Everyday, Rusko Original v. Netsky Remix

Rusko - Everyday

Rusko: Everyday

1. Rhythm

a. Tempo

i. Around 130 bpm, medium.

b. Source

i. Hi-hats, drums.

c. Groove

i. Smooth, like riding a steady wave

2. Arrangement

a. Instrumentation

i. All sounds from synthesizers. Drums, laser sound, white noise, arpeggiating mono-synths, sub-bass, multiple other synths, ambient arpeggiations

b. Structure/Organization

i. A (intro)/B (drop/chorus)/C (verse-ish)/D(bridge)/ B (drop/chorus 2)/ C (short-verse)/B

c. Emotional Architecture

i. In dubstep, emotion builds up to the drop. The introduction builds up a huge amount of emotion up to the drop and then releases afterwards, like getting to the top of a roller coaster. Emotion also builds towards the last 1/3 of the song, where the theme/chorus is played more often and made to sound bigger.

3. Sound Quality

a. Height

i. Wide range of frequencies, from high pitched cymbals, piano, and lasers, to the deep sub-bass

b. Width

i. Very wide. Certain percussion is panned, arpeggiations are panned, reverbs/delays are also panned and placed

c. Depth

i. Lots of instruments are layered. Some are very soft, others are louder and more upfront/recognizable

Rusko - Everyday (Netsky Remix)

Rusko: Everyday (Netsky remix)

1. Rhythm

a. Tempo

i. Around 176 bpm, very fast, drum & bass style

b. Source

i. Drums. The genre, drum & bass, is based around fast paced drum beats

c. Groove

i. Up and down, makes you want to fist-pump/move arms up/down like at a show

2. Arrangement

a. Instrumentation

i. White noise, keyboard polysynth, vocals, stabbing chords, glock, rising mono-synth, sub-bass, claps mixed in low

b. Structure/Organization

i. A (intro)/B (drop/chorus)/C (verse/break)/D (bridge)/B (drop/chorus 2)/C (verse/outro)

c. Emotional Architecture

i. Leads up through the intro to the first drop where a great amount of emotion is released/exploded. The song relaxes slightly into a steady groove after the first drop but then releases/explodes again when the second drop/chorus comes in

3. Sound Quality

a. Height

i. A lot of heights. Hi-hats, high range voals, low sub-bass, thick mid-range synths

b. Width

i. Lots of panning. White noise hi-hats pan in beginning, delay of arpeggiated synth is also panned

c. Depth

i. A lot of depth. Lots of reverb used on synths and drums, a lot of layering, instrumentation that we don’t necessarily focus on such as a beep on the down beat of the chorus and pumping of white noise.

It is popular in electronic music to re-mix other artists work. It doesn’t matter if you produce house, dubstep, or drum &bass, genres cross all the time. I have compared Rusko’s dubstep tune titled Everyday, to a drum & bass remix of the same song done by Netsky.

In Rusko’s original version, the tempo is around a moderate 130 bpm, while in Netsky’s version of Everyday, the tempo is an aggressive 176 bmp. This provides the greatest difference between the two, given that each song is composed with different genres in mind. What is similar, though, is that the source of tempo for each song comes from the drums. This is more apparent in Netsky’s drum & bass version. I feel the same groove in the two songs. When listening, the motion of riding up and down a steady wave is evident, with the want to fist-pump/move my hands up and down like I am at a concert.

Instrumentation between the two are similar, both using mono-synthesizers, percussion, sub-bass, etc. How these are used creates different vibes and modal harmonies. Rusko’s version revolves more around arpeggiations than Netsky’s. Netsky’s however, revolves more around stabbing chords and a modal harmony. The structure of the two songs is very similar. Rusko uses the form of A/B/C/D/B/C, and Netsky uses A/B/C/D/B/C. They take on the same general form, however, I feel the transition from A/B in Netsky’s version releases more emotion and energy than Rusko’s original. Both artists build up the emotion and tension by rising synthesizers and using various filters throughout the A (intro) section. When both artists reach B, the tension and emotion are at a peak in the song until the same B section comes around again.

Balance is relatively the same, though different aspects stick out more. For example, panning is much more noticeable in the introduction of Netsky’s version, creating much more width than Rusko does in that section of the song. In each version, percussion is panned, specifically snares/claps and hi-hats. Both artist use delays and reverb panned to different speakers at different points throughout each song. Lots of synthesizers are layered. Every time I listen to each version, I find myself picking out new melodic and harmonic sections.

Rusko is hands down one of my favorite dub step artist. However, Netsky takes home the trophy for his remix. The sounds he created for the song and how he arranged them just strike an emotion and reaction in me that no other song does. The fast drums, heavy bass, and vocal samples all combine to create an amazing orchestration.