prod rm appreciation of the day - forever rain (a fairly technical thread) #2YearsWithMono

disclaimer as usual that everything i say is an interpretation based on my production knowledge and in no way definitively represents joon’s intentions for the song

in the lyrics of forever rain, joon personifies rain and uses it to discuss his feelings of loneliness and dissatisfaction, and his desire to let himself feel freely. this thread will be discussing how he portrays this concept musically. (trans: @/BTS_Trans)

i want to focus specifically on a few elements i noticed that seemed to mimic both the fluidity/cadence of rain and the stages of a thunderstorm, and those are pitch bending, instrument shifts and creative use of percussion.

in the verses, there is a sub bass (bass sound characterized by its smoothness) that carries the melody between the guitar/piano hitting. while listening, i noticed this melody felt very loose/freeform bc there was pitch bending when moving between the notes.

pitch bending in music can be compared to the relation of photos to movies. as you play notes up or down a scale on a normal instrument, there are distinct beginnings/endings, like steps, similar to photos in a slideshow:

pitch bending smooths out those steps until they’re practically nonexistent. the same way a movie uses rapidly moving images to simulate continuous motion, pitch bending causes a slide so that the difference between notes is imperceptible:

if you listen, you can hear that there are no distinctive steps in the sub bass melody for forever rain. each note blends into the next, and this causes it to sound more fluid.

pitch bending can be added to the instruments by the producer or they can choose instruments that are already built to sound this way, but either way, the addition/selection of pitch bending creates a feeling similar to the ebb and flow of water.

beyond pitch bending, the bulk of how the production reflects rain and water is through the percussion. beginning with the verses, although the drums are constant, to the ear, they sound almost irregular.

it sounds like he manipulated the volume (and possibly panning) on each individual drum. this simulates the rhythm of rain - sometimes soft, sometimes hard, and varied in placement. it’s like this throughout the song but easiest to pick out from 3:00 to 3:11.

he also uses this kinda bell-like sound through the verses (first at 1:09) but it’s so heavily reverbed you can barely actually hear it hit. if you’re not familiar with reverb, it’s like an echo - the attached vid shows a bell sample before and after a ton of reverb is added.

the way it hits + lingers thanks to the reverb makes it sound like a splash. theres a clap in the chorus that is also heavily reverbed to achieve the same effect. reverb is v atmospheric, so adding a ton like this to any element also makes a track feel more open/empty.

then, when the first chorus begins, there’s a shift. the percussion cuts out, and sounds like water draining can be heard, as if the rain has stopped. however, what stuck out to me was the change in instruments.

up til now, all the sounds have been smooth/clean (sub bass, clean guitar, piano) but in the chorus, it adds a dirty electric guitar. its got more harmonic variation/distortion + reminds me of the feeling you get when its not raining yet but you can heard thunder in the distance.

what solidified this idea for me is the kick drum he used beginning at 1:48. for a song like forever rain, you’d expect him to use smooth percussion, but the kick he used is actually remarkably dirty (distorted/clipping/fuzzy, staticky sound).

i recorded a video of a clean kick sample vs. a dirty kick sample to show the difference (boosted low frequencies to hear the distortion better). the choice of a dirty kick reminds me of an actual thunderclap and serves to build to the main chorus, when the “rain” rolls in again.

in the chorus, closed hi hats/rolling hi hats are added + pan out from center -> left then center -> right - another slightly different way to mimic rain falling. combined with the reverbed clap + electric guitar, it def gives me the feeling that it’s coming down harder.

the last percussion isn’t directly related to rain, but i found it interesting because it seems to be directly tied to the lyrics, and that is the clock sound used to transition from intro to first verse and first chorus to second verse.

the lyrics are asking the rain to stay forever, which directly contrasts with the more finite idea of time represented by the clock. when it’s introduced, all sounds cut out, like the rain has “stopped.”

the second time, theres one lasting guitar note alongside it, like that last faraway roll of thunder before the rain fades. it’s like an audio representation of the last line - “i know there is no such thing as forever.” the clock is an acknowledgment of that fact.

but in a way, the way it’s structured can also be an acknowledgment that it won’t stay away forever either. it signifies both the end AND beginning of the rain because although the rain cuts off when it starts, it’s also always leading into another storm.

it’s kind of a parallel of the ideas explored in everythingoes - “it all passes, someday, for sure, certainly,” both the rain and the lack of it. just thought that was a cool idea and wanted to share!

aaaand that’s all ive got! mono is a beautiful, incredible album, and forever rain is easily one of my favorites, with or without this extra knowledge. i hope it’s raining wherever you are when you take a listen https://open.spotify.com/track/5fCDWDX2Kv9jc1s7nZfzOi?si=AW3l5HDpSBClYamlX8j1LQ

happy two years!! https://open.spotify.com/album/0XqAZHNx0xJDObehTI2587?si=NBlVrhcUTWWDwHeST-I1aQ