the first oscillator of the synth. The second oscillator is a saw tooth down tuned 5 semitones and 3 cents. The third is possibly another saw tuned up 7 semitones and down 3 cents. Movement is created by automating a low pass filter over the whole channel and the sound is brought in and out with this technique. Check out the video for my rough reconstruction.
Rapid Mid bass (6. Pale Green):
The rapid mid bass is introduced in bar 4 and brought in slowly with a high pass filter culminating in it's full glory at bar 17. This the second most dominant sound in the piece. It also uses a staccato 16th's rhythm with a filter sweep but this time on the third off beat of each bar. Which creates some interesting phase distortion as well as a pseudo rhythm that is reproduced across many instruments in the piece. Similar to the above "Echoed Stab" creative application of automated filter sweeps and high pass filters really brings this part alive. It is also side chained to the kick. Check out the video below for my attempt at recreation. For this I again used a triangle wave this time on two oscillators the second pitched up an octave, a fair amount of resonance on the filter.
Kick & Late Kick (2 & 3. Orange):
It wouldn't be a dance music track without the kick and I believe it is the 3 most important sound in the piece. There are actually 2 kicks in this song. There is the main kick which is your simply four to the floor beat and a second kick that is of less intensity and on the second off beat of every bar the main kick is played. The main kick also seems to have a slight amount of reverb on it which gives it more body and resonance which is a Techno production technique. Check out the picture or a a bar in my reconstruction to under stand the rhythm.
Synth High Descant (1. Red):
This is the tension note of the piece that is played for the entire length of the song. After some work with the EQ I discovered it had a fundamental frequency of 2600 Hz which is an E6 (Strangely enough a perfect fourth of the B minor root note) and two main upper harmonics at doubled intervals suggesting octave spacing. Below is My working EQ.
Recreating this was a little more difficult a it has a little noise under the tone. I settled on Pulse Width Modulation waveform on the first and second oscillators and noise generator on the third as you can see below. I had to set my filter cut off to 2600 Hz and add resonance and drive as well as a touch of hard distortion to come close to the original sound.
Here is my recreations EQ snapshot. It sounds close but I wont subject you to the sound as listening to the song as much as I have I understand how grating it is. Listen to the song and you'll agree.
The Rest:
The rapid 16th note rhythms are repeated on the Crushed Noise (4. Yellow), Fast High Hats (7. Pale Green) and loosely with the Chord Stabs (13. Blue). Each using the filter sweep or a panning sweep and a different off beat or syncopation to add life to the piece.
The walking bass [Low Mid Bass Pad (10. Purple)] is first introduced as a drone not in bar 49 and then at bar 81 begins its walk. This walking bass line is complemented by the wobble lead and strings with a variant of the walking line from the last 2 bars of phrase 7 and slowly brought in crescendoing to the peak of the song.
Composition
On first listen to this piece it feels like not much ids happening. However, as you delve deeper it is a masterpiece of layering and automation. The song is essentially one big build up very similar to the original Chloé song. It slowly adds layer by layer technicality in rhythm and layers of sound. This all culminates in the last half of phrase 9 when every instrument is playing and the Synth High Descant is revealed as the top note of the chord being used for the peak.
The vocal is only featured twice in the piece and each time everything else is cut except the high synth line. This builds tension the first time and releases it in the breakdown. It's very simply vocal with just a touch of reverb which I'd suggest is a small room reverb.
Spectral Balance & Soundstage
Normally I would seperate these 2 subjects. However, with this piece almost every instrument has filter sweep automation, high and low pass filter automation as well as stereo field automation. With that in mind if you listen carefully each automation has a mirror and this creative use of both the soundstage and harmonic range of the each instrument really makes this piece stand out from the pack.
One instrument in the soundstage that may catch your ear is the Crushed Noise (4. Yellow) which is coming from hard left with the same 16th note rhythm and the sweeps to the middle of the stereo field on the second and fourth off beat.
Dynamic Range
Once again this piece doesn't follow a standard EDM structure with peaks and troughs of intensity it is more of a building piece. With that in mind if you cast your eyes back up to my midi map of the instruments you will see a yellow line which tracks the amplitude of the track. You will be able to see subtle building of energy as the track progresses and with each vocal that energy is released. Although not standard practise it is masterfully executed.
Conclusion
Having listed to this track repeatedly for hours and using it as the reference track for Silence. I can honestly say it still surprises me. It's use of automation is astounding, its well thought out and the psychoacoustic harmonies and audio illusions created by the movement of almost every instrument makes this piece what it is. Do yourself a favour and have a really good listen to it for yourself.
References
Bates, R. (2013, October 24). DIXON | Crack Magazine. Retrieved from http://crackmagazine.net/article/music/dixon/
Complex.com. (2017). A Brief History of House Music. Retrieved from http://au.complex.com/music/house-music-history
Discogs. (2017). Dixon Discography at Discogs: Remix - Credits. Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/artist/4492-Dixon?limit=250&filter_anv=0&subtype=Remix&type=Credits&page=1
Lumière Noire. (2017, May 19). Chloé - The Dawn (Dixon Remix) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRh299QXowA
M'Baye, B. (2013). Crossing traditions: American popular music in local and global contexts. Lanham, Maryland [u.a.: Scarecrow.
Resident advisor. (2017). RA: Chloé - The Dawn (Dixon Remix) on Lumière Noire. Retrieved from https://www.residentadvisor.net/tracks/855649
Resident advisor. (2017). RA: Dixon. Retrieved from https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/dixon/biography