AOS 3: Club Dance Music And Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Question 1

Use of technology of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 1

Synthesisers - provide strings, piano and bass sounds.
Sampler - used to make vocal samples
Drum machine - create drum track
Sequencer - trigger sampler and synthesisers
Panning - placing sounds in the stereo field.
Reverb
EQ
Delay

Question 2

Context of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 2

Moby’s real name is Richard Melville Hall

He was an American dance musician

He was born in 1965

The song is from the album ‘play’

The song/album was released in 1999

Club dance music has:
Steady tempo
Short phrases and looped sections
Electronic sounds
Strong beat

Question 3

Instrumentation and timbre of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 3

Sounds created using synthesiser - strings, bass, piano

Drum track made using a drum machine

Melodies are sampled (prerecorded)

All parts are controlled and triggered by a sequencer

Question 4

Tempo and metre of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 4

4/4

Tempo is 98 bpm

The bass drum falls on beats 1 & 3

The snare drum falls on beats 2 & 4

The shaker plays repeated semiquavers throughout the piece

Drum loop is a backbeat (a drum solo) sampled from a hip hop track

The piano, vocal and synthesised string parts are syncopated

Piano part varies to add contrast between static and syncopated chords.

Question 5

Tonality and harmony of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 5

Harmony:
Entirely diatonic (made of 3 simple chord progressions) 

In the verse, there are 4 chords: (first sample)
Am Em G D (Amazing Emily Goes Dancing)

In the chorus, there are 2 chord patterns: (second sample)
C, Am, C, Am then F, C, F, C

Tonality:
We describe the verses as being in Dorian mode on A (A minor) and the choruses being in C major.

Question 6

Texture of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 6

Builds up as individual tracks are added one by one
A1 - piano only
A2 - voice enters
A3 - drums enter
A4 - bass enters
A5 - piano chords introduced

After the breakdown, the texture becomes thinner as the piano and drums drop out (for Bx2) then re-enter (for By2).

Contrast from:
Use of silence
Static chords
Varying instrumentation.

Question 7

Structure of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 7

The song is strophic (based on repeated verses and choruses).
After the second verse, there’s a breakdown

(A = male sample, B = female sample)

A1
---
A2
A3
A4
A5
---
Bx1
By1
---
A6
A7
---
BD 
---
Bx2
By2
By3
---
A8

Samples are looped
(A - verse, B - chorus)

Question 8

Melody of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

Answer 8

Sample 1:
Descending
Conjunct
Syllabic
Short note duration
Male voice 

Sample 2: 
Descending
Conjunct
Syllabic
Longer note lengths
Female voice

Both melodies were recorded in 1953
They have a vintage feel due to the vinyl the samples are from.
The samples are looped and repetitive