1995 Version:
This track (make sure to notice the ‘.NUXX’ which is the indicator that it is the track we are talking about) was first released as a B-side to ‘Born Slippy’ an unrelated instrumental track, in 1995. After it was used in 1996 movie ‘Trainspotting’ it quickly rose to #2 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1996. In this post I’ll be speaking about the original 1995 (.NUXX) version and the differences to the remastered version in 2012.
Before talking about the difference in production between the original and the remix I’m going to do a short breakdown of the sounds, instrumentation, and the vocals, to compare the use of production techniques between the two versions.
The first thing you hear in the original 1995 track is the opening pad chords together with the heavily delayed synth that plays B flat major followed by an E flat major chord. There are a few sources that point to a Juno-106 for the synth (Roland, 2022), but some sources also point to the Waldorf Microwave (Music, 2021).
The vocals come in at 0:13 seconds, these are distorted and have been put through a Roland VP-330 Vocal Synthesizer which they purchased from Midge Ure (Roland, 2022).
As an interesting aside the vocals were done in a single take (Lynskey, 2006). The lyrics themselves are almost a stream of consciousness. Karl Hyde spoke about the Born Slippy lyrics in an interview with the Australian Financial Review, “Musique concrete is the equivalent of what goes on in my head and Born Slippy‘s lyrics are the proof.” (Bailey, 2019). By using short phrases and repetition it sits well with how pop music is constructed to make the track memorable, “the short phrases, regular phrase lengths, simple time signatures and mostly stepwise diatonic melodies that characterize pop music result in simple musical ideas that are easily memorised by the listener” (Warner, 2017).
The TR-909 hi-hats come in at 1:08 followed by the kick drums at 1:17 and the impetus and drive of this track come to the fore. The 909 kicks are distorted and to get this sound, “It’s heavily driven through a console and processed but it’s a 909.” (Roland, 2022). When the kick starts it turns into a sparce break with only drums (with lots of delay) and vocals from 1:17 till 3:44. The chords and pads come back, which then goes back to drums to fade out.
2012 Remastered Version:
For the new remixed version released in 2012 the main differences that you can see on the track in Apple Music is that it has been released as both Hi-Res Lossless and as an Apple Digital Master. This means that the track has been either re-recorded or digitised from the original tape. From what I can hear across the different versions in general is the 1995 version sounds like there is less dynamic range. The 2012 version is ‘clearer’ and seems to have more dynamic range, mainly on high and low frequencies. These additional frequencies could be due to better mixing, EQ, or other techniques after re-recording the stems from tape, or using a larger bit depth (24-bit vs 16 bit). From research on the impact of digital technology on recording in the 1990s brought up an interesting idea that I did not occur to me. From Christopher DeArcangelis, “Mastering was the site of one of the most significant revolutions brought by digital audio. With vinyl records, there was an upper limit on a recording’s loudness. If mastered too loud, the record would shake the needle and disrupt playback. Loudness would not affect CD playback, and the medium also had a clear maximum amplitude. Therefore, CDs could be mastered a whole lot louder. Mastering engineers utilized brickwall limiters to anticipate differences in the dynamic range in the recordings by pushing its levels to the ceiling.” (DeArcangelis, 2017). The use of digital technology in this way not only changed the instrumentation of what we listened to but also how we consumed it.
Special Bonus: Underworld playing Born Slippy live in Berlin
References:
Bailey, M. (2019) How underworld’s born slippy was born, Australian Financial Review. Available at: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/how-underworld-s-born-slippy-was-born-20190528-p51rz1 (Accessed: November 6, 2022).
DeArcangelis, C. (2017) How the 1990s changed recording and Music Production Forever, reverb.com. Available at: https://reverb.com/uk/news/how-the-1990s-changed-recording-and-music-production-forever (Accessed: November 6, 2022).
Lynskey, D. and Simpson, D. (2006) Twelve artists talk about making one of their classic tracks, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/feb/24/popandrock2 (Accessed: November 6, 2022).
Music, C. (2021) The 40 greatest synth sounds of all time, no 32: Underworld – born slippy, MusicRadar. MusicRadar. Available at: https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-40-greatest-synth-sounds-of-all-time-no-32-underworld-born-slippy (Accessed: November 6, 2022).
Roland (2022) Roland artist interview – Underworld, Roland Resource Centre. Available at: https://rolandcorp.com.au/blog/roland-artist-interview-underworld (Accessed: November 6, 2022).
Warner, T. (2017) “Simplicity and repetition,” in Pop music: Technology and creativity: Trevor Horn and the Digital Revolution. London, UK: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 9–10.