This is my musicology essay analysing an original song and a cover song and deciding if the cover song is successful in covering the original. I just want to see people's reaction :D

Btw, according to my task sheet, I am way over word count which is 800 ~ 1,200 words and this is 2,000 words. LOL

Disclaimer: This is my work. If you want to reference it or use it in any way please tell me. 

Cover It: Eyes, Nose, Lips

The term ‘cover’ originally came from the 1950’s when it was common for a white artist to take and use a black artist’s work while changing the record cover of the song (Pennington, 2014). In the modern era, a ‘cover’ describes a version of a song or piece performed by artists other than the original. Eyes, Nose, Lips by Dong Yongbae, also known as Taeyang, was released in June, 2^nd, 2014 and used for a cover project by YG Entertainment, the label Taeyang is under. The cover song was arranged by Lee Chanhyuk and covered by himself and his sister, Lee Soohyun from the same label. The song is a ballad that expresses the emotions towards a past lover and contains a personal story. While pertaining to the meaning behind the song, Akdong Musician used various music elements to create contrasts compared to the original song and perform it in their own style to produce a grieving mood in the style of a ballad. They meticulously manipulated pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques as well as timbre to effectively and successfully cover Eyes, Nose, Lips by Taeyang.

Pitch is one the most important music elements (Galettis, Pitch, 2009) to produce a successful piece. It determines the mood and style of the piece or song by manipulating tonality, melody and harmony. Taeyang uses these aspects of pitch to his advantage. The song is written in a minor key and a ballad style to portray a sorrowful mood that communicates heartbreak to the audience. The beginning melody slowly eases the listener into the song and introduces a strong sense of helplessness in the chorus. In the first verse, the song starts with a static melodic contour consisting of short intervals between notes. Then the melody progresses to a combination of a wave and angular contour at 1:34 – 1:39. There is minimal vocal consonant harmony in the original song, however, the limited harmony perfectly emphasises certain phrases such as ‘eyes, nose, lips’ in the chorus (2:23). At 1:58 – 2:00, the consonant vocal harmony provides a build up to the chorus and establishes the mood effectively. During the outro (3:18 – 3:45), the song modulates one tone up for an ending full of impact which also heavily emphasises the chorus and disposition of the song. Eyes, Nose, Lips by Taeyang effectively portrays the music element, pitch, to deliver a sorrowful mood and uses the characteristics of a ballad style to meticulously produce the song by writing in a minor key and using static and wave contours to shape the melody. Along with incorporating consonant harmonies, Taeyang utilises a modulation to further express the song’s meaning of a melancholy relationship.

Similarly, Akdong Musician has manipulated pitch to express their own style while keeping true to the original. The cover version is written in a minor key to deliver a similar sense of despair to the listener. The vocal melody slightly changes at the end of each phase in verse 2 (0:16-0:18), to further express authenticity and emotions; which also alludes to the small change in style. With the advantage of two vocalists, the vocal melody is often accompanied by harmony, mostly used for effect and emphasis on specific sections of the song. At 0:21-0:27, a consonant harmony can be heard which builds up to the pre-chorus where another consonant harmony underneath the melody occurs (0:46-0:51) and creates a building to the chorus. A consonant, bass harmony at 1:49-2:00 provides tension before the of the cover song to maintain the sense of helplessness and ballad style. The modulation at 2:04-2:54 signifies the highest point in the cover version and further develops the atmosphere and impact the song has on a listener. Consequently, Akdong Musician has impressively manipulated pitch by rearranging their cover version in the same key. They also make a clear difference in rhythm for comparison to the original song and uses consonant harmonies for effect. However, the modulation was kept the same to show that the song was true to the original. Akdong Musician has produced a successful cover version of Eyes, Nose, Lips by incorporating the music element, pitch, to create a despairing mood and use the characteristics of a ballad style

