Aphex Twin Musical analysis?

[Guest HokusPoker]

One thing I've always been wondering about is, that Aphex Twin's music sounds so intuitive.

It never (barely ever) sounds like somebody sat down and thought like:

Let's add another bassline, should be like this and that.

 

It sounds "felt".

 

Do you know, if there ever has been a musical analysis of his music by somebody who knows more about minor, major, tonic and secondary dominant than me, that would explain how it works harmonically? (if there is anything special to be found out at all, and not just some fanboy's fancy)

 

I know about his lucid dreams and that, but that's the way he created some of his melodies, not the way they actually work.

 

Thanks.

[Guest Drahken]

When I first started managing the print shop I work at one of my employees was studying music at UI and asked me what artists I liked. When I mentioned Aphex Twin she said that one of her classical music professors would refer to AFX a lot for contrasts and comparisons of classical music elements and contemporary composing styles. She said that the prof wanted people to really listen to what some people thought of as random patterns and relate it to the intricacies of full orchestra composition, so much so she had to write a comparison and analysis paper on it. It was right after Drukqs came out I believe as she talked about prepared piano a bunch too.

[Guest HokusPoker]

When I first started managing the print shop I work at one of my employees was studying music at UI and asked me what artists I liked. When I mentioned Aphex Twin she said that one of her classical music professors would refer to AFX a lot for contrasts and comparisons of classical music elements and contemporary composing styles. She said that the prof wanted people to really listen to what some people thought of as random patterns and relate it to the intricacies of full orchestra composition, so much so she had to write a comparison and analysis paper on it. It was right after Drukqs came out I believe as she talked about prepared piano a bunch too.

 

That sounds VERY interesting.

Is there a way to get my sticky fingaz on that paper?

[Guest Drahken]

Unfortunately not, she graduated the same year I took over managing the shop and ran away to the homeland (Utah). As interesting a conversation as this was I didnt talk to her much...Something about the che stash on her upper lip made it difficult.

[sneaksta303]

lol

[Guest hahathhat]

aphex twin has tape recorder in hed. aphex twin thinks the of a melody. aphex twin press play on tape, tape recorder in hed. tape recorder in hed record melody. later, aphex twin rewind rewind tape, play play melody back, reconstruct mashmashmanglemix, mp3.

[Mr12000]

Yeah I think I remember hearing about that in an interview...

[Guest Barricade]

yeah exactly this is what makes Aphex Twin so great. Most of his songs seem to make so much sense. I absolutely love Synthacon 9 and the whole composition makes so much sense. Sounds in that song come and go on the places I would think of as logical and it's such a joy to listen to it.

[Guest Laughable Butane Bob]

AFX, natural and elegant.

[kaini]

he seems to use 'natural' (ie as little sharps or flats as possible) modes a lot, also pedalpoint melodies, which keep returning to a root note. but i don't want to analyse dick.

[Mr12000]

just goes to show that complex music doesn't need scale wanking

[Guest Speedplay]

graver dans la roche

[Aphex_Squarepusher_Twin]

gratter dans la roche

fixed

[Guest hahathhat]

AFX, natural and elegant.

 

and no mess to clean up afterwards

[Guest Frequency]

You can see it by yourself ...

here is an example for Avril 14 :

 

Low part melody :

 

High part melody:

 

And what it sound like :)

Avril_14.mp3

[chim]

depends on what era you're looking at. im not too much of an academic but here goes, based on what i've read and learnt from the internet and my own playing of instruments. i havent slept in 24 hrs or so, keep that in mind

 

early stuff was pretty much all pentatonic scales

 

later on, some mixtures, i dont think there was much academic thought behind them, more just going by feel and melody, which music is about in the long run!

 

if you look at drukqs theres more complex counterpoint, together with the rabid beat programming

 

meltphace6 for instance involves an augmented 3rd note in a natural minor scale, and if i'm not too mistaken there's some augmented 6ths too. together with the typical minor 3rd and 6th halftone, it becomes sort of a semi polytonal feel to the music, that he's always resolving as well. the minor 3rd becomes almost a substitute for the root near the end, something that is very common in jazz (but not usually in the repeated manner here).

 

phrygian scale is used alot too, from his earliest tracks to almost all of the analord tracks (phonatacid, lisbon acid etc etc). one key thing to look at here is that he usually avoids the minor 3rd of the phrygian scale until the end of the track since it affects the harmony alot, making it sound less aggressive and more pleasant/happy. for instance the mid to final parts of ziggomatic, vordhosbn and mt st micheals i think.

 

tuss works extend on analord ideas as I see it, basically more playing around with the moods that he enjoys (nostalgic techno being processed through what we mortals know as aphex magic), plus more complex beat programming and syncopation.

 

In the track rushup bank, he uses the melodic minor scale with bass sequence hitting the notes, I-V-VI-VII, that is exchanged with I-V-VI-II, so you basically have a 4th substitute for the VII note, in laymans terms, it sounds different (haha).

 

what he does in general, as I see it, is coming up with a sequence then extending on that (counterpoint, i.e adding melodies to another, so common in electronic music making, it shouldnt be called something as pretentious as counterpoint) until he has a complete track, varying the melodies but never deviating from the original harmony. not much transposition(key changes) for instance.

 

he has the advantage of really good mixing equipment lately, he just chucks in a ton of stuff that fits and you can still discern the individual parts. that is also aided by his really good sense of composition.

 

theres not much to say really, he delves into all kinds of stuff as I see it, and I think the main reason that his music is so enjoyable is that his philosophy on making it is purely pursuing his own musical taste, constructing his own aural world and residing there, that we enjoy it simply means that we share some of his interests and emotions.

 

much love y'all

[sneaksta303]

jesus son!

[salvakkpooo]

You can see it by yourself ...

here is an example for Avril 14 :

 

Low part melody :

 

High part melody:

 

And what it sound like :)

Avril_14.mp3

 

have u one of those midi controlled pianos??

did u use a soft to write the melody or simply hearing ????

[Dale]

(nostalgic techno being processed through what we mortals know as aphex magic)

good one

[Guest HokusPoker]

Wow, thanks a lot, Derelic7!

That's what I've been looking for.

I probably wouldn't have understood everything you said even if it had been in German, let alone in English, but I'll try to translate and understand.

Thanks again.

[Guest Speedplay]

As someone with absolutley no knowledge about music theory whatsoever I just have to say that to me all the little improvisations, variations and playful additions that Richard puts into his tracks are what makes them so natural and intuitive

[YEK]

i was having a thought on the analord series last night. basically how acid techno is a fairly simple genre yet rich takes acid techno and does his thing with it so that his tracks are not average techno, it's actually very advanced. i thought to myself why try to create the analord series, i wouldn't be able to pull it off and it would just sound like acid tehcno, not analord techno. there were/are lot's of imitators when analord came out , example ekt, but the tracks turn out to be old school sounding.

basically afx creates very tecxhnical music even if it's just simple genre,... people can't imitate him... like laughable butane bob was saying, natural, though the thing is it's programmed. ztf

[chim]

cheers man, my pleasure! correction on rushup bank, its a major 3rd substitute. the II note is the major 3rd of the VII. the piano sequence later on is briefly transposed up a fifth (7 halftones), aphex knows his circle of fifths. in jazz, the COF means that substituting a chord with its fifth or fourth is mostly a good idea. sorry for the weird terms btw, its much simpler than it sounds. ill get around to a proper explanation if you wish.

[chim]

by the way, is there any track in particular you are curious about?

[oyster]

Yes how come Fingerbib is the best song ever?