The argentinian born in Spain Nathy Peluso is one of the most relevant artists of the new generation thanks to her reinterpretation of the mixture of musical genres such as hip-hop, jazz and Latin American folklore through her incredible voice and her ability to behaving like a great diva of the 50s in the style of Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald, but also like the urban artist daughter of her generation.

Her songs are explosive, you can feel her power in every live show, and many songs are full of resources and very interesting harmonies. In this article, I wanted to deconstruct 'Buenos Aires' from his acclaimed album Calambre. This song has many argentinian references, with jazz harmonies that can remind artists like Luis Alberto Spinetta or some songs by Ca7riel.

Next, you can listen to my remake. Keep reading below to discover all the details of the deconstruction!

The chords of the song have very interesting harmonies, I invite you to dedicate some time to them! Also, at the end of this article I dedicate an extra section to discuss some details about harmonic analysis.

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SYNTHS

The keyboards of this song are based on a Rhodes electric piano harmonic base that accompanies throughout the song. To recreate it, I used Arturia's Rhodes emulator called 'Stage-73' with the following settings.

Plus, it comes with Soundtoys PanMan to automate panning the sound left and right and make the sound less static. Take a listen below.

Keys layer 1

To complement this sound I have also added another keyboard layer with a more airy and enveloping background touch. For this I have used the Arturia DX7 with the following electric piano preset and again with the auto-pan.

Listen to it here, and then listen to both at the same time!

Keys layer 2

Both Keys layers

Since I don't have Nathy's amazing voice, I've recreated her vocal line with a DX7 piano preset with the following settings, along with RC-20 Retro Color for a grainier feel, and Valhalla reverb for some room and more space. Take a listen below.

‍Lead synth (vocals)

Finally, in the final solo another electric piano solo appears that I have recreated again with the Stage-73 and another modified preset. To give it more punch, I used Goodhertz's VulfCompressor compressor. 

Listen to it below.

Solo EP

Remember that you can download all these sounds and presets on my Patreon page, in addition to supporting me to continue this work!

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DRUMS

The drums of the song follow a constant pattern, with a drum sound without much room, quite compact and defined.

To recreate it I have used the Addictive Drums 2 with the following kit configuration. I've been trying different snares, hats and kicks until I found some with a very similar sound, and I've put the whole kit through the VulfCompressor to give it more punch.

Also, since the kick drum was short on punch, I duplicated it on another track and applied the following chain of effects, going through two more compressors and a bass boost from Waves, as well as an EQ to give it some definition.

Listen to solo drums here!

Drums sound

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BASS

The bass in this song is recorded on a Höfner Viola Bass with the following chain of effects, which I usually put on the bass tracks. They are made up of several compressors, one of them multiband, an EQ and the Waves RBass to enhance the bass.

Listen to the result below.

Bass sound

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GUITAR

Throughout the song there is a barely audible guitar plucking, and it complements the whole sound very well and gives it a more rhythmic touch. To recreate it I have passed the guitar through Guitar Rig 5 with a preset that has chorus, delay and reverb. Listen to her guitar below.

Guitar sound

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MUSIC THEORY

To finish this article, I wanted to provide a harmonic analysis of the song with the help of the harmony expert @rod_arribas, since it is a song with very interesting chords. In the following image you have a summary of all the encrypted chords that appear in the song, with some annotations.

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In previous articles, I have explained some theory about modal interchanges, substitute dominants and some more details, I invite you to take a look if you feel like going deeper!

I also invite you to play these chords on a piano to understand the relationship between they. Music theory can be dense, and sometimes it's much easier with an instrument in front of you. If you need the tablature or the MIDI with all the notes of the song, don't hesitate to contact me!

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Thank you very much for reading and supporting me, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and tell me what you think of the video, see you in the next one!

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