The song famously flopped twice before becoming a hit. Each attempt changed the instrumental's "feel": Sound Diving #2 - Take On Me - mu:zines
: After Morten Harket joined, the band recorded the first true demo as a-ha in 1982, titled "Lesson One" . This version featured the basic keyboard riff but had entirely different lyrics and a much less polished sound. Technical Construction of the Sound a_ha_take_on_me_instrumental_version
for the synth pads, and acoustic guitars that were mixed lower to add texture without overpowering the electronics. The "Lost" Instrumental and Rerecordings The song famously flopped twice before becoming a hit
. This melody is often compared to classical pieces like Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee due to its fast, structured nature. Technical Construction of the Sound for the synth
: When Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy were in their previous band, Bridges , the riff was used in a song titled "Miss Eerie" . They actually considered scrapping it because they thought it sounded too much like "chewing gum" pop.
: The main melody was primarily played on a Roland Juno-60 Go to product viewer dialog for this item. . To achieve its "metallic bite," the was layered with a Yamaha DX7 Go to product viewer dialog for this item.
The core of the instrumental—the iconic, perky synth riff—was first composed by keyboardist when he was just 15 years old.