Track Review

For this blog post, I will be reviewing a track by Smith and Pledger called "Black".



The track begins with a straight-forward beat characterized by a bass drum, hi-hat, and snare. A four-to-the-floor bass drum pattern enters, and a bass line comes into the mix as well. A simple melody line then enters the fold and is repeated. A synthetic voice pad outlines a chord progression. A glissando then leads to almost all instruments dropping out, and a new but similar bass line emerges followed by a melody, snare roll and massive drop.

The drop is accentuated by percussion dropping out right before all instruments go back in, and a glissando becomes the focus of the listener. I thought this technique was very effective, and I hope to use it in my final project.

The second dropping out of instruments is followed by the introduction of percussion, and then a bass line, changing it up from before. The synthetic melodic line comes back in as well as the voice pads and another drop.

I am giving this track 5 out of 5 stars for the following reasons. First, all of the instrumental lines are compelling. This includes the beat, melody, bass line, and pads. These elements have a simple, yet very effective progressions, melodies or beats.

Second, the arrangement works very well. This is an eight minute track, and Smith and Pledger develop each theme in different ways, as described above. After the second drop, for example, they come back in with percussion instead of bass. A lot of this arrangement work is very subtle, yet it lends a lot of professionalism to the track, and engages the listener.

Third, the energy of the track is pumping. It starts off slow, crescendos, maintains energy, and slowly fades away. It is very "danceable", and the well constructed drops lend to the exhilarating quality of the track.

In my final project, which will be a trance track, I hope to replicate what makes this track work well, and incorporate it into my work.