Why by ONF - a production analysis
DISCLAIMER: This was written as part of a larger work done for school. It doesn't quite go in depth the way I would like to because I had to keep it short!
I would like to analyse one of my favourite songs of all time and my favourite pop song of all time, 'Why' (2019) performed by my favourite boy group ONF and produced by my favourite producer, Hwang Hyun of music production team Monotree (also known as the Mozart of Kpop). The song is described by the producer as 'Future Trap', which I assume is a combination of Future Bass and Trap.
Something I like about Monotree is that they often make breakdown videos of songs they've produced, going through the logic pro session and explaining the different techniques they use. I often come back to these breakdown videos to pick up methods from them, and also it's just plain fun to see your favourite songs broken down and explained. One such video was made for 'Why'.
'Why' was produced in Logic Pro, another one of the sons of Fairlight CMI. There is an endless amount of advancements and differences between the two programmes, but I will comment on a few. First of all, the waveform visualisation in Logic Pro is incorporated into the arrangement view. While this is something that has come to be expected of music softwares nowadays, I think that being able to see the wavelengths in different tracks is important to understanding the mixing and levels of your piece. Additionally, they look cool. Another thing that looks cool is that you can color code the tracks, and here Hwang Hyun has chosen to make the drum tracks purple. This is another one of the small things we take for granted that greatly increases quality of life. The sections of the song are also color-coded at the top of the window, allowing for enhanced visual representation of the song.
In the intro of the song (0:08), there is foley sound of running used. On first watch of the music video, one may assume it was an extra effect for the video, but the step sounds are part of the actual mix. I am a fan of the use of foley sounds in music.
At 0:27, a riser sample is audible; the end of the riser sample is then delayed and panned left and right in the mix. You have to listen closely to catch it, but I think it's a nice touch.
The rhythm sequencing of the drums can be seen here.
There is an array of drum samples here, and in the intro specifically there is a trap hi-hat loop on top of a snare. The snare loop has dry delay put on top of it, resulting in a sort of echo-effect that I think adds to the techno-apocalypse atmosphere of the piece. Although not visible in the session view they show, I would also like to point out that the hi hat gets panned to the left, adding dimension as a clap sound comes in on the right later in the intro.
So, in just the drum tracks, we can see a combination of looping and sampling along with the delay effect originally made from tape recorder techniques emulated digitally.
They also employ a synth bass (of course, because it's future bass). I think that the bass here may be sidechained to the percussion tracks to create that pumping effect.
Interestingly, Hwang Hyun describes the guitar part as "The Guitar Nobody Knows Is Guitar". There are four layers of tracks here, with each one focusing on a different layer of frequency. Additionally, the tracks are de-essered, which I assume is to prevent the tracks from being too sibilant from all the layers. This results in a plucky sound.
This layering technique is something Monotree use a lot in their music, and I find that it is done very well in a way that you may process the layers as one cohesive instrument when they are actually a bunch of seperate things.
This layering is also seen in 'Popping', which Hwang Hyun also produced, wherein what sounds like just a flute is actually layered with a piccolo, flugelhorn, trombone and synth bell to create a fuller sound.
People often say that modern music production is simplistic by nature in comparison to classical music; I agree with this to an extent. While it is much easier and more accessible to produce music, it does not make it more 'simple'. The fact that music production is streamlined and advanced like this lends to creating complex layers of instruments like this.
Looking at the amount of tracks used in 'Why' makes me feel faint. Especially the amount of vocal tracks, which is what I will discuss next.
Much of the vocals in 'Why' are layered with vocoder, a form of processing that breaks down and synthesises speech. Originally used for encrypting communications in wartime, it now serves the much more fun purpose of making a cool robot voice effect. In the rap/talking part, the vocoder adds a layer of melodic/harmonic material through extracting the pitches in the track and processing them. When the vocoder processed track is played by itself, it results in a very daft-punk esque vocal line, but when layered below the dry vocals, it adds a layer fo dimension and creates a dark atmosphere that I feel relates to the concept of the song, which according to the singers and producers, is supposed to be a story about forbidden love between a human and an android. So, I find the robot-like effect of vocoders effectively used here for the narrative as well.
Vocoders aside, there is also just. An impressive and almost absurd amount of harmonies in 'Why' where simpler pop songs may just use vocal doubling and call it a day.
Overall, I feel that 'Why' is a good example of the methods employed in pop music production, with an array of techniques used that I take as inspiration often.
