Song Analysis: Strobe by deadmau5

Strobe - Full Length Version


    "Strobe" is the behemoth progressive-house track by Canadian electronic music producer Joel Zimmerman, better known by his moniker deadmau5. The track saw it's release as a single in 2010, quickly becoming a cult-classic for both producers and listeners alike. The artist is said to have created it in parts, with different sections of the song having been completed at separate times and locations. While Joel can be known to employ the abused tropes of house music like the progressive repetition of looped percussion lines and monotonously repetitive synth melodies, Strobe does the opposite of lull it's audience with any of these things. Remarkably, the over-ten-minute length of this piece doesn't work against itself or feel forced. Most EDM consumers or mau5heads (as Zimmerman's most faithful fans lovingly call themselves) consider this to be his magnum opus. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in Joel's audience who didn't ravenously obsess over this track at it's release, and even more hard-pressed to find someone today without oddly strong nostalgic ties to this track. But, upon asking listeners and scouring various forums for why it is that Strobe evokes such strong emotions and opinions on it, most answers come tied with only vague language at best; adjectives like evolving, atmospheric, or just simply magical can be among the commonly found the descriptors. Most responses are quite dodgy when it comes to what exactly makes Strobe so impressive and gives it an almost-endless replay value. People would much rather reminisce over how the record turned them on to electronica as a genre, or how it sound-tracked a momentously memorable time in their lives. I'd like to look past these dwellings and dig into the why of Strobe, it's begged me to be dissected in essay format for years. There is a small part of me that's hesitant to make such an attempt too, for in the name of full disclosure I am one of those aforementioned listeners who is obsessively fascinated with Strobe and my feelings for it. I don't want to lose the sense of wonder and other nebulous emotions it elicits. But, in the name of a sound and critical analysis, I'll be diving headlong into every aspect of what makes this tune such a stand-out, and the seemingly mysterious ways it does so. I've observed MIDI and Ableton project files, listened to covers using only singular instruments, and even taken chunks of the lead melody to my own keyboard. I'll make a consorted effort to keep the musical jargon light, which is a statement I find myself laughing at considering this is an electronic dance record. I also feel intrinsically qualified to take apart this song purely because of how much I've listened to it since its release. Oh by the way, I've seen deadmau5 play it live in concert. For the sake of respecting the holistic undertaking that is Strobe, I will be looking at the full length version of this song only. To listen to the radio or club edit would be selling the track short of it's grandness. So let's get right into it.

    Strobe starts out unlike most dance tracks that managed to achieve it's level of popularity. Although it's most known for the 128-BPM tempo it eventually reaches, the track starts out considerably slower. No kick-and-snare loop builds it's way into a lead synth melody for the first thirty seconds. Instead, for the first minute, a small combination of eerie mallet and bells, plus a smooth synth all oscillate in a slow and limited melody. The stress isn't on the progression of notes themselves as much as it is on the reverb effect added to these sounds. This reverb manages to highlight of the dichotomy of the way these instruments are used in this song versus how they're more traditionally used. When I think of how mallet-and-bell instruments (real or synthesized) and smooth synths usually sound, words like eerie or atmospheric aren't the first to come to mind. But the space this reverb creates gives Strobe an immediate and distinct ambiance to it. Couple that with the on-edge feeling given by the slightly evolving variance in the melody itself, and Strobe has done a lot to already gently place the listener into it's world. This is the first of many times in which I will gush over how well this song establishes itself with that ambiance. Here I am, just like all the other forum-dwellers using vague and all-encompassing language like atmosphere and ambiance. Let me be as specific as I can with my own interpretation of what kind of atmosphere Strobe establishes. There is a loneliness to this melody and the reverberation of it. It's seemingly somber, but I wouldn't go as far to say it's sad. It feels much too stuck in revelation, making it more exciting and eerie than sad. Also worth mentioning are the visuals displayed during the live performance of this song. The LCD screens on the gigantic rig known as The Cube on which deadmau5 stands display images of space and stars from what seems to be another planet. The background lighting and spotlights consisted of deep and cold colors, purple being the most prominent in the beginning. This is all important to me, as Joel is heavily involved in the production of his live shows. He goes as far as creating many of his own animations and visuals displayed on those panels, so the feelings of space and loneliness that are personally provoked feel validated - at least to an extent. It's very evident that Zimmerman makes a clear-cut effort to tell you that this won't be a beat you can just mindlessly dance to. It'll require a patient presence to hear this song out and experience it. About a minute and thirty seconds in, a lower-frequency synth and a piano fade in to accompany the initial melody. The synth melody specifically is much more elongated and simple, only further affirming the dire implications of solidarity and loneliness. Shortly after two and a half minutes is when the sense of scale begins to reveal itself when a small section of synthesized strings are welcomed in, and now this thing is waxing cinematic. A white noise hiss paves the way for what appears to be the rattling of some kind of shakers which mimic/actually the patterns of a rattlesnake. A rattlesnake? Even typing this, the use of such a sound seems so shallow and cheesy, the kind of attempt on a unique sound effect that would fail in most other dance tracks. But this isn't the "dance" part of the track yet, and somehow at this point you're inclined to just roll with it. Now the introductory part has been fully fleshed out. All that's left is to cycle through the melody's progression before it starts to fade out, giving way for what would eventually evolve into the lead synth. Another rattle, and on comes the four-on-the-floor kick drum. Exit the cinematic, enter the electronic. All your curiosities and questions are validated; there is so much more rhythmic, sonic, and melodic evolution that's about to take place. Strobe has just drastically sped up in tempo, and it was hard to even be aware of it.

