Kaleb - Winner of TC5 · @OtterSSB
22nd Mar 2018 from TwitLonger
Daft Punk Leak, and evidence supporting its legitimacy
Here is the leak in question https://soundcloud.com/user-993498594
Before we get into the evidence within the music, lets start with the source of the leak. The MODs over at the Daft Punk subreddit (who work incredibly diligently to confirm/discredit certain sources) are saying that the source that was submitted is EERILY similar in both nature and manner to that of the Overnight Leak a few months ago.
The clip being 17 seconds puts it right in line with the Get Lucky ad length, possibly showing that this audio is meant to be for an upcoming ad(?) That part is just speculation, on to the evidence within the music:
1.) The first and most apparent giveaway that this is the Robots is the tb303. This acid synth is a Daft Punk staple, showing up in Homework, Human After All, Tron: Legacy, the Kanye collabs, and most recently, the Grammys performance with The Weeknd. This synth is something the robots love to experiment with, and even went on record saying its a sound they wanted to return to (Source Pending, will post once I've found it but don't have time to dig for hours through interviews atm).
2.) The Screech. This sample can clearly be heard and is a daft punk sample, appearing in Rolling and Scratching, much of alive 2007, Contact, and even in Starboy (although its not the 100% same sound, its the same idea).
3.) Harmonics, this is where things get a little complicated to explain so Ill do my best. The chord progression is INCREDIBLY satisfying due to the way the melody harmonizes with the i-vii-vi-v-i movement throughout the clip. If this really is the Robots, they've done yet another incredible job is masking the imitation of themselves, at least within a chord progression. Within, Beyond, and Instant Crush all share an (just about) identical chord progression,
but the melody, and middle voices almost completely mask it to the unsuspecting listener! Each songs sounds incredibly unique and independent despite the similarities. This clip we've gotten is the exact same way, but with an unreleased Daft Punk track only used in Alive 2007, Aura Rock (https://youtu.be/6MXamYZAvF0?t=78). While it doesn't follow the exact same chord progression as the leak's (i-vii-vi-v-i) Aura Rock's (i-vii-VI-v-i) is SCARY close, moving to a major 6th after the 7th, which is really a small change. Both of these progressions allow for VERY dissonant, yet satisfying harmonies. Ill get into this more in the next paragraph. To wrap this part up, Daft Punk have seemed to cleverly and successfully "rebrand" a chord progression into something FRESH
4.) VOCODER: Oh man, where to even start with this. This vocoder is screaming Daft Punks name. Although we cant really make out what the voice is saying, (We want, He wants??? who knows!) the answer we need is hidden within the choice of supporting notes underneath the main melody the vocoder provides. First, I need you to listen to this slowed down, pitched up edit I made of the vocoder work from Pharrel Williams' Gust of Wind (https://soundcloud.com/ottercups/gust-of-wind-vocoder-its-pharrell-singing). Daft Punk creates a sense of fullness and articulation through Vocoding their voices by playing with varying points No supporting notes, lower octaves being added in, and full blown polyphony. The leak has ALL of these present, but actually has less single note vocoder going on.
My favorite part about the vocoder is how well it abuses the chord progression I mentioned in the paragraph above. Something it does (Which is something Parcels actually LOVES to do) is harmonizing/experimenting with Minor 2nd's within chords that would otherwise be incredibly normal. Playing with the minor 2nd creates a sense of longing and drive. Listening to it makes you want to know whats coming next, and BEGS for it to continue and resolve, or even repeat.
This vocoder moves around SO well and is increibly similar to Gust of Wind in how intricate the harmonies and movement are from chord to chord. Try to listen to only the vocoder if you can, the way it moves is almost hypnotic and completely unpredictable in the best way possible.
So, after looking at the source itself, and different bits of evidence scattered throughout the 17 seconds of audio we've been given, I'M PRETTY DAMN CONVINCED ITS THEM. You can believe what you want but...
Remember how you guys treated me during the Overnight Leak and I talked about this game kind of stuff even before I proved Daft Trax was credited ;)