Formal Analysis of a Recorded Work

Formal Analysis of a Recorded Work

Up for observation is "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles. I will begin with a study of it's structure, and then a dissection of certain production aspects not commonly discussed. The graphs you will see were created for another class, but the discussion is entirely original.

The overall form of "A Day in the Life" is ABA, or ternary form. John Lennon composed the A section, and asked Paul to write a B section. Paul's section was an unfinished song fragment, conceived independent of "A Day in the Life" (The Beatles Anthology). The duo decided it was of interesting contrast and included it. The A section is in G major/E minor (it's rather ambiguous), and, following a 10 bar orchestral swell, lands on E major for the B section. The song's meter is 4/4, with a few one-measure instances of 2/4. The A section can be subdivided into AAAB, then C - bridge, DD (B section), E (2nd  bridge), AB (return of A section), and the coda out (F?).

Outside of musical transciption lies an area not often explored academically, the production techniques of a recorded work. A most fundamental understanding comes from a sound source(s) versus time graph, shown below:

Using a method defined by William Moylan, sound sources (instruments, or set of instruments) are graphed according to their presence in a recorded work. The data extrapolated is interesting in and of itself, arrangement-wise and beyond, but can also lead into other examinations, such as stereo location of sources versus time. 

While not obvious in a casual or passive listening session, stereo location quite often changes during a recorded work. Moylan points out in his book "Understanding and Crafting the Mix" that such changes most often occur at structural points, not during a section of music. Below is a multi-tiered graph of the stereo location of sources versus time in "A Day in the Life":

Time runs along the Y-Axis, and along the X-Axis is Left, Center and Right. Sources are distinguished by color, and width (in this graph, the height of the shape). Width refers to the horizontal space a source occupies in the stereo image. Outside of the loudspeakers exists a 15 degree extension of the image, where sources seems to appear in sometimes.

Only two of the eight sources remain in the same space throughout the song, the drums and McCartney's vocals. Lennon's vocal throughout the second and third verse moves from more right in the image to all the way left at the entrance of the first bridge. A similar, quick shift in stereo location happens in the bridges with the orchestral overdub. The orchestra begins positioned on one side, and throughout the bridges, moves gradually in the opposite direction, and eventually takes up the entire image before it quickly exits. Other sources, like the acoustic guitar and shaker flip from the left to right side from the end of the third verse, to the return of the A section (verse 4).

Meta-critique

Structure, sources versus time, and stereo location are all very interesting. They are, however, only pieces to the puzzle. These "facts" are devoid of any intent or effect the music has on us. What does it mean to the listener that Lennon's vocal moves throughout the stereo image? It could be an artistic decision; it's an interesting sonic effect. It could also be a technical workaround. The REDD consoles at Abbey Road had a limited number of stereo panning channels (2, if I remember correctly- courtesy of Recording the Beatles), so the mix engineer might be preparing for an overdub to enter- like the orchestral dub in the bridge.

A complete understanding of a work requires multiple methods of analysis, which support and augment each other. Syntax relates and informs sound-in-time, and vice versa; the same goes with referential meaning.

A critique of my graphs is that my notation can be imprecise at times. For instance, in the sound sources versus time graph, the dotted lines I drew for the ride cymbal don't precisely account for each hit, in each measure. The markings give you an impression of when the cymbal is hit. Such detail isn't particularly necessary in the graph, but it's non-correspondence may be misleading to some.