Song Loop: Song 2

A continuation of my exploration of looping riffs, but this time I attempted a full song. The best visualisations I’ve found so far need a good range in dynamics, with not all tracks playing throughout the piece. “Song 2” by Blur is a good example of this. It's short and punchy, with only a few instruments. The contrast between verse and chorus are easy to spot, and the distinct vocal patterns can be picked out, meaning this piece can actually be read as a vague representation of printed music.

Four instrumental channels were taken from original recordings. Drums are printed as cyan. They start the song in isolation and continue throughout. Guitar is magenta and joins the drums part way through the introduction through to the end of the track. Bass is yellow and is only playing during the louder chorus and bridge sections. The vocals make up the final black layer. As an example, the first four groupings of black lines during the initial loud section each represent a “Woo-hoo”!