Mini Analysis: Another One Bites The Dust – Tone Colour
Work: ‘Another One Bites The Dust’
Composers/Creators: John Deacon
Performers: Queen
Album: The Game (EMI / Elektra, 1980)
Listen to this excerpt and describe the character or mood of this performance.
Work: ‘Another One Bites The Dust’
Composers/Creators: John Deacon
Performers: Pomplamoose
Live Recording: Redstar Recording in Los Angeles (2018)
Listen to this excerpt and describe the character or mood of this performance.
Is the character or mood of this second version the same or different from the first?
As you listen to both versions again consider the tone colour choices made by each performer. Does the performers’ choice of tone colour impact the overall character or mood of each version?
Each of these performers make different tone colour choices, resulting in two different interpretations of this excerpt with contrasting characters, as you can see in the table below.
| Performance by Queen (V1) | Performance by Pomplamoose (V2) |
| – character = confident, commanding, victorious – bass guitar = thick, full, warm – drums = dry, raspy, scratchy – synthesiser = electronic, distorted, abrasive – vocals = percussive, muddy, breathy | – character = rebellious, laid-back, disconcerting – bass guitar/guitar = mellow, yet sometimes distorted & synthesised – drums = dry but with warmth (kick drum thud) – vocals = breathy, throaty |