Have you ever experienced that instant song recognition, even with just a few opening notes? That’s exactly what happened to me with “Nothing Compares 2 U”. It’s fascinating because the intro seems deceptively simple: just a sustained F-major synth-string chord. But what makes those opening Nothing Compares 2 You Chords so instantly identifiable? Let’s dive into the details and explore the sonic elements that contribute to this iconic introduction.
Returning to a proper listening environment, a closer examination reveals subtle nuances I missed in a casual car radio listen. That initial F-major chord isn’t just a plain synth pad. There’s a short, almost percussive keyboard sound, reminiscent of a fuzzy Yamaha DX7 piano, that subtly accents the very beginning. This seemingly minor addition drastically enhances the chord’s character, making it far more distinctive and memorable than a simple sustained synth string. The attack of a sound, how a note begins, is crucial for our ears in identifying instruments. Remove the initial fraction of a second from various instrument sounds, and they become surprisingly difficult to differentiate. This is why early samplers prioritized memory for note onsets. Adding to this subtle complexity of these nothing compares 2 you chords, there’s also a slight eighth-note delay on that keyboard layer, adding a touch of rhythmic spice to the harmonic foundation.
But the strings themselves in these nothing compares 2 you chords are also far from ordinary. A typical approach might be to use a simple ensemble string patch for chords, resulting in a homogenous sound. However, here, the impression is of a much more organic string section, composed of individual players. Arranger Gota Yashiki, in a Sound On Sound interview, mentioned his focus on achieving a natural string sound. This likely involved the painstaking process of layering solo or small-group multisamples for different string lines, rather than relying solely on a generic chordal string pad. While a broader string pad might be subtly present in the background to provide cohesion to these nothing compares 2 you chords, the texture is rich and detailed. Given Yashiki’s use of the Akai S1100 sampler, which had limited sample RAM, sustained notes would have been created by looping shorter samples. Listening closely to the top A of the opening chord, you can indeed hear a mechanical “pulsing” in its timbre, roughly twice per second, a byproduct of the looping. This isn’t natural vibrato, but it becomes a unique and recognizable sonic fingerprint of these nothing compares 2 you chords.
Even if the track had opened with a basic Roland JV1080 string pad laying down the nothing compares 2 you chords, could its very starkness and simplicity have paradoxically become a memorable hook? It’s hard to immediately recall another major hit that begins with such a bare string introduction. The brilliance of “Nothing Compares 2 U”’s intro lies in its masterful combination of seemingly simple nothing compares 2 you chords with intricate sonic details, creating an instantly recognizable and emotionally resonant opening.
Published on 01 Jan 2014
