Daft Punk Discovery

Discovery is Daft Punk's second studio album. It features the songs One More Time, and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Since I was a kid I always loved those songs, but I never listened to the full album. Here are a couple of my favorites off of it.

3. Digital Love

Relating the title of the track to the lyrics, I think this song is about having a crush on someone you know only through the internet. Maybe this means a celebrity, someone you've met online, or the online presence of somebody. Either way, the overall tone of the track fits the theme perfectly. The main melody is built around 3 parts. The first half sits in the middle which plays chords on the first down beat and then the upbeats like,

1 AN 2 AN 3 AN 4 AN

Then two different takes play a more complex line with notes, one left and one right. The rhythm to me sounds like

an a 2 3 e an a 4 e an a

Starting at 0:23, there's a quiet acoustic guitar layered in to give more depth. You can hear it in your right ear, it falls on the up beats of 2 bars except for the last one. . It plays

1 AN 2 AN 3 AN 4 AN 1 AN 2 AN 3 AN 4 an

At first the drums that play have a punchy kick. The way I see it, a kick either punches or thuds. It has to do with how present it is in the low end. I like the snare fill that plays at the end of each loop. Around 0:46 it seems like a ride cymbal comes in, this builds into the next part where at 1:09 a shaker starts playing 16th notes. The main melody begins to go under a filter sweep at 1:25, which makes room for the horn that comes in and gives more depth to the track. It also builds into the part at 1:44 where the low end comes in. Now instead of punching the kick thuds. There's also a really cool manipulation of the vocalist holding the last note of the verse, it sounds like it was pitched up and given a little melodic line at 1:36. The whole song builds up into 1:44, and it's worth it. The melody plays with the full drums, and then to keep the track moving it goes under the filter sweep again. I love the part at 2:15, especially the phaser.

After all of this the song takes a break and lets the keyboard play. The melody that plays is amazing, especially the line at 2:47. The different take that comes in on the right channel layers the rhythm of the melody. The guitar solo that comes after is one of my favorite solos of all time. It seems like it was bitcrushed, and the tone is insane. I'm not sure how it was achieved. Whether or not it sounded like that while it was recorded isn't important to me, it's how it fits in the song. I like the effect at 3:52.

8. High Life

Researching this I found that the sample this song was built around was unknown for awhile. It's easy to see why, it was chopped beyond recognition. The loop plays most of the song, with a lot of phaser being used throughout the track. I can't really tell what was phased, but it doesn't sound like it was as simple as just slapping a phaser on the loop of the chopped sample. To me it doesn't sound like the vocals of the loop are phased but something behind it, maybe the loop filtered. I love the way the organ is panned at 1:01, and how it wobbles at 1:04. There's a really weird percussion being played during this part towards the right. The way the loop rises back into the mix is so cool. A very fun song with a lot to look at in effects.

12. Short Circuit

The different drums used for the fill in the intro all work great together. The melody that plays after that is made up of a bunch of different sounds. The fourth sound changes at 0:24. The bass that comes in at 0:30 makes the whole song, the melody changes and everything starts playing around it. I have no idea how they went about writing this, nonetheless putting all these sounds together and making them work. The overall mixing is great you can hear each piece clearly, and the rhythm of each track works to layer another. At 1:38 the song slows down and the keyboard starts playing chords. It sounds like 2 takes, and they play different notes to make unique chords. The bit crush starting at 2:13 makes it feel like the song is melting.

13. Face to Face

This song has my favorite composition on the album, with what plays from 0:08 to 1:12. This entire section is so catchy and is built around multiple sources of sound. This means that the song is moving all over the place. There's a lot going on but each piece fits and leads into the next. I love the part starting at 0:40 and the "Dada da da", with the palm muted guitar that comes directly after. All of this leads into the first verse at 1:12, which cuts the loop and adds a bass line while there's singing. What I find interesting, is that the bass is only present during the verses. I notice that the song doesn't feel empty without it, the kick drum fills the space and there's enough going on with the melody.

Those are 4 of my favorite songs off of Discovery by Daft Punk. Another song I really love is Crescendolls. "Hey!!!! Aint it funky now"", with the bassline??? Ahhhh man. Voyager too, that song is amazing.

Thank you for reading. Tomorrow I will write about my favorite some of my favorite guitar riffs.