“Spectrum”, produced by Zedd with Mathew Koma on vocals, is one of my favorite songs. I’d like to share what I personally find so compelling about it. We’ll break the song down and pick it apart to reveal why it works.

If you don’t know it already, listen to the song in its entirety at least once, ideally a few times, to get a good sense of it.

We’ll start by splitting up the song into large chunks to figure out the form — or the “skeleton”, so to speak — of the song. Later, we’ll break down each chunk and figure out what makes it work and how it relates to other chunks to make the song as a whole a success.

Form

“Spectrum” starts with a very short, ambient intro (0:00 to 0:02).

Next, we hear the synthesizer and voice come in. This melody basically continues until 0:32. We’ll call this the “A section”.

At 0:32, we hear a different melody, different synths, and the introduction of drums. The melody continues until 1:02. We’ll call 0:32 to 1:02 the “B section”.

From 1:02 to 1:17, Zedd gives us a passage without much melody. The intention of this part seems to be to build intensity and to connect the previous section to the next section, so we’ll call this section the “interlude”.

From 1:17 to 1:46, we hear what is essentially the “B section” but without the voice and with different percussion. We could label this as a repeat of the B section with some slight alterations, but it’s different enough to deserve its own label. We’ll call this section “B2”.

At 1:46, Mathew Koma comes back in with the melody and lyrics from the A section. This is, in essence, a repeat of the A section.

At 2:01, we hear something new. Until 2:16, we don’t hear Koma at all, nor do we hear anything from the A section, B sections, or the interlude. This part is totally distinct, so we’ll call it the “C section”.

2:16 to 2:31 is another repeat of the A section.

Things get a little more complicated at 2:31. Koma is singing the melody and lyrics of the second half of the A section, but the instrumentals are from the B section. We’ll call this section “A/B”.

2:45 to 3:00 is essentially a repeat of the B section.

3:00 to 3:15 is the interlude again.

At 3:15, we hear Koma singing the melody and lyrics of “B”, but the instrumentals are directly from “B2”. We’ll call the section from here to 3:45 “B/B2”.

3:45 takes us back to the “A” section, and goes until 4:00.

From 4:00 to the end of the song at 4:03, we hear an ambient outro that’s very similar to the intro.

So, the structure of the song is as follows:

Intro (0:00 — 0:02) A (0:02 — 0:32) B (0:32 — 1:02) Interlude (1:02 — 1:17) B2 (1:17 — 1:46) A (1:46 — 2:01) C (2:01 — 2:16) A (2:16 — 2:31) A/B (2:31 — 2:45) B (2:45 — 3:00) Interlude (3:00 — 3:15) B/B2 (3:15 — 3:45) A (3:45 — 4:00) Outro (4:00 — 4:03)

The first cool thing to notice is that the song comes full circle. It starts with Intro -> A -> B -> Interlude, and ends with Interlude -> B/B2 -> A -> Outro. Since B and B/B2 are very similar, and the intro and outro are very similar, the end of the song is basically a mirror image of the beginning.

However, the real magic of this song lies within and between each section, so lets dig in.

Picking apart the sections

Intro

There’s really not much to say here. It’s a nice, ambient intro that sets the mood keeps the song from starting too abruptly.

A section

The first thing I noticed here is that there’s no percussion whatsoever in the A section. This creates a sense of tension and anticipation, because — knowing Zedd — we expect this song to eventually grow into something flashy and hard-hitting.

Listen to the contrapuntal melody Zedd creates with the synth from 0:02 to 0:18. You have to listen closely, but it’s there. This implicit melody syncopates with the vocal melody, giving the listener multiple interesting things to listen to. As we’ll see later, it also lightly alludes to the main B section melody.



The A section is split into two halves, one for each “stanza” of the verse. The first half is an exposition, giving you the A section melody for the first time. The second half starts at 0:18, and takes the first half and develops it in a number of ways. For example, the main synth sound gradually lengthens from a punchy staccato to a smooth, more present legato. The second half also features a second vocal track, allowing Koma to harmonize with himself ( As an aside, look at how gorgeous Koma’s harmony is from 0:29 to 0:32 — notice how he uses contrary motion to create two distinct lines that are greater than the sum of their parts). Both of these factors build the intensity, leading up to the B section. What’s interesting, though, is that Zedd only builds the intensity slightly, so the listener is caught off guard when the highly energetic B section beings.

B section

Much like the A section, the B section comes in two halves: an exposition, and a development.

The B section is much more intense than the A section, featuring a wall-of-sound synth and some seriously passionate vocals. It’s also the first time we hear percussion in the song, although the percussion is somewhat reserved. This is surprising. Although the beats here are hard hitting, they’re sparse and unpredictable compared to the house-style, regularly-repeating-bass-drum beats characteristic of EDM. Notice in particular how Zedd delays the snare hit in the measure starting at 0:40, toying with the listeners expectations. This combination of sparsity, force, and surprise really demands the listeners attention, and is the first example of a “less is more” intensity strategy that Zedd employees throughout this song.

If you listen closely, you can also hear that behind Koma’s singing, there are two synths playing off of each other. One is thick and rich, playing chords, and the other is thinner and more organic, playing only one note at a time. This interplay foreshadows what’s to come in section B2.