Dynamics and expressive techniques are what adds to a piece or song for its desired atmosphere and mood (Galettis, s and Expressive Techniques, 2009). Taeyang used dynamics and expressive techniques to his advantage, creating a fantastic song to portray his feelings. The song begins with accented notes aggressively played on a piano in a staccato fashion, effectively establishing the tone and mood. The pre-chorus at 0:34-0:58, provides an effective build up to the chorus, ascending in volume for a more powerful impact. The modulation at the end (3:18-3:46), starts as a fortissimo and gradually recedes to piano which delivers a strong finale to the listener and indicates the end of the heartbreak where the lyrics says, “I’ll call you memory” (or “chueok ila bureulke” – appendix 1: green). In addition to develop the mood, the words “eyes, nose, lips” (or “nun, ko, ip” – appendix 1: blue) are accented in the choruses and “I’m all right” (or “naneun gwaenchanha – appendix 1: yellow”) at the end of the first verse (0:59-1:02, 0:16-0:18). The use of expressive techniques occurs throughout the song. At 1:26-1:28, reverberation and a delayed echo is added to further establish the mood and atmosphere and eases the listener into the second verse. Straight after the vocal reverb, there is an instrumental reverse, from 1:28-1:30, for a short build up to the chorus. From 1:30-2:22, the drums underneath the vocals gradually increases in pitch and are reverbed to produce a minimal and grieving atmosphere for the song. Taeyang has meticulously and successfully manipulated the music element, dynamics and expressive techniques. Accented and staccato notes are played throughout the song to emphasis certain phrases; he has incorporated dynamics in the form of a fortissimo and piano during the modulation and the use of electronical manipulation effectively produced a sense of grief during the song.

In comparison, Akdong Musician has also effectively utilised dynamics and expressive technique to suit their style for the cover version and stay true to the original song. Unlike Taeyang’s song, Akdong Musician starts their cover with a pianissimo atmosphere accompanied by a more complex guitar rhythm. In the second verse after the first chorus, Lee Chanhyuk arranges it into a rap verse (1:22-1:35), further expressing their authenticity of the cover and building the sorrowful mood to introduce the pre-chorus. There is a decrescendo in vocals at 2:28-2:33 for impact and to grab the attention of the listener. Akdong Musician uses electronic manipulation to develop the song and mood. At the very start, a reversed synthesised flute plays which provides a build up to the first verse and results in a consistent mournful mood throughout the song. Like Taeyang, Akdong Musician uses reverb in the vocals for a more powerful impact on the listener. They kept the accent on the words “eyes, nose, lips” (appendix 1) the same to keep true to the original and to express the dismal mood. Akdong Musician has successfully covered Taeyang’s Eyes, Nose, Lips by manipulating dynamics and expressive techniques.

“Timbre refers to the quality of sound” (Galettis, Dynamics and Expressive Techniques, 2009). Timbre is what a piece or song generally sounds like from a listener’s point of view and is the foundation of sound. Taeyang manipulates timbre by using a combination of instruments to create a minimal piece, in regards to instruments, for a strong, emotional impact on listeners. The song includes minimal instruments in each sections of his song: piano, drums, voice, and guitar. At the beginning, there is only a piano, with an accompanying walking bass rhythm at (0:00-0:58). As the introduction progressed, vocals are added which combined effectively with the piano. There was a perfect balance between the two instruments to create a grief-filled mood. As the chorus approached, the balance between voice and piano remains consistent, with the piano switching to block chords for effect (0:59-1:24) and letting the vocal melody take over. Plain and clean timbres were used in the introduction to ease the listener without being forceful in terms of the atmosphere which portrayed a break-up in the song. Because the vocals in the beginning is monophonic, the number of instruments are limited to provide a stronger despairing mood. In the second verse, the drums were introduced (1:30-2:22) to portray the minimalism and mood of the song underneath the vocals. During the second verse and modulated chorus (1:58-2:47), a strumming guitar is included to give the song a timbre of grief and expand the mood. Taeyang has effectively manipulated timbre and instrumentation to his advantage to create a dismal atmosphere. He incorporated minimal instruments throughout the song for a strong impact and created a clean and plain timbre to portray a dismal mood.

