pyramids

About the artist:

Frank Ocean, born 28th October 1987 in California, is an American singer songwriter, and is thought to be the pioneer of the genre Alternative R&B. Frank Ocean, who's real name is Christopher Breaux, has released 2 studio albums under the names "channel ORANGE" and "Blonde", he has also released a visual album called "Endless", which was used to get out of a record deal with Def Jam recordings, you can find this album exclusively on Apple Music. He has also released a mixtape called "nostalgia, ULTRA", which had to be removed from all streaming platforms due to copyright issues. He hasn't released a song for 4 years, many speculating that he had retired from music as a whole, but Frank himslef has said that he is currently working on a 3rd / 4th studio album release.

About the song

Lyrics - "Pyramids" is a song by Frank Ocean on his first studio album "channel ORANGE" which was released on the 10th of July 2012. It. is easily one of the best songs on the album, and it is almost 10 minutes long. The meaning behind the song is about comparing the modern woman, and how they contrast to how they were in the past. He references how women were treated like queens, with the constant references to Cleopatra and ancient Egypt. Comparing that to now, Frank Ocean states that there is a woman named Cleopatra "working at the Pyramid" which is him referencing to strip clubs. This shows a drastic contrast between how women were treated in the past and how they are treated in the modern world in todays society. The constant referal to Cleopatra does however have its own connections to modern society. Cleopatra ended up letting Ancient Egypt down by becoming Marcus Antonius' mistress. Marcus Antonius, commonly known in english as Mark Antony, was a Roman conqueror who wanted to colonise Ancient Egypt, so therefore when Cleopatra became his mistress she bought dishonour onto her country. This compares with the modern woman too, with some choosing money and fame over being with a good partner,  Frank Ocean is almost complaining about how women need to change the way they act with their partners in todays society. This song is mainly about Frank Ocean's relationship with a woman, who has left his for an enemy, but they continue to remain as a couple so it causes lots of toxicity in their relationship. 

Tempo , Key, and Rhythm - "Pyramids" is a song at 149 BPM in the first section and 132 BPM in the second section, and in the key of F minor, and the second section is 2 semitiones lower than the first. It is a very danceable song, with a time signature of 4/4, this means that there are 4 beats per bar.

Effects - In the song theres use of reverb and delay on the vocals, although very little is used its used to created. On the instruments however, there are little to no effects used at all, apart from at the end of the song where there is distortion added to the guitars playing as the song is ending. During the transition I believe a tape effect is used which is where you can sow down and pitch down a section or track.

Instrumentation - Instrumentation is the different uses of instruments within a song - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentation_(music) - Section A - "Pyramids" starts out with a chopped up  Mellotron sample which is being played alongside some synth bells, the Mellotron sample come from a GForce M-tron plugin and the synth bells came from an original Roland-Juno 106. Then some reversed drums come in, as well as a bass guitar afterwards. The EDM type lead that plays at 1:11 is from Omnisphere, and it is the factory preset "FM Danceline Lead", the audio from Omnisphere was sent through an Analog Hardware Signal Chain, which probably used EQs, Compressors, and preamps. The synth arp sound used was created using an Arturia CS-80 V. To create the arp sound the producer used a single sawtooth waveform with the wavespeed on a free running arp being set at 92ms, and it contains an octave range of 4 octaves. The bass that plays when the drum kicks in was made on a modern Moog synth. 

Transition - The pitch drops 2 semitones which was most likely created by using an effect which makes the track slow down and pitch down

Section B - The synth that plays during the second section of "Pyramids" was created using an Oberheim OB-8, an old school synth from the 1980s, and the arps used in the second section were most likely made using an Arturia CS-80 V again. The solo guitar at the end of the song was played by John Mayer, who was uncredited on the song. 

Frank Ocean's "Pyramids" Breakdown | Reverb Machine 

Harmony - Harmony is the use of combining different sounds together in order to create a certain feeling within a song - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony - The chords used in the first section of this song are Fm, D♭, Cm, B♭m, D♭maj7, C, Fm, and A. With the song being in F minor this gives the chords a certain sharpness in the sound, one that is unique to this song as a whole. It gets the listener enjoyed for what is to come next in the song, even though it is in a minor key which the majority of the time is used in sad music, where if you wanted to create a more enjoying feeling you would usually use a major key. 

The chords in the second section of the song has a lot less variation, with them being; A♭, Cm/G, Cm, and Fm. This section of the song is very trap like, which makes these minor chords a necessity, as if you were to use major chords it would sound off, so the minor chords are used to make it a less happy sound. To also create this feeling the song is also pitched down by 2 semitones at this point. 

