Production Breakdown: Tony Williams’ “King or the Fool”

As far outside the box as I enjoy looking for Production Breakdown material, one topic I didn't expect to ever have the opportunity to touch upon was microtonal music – no one (aside from the most avant garde rockers) would have the brass ones to flout that musical convention in a pop song, right? But here I am, talking about microtonal music.

For those who don't have any idea where I'm going with this (that is, everyone except myself), let's rewind a moment. Last night in the Booth, G.O.O.D. Music R&B singer Tony Williams introduced himself to our readership with “King or the Fool,” a catchy cut which our own Matthew Kyle found to be inexplicably... scary. Others, however, didn't seem to catch his drift.

Well, I think my good friend Matthew Kyle was right, and there is something strange, though somewhat subtle going on in Chris Cutta and Key Tech's instrumental – specifically in the sampled hook. Those who listen closely to the background vocal/string/piano samples in the chorus (also reintroduced at certain points during the verses) will notice a certain 'deflated,' “out-of-tune,” quality that is the hallmark of microtonal intervals.

If you've ever heard, a guitarist execute a string bend (or use a whammy bar, for that matter), you're aware that there's something in between what we (at least in the Western world) commonly consider the smallest increments of pitch. The fact that we quit at half-steps is just a matter of convention; if you chop things up further – ta-da! – you have twice as many notes. It's just that, when quarter-tones and smaller come into the picture, sh*t gets (to our ears) very weird. Here's a very dope example of quarter-tone music (complete with a fittingly bizarre video accompaniment) composed by YouTube member DieselBodine.



Fresh, huh? Well, it's sort of an acquired taste. If you happen to dig this, a search for “quarter-tone music” on YouTube will yield plenty more by Diesel Bodine, as well as pieces by better-known avant garde composers like Charles Ives and Alois Hába. If it gives you the heebie-jeebies, well, it goes without saying that we at RefinedHype.com will not be held responsible for lost sleep due to nightmares – sorry!