#not another kim/walter parallel 😩😩😩

[singingninja4]

when I posted this update on my music cue analysis I so badly wanted to include that there are TWO kim/walt parallels happening here!! but I didn't want to spoil y'all lmao so I've had this queued up for the last 12 days

anyway, the two parallels are 1) the music cue parallel between "38 Snub" and "Hit and Run" AND 2) a narrative parallel between "38 Snub" and "Point and Shoot" because both Kim and Walter try to kill Gus, but are thwarted by one of Gus's men

*SCREAMS*

THEY CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!!! these kim/walt parallels are driving me insane!! what are they trying to say???!!?!!

PETER AND VINCE I JUST WANT TO TALK

[singingninja4]

I thought it was a one in a million chance that he'd come for us. I thought he would be caught if he did and I told myself I was protecting you. But that's not the truth. The real reason I didn't tell you is because I knew what you'd do. You'd blame yourself. You'd fear for me. You'd want us to run and hide until you were sure I was safe. You would pull the plug on the scam and then...we'd break up. And I didn't want that. Because I was having too much FUN.

[singingninja4]

A new analysis, another Kim parallel! 🙂🙃

This analysis compares the Breaking Bad Main Theme (extended version) and the music cue from the ending scene in 6x06: Axe and Grind. 

The analysis method I used for these cues is a simplified version of the Shenkerian method, which essentially reduces the music down to its simplest layer by removing auxiliary notes and elaborations to show what makes up the primary tonal structure.

For the Breaking Bad Theme (x) I focused on the first few bars. This motif repeats throughout the cue:

This very simple theme is in D minor, and I have labeled the scale degrees below each note. As you can see below, very little reduction was needed to bring this down to its primary tonal structure. The basic structure climbs up the scale from 3 to 6.

Next is the cue from Axe and Grind, called It Happens Today (x) I am focusing on the B section of the cue, which starts in measure 19. 

This cue is in the key of Eb minor, just a half-step above the BrBa theme. As in the BrBa cue, I labeled the scale degrees below the notes. At first glance, these two cues don’t look very similar, but the tonal structure is the same. In the transcription below, I grouped neighboring tones together to show how I found the primary tonal structure. (the second picture shows a structural note in the bass line, which wasn’t included above.)

When the neighboring tones are removed, the primary tonal structure is as follows:

Both cues have the exact same tonal structure when looking at the scale degrees. The basic melody jumps up a third, then returns to 1, jumps up a fourth, then returns to 1 and so on, creating this slow ascent up the scale. Additionally, both cues utilize syncopated rhythm, with movement happening between the strong beats. (It Happens Today uses the syncopated rhythms a little more heavily, but the connection between the two can still be drawn.) The syncopated rhythms plus the climbing scale build tension as the cues progress.

Although many viewers may not have heard the extended BrBa main theme at the start of the each episode, it is also used in 5x15: Granite State (x) In this scene Walter sees Gretchen and Elliot on the TV and makes the crucial decision to go back to Albuquerque to force Gretchen and Elliot to give his money to his son, exact his revenge on Jack and the neo-Nazi’s. This chain of events ultimately led to Jesse's freedom and Walter’s death at the nazi meth lab.

In the Axe and Grind scene, Kim also makes a crucial decision to turn around and head back to Albuquerque so that she and Jimmy can execute their plan against Howard. This chain of events ultimately led to Howard’s death at the hand of Lalo in Kim and Jimmy’s apartment. So not only is there a general parallel between BCS and BrBa, but also a parallel between Kim and Walt (these Kim/Walt parallels are making me absolutely sick 😩)

Let me know what you think of my analysis or if you have any interpretations of your own! I’d love to hear them ☺️

bcs/brba music analysis 3/??

[singingninja4]

Reblogging this because I rewatched 38 snub and just realized that cue I analyzed in the credits is played earlier in the episode when Walt goes to Gus’s house to kill him, but is then stopped when Tyrus calls him (I didn't catch it on my last rewatch of that ep because I had jumped in on a Hyperbeam watch party and missed the scene 😅) anyway...the scene is here x

so it's another goddamn Kim/Walt parallel 😩😭

I cannot take any more of these...I am literally going to go insane.

as I've been watching s6 of bcs I've noticed the music cues are resembling the music cues from brba. to me it seems that as the timelines converge, the music is getting more and more similar. this prompted me to do a deep dive into music transcription and analysis between the two shows, which I'll post as I complete them. (side note: @jmcgools sent me an interview with dave porter which confirmed my theory!!!! interview is linked here x)

a few general comments before going into the first cue analysis....doing a full stylistic analysis entails analyzing SHMRG (Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Growth). I am focusing mainly on the melodic and rhythmic elements because dave porter stays fairly consistent in the sound, harmonic, and growth elements throughout both shows:

the sound/timbre used is typically guitars, various percussion, and other electronic sounds; the sound/texture is typically sparse, which fits dave's intention to keep the music subservient to the narrative.

the harmony is also sparse in both shows for the same reasons, and is either centered in a minor tonality or no tonality at all.

and with growth, dave masterfully follows the narrative, and so each cue is somewhat unique in that aspect.

the first comparison I've completed is between the credits from brba 4x02: thirty-eight snub x (the credits hit when jesse is dissociating in his house alone with his stereo music blasting behind him) and the scene in bcs 6x04: hit and run x is when kim confronts the people tailing her

the music cue in the credits scene is short-lived, but has distinct melodic content that is recognizable in hit and run. the pattern starts with A, C, Db, C, then develops in measure 4-5 into A, C, Db, F, E. the developed melodic contour is repeated almost exactly in hit and run in measure 7-8. only the rhythm changes slightly

narratively, both scenes have an undercurrent of anxiety and dread. the minor 2nd motions between the C and Db and the F and E both accomplish that (think the jaws theme). the hit and run cue increases the intensity with the brief ostinato (repeating pattern in the bass line), continuing the minor 2nd motif between the C and Db. this minor 2nd motif is even further developed in the last 4 measures of the cue with the descending G, F#, F and then it ends with a tritone between A and Eb (one of the most unstable intervals) leaving the viewer unsettled.

These are both very short cues, but they have a lot packed into them! As with all of the music in brba and bcs, the creators use it sparingly, but when it is used it makes it that much more impactful.  

This posted ended up being waaaaaay longer than I intended 😅 so thanks for reading this far! Let me know what you think or if you have any interpretations yourself. and feel free to drop suggestions for other cues for me to analyze! I’m hunting down cues to compare in my rewatches, but I know for sure that I won’t catch all of them lol

bcs/brba music analysis 1/??