Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

Question 1

What album does it come from?

Answer 1

Play

Question 2

When was it released?

Answer 2

1999

Question 3

What is the song based on?

Answer 3

Two samples taken from a 1953 recording of a gospel choir

Question 4

What is sample A like?

Answer 4

It is sung by a male singer and is used in the verses

Question 5

What is sample B like?

Answer 5

It is sung by a female singer and it is used in the choruses

Question 6

What has happened to the samples in order to change the meaning of the words?

Answer 6

They have been manipulated

Question 7

How does Moby create a vintage feel with the samples?

Answer 7

Moby hasn’t cleaned up the surface noise

Question 8

How is the melody created?

Answer 8

The samples are looped

Question 9

What structure does the piece have?

Answer 9

A verse-chorus structure

Question 10

How are the verses and choruses created?

Answer 10

The samples are looped

Question 11

What is the one bar’s silence that comes after the second verse called?

Answer 11

The breakdown

Question 12

How is the texture built up?

Answer 12

Individual tracks are introduced one by one

Question 13

What happens to the texture after the breakdown?

Answer 13

It becomes thinner

Question 14

What does the accompaniment use to vary the texture?

Answer 14

Static chords

Question 15

What metre is the song in?

Answer 15

4/4

Question 16

What is the tempo?

Answer 16

98 bpm

Question 17

What rhythmic device is used in the piano, vocal and sythesised strings?

Answer 17

Syncopation

Question 18

What happens to the rhythms of each section to create contrast?

Answer 18

Rhythms are varied between sections

Question 19

What equipment did moby use to produce the track?

Answer 19

Synthesisers, sampler, drum machine, sequencer

Question 20

What are the synthesisers used for?

Answer 20

To produce string, bass and piano sounds

Question 21

What is the sampler used for?

Answer 21

Used for the vocal samples, as well as the breakbeat rhythm on the drum track

Question 22

What is the sequencer used for?

Answer 22

To trigger the sampler and synthesisers

Question 23

What is panning used for?

Answer 23

To place sounds in the stereo field

Question 24

What are the ‘electronic ghostings’ on the male vocal sample when it first comes in?

Answer 24

Remnants of the backing singers in the original sample

Question 25

What other effects are used to create an echo-like sound?

Answer 25

Reverb and delay

Question 26

What has happened to the echoes?

Answer 26

They have been processed with EQ to remove the lower frequencies

Question 27

What is the harmony like?

Answer 27

Entirely diatonic

Question 28

What is the chord sequence that the first sample is set to?

Answer 28

Am, Em, G, D

Amazing, Emily, goes, dancing

Question 29

Which two chord sequences are used for the second sample?

Answer 29

C, Am, C, Am then F, C, F, C

Question 30

What key is it in?

Answer 30

The verse use the Dorian mode on A

The choruses are in C major