The Melody of One Song - Essay Example

Running head: THE MELODY OF ONE SONG The Melody of One Song THE MELODY OF ONE SONG The Melody of One Song Many people, listening to music of different styles and genres do not think about its impact on their mentality and behavior. It is believed that music can enhance any joy, soothe any sorrow, alleviate any pain and even banish disease. Since the XIX century science has accumulated a lot of vital information about the effects of music on human being and living organisms, resulting of experimental research. Experimentation conducted in several directions. Nowadays special phenomenon has gained popularity. It is called re-mix. Re-mix is a version of the musical work recorded later from the original version, as a rule, it is in a more modern version of the arrangement. Sometimes it is created by “mixing” of several parts of the original composition, superimposing various sounds on it, special effects, change the tempo, key, and so on. There are different branches of re-mix, so-called megamix (compilation of several pieces of music), and a re-make re-work. Looking at the pages of musical history, it is worth noting that the dawn of the era of the remix was at the end of the 20th century and nowadays. The fact is hat the technique is developing in parallel with improvement of remixing recording equipment. If person means taking as a basis the essence re-mix, reworking the melody, this trend has appeared in music long before the development of technology. One of the distinguishing features of the popularization of remixes, for example, the front direction of dance music, was the desire of musicians and DJs to return to the former popularity in some songs, giving them a “second birth”. Nights in White Satin This song has a very long history and it made a trip with a lot of singers. THE MELODY OF ONE SONG The song was first released in 1967, but no one paid any attention to it, including the fact that the long songs (and it was over seven minutes long) were not honored. In 1972, when songs like "Hey Jude" The Beatles and "Layla" by Eric Clapton and Derek and the Dominos paved the way long songs in the charts, re-issued it and “Nights in White Satin” quickly gained gold status. The song was written by Justin Hayward, when he stayed with a friend in Swindon in England on a bed with satin sheets. Experts find that the song is very autobiographical: the musician has just started a serious relationship (Manuel et al.56). Hayward was only nineteen at that time. Most listeners heard this song in the music collections and on the radio, so not everyone knows that the album called “Nights in White Satin” was significantly longer. The single cut the orchestral introduction and the final, as well as the poem “Late complaint” written by keyboardist Mike Pinder and recited by drummer Graeme Edge. It must be said that the record was really teamwork. The authors of all the songs were listed as «Redwave/ Knight»: Redwave was a common name to the group, and under «Knight» orchestra conductor Peter Knight was implied, who actually packed songs and also wrote the interlude. It is interestin that a “lite” version of «Nights in White Satin» people do not hear Knight`s work - all the orchestral sound in songs was simulated with the synthesizer-mellatronom of Mike Pinder (Pascall et al. 17). This instrument was new, trendy and promising at the time. Lovely flute solo also was played by band member Ray Thomas. The extraordinary melody «Nights in White Satin», the general color of the song (size 6/8, E minor tonality characteristic bass, mellotron on the background), the soft voice of Justin Hayward, beautiful scene in the middle with a flute solo by Ray Thomas, arrangement (the famous opevanie - re-mi-fa-fa # -hydrochloric # pE-mi - coined by Mike Pinder and so grace the song) all this made «Nights in White Satin» one of the most beautiful romantic songs in the history of rock music. The popularity of the song led to the appearance of its cover versions (Stephenson et al. 35). "Nights in White Satin" appeared in 1995 as a dance-pop cover version performed by German singer Sandra. The song appeared on Sandras sixth studio album Fading Shades. It was produced by Michael Cretu and received mixed reception from music critics. The song was released as the lead single in the spring of 1995, although it failed to match the success of Sandras previous singles. The song entered the Top twenty in Finland and Australia, but in Germany, it reached a peak of eighty-six, becoming her least successful lead single in that country to date. In the United Kingdom, it failed to enter the chart, but reached reached number one in the charts in Israel. This version has added even more mystery to the song, and some listeners compared it to travel to other worlds, fantasy and dreams. Motives of songs presented on the album were originally suggested for a slow pace, but they were imposed with popular bit parts that do not match everything else. These bits need a bright motif. In general music critics believe that the album was a bit confused. But “Nights in white satin” was noted as worthy of a cover version, although not able to overshadow the experience of the original. The year before, “Nights in white satin” were noticed by the German elektroorganist, pianist, arranger and composer Klaus Wunderlich. He is known for his passion for the combination of products of different styles – classical music, operetta, pop music. Thats what he tried to embody in his covers. The oppinion if he was lucky can be subjective, but the melody of “Nights in white satin” under his name is so thoughtful and smooth. It provides listeners with the opportunity to relax and think about something else, personally. THE MELODY OF ONE SONG In the performance of G.Moroder & J. Esposito the song appears even earlier. In this cover listener can`t but mind the sound of percussion instruments and a strong voice of the soloist. “Nights in white satin” sounds very rhythmic and pleasant. Another record was Panamas 1978 twelve-inch single “Nights in white satin”. This original Moody Blues track has obviously been covered by many including Giorgio Moroder and Linda Law, however Panamas version is one of those which is worth to be listened. The groups gritty lead vocal is wonderful, it a bit of a Carribean feel to it. This track was also featured on the groups 1978 album Fire! Declan Galbraith is a British singer, but despite this, he is better known outside of England. Of course, the extent of its popularity is the widest in Germany, where most of his albums were promoted, songs were recorded and the video filmed, despite being known and becoming more and more favorite in the UK. The London Symphony Orchestra did not miss the chance too. Like every song in a similar performance, “Nights in white satin” is amazing. There are both the original motif, and the sound quality by using modern equipment, it is a perfect variant. The song “Nights in white satin” was included into his second album, which was released in 2006. There is still a high voice of artist, but in general the song is performed at a good level. It still contains lyrical motifs and distinct bust guitar sounds, though perhaps it is not quite live up to the emotions attached by their predecessors. This treatment is one of therecent, but let`s believe that life of “Nights in white satin” is not over yet. References Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. Pascall Jeremy (1978) The illustrated history of Rock music. New York: Galahad. Manuel, Peter (1988). Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More