Deconstructing DJ Shadow - Changeling

[@amnesia998]

Awesome breakdowns Karl, this is one of my favourite albums of all time and I appreciate your work.

[@tamahagane1700]

I just realized that you deconstructed more songs from Endtroducing. Those sampled tracks really live in a world of their own. Thumbs up!

[@chrisbeaumont4630]

Excellent, thanks so much for this. This might be my all time favourite DJ Shadow track. So deeply foundational in my musical tastes and inspirations. The timbres, atmosphere and overall composition makes this just about the perfect hip-hop instrumental for me.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It's a very special song for me too. From time signature being so unique to this style of music to the overall sound and structure. It's a classic!

[@CarrieAnne45]

Wow that sample you played from the guitarist near the end... gave me shivers.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That's Kay Gardner's - Touching Souls. Great track. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIaTmYhrgZupga8

[@daddydavisnc]

This song just shows how much of a beast he is!!!! It just sets the mood for chill but still groovy & headbobbish ya know 🤔😁👍🏾🎧😉

[@jennyl309]

The horns and strings near the end of the song are so beautiful, shame you didn't go through that but I understand that to deconstruct an entire song is a lot to do

[@hihihi8447]

Also the way he changes up the drums pattern at that part is really cool.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

@@hihihi8447 Ahh, that's too bad! I actually did break down that part of the song and had it recorded but the video felt like it was getting too long so I took it out! For what it's worth, that part is sampled from Tangerine Dream's track Invisible Limits. Check around the 3:50 mark. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6bLqKRnfqyKf80 Great track too.

[@jennyl309]

@@KarlBoltzmann Oh damn, I love Tangerine Dream as well, definitely need to check out more of their work

[@grgfrmn]

@@KarlBoltzmann it’s not too long for the people who love this record, brother!!!! I was waiting on that! haha. Followed and subscribed

[@KarlBoltzmann]

@@grgfrmn Thanks Greg! And you're absolutely right about that! I wish I could go back and re-edit it.

[@SpaceHCowboy]

Great video man... I like what you do. If you haven't already, perhaps do a video on the DJ Krush and Toshinori Hondo album "Ki-oku", I'd be super interested in a break down of that. 👍🏼

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Cheers man. I've had my eye on a Krush deconstruction, but his tracks are a bit more challenging to fully deconstruct with the info that is available. I will see what I can do though.

[@SpaceHCowboy]

@@KarlBoltzmann You do you, man 👍🏼

[@busywl69]

That's like trying to deconstruct a pFunk or bomb squad song. Not easy. Well done! Inspiring album that one is.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It really is an inspired piece of music. Love the creativity and usage of an interesting time signature.

[@cliffsnyder3620]

You caught me by surprise at 9:20 when you said "Okay, let's compare that to his" - I thought what you'd just played was the Shadow version! You really got those drums spot on.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thanks Cliff. Love those drums. So weird that he sampled from so many different sources/players/studios, but there's still a drum sound that is very much DJ Shadow. Before I made these deconstructions, I thought it was partly due to a certain compressor or fx chain he was using, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[@TheFloorisLavaVibes]

Wow, listening to this made me realise Washed Out sampled that same Chaffee College Jazz Ensemble track in his track ‘Zonked’, pretty cool. I bet he’s a Shadow fan who did his research considering how sample heavy Mister Mellow is!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Whoa, that's a really good find! You've got a good ear. I really like what Washed Out did with it.

[@Matisto1]

Thanks for the vid! Always loved this song, it has something rhythmic that mesmerizes me.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Love that 7/4

[@joeystones6085]

Come on dawg in my lil boosie voice. How could you miss the end!!! That’s the best part of the song.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

You're not wrong! I was trying to keep the length of the video down, which in retrospect, was not the right call.

[@bryanfranco3943]

I am a songwriter and know nothing about sampling or production. This blew my mind.

[@pearlmax]

Apparently we have a severe lack of people's ability to admit to their ignorance, considering the top comment isn't about how they just now realized that the song isn't called "Challenging".

[@darktrain1971]

my favourite shadow track...thanks for the video!

[@cdk]

Dj shadow entroduced me to the world of sampling. Thank you for these videos! Subbed

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Yeah, me too! His dedication to crate digging, careful sample selection and his clever use of the MPC is why that music is still so impressive today. And thanks! I appreciate the support.

[@strangehermitage2299]

Easily my fave Shadow track.

[@strangehermitage2299]

Even more than The Number Song.

[@quibster]

tremendous work. subscribed

[@yazzy613]

this is absurd dude, amazing job. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of your deconstructions.

[@jakunsman]

Very interesting video! Appreciate the efforts in putting that all together. My hat’s off to you

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thank you very much!

[@bktrainer8814]

Incredible

[@hihihi8447]

Awesome 😊👍

[@blacklistedh5947]

Спасибо за разбор!

[@mandaladigitalstudio]

Suscribed!! Great work pal!!!!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Much appreciated!

