Sound in Film

Sound is an integral part of modern film and television, being one of the two major stimuli through which film makers can communicate with their audience. It is not surprising therefore that there are production practises and techniques that have become standard across the industry, from major Hollywood blockbusters, to low production underground films, including all film media, from real life documentaries to entirely fabricated cartoons. Whilst there will be variation in how these techniques are implemented, there is a common sophisticated ingenuity that reveals itself upon study of the art of sound design.

Sound design can more or less be described as the arrangement of all those non-musical sonic elements that feature in a piece of film.

In the overwhelming majority of film production, the aim of the sound team at the point of shooting is to capture only the dialogue of the main protagonists in a scene, hopefully cutting out all background noise. Whilst there are exceptions to this, they only really occur where an artistic decision has been made to keep these peripheral elements in the soundtrack.

The reason for this is simple: Background effects can be custom designed and added to the picture later. This luxury means that the sound designer is able to synthesise the sounds to a much higher standard than would occur naturally, creating a more suitable soundtrack that will be more effective when played with the film.

Most film production will involve a foley artist, whose job it is to make the effects we take for granted. Foley work is usually undertaken in a recording studio, and the foley artist will usually have a plethora of props that he will rely on. These will be everyday objects that the artist can use to create sounds that will match the action on screen. These objects will often bear little or no actual relation to those on screen. For example, the sound of bones breaking is often recreated by breaking a piece of celery. Sometimes the link between the sound source and the visually object is less abstract, for instance a creaking chair is often used as a controllable way of reproducing creaking stairs or doors.

The person who is ultimately responsible for composing and mixing the soundtrack, including the work done by the other people such as foley artists is the sound designer. The sound designer will have at his disposal all the sonic material that has been collected by the sound team, and is likely to realise the soundtrack in a studio similar to one used by any other sound engineer, using similar methods and programs, such as Pro Tools.

This allows the sound designer to take advantage of some common techniques that are used, such as:

· Sync Points – this is where the action that occurs on screen coincides with a sonic impulse. This is an effective technique as it establishes a synthesis between what is happening in the film and in the soundtrack, which makes the track much more plausible. An example of this can be seen in the Squarepusher video for ‘’Come on my Selector’, directed by Chris Cunningham, particularly at the point 4:50 – 5:05.

· Temporal Manipulation – This is where a sonic impulse is manipulated so as to give the effect of slowing down or speeding up time. An example of this would be the sound of a heart beat slowing, or of footsteps slowing, so as to add tension to a film.

Scott recorded someone singing an excerpt from the French folksong “Au Clair de la Lune” on April 9, 1860, and deposited the results with the Académie des Sciences in 1861. The existence of a tuning-fork calibration trace allows us to compensate for the irregular recording speed of the hand-cranked cylinder. The sheet contains the beginning line of the second verse-”Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit”-and is the earliest audibly recognizable record of the human voice yet recovered.”

Granted the quality is extremely low, but there’s something cool about being able to hear someone’s voice from almost 150 years ago thanks to technology.

Sound from 1860

But wait, there’s more!

Here is a recording of the Eerie Sounds of Saturn’s Radio Emissions while this link gives you more information.

And to round this post off with some comedy, I present A One Of A Kind Recording which you may remember from one of the group talks just before Easter

Post Rock and Crunk

Modern Metal and Happy Hardcore

Alternative Music and Country and Western

Love

• What do I love?
• Post Rock
• What is Post Rock?
• Why do I love it?
• Brief History
• Notable Bands

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Website

Mono Website

Do Make Say Think Website

Yndi Halda

• Who are Yndi Halda?
• Why do I love them?
• Critical Analysis

A Song For Starlight Beaches

• Length and Structure
• Key Signature
• Time Signature
• Instrumentation
• Dynamics
• Texture
• Timbre
• Melody
• Harmony

Hate

Crunk Music

• What is Crunk?
• Why do I hate it?
• Brief History
• Notable Acts

Bone Crusher Wikipedia Article

Ying Yang Twins Homepage

YoungBloodZ Homepage

Lil’ John

• Who is Lil’ John?
• Why do I hate him?
• Critical Analysis

Get Low

• Length and Structure
• Key
• Time Signature
• Instrumentation
• Dynamics
• Textures
• Structure
• Lyrics

The following is also available in .pdf

Plagiarism:

The practice of claiming or implying original authorship of (or incorporating material from) someone else’s written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one’s own without adequate acknowledgement – the issue of false attribution.
Musical ‘imitation’ is when a musical gesture is repeated later in a different form, but retaining its original character.

Plagiarism and Imitation throughout Musical history
Due to the convenience of music in a digital rather than an analogue format, the idea of plagiarism seems like a ‘modern’ concept. In fact, plagiarism and imitation of musical ideas has to have been occurring since the beginning of music as we know it.
Music cannot progress without a certain amount of ‘imitation’ of general fundamentals. Consider a primitive tribal beat on a drum – neither melodic, nor harmonic, without structure, rhythmic variation or dynamic contrast. Then consider the most complicated, intricate, polyphonic electronic music of today. This progression has taken twenty to fifty thousand years of ‘imitation’ of musical fundamentals as well as the development of music technology.
In Medieval / Renaissance music, the ‘plainsong’ developed into the Gregorian chant through ‘imitation’ of previous composers’ work. The Gregorian chant itself, favoured by Palestrina and Tallis, is based on the imitation of the perfect fourth and fifth intervals.
In the Classical era, it was considered a necessary part of a young composer’s training to study under and to ‘imitate’ his master’s works – as well as that of other composers. Bach studied and copied the motets and masses of the Rennaissance period – paying particular attention to Palestrina’s masses and motets.
Beethoven studied under Haydn, ‘imitating’ certain traits of Classical music and bringing them into the Romantic era. Although ‘commissioned’ pieces existed and therefore composers were financially rewarded – this ‘imitation’ was still for positive creative purