ABSTRACT
This chapter will offer a close analysis of 10cc's “I'm Not in Love,” a tour de force of analog recording that reached #1 on the UK singles chart in July 1975. Like the Beatles before them, 10cc learned to use the multitrack recording console as an instrument unto itself, manifested most especially in the song's backing track that featured a multi-voice virtual choir. With reference to firsthand accounts by the band members of the song's genesis and recording process, the chapter will first explore its unusual formal structure, harmonic design, and arrangement. Audio-imaging software is then used to analyze the timbral and pitch content of “I'm Not in Love” more precisely, revealing some possible discrepancies in the band's recollections of how the virtual choir was recorded. Finally, an analysis informed by Moylan's Recording Analysis illustrates the textural complexity of the song's interlude through a discussion of pitch density and timbral balance.
