Aphexs grasp of song structure

hmmm.. pondering if Squarepusher has an equal grasp of structure to RDJ. I think he does but I also think that its different but can't put my finder on how - thoughts?

^his music is more progressive

Aphex has said that he is interested in the emotion of the music, so I think the structure comes about through wanting to progress the emotion - the genius part of it, for me, is how the next sections are so emotionally articulate and specific - like how the changes in flim expand on the emotion of the previous parts. There also feels like something narrative about it - as someone mentioned storytelling - like, I wouldn't be surprised if he's imagining something in his mind and then when the next thing happens in the image, the next section of music reflects that change. I think he must be quite good at focussing on emotions and not getting distracted, so his approach of wanting to feel totally unstressed when making music might be important for that.

I guess if you're asking to help with your own music, you could experiment - write a section, and then write another section that stays in the emotion, but progresses it in some way - note that this is different from making an altered A section, as you might do in techno, because that is not solely expanding on the emotion or progressing it narratively, as the looping aspect has it's own narrative implications - could be robotic, or hypnotic, or relentless, but it adds some kind of meaning like this which may not relate to the emotion you started with. Or it might do, in which case maybe you should follow it in that direction.

Going back to an A section after other sections is a kind of looping too - and has it's own implications for the emotion of the track, and that might be fine (Aphex will often make subtle changes when returning to a previous section, itself implying a dynamic, shifting mood, as one might feel in reality) - or for some emotions, the track might need to constantly change, like in Autechre or Snares... (they both use constant change in totally different ways emotionally). That's my suggestion, try to write based on an emotion in an imagined scenario or image, and how that emotion changes, rather than thinking in terms of loops/sections/chord structures etc.

Also, I think the emotions that he finds interesting to focus on might be different from the ones that interest you - so evoke emotions or other things that genuinely feel pertinent to you - if you focus on Aphex too much, you'll unconsciously end up aping him

This thread is really confusing

  On 3/29/2025 at 12:26 AM, perunamuusi said:

This thread is really confusing

why?

  On 3/16/2025 at 2:10 PM, katmat said:

I’m kind of amazed by how tight and well structured some of aphex’s early tracks are. Take something like Xtal for example,  likely made when he was a teenager. It has a very solid typical pop structure. Admittedly nothing ground breaking but I still think it’s very mature to craft something so perfectly at the very start of your musical journey, especially when you specialise in experimenting. 
 

does anyone have any idea where/how he learned this aspect which can take a lot of musicians many years to understand once the ‘pissing about’ phase is over. I don’t believe he ever played in a band either which is where a lot of musicians first learn about arrangement and structure. 

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yeh he’s definitely talked in interviews how making a track “complex” is something he does later on in the process. he’ll get the song down and then do all the detail work. there’s probably a beat the whole time but more bare bones at first ( just guessing)

  On 3/29/2025 at 12:28 AM, hoggy said:

why?

I don't think I'd be able to explain it without sounding like a wanker

  On 3/29/2025 at 1:00 AM, exitonly said:

yeh he’s definitely talked in interviews how making a track “complex” is something he does later on in the process. he’ll get the song down and then do all the detail work. there’s probably a beat the whole time but more bare bones at first ( just guessing)

We've heard a few demo versions of his tracks and they back this up. The track XMASEVE_T1 N has drums that are essential placeholders with the same bssic rhythm/groove as the version on Syro but they are later fleshed out and made beefier.

  On 3/29/2025 at 12:17 PM, Key said:

We've heard a few demo versions of his tracks and they back this up. The track XMASEVE_T1 N has drums that are essential placeholders with the same bssic rhythm/groove as the version on Syro but they are later fleshed out and made beefier.

It's kind of like how people paint too - big to small, with the basic light and shadow first, and then details and glazing after

  On 3/29/2025 at 1:03 AM, perunamuusi said:

I don't think I'd be able to explain it without sounding like a wanker

perunamuusi’s grasp of dong structure

  On 3/29/2025 at 1:00 AM, exitonly said:

yeh he’s definitely talked in interviews how making a track “complex” is something he does later on in the process. he’ll get the song down and then do all the detail work. there’s probably a beat the whole time but more bare bones at first ( just guessing)

You can listen to the demo version of Window Licker vs released version to get a good sense of this.

  On 3/28/2025 at 12:28 PM, phudoshin said:

hmmm.. pondering if Squarepusher has an equal grasp of structure to RDJ. I think he does but I also think that its different but can't put my finder on how - thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

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In terms of structure and particularly harmonic structure Tom's stuff is much more influenced by the world of jazz.

  On 3/29/2025 at 3:17 PM, Real Human Bean said:

You can listen to the demo version of Window Licker vs released version to get a good sense of this.

  On 3/28/2025 at 12:28 PM, phudoshin said:

Maybe the same idea with "Crappy", seems fairly fleshed out, then he morphed it into the equation song.