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“Dayvan Cowboy” opens with distorted, low-fidelity electric
guitars, hard-panned to the left and right channels, which are slightly out of
phase with one another. This is not, however, an unpleasant sound; rather, the
beautiful pattern of the arpeggiated guitar notes, coupled with the slight echo
of the delay between the left and right channels, gives the song a calm
feeling. As more instruments—wind-like keyboard textures and light
percussion—enter behind the clouded guitars, the song gains a sense of depth
and space. The use of panning is very effective; rather than overwhelming the
listener with a large chunk of sound, each instrument feels distinct and
identifiable.
The familiar guitar pattern continues, but decreases in
volume as the instruments around it increase. Slowly but surely, the emphasis
of the song shifts from the electric guitars to the keyboards and percussion.
Much like the electric guitars, the percussion is not overpowering. It contains
almost no low-end, preferring to emphasize the treble throughout the rest of
the mix. A synthesized wind sound fades in, overwhelming the music, as a
mellotron (vocal choir-sounding synth) rises. This creates a sudden rise in the
song’s tension.
Suddenly, a tremolo electric guitar cuts through the mix,
surrounded by shimmering synthesizers. This moment is deeply affecting and
exciting, and represents the song’s turning point. The percussion fades back
in, and strings and a drum machine join it, giving the song a trip-hop groove.
The synthesized wind re-enters, and chopped-up samples of real drums join the
drum machine, making the groove more complicated and abstract. A light and
free-feeling keyboard motif rings out over the cacophony. The wind grows
stronger as the groove grows more and more chaotic.
Finally, the drum machine stops, leaving behind the more
abstract percussion motifs to carry the song for a little longer. Eventually,
the echoey and splashy percussion fades out as well, and the rest of the
instruments gradually disappear. The tremolo electric guitar rings out clearly
and cleanly as it fades away.
Overall, the song is supremely arranged and meticulously
calculated to pay off at the turning point. And pay off it does: the song stirs
the listener—and brings the mood from mellow and reflective to sublime and
awe-inspiring—very quickly, specifically when the tremolo electric guitar
enters. Another very well-executed element of the piece is how it expands from
seeming narrow and close-sounding (as though the music were being played from
nearby at a low volume) into an expansive and deep mix (as if it were from far
away at a high volume). This shift in the mix, however, is more subtle than the
emotional shift at the song’s turning point. With the wind sounds and sweeping
strings, the piece evokes feelings of flying, almost as if the electric guitar
entrance marks a liftoff or a jump from very high. Because of all of these
factors, Boards of Canada’s “Dayvan Cowboy” is a beautiful, exciting, and
deeply rewarding piece of music.
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