#should i have specified i think the calliope's probably a synth? i think it's the only synth in the song that sounds like another instrument

[nobody-knose--archive]

hey all, resident person who does music analysis without knowing how to do music analysis here (looking at you, mind electric post from last september with a few dozen notes), have you ever wanted a vaguely concise list of all the differences between not one, not three, but two different versions of ruler of everything? i made it regardless.

to start, i’ve got to highlight various aspects of the ruler of everything mmmm 2008 version (the reference i’m using to compare the other versions with):

-the bpm is 83

-the key is b minor (bm)

-instruments featured include various strings (violin, cello, bass, i probably can’t name them all by ear), glockenspiel, chimes, acoustic guitar, calliope, drums of course (a drumkit), a specific keyboard synth, electric guitar, bass guitar, choral vocals separate from the lyrical ones (technically not an instrument but i’m including it here for a reason), tambourine, and one more percussion instrument that i genuinely cannot name precisely but theorize is some snare-drum-with-brushes shenanigans or maybe possibly a güiro (sounds like lighting a match, you can hear it in the breakdown part).

-the song is 3:42 long, not counting 13, which is, of course, 13 seconds long

-approximately 32 seconds of it is the outro with only glockenspiel

-notable situations in which there are differences between audio channels include the intro, where the glockenspiel is mostly, but not entirely, stored within the left channel; the reversed cymbals leading into the second verse, where two separate cymbal tones are played in each channel, with very little overlap; the “aaah”s following the first verse of “ruler of everything”, where the sounds switch between coming mostly, but not entirely, in the left & right channels; the reversed “jackrabbit” line, where the sound starts on the right channel and ends in the left, never entirely in only one channel; the laughter immediately following the “wonderful life” verse, which pans between the left & right channels; during the bridge, where there are some backwards vocals that hang out greatly in the left channel and, to a lesser (& different) extent, the right; the final “smile” at the end of the bridge, which echoes between channels as it fades away; and the final choral vocal during the outro, which emanates more from the left channel, though it is still present in the right.

-miscellaneous points in which there are differences between audio channels include, in about the entirety of the “do you like how i dance?” verses, guitar power chords are heard primarily in the left some bowed string flairs come primarily in the right or left (i would guess there’s a cello part in the right & a normal violin part in the left, but i can’t name them by ear), and there’s an electric guitar riff that dwindles off in the left shortly before the breakdown/bridge. during the bridge there is the aforementioned weird percussion bit coming in primarily in the left, two separate reversed synth riffs in the right & left, and another electric guitar riff primarily in the left. during the final chorus, the vocoded (a la taken for a ride 05 ver) and deeper vocals are more present in the right channel than the left & vice versa, respectively, though neither is fully absent from the other.

now that we’ve got this out of the way, time to look at the 2005 release:

-right off the bat, there’s a couple key differences. the key itself is raised up half a semitone, which less places it in a different key & more makes it sound horrendously out of tune with the 08 release. the tempo is also slightly faster, despite its longer length of 4:17 (about 1:10 of which is the glockenspiel-solo outro, about 22 seconds of which is silence covering up the existence of hidden in the sand, with the following 19 seconds being ocean sfx that further lead into hidden in the sand). i’d place the tempo around 85 or 86 bpm, not a significant change, but enough to offset it from the 08 ver.

-instruments featured include- with those that appear in both the 08 & 05 versions in bold, and those that only appear in this version in italics- various strings (i’d wager the same ones as in 08), glockenspiel, calliope, acoustic guitar, real bells/chimes, a specific keyboard synth, a drumkit, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, choral vocals separate from the lyrical ones, that same unnamed percussion instrument from earlier (but more subdued), and tambourine.

boy, that sure is a lot of the same instruments isn’t it? time to move into the meat of the differences: musical shenanigans!

-for starters, the 05 ver sports many different mixes between audio channels from the 08 ver. the intro glockenspiel is located squarely in the left audio channel, leaving only an echo in the right (far less space in between than the 08 ver); the reversed cymbals are mixed together in both channels rather than separated; the calliope is only found in the left channel; the specific keyboard synth is only found in the right channel (this & the previous point apply to the entire track); the small guitar riff during the “powerful job” line that follows the “i’ve been you” melody is mostly in the left; when the glockenspiel returns around the final verse it keeps primarily to the right channel for the rest of the song; the wonky percussion instrument is only in the right channel for the first go of the breakdown, but switches to the left for the transition between the two; the electric guitar riff is far less relegated to only the left, if at all; the reverse tambourine during the transition to the other half of the breakdown is mostly in the right; and the cello (i think) that comes in before the final chorus emanates more from the left channel.

-concerning the vocals in particular for the audio channels, the gentle “ah-ah”s in the first verse move from the left to right channels; the “aaah”s following the first lines of ruler of everything are less concentrated in individual audio channels; the reversed “jackrabbit” line pans between channels more than once; zubin & joe’s vocals across their verses before the breakdown do various things such as taking place entirely within the left & right channels respectively, only having a line’s echo in the one channel, having two different audio distortions/harmonies of a line be in different channels, or having a distorting line pan between channels; the laughter immediately following the “wonderful life” verse is mostly found in the right audio channel; the vocalize following the “you’re making me cry” line is mostly in the left; the falsetto harmony in the following verse is mainly in the right; one deeper, distorted harmony in the intro to the breakdown is only in the left; the final “smile” at the end of the breakdown keeps more closely to each ear as it echoes between them; the deeper and vocoded distorted vocals during the final chorus are fully relegated to the left & right channels, respectively; the “aaah”s following the final lines of ruler of everything switch between coming primarily from the right & left channels; and the echo on the final line is, in one part, offset & in primarily the left channel, and in another part, distorted & primarily in the right channel.

boy oh boy! that sure is a lot isn’t it? what if i told you the part i’m going to cover next includes literally everything else. not being a trained musician, i at the very least won’t start by pointing out every subtle difference in mixing & mastering, and instead catalogue all the other changes i can pick up on. granted, i’m going to ignore the obvious things like sound quality, alternative harmonies/melodies/etc, and different samples, and i’ll try not to restate anything that can be gleaned from comparing the data further up this post

-assorted differences of note include generally greater acoustic guitar use (notably in the first verse), amplified reverb on too many lines to count (the “aaah”s, first verse, and zubin’s lines are notable at least), drastically reduced echo on the reversed “jackrabbit” line, a complete lack of vocal distortion on all of zubin’s lines, far quieter hi-hat from the “practice your mannerisms” line on to the next verse, the chime in the buildup to the breakdown is louder & holds for longer, there’s no glockenspiel immediately following the breakdown, and a far stronger echo placed on the final line.

is this it? is it the end? good question. i could very easily move on & do this all over again with the complete demos version, if anybody cares about that. but from my own point of view, i find that ver to be so different from the finished product that it’d be like comparing a song and a cover of it. anyway, if the tally hallmanac page for ruler of everything gets updated based on all the work i did i want to be cited. the wikia gets a pass though