Music Theory: the Boh Rhap intro
Apr 13, 2020 11:23:24 GMT
waunakonor, littlequeenie97, and 3 more like this
Post by ThomasQuinn on Apr 13, 2020 11:23:24 GMT
Hey guys,
What more appropriate place to start talking about Queen and music theory than Bohemian Rhapsody? I think you could probably spend years analyzing different aspects of the song and still come up with something new. For instance, we all know that Bohemian Rhapsody pushed the boundaries of pop music and what makes or breaks a potential hit single. What I didn't know is that it actually goes beyond the confines of western music.
So, what I'd like to do here is just provide some raw information, some observations and to start a conversation about just (the first two lines of) the intro (Is this the real life / is this just fantasy) - there's already plenty there to blow my mind, and hopefully yours. If you have anything you want to say or ask, please do. Also, I might be getting some things (dramatically) wrong, if so, please let me know!
Three lessons I took away from a close look at those few seconds of music: 1) at least back in '75, the guys paid *incredible* attention to detail 2) twelve notes to the octave just aren't enough for Queen 3) Bohemian Rhapsody would not have worked anywhere near as well in the age of autotune.
If you've ever listened to a MIDI file of Boh Rhap, I think you'll find that this sounds similar to the intro, but not quite (leaving the matter of what key the song is rendered in aside). Luckily, we have the multitracks for Boh Rhap at our disposal, so we can really dig down into the details. For the first two lines, there are eight voices, each on a separate track. At first glance, they pair off nicely giving us a traditional four-part harmony (in places) with each part sung by two voices. Now, my musical hearing is far (very far) from perfect, so I have to rely on modern technology to figure out the exact notes if I'm not going to spend all night transcribing a couple of bars, so a look with a certain piece of pitch-correcting software was my next step. Here's a transcription of each of the eight vocal tracks on the basis of that software analysis:
ibb.co/8b57Qv0
Now, that looks *very* different, and if you were to play that on, say, a keyboard, it would sound vaguely like the Boh Rhap intro, but worse than the MIDI-transcription I provided earlier. There also seem to be more dissonances there than in the transcription. But hey, this is taken *straight* from the multitracks, and the transcription was made with the accuracy of pitch correcting software. So why doesn't this transcription work? Apparently, because a world of tones and semi-tones just wasn't enough for Freddie Mercury.
I made a table that's going to look weird and complicated, but I promise it makes sense! Ready?
On the left are the track numbers from the multitrack and at the very top the lyrics broken down into separate syllables. For each syllable, the table gives the note sung by each of the eight voices and, in brackets, the degree to which the note is off, given in cents (1 cent = 1% of a semitone)*. So, if a note were to have "+50" below it, that would mean it was exactly half of a semitone higher than it should be. It's perfectly normal to be off by a few cent, even for the best vocalist. Given that, I'd like to point out that Freddie hits an absolutely textbook, pitch-perfect E on the last syllable of "fantasy" in track 18, and that the vocals are off by less than 10 cents (so 10% of a semitone) much of the time - clearly, we're dealing with a great vocalist (as if we didn't know that...).
* the "re-al life" syllables don't have a number of cents listed, just a '~', because the software sees them as one note together with the previous syllable ('the'). No, this transcription isn't perfect either. No, these values in cents aren't absolutely accurate either, but they're pretty good.
But, there are also some things that look more disturbing. There are quite a few notes that are off by between 25 and 50 cents, which is a LOT. Are we witness to a couple of dramatic vocal cock-ups? I doubt it. I think we are witnesses to musical genius at work. Look at tracks 20 and 21. On the first syllable of "fantasy", they both have an E flat, which is sharp by 40 and 51 cents respectively. That's no mistake - that's using quarter tones. In harmonies. With dissonances galore.
There's more going on to suggest that all this is deliberate brilliance. Within one track, we frequently see that a note is a bit off in one direction, and the next note is off in the opposite direction. This up and down drift seems very deliberate to me (again - the notes are less than 10 cents off when that is what is wanted), giving a lilting motion to the melodies, even when they're nominally on the same note. Just take track 21 - the transition fan-ta: it goes from E flat +51 cents to D -29 cents. That's 80% of a semitone 'hidden' between them.
By using the spaces in between the tones, a weird a capella harmony that by all rights shouldn't work that well (just listen to a MIDI) becomes utter brilliance. What appears to be four parts each sung by two voices turns out to really be eight subtly different parts, and the way in which tension and release is created goes far beyond anything I was ever taught in classes on harmony. If, as in modern practice, all those 'off notes' were corrected by autotune or melodyne, I think the Boh Rhap intro would fall flat.
This is just scratching the surface (and I might be getting things wrong), so I'd love to hear your thoughts, observations and corrections!
