Neil Young. Sam Cooke. Joan Jett. Jay-Z. U2. Daft Punk.
These icons all have two-syllable names that roll off the tongue like melted butter. When their smooth music plays, listeners’ minds conjure the names from the first bar of the song. Such is the case with the legendary French duo made up of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter.
An Enigmatic Duo
Daft Punk ushered in a new era of electronic music with their singular vibe. In the music industry, to discover your “own sound” is to crack a cryptogram, like in the thriller, The Da Vinci Code. The idea represents an elusive quest moonlighting as a siren song. It serenades many music producers into rabbit holes of creative strangulation.
With their enigmatic brand and ability to reinvent dance music each time they step out of the shadow, Daft Punk personifies sonic individualism. This is most evident on “Doin’ it Right,” a single off the duo’s fourth album, 2013’s Random Access Memories. The track is a canonical tour de force, even in their venerated discography.
Masters of the Vocoder
In addition the presence of the TR-808, the most iconic aspect of Daft Punk’s fabled production is the group’s unparalleled use of vocoders. It’s a dazzling technique, one the group utilized early as “Daftendirekt,” the opening track on its 1997 debut, Homework. Vocoded vocals are the cornerstone of “Doin’ it Right,” which churns along at a hypnotic, slow-burning 89 BPM. The vocoder’s fuzzy sound is like hot chicken soup on a rainy day.
The duo establishes the refrain as the song’s bedrock:
Doing it right
Everybody will be dancing and we'll
Feeling it right
Everybody will be dancing and be Doing it right
Everybody will be dancing and we'll be
Feeling all right
Blending Genres to Perfection
The pair interlace the hook with Panda Bear’s honeyed vocals using the seamless precision of a heart surgeon. Blending two unique vocal elements into one cohesive latticework is a daunting dichotomy. Still, Daft Punk does so time and again with nonchalance. Here, the pair achieve true alchemy.
Even more impressive, “Doin’ it Right” walks the tightrope between genres. Despite a simple arrangement, Daft Punk achieves the feat with the gravitas of a seasoned vet. The resounding low end recalls trap music, thumping through the track like Zaytoven or Swizz Beatz.
"Daft Punk turned back the clock, creating a modern dance classic in the process."
Sonic Textures via Modular Synthesizers
Yet, it’s never frenetic or overpowering. The duo layer the subs with Panda Bear’s singsong cadence in a bona fide production masterstroke. The song remains rooted in electropop, though, with textures of nu-disco sprinkled in.
It’s impossible to pay homage to “Doin’ it Right” without mentioning Daft Punk’s use of modular synthesizer on the song. The track is the sole example from Random Access Memories using only a modular synthesizer, devoid of session musicians.
Mastering modular synthesis has become a lost art. Daft Punk turned back the clock, creating a modern dance classic in the process. The decision is a microcosm of both the group’s timelessness and its joie de vivre. If the past can speak to the future, Daft Punk is the cell tower.