[@JamesMcCockiner]

Does anybody know those guitar notes from that Kay Gardner sample? I really want to learn them

[@damianGray]

Earthsuit's Outro Medley from their The Rise of Modern Simulation album in 2003 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5iTn4B4lqurjKs) also uses the synth sample from the Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble, though their version is fairly similar to the intro from Changeling with the fusion drum overlay (slightly different drum track), so I'm not sure if they got it from the source or were 'inspired' by Changling itself. Buuuuut with that being said, the pitch in Earthsuit's version matches the original track, it was not shifted down like in Changeling, so at the very least, it makes me think that they knew about the original version. Their version was also in straight 4/4 not 7/4. I'm curious, when you said you only found 1 other use of the sample, what other song was it you found?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I would be very surprised if they didn't know about Changeling, but it's possible. I've seen this a lot of this over the years with other music producers. It's lazy in my opinion, but a lot of producers will rely too heavily on sample packs that have hundreds of loops of this and that, curated by other producers. In that case, they can easily find a cool loop, use it in a track and have no idea where it's from. Kanye famously used that Daft Punk sample without knowing what or who he was sampling. As for your other question, Washed Out used this sample. I cover it here if you're interested kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3LHiKZsfN5grac

[@omgitsjulian]

This to me is shadows best work (ounce of high noon) your killing me that you didn’t talk about the Louden wainright sample. The one that’s on attempted mustache IS NOT the one he used.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Changeling with it's 7/8 time signature and overall unique sound really makes it one of a kind. I agree, it's a very special track.

[@omgitsjulian]

@@KarlBoltzmann ok, more specific :). 3:19 - 3:21 into changeling. Is either a cut from somewhere else in the man who couldn’t cry. Or an alternate version, as it doesn’t match up as a direct sample. The time signature (I feel) can’t explain it. - what are your thoughts here?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Good question. I might need to go back and do a longer deconstruction of Changeling in order to answer that for you. Seems like there is some appetite out there for a more in-depth video for this track.

[@darktrain1971]

The bit i'd like to know about starts at 5.14 with a sax/guitar sample going ' doo doo doo dee doo' no idea what the instrument is to be honest lol...Anyone any ideas?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That is Tangerine Dream - Invisible Limits kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6bLqKRnfqyKf80 I was concerned that the video was getting too long, so I made the mistake of cutting that part out. I might do an update to this video in the future.

[@lowdown393]

4:20 check: Sackgasse by Luk & Fil feat. MC Bomber

[@lowdown393]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmKneKhpoKuZopY

[@babybro70]

Did u ever Deconstruct the Number Song Cut Chemist Remix?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Nope, never did that one.

[@jorgealcala4503]

Hi, can You deconstruc "Mt saint michel + saint michaels mount" by aphex twin. i think it haves to much layers. :)

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That would be a crazy one to deconstruct. I'll grab some of the tracks and see what's possible.

[@IssacBenjamin]

bro you stopped before the best part. do the rest of the song.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Are you referring to the "Tangerine Dream - Invisible Limits" sample around the 5 min mark? I thought the video was getting a bit long so I cut off the end. Maybe a mistake in hindsight. Below is a link to 'Invisible Limits' if you want to check out where the sample came from. It's a really beautiful track in its own right. Cheers... kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6bLqKRnfqyKf80

[@IssacBenjamin]

@@KarlBoltzmann Yes thats the one. The actual "Tangerine Dream - Invisible limits" track is super interesting. Not sure my headspace is ready for it but its in my saved files to stumble upon when my ears are ready. You should check out a band "Sun Airway". Great video by the way! love me some Shadow.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thanks dude. I hear that, Invisible Limits is a heavy track, but well worth it.

[@mauddib1761]

@@KarlBoltzmann Obviously you are the one making the videos, but I really don't think in future you should worry about the videos being too long as I've watched quite a few of your videos now and they are consistently good throughout so I'm sure people will watch if the video is slightly longer (of course, if it adds on an extra hour then maybe some people won't watch all the way through). You do such a good job that people will be prepared to watch something a bit longer so long as it's not wasting people's time (which you definitely don't do). I suspect the type of people who'll watch these videos want as much information as possible. As a side note, I can't believe you don't have way more subscribers. I've seen channels with more subs than you and their videos aren't anywhere near as interesting or well-put together. Hopefully the KZbin algorithm will eventually push your videos out as you deserve way more success. One final thing (sorry for the long comment), but I think someone else in the comment thread asked if you could breakdown an Aphex Twin track.I would second that. I'm not sure he really samples that much but it would be cool to see you analyze his work. All the best, thanks for the great videos

[@KarlBoltzmann]

@@mauddib1761 Thanks for the well thought out comment! You're absolutely right about the length of video. I won't make that mistake in the future...Everything I find will go into future videos! As for Aphex Twin, I have been working on a couple of his tracks, but he is a tough one to crack as most samples he uses are obscured, stretched/cut up/distorted, which makes it very difficult to identify and recreate. Hopefully one day I'll be able to make a video on a track or two of his.

[@sunnyjim1355]

Deconstructing 'Changeling' is like having to explain a joke - if you need to have it explained, you never got it. Newton deconstructed the rainbow, but Keats understood it to a far deeper level.

[@vinopacino2423]

I think you can still appreciate the beauty and understand how it works. From a producer's perspective you have to deconstruct. Do you think keats had an understanding of the mechanics of poetry?