Frank Ocean Pyramids Pt 2 Chords - Chordify 

Pyramids by Frank Ocean Chords, Melody, and Music Theory Analysis - Hooktheory 

Timbre - Timbre is the tone or sound a song or piece of song gives off to create a feeling - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre - The bright sample and synth bells at the start of the song creates a joyful feeling even though it is in a minor key, this bright feeling carries on until the beat switch where the song turns a bit darker as it transitions into this more trap style song, this feeling is created with the use of the sharp drums that come in, which creates a groove that wasn't featured in the song before. This feeling is also created as the song has been pitched down by 2 semitones in this section.

Dynamics - Dynamics is the use of volume in a track, something being quiet or loud give of a different dynamic to each other - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music) - The use of dynamics in this song are very rare for this genre, with there being a beat switch. The first section of the song starts out with a sample from a Mellotron which is played alongside some synth bells. This is then followed up by some reversed drums as well as a bass guitar. An EDM type lead can be heard at 1:11 then it goes back to the Mellotron sample an dsynth bells. The drums are no longer reversed and the bass guitar has been replaced by a synth bass. an instrumental comes in at 3:51  where the EDM style lead comes back in, this continues until 4:27 where the trainsition in between the 2 beats begin, there is an arp being played with some pads as well as a synth lead, then some trumpets come in. The transition lasts until 5:23 when the trap drums come in as well as another synth lead which then goes away at 5:53. At 6:22 the trumpets come back in, and at 6:36 the synth lead comes back. At 8:18 the outro begins with pads and a guita played by John Mayer who was uncredited on the track.

About the genre

Alternative R&B began in the mid 2000s, and came to life due to the likes of Frank Ocean, The Weekend, SZA, Khalid, and PartyNextDoor. It is a very similar genre to R&B but it is a lot more atmospheric with the use of pads, synths, and lighter and more interesting drum sequences. It tries to fuse traditional R&B with other musical genres such as hip-hop, progressive soul, jazz, and electro hop. The genre didn't eally gain any traction until the 2 main artists Frank Ocean and The Weeknd started releasing music in this genre in the 2010s, with Frank Ocean releasing "nostalgia, ULTRA.", "channel ORANGE", and "Blonde". With The Weeknd releasing "Beauty Behind the Madness".

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_R%26B 

As hinted in the name, Alt R&B is a sub gere of R&B, which is also known as Rhythm and Blues. R&B originated in African-American communities in the 1940s, a time when "rocking jazz music" with a drumming background was becoming more popular. R&B bands usually consisted of 1 or 2 guitars, a piano, drums, bass, and a saxophone, as well as vocalists. The lyrics were usually themed around Afro-American independence and how they were on the quest for joy. Themes also consisted of racial abuse from others towards the African-American community, aspirations, relationships, economics, and oppression. R&B has influences from Afro-Cuban rhythms, with the influence of the Cuban Contradanza being found in modern Alt R&B and R&B. Jewish communities helped with the the spread of R&B all over the Americas in the late 1950s and early 1960s as they had close connections with the Afro-American communities. A man who really set R&B off in America was Little Richard, with the use of his strong vocals and his ability to play the piano at the same time loads of people around America began to fall in love with his music and R&B. Little Richard usually sang about relationships, which lots of people back then could relate to.

In terms of audience, Alt R&B aims to attract the same audience as traditional R&B does, with it being teenagers and young adults, although it doesn't mean others cannot listen to it too. https://prezi.com/g5do2ycynimb/rhythm-and-blues-rnb/#:~:text=The%20target%20audience%20of%20R%26B,25

This now takes us back to the modern day, the influence of Little Richard, Rhythm and Blues, Cuban Contradanza, and African-American artists very much present in modern R&B and Alt R&B. With artists like Frank Ocean bringing global communities together with a genre that they all love. 

Alt R&B combines EDM, Rock, Hip-Hop, and R&B. It usually features EDM like pads, synths and leads, Rock kicks and snares, Hip-Hop hi-hats and percussion, with R&B vocal work, although when combining all of these genres it doesn't really sound like any of them, but you can tell that the influence of them are in there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_R%26B 

I wasn't able to find any record labels that just focus on Alt R&B, but Def Jam Recordings used to have Frank Ocean signed to their label, and he is seen as a pioneer of this genre and almost the creator of it too. https://www.defjam.com/