This post is part of an exercise called ‘ear-cleaning’ that we are doing in my Sound Design class. The goal is to be able to analyze sounds
by actually listening rather than
just hearing. The difference between the two is that when we only hear sound,
that sound can go in one ear and out the other with no information gain; while
when we listen, we can discern the different instruments and the meaning of how
they are played, or why the words were pronounced one way rather than another.
So, for this exercise, I looked at two versions of the song
“Physical (You’re So).” One version was by Adam and the Ants and the
other was the cover of the song done by Nine Inch Nails. Even though the
two bands performed the same song, the two versions that resulted are very
different. I will be comparing the two by looking at the listening experience,
instrumentation, sound quality, emotive meaning (or mood), and I will also
discuss any problems I had in talking about my listening experience.
The Adam and the Ants (Adam) version of the song was
recorded in analogue and the Nine Inch Nails (NIN) version was recorded
digitally, so I think that in order to replicate the original sound and feel,
NIN put a delay of static at the very beginning of the song. In the Adam
version, the song starts with a “You’re so physical!” that leads into the
guitar and drum startup. I think that this sets the songs mood as being more
upbeat and almost spunky, while the NIN
version that goes from static to guitar and drums sets the mood as a more dark
and ominous kind of song.
The pacing for both versions is slow, almost laborious, like
a train starting to move, but it remains constant at that slow and heavy speed
instead of speeding up.
In the Adam version of the song, it sounds like it’s in a
more major key at the beginning, and somewhere in the song it switches to a
more minor key for the end. The NIN version sounds like it’s in a minor key for
the whole song. I think this decision for the minor key could imply that the
girl from the song is actually having a negative effect on the singers. That
implication could be further confirmed when we take into account the lyrics
“You’re too physical for me.”
As for the mixing of the two versions, I noticed that in the
NIN version, the voice was mixed softer than the rest of the instruments. I
found that as a surprise after listening to the Adam version which seems to
have everything mixed at about the same level. I think that this may have just
been personal preference on the part of the bands, mixers, or producers, but
the softer mix of the voice in the NIN version does add to the darker feel of
the song.
I think this next part is kind of too important to the mood
and feel of the songs to leave out. While the Adam version is more upbeat and
happy, that feel fails to represent what is going on in the song. In this area,
the NIN version excels. Just from listening to the song, you know exactly
what’s happening. NIN goes out of their way to make sure the listener knows
what the singer is feeling about this girl and what they are doing together. A
lot of setting that implication is in the way the vocalist breaths, gasps,
extends words, etc.
I think that the hardest part about discussing these two
versions of the song is describing how the NIN version makes the song so sexual
sounding. I’m not sure I have the appropriate words to describe the noises and
sounds that NIN’s vocalist makes that make the song so sexual. That is really
the only thing I have had trouble finding a way to describe.
