S2E1 - My Girl - The Temptations - Music Production Analysis 

SHOW NOTES:

1- Acapella Vocal arrangement: Listen to YouTube acapella version for more detail.

5 Members- Lead, bass vocal, baritone, tenor x 2: four part harmony around the lead

Bass sometimes does its own bass line fills

Verses 0:10-0:25- ‘Ohhs’ vocal pads

Pre chorus 0:25-0:32- sustained melody so the arrangement is sandwiched all around the lead

Chorus 0:32-0:40- My girl, call and response my girl solo vocal, stacked my girl, counter hook wohhhh, MY GIRL call and response stack.

All in succession.

Technique:

-They are using the different styles for energy development. The vocal pads are more discreet, and are really there to add pad and texture.

-The vocals surround the lead in the pre chorus and it makes it more intense when they sing the melody and words with the lead. Full stack, wide octave range

-Then they take on a more active role as a call and response, moving between solo and stacked for intensity depending on the phrase and punchline.

2- Finger snaps are natural, therefore they sound different every time.

Technique: RYAN TEDDER mentioned that when using snap samples you want to make them different pitches and times so that it is more natural. If not then it stands out too much and sounds amateur. Swedish are very detail oriented and make micro changes on everything to make it sound humanised.

3- Extra kicks for energetic development. Illusion of speed. Core Rhythm.

Verse: 0:10-0:28

Electric guitar hits on beats 2 and 4, Motown style, emphasises snare hits harmonically

Drum pattern, kick snare kick kick snare kick - straighter kick pattern.

Bass follows kick pattern

Pre-Chorus:

Drum pattern, kick snare kick kick snare kick kick, illusion that the track speeds up because kick comes in on the beat earlier to the verse. Stays like this for the rest of track?

Bass follows kick pattern

CORE RHYTHM

4- The Motown snare hit/ guitar hit technique

Using a guitar chord hit on the 2 and 4 can emphasise the snare. But this can be done with any harmonic instrument.

5- Interdependence principle. Everything flows as one unit. Particular times.

1:22- Snare, hats, bass, kick, brass, strings all play at the same time rhythmically. The unit becomes one for emphasis.

This is used throughout but the more in line something is the more emphasis it gives at climactic stages.