Ramz barking  cameron douglas  Rhythm - This song is in 4/4 this means that there is four beats in each bar. This is also known as common time. The simple time signature was used so the song is easier to sing along to and follow because it is a common time signature. It was a good choice to use this signature because of these reasons. Barking is set at a tempo of 103 bpm this is a lot slower than songs in a similar genre. It was set in this tempo to give the song a more relaxed feeling. In my option the song would have sounded better in a faster tempo like 110 or 120 bpm because it would have made the song livelier. This song also has an irregular hi-hat pattern with notes being played sporadically this pattern is very different similar songs where the hi-hat is used to keep the rhythm of the song with it playing on every beat. These hi hats have been used to create a more playful feel. This is a desirable sound for the producer because the song is playful and upbeat. 

Syncopation – is the when a sound is played on the offbeat of the bar. When performing Ramz used syncopation as a communication tool between him and the audience. Ramz would say part of the lyric on the off-beat of the song and then would let the audience sing the rest. He did this to prompt the audience to sing the next lyric and by sinning on the offbeat before the lyric would be said he gave the audience time to get ready to sing the next lyric. I believe that this technique worked very well because it helped the audience to remember the next lyric.    Tone – is the key of a song. Barking is in the key of G minor which consists of the notes G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭. The minor scale is commonly associated with sadness however this song is all about a more lightweight “happy”. This key would have been used to provide contrast from the cheerful lyrics. This technique worked well because it was not an approach used my many musicians so it makes the song more original. Over all I think that the key of the song sounds good but I think to make the song more intresting the key of the song could have changed. 

   Melody – is an arrangement of notes which is musically satisfying. In this song Ramz uses A,A,A,A rhyme scheme. This is where the last word of every bar rhymes with the next bar. This rhyme scheme is different to the A,B,AB or A,A,B,B scheme often used in hip-hop music. This rhyme scheme was used because it makes it easier to follow along to the song. Overall this rhyme scheme was effective because it is easy to rember and sing along to but it could have been improved by changing the rhyme scheme to provide veriation. 

Emphasis - in the chorus of this song Ramz puts emphasis on the last words in the bar for example "Barking" "Morning" and "Yawning" he also elongated the syllables of the words so that they fill up the bar. Ramz uses this technique to make the main points of the song standout more. This was a good technique because it helped the listener to remember the lyrics. 

Timbre/texture – Barking has a range of different instruments including Hip-hop/ trap electric drumkit, electric xylophone and a 808. Barking obviously takes influence from other artists such as heddie one and not3s you can see the similarities in their choice of instruments. These instruments have been used to create a similar sound to other songs in the same genre with the same instruments. To make this better the producer could have used different sounds which were more unique to the song. This would have made the song easily distinguishable from other songs in the genre. Overall I believe that the producer has used a good range of instruments however they could have used more instruments to help change the texture of the song. 

Dynamics – is how loud or quiet a sound is 

 During the performance Ramz manipulates the dynamics of the performance. One of the ways he changes the dynamics Is how loud he is rapping. When he first comes on stage Ramz’s voice is a lot softer but towards the chorus of the song his voice becomes more prominent.  He does this to create musical tention and help to create a build-up. Ramz changes dynamics to help create a build up into the next section.  

This technique was used well because there where clear differences between the dynamics in different sections. 

Musical faults  

Tempo – In this performance ramz was slightly out of time for the majority of the song this became more apparent during the first verse when Ramz would say the words half a bar to late. Ramz being off time meant that he was out of sync with the backing track this lead to the performance sounding like an echo. I believe that this fault was caused by his in-ears not working properly which would mean he wouldn’t have been able to hear himself and the backing track properly. This fault could have been fixed by making sure that all pieces of tech where working before ramz went on stage. 

Key – Ramz is also not singing in key. The original key of the song is G minor however ramz is singing in an Atonal key. This caused the harmonies in the song to sound unpleasant and created dissonance in the melody. I think that this is because when recording the track ramz would have been able to use tools such as autotune to help him to stay in key but in a live situation he wasn’t able to use this. This could have been solved with more practise to make sure ramz knew the key of the song or using an efffect such as autotune on stage to help him to stay in key.