Akdong Musician has used different instruments, including: drums, piano, an acoustic guitar, strings, and electronically manipulated instruments or synthesisers. At the beginning, rather than an aggressive piano, a reversed synthesised flute, hi hats and a guitar can be heard. Those instruments provide a stronger emotional impact on the listener and establishes the atmosphere. A steady combination of percussion with an electronically generated tone (1:22-1:35) remains consistent throughout the song which balances the vocals and instruments effectively. At the end of the song (2:33-3:02), strings are added along with the piano for further effect in the mood and style as well as to end the song on a final tone for the listener. Akdong Musician has successfully and meticulously manipulated timbre and instrumentation, by choosing different instruments for a different timbre, to create their own style to cover Taeyang’s Eyes, Nose, Lips.

Taeyang’s Eyes, Nose, Lips was released in June, 2014, and was part of a cover project by the label that Taeyang was under. It creates a grief-stricken atmosphere by manipulating the music elements, pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques and timbre, in the style of a ballad. The original song was written in a minor key with consonant harmonies accompanying it along with a modulation that provided a strong ending to the song and emphasised the chorus for an ending that showed the listener the grief after the conclusion of a relationship. There is a wide range of dynamic aspects such as accentuated notes; phrases that are either in fortissimo or piano; and the use of electronic manipulation for added effects to the song. The original song utilises limited instruments (piano, drums, guitar, and voice) to establish a sense of rawness to the grieving emotions in it. The cover version of Eyes, Nose, Lips by Akdong Musician used pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques and timbre to successfully cover the original song and add their own style to it. Their version is written in a minor key as well to hold together the feeling of similarity between the original and cover songs. The rhythm at the ends of phrases, the rap verse and consonant harmonies distinguishes the differences of the cover artist’s version. The use of electronic manipulation, accentuation, and dynamics such as pianissimo and decrescendos and using different instruments for added effects and timbre represents the ballad style and effectively allows the song to emit a sense of sorrow. As a result, Akdong Musician has meticulously manipulated the different aspects of pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques, and timbre to create an effective and successful cover version of Eyes, Nose, Lips by Taeyang.

References

Chanhyuk, L. (2014). Eyes, Nose, Lips [Recorded by C. Lee, & S. Lee]. Seoul, Seoul, South Korea.

Galettis, H. (2009). Dynamics and Expressive Techniques. In H. Galettis, Musical Concepts (p. 48). Milton: Jogn Wilely & Sons Australia Ltd.

Galettis, H. (2009). Pitch. In H. Galettis, Musical Concepts (p. 23). Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd.

Park, T., Jones, R. J., & DEE.P (2014). Eyes, Nose, Lips [Recorded by Taeyang]. Seoul, Seoul, South Korea.

Pennington, J. (2014, December 2). What does "covers of songs" mean? Retrieved from Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-does-covers-of-songs-mean

Bibliography

Chanhyuk, L. (2014). Eyes, Nose, Lips [Recorded by C. Lee, & S. Lee]. Seoul, Seoul, South Korea.

Galettis, H. (2009). Dynamics and Expressive Techniques. In H. Galettis, Musical Concepts (p. 48). Milton: Jogn Wilely & Sons Australia Ltd.

Galettis, H. (2009). Pitch. In H. Galettis, Musical Concepts (p. 23). Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd.

Park, T., Jones, R. J., & DEE.P (2014). Eyes, Nose, Lips [Recorded by Taeyang]. Seoul, Seoul, South Korea.

Pennington, J. (2014, December 2). What does "covers of songs" mean? Retrieved from Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-does-covers-of-songs-mean

This is my musicology essay analysing an original song and a cover song and deciding if the cover song is successful in covering the original. I just want to see people's reaction :D

Disclaimer: This is my work. If you want to reference it or use it in any way please tell me.