In the second half of the B section, Zedd gives us the sort of traditional house beat we’ve come to expect from him. He also takes out the synth interplay. These two factors create a sense of resolution of the B section, and allow the intensity to die down a bit so the interlude can build it back up.

Interlude

This chunk of the song has some classic EDM components. The little snare rolls, repeated synth pattern, and continuously-raising pitch are all mainstays of an EDM build up leading into a drop.

Zedd executes this build up expertly. Listen to the very end of the interlude, at 1:15. Just as the interlude is peaking, he cuts all the sound. Then he brings in a rapid crescendo, but, again, right as its peaking, he chops it and plays a single, unassuming drum hit, followed by silence, followed by the abrupt entrance of B2. This cleverly constructed drop is another example of Zedd combining sparsity, force, and surprise to evoke intensity.

B2 section

This section is all about the interplay between those two synths we mentioned earlier: the thick and rich one playing the chords, and the thinner, more organic, melodic one playing one note at a time. Personally, I love this section. For one, the sound design is exquisite. For two, listen to how Zedd switches rapidly between the two synths, causing instant changes in texture and dynamics. The contrast between the two synth sounds, and the way that they rarely play at the same time, makes their exchange really powerful.

In addition, there are some subtle, technical things going on here. Notice that the thick synth references Koma’s soaring B section melody again. Listen at 1:20 to how Zedd takes the thick synth and makes it punchy for a second to bring out the syncopation with the bass drum. And at 1:36, the melodic synth surprises us with a quick descending arpeggio, contrasting the slower, more deliberate lines we’d been hearing from it earlier.

At 1:39, the melodic synth is suddenly playing in octaves, cranking up the energy even further. And check out the melodic synth line at 1:43. Isn’t that a great fucking line? It has so much character. Zedd really, really makes it sing. I love how the last note sort of slowly raises it’s pitch, as if it’s reaching for something, upping the intensity a tiny bit more for the end of the section.

A section (2nd iteration)

The intensity hit a new peak in the last section, and now “Spectrum” reels us back in for another go. Let’s look at some of the slight differences between this iteration of the A section and the first iteration. I’d recommend listening to the sections back to back to really appreciate the way Zedd gives you the familiarity of a section you’ve heard before, but keeps it from being redundant by developing and shortening it.

Right off the bat, we have a new tense, percussive synth. If you’re listening with headphones, you can hear that he rapidly pans it back and forth between the right and the left.

Remember that beautiful harmony we heard in the second half of the A section from before? This time around, we hear it immediately.

Towards the end of this section, he adds a building snare drum, evocative of the interlude. Right at the end, he doubles the frequency of the snare, accelerating the build to its peak.

Also, check out how at 1:59, he chops up and plays with Koma’s voice a bit. This is the first time in the song he’s done this. Up until now, the voice has been completely organic, separate from the electronic effects of the instrumentals. I like to think of this as Zedd temporarily “taking charge” of the song, because it immediately precedes a totally voiceless section, a playground for Zedd to chop up and mess with synthetic sounds.

C section

This is Zedd showcasing his expert sound design, and his sense of rhythm and contrast. Much like in B2, he toys with the contrast between “melodic” synths and “chord” synths. Notice again how he uses sparsity, force, and surprise to create intensity.

A section (3rd iteration)

This section is almost identical to the 2nd iteration of the A section, but notice the absence of the rising snare drum. This iteration of the A section is reminiscent of the first iteration, in that it leads into a very intense section with very little buildup.

A/B section

This section is a development of both the A and the B sections. As we discovered earlier, Zedd is combining the vocals from the second half of the A section with the instrumentals of the first half of the B section. In other words, he continues the vocals of the last section while moving the instrumentals forward into a different section. It’s an extremely elegant dovetail. The interplay between Koma’s A section melody and Zedd’s B section synth and drums is gorgeous. This artful mixing of sections is unfortunately pretty rare in modern music, and is reminiscent of the development section of the classical sonata allegro form.

B section (2nd iteration)

This is just a repeat of the B section.

Interlude

This interlude is very similar to the first, with one major difference. Remember how Zedd ends the first interlude with that lone drum hit. Here he does something similar, but instead of a drum hit, it’s a lone note sung by Koma.

B/B2 section

Again, we have some section mixing going on here. Notice additionally that Koma hits and holds a soaring high note, which creates a feeling of finale.

A section

We’re coming full circle. The intensity has died down to its starting level.

Outro

This short section is almost identical to the intro, giving the song a sense of closure.

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s a great deal going on in this short piece. Zedd brilliantly demands the listener’s attention with contrasting sounds and surprising developments. He electrifies the music with vibrancy by combining sparsity and force. He jumps quickly from high intensity to low intensity textures so the listener doesn’t get desensitized, but he strikes a perfect balance between surprise and familiarity. The song is pleasantly unpredictable without being chaotic. There is contrast without lack of consistency, and consistency without lack of contrast.

“Spectrum” has almost no fat. Zedd doesn’t add unnecessary sounds or textures. Everything is there for a reason, and there’s nothing that could really be stripped away without changing the effect of the piece. That’s good composition if I ever saw it.