    I'd first like to cover the sonic qualities of the lead synth, bass, and percussion, as these can be summarized much more distinctly than the melodic qualities. The lead saw-line synth is as warm as any other analogue synth. The synced bass line clearly has that distinct trance sound to it. The timbre and envelope of these sounds are progressively expanded, like the synths are opening their mouths to speak more rigidly with time. The kick is present and punchy in the mix, and the hats and claps are a subtle compliment to it all.

    The first iteration of the kick and snare portion of this song last up until just after the five minute mark. This is where Joel begins to allow the melodic prowess of this lead melody to rear it's head, but only in a constrained fashion for the time being. The sixteenth-note mannerism of this lead synth is the closest I can come to guessing at why the track is titled simply as "Strobe"; the melody flashes these chords at you in the on/off fashion of a strobe light, though this lead progression is already far from binary. The song flows on, bending upwards and downwards as it breathes with the kick. At this point in time everything is already complex enough to believe that this is the melodic peak of the song. From here on, you could probably expect a few new synths to glide along the higher-frequency areas of the mix. Maybe pepper in some quirky bass stabs (after all, this was released at the height of the dubstep craze) and you've got yourself a second half of the song that has established itself as good house tune with some trance influence. I could have also seen some airy female vocals taking this track further into that trance direction, but this song doesn't do that and retains it's atmospheric loneliness. The harmony itself is in B major, which has a fair amount of sharped notes in it's scale. What those sharp notes lead to is a pulling feeling, it keeps the mind busy if you just try to focus on the lead synth. Some call this all to be melancholic, but I refuse to do so and will leave the melancholic determination up to each individual listener. The word melancholic gets too close to the word nostalgic, and as I said I will refuse to let my nostalgia take over this dissection.

    At the what seems to be the height of the buildup to this beat, the drum line is pulled out from under the lead. The synths hold their form, but retract in timbre and how long the sustain lasts on each note. Once again, something's about to happen. But Joel doesn't add any new sounds like I thought he would. He instead makes a statement about the confidence he has in how he's about let the melodic progression shine. The rattles and hisses wear off, and the synth lead is left to it's own devices. This is where the melody receives it's final form, and it is quite possibly the most beautifully complex thing I've heard in any dance song. As the sustain of the notes is elongated, the focus is solely on the lead once again, and then melodic bliss just seems to appear. This melody is so quick to ascend and descend. It feels like it has a mind of its own, darting from one chord to the next in such a fluid fashion. No kick drum. Attempts to describe the feeling that this all gives me will forever fall short. Mr. Zimmerman is unabashedly telling you to hear the melody for all it is, live in it's world for a moment. The organ in the background accompanies the last few notes of each bar of the progression, which is another purposeful touch. Organs often carry a sanctimonious and solitary connotation with them, as they're often found in places of worship and large cathedrals. This adds to the not-just-fun-but-seriously-alone aura. At this point the listener is so far removed from a mindless dance beat that it's almost personally violating. The melody seemingly freezes by momentarily repeating itself at the six minute and forty second mark to usher in the big payoff. The drop hits and the kick-and-snare pattern returns in full force. All of the evolution Strobe goes through seemingly is released and this lonely melody finds a friend and a proper place for itself alongside the beat. Eventually the organ will reappear again here and there. There is now a harmony present to the world that Strobe was seemingly longing for during those first six minutes. This transcends all tropes of EDM and club music in such a confident fashion. I am eternally grateful that Joel didn't walk this track down a more typical dance path I initially thought it was heading down. His confidence his the pacing and the stunning synth progression is inspiring. Eventually, Strobe slowly takes itself apart and for a moment all that's left is the atmosphere that initially greeted you. Right, I got so wrapped in the moment that I forgot how this piece of art started out. It leaves you back where you started - alone. But not without the journey you just went on.

    One of the most fascinating things I take from this song is how repayable it is. Overtime, I've come up with the following theory to pinpoint why that is for me: there are no vocals over this beat to tell a distinct story. And why should there be? The length and evolution provide enough time to tell any story Joel could have wanted to. But Strobe wonderfully toes this line between being able to illicit feelings of solidarity/introspection, and leaving just enough up to the listener's interpenetration. In a way it feels like this song never ended. It builds a world in which I would go home and immerse myself in every night while I fed my newfound dance music obsession in middle school. This song does what every actor in Hollywood tries to perfect the art of, which is to say so much without using words. All this, in the end, leaves an impression that this song is much more of an experience than a dance beat. In my preparation for writing this, I came across a reddit user who managed to find one word to describe the feeling of that same experience best: cathartic.

    Strobe by Deadmau5 takes the listener from a soft atmosphere to a vibrant and fascinating conclusion. It pulses like a dance track, but there's a (lonely) world's more to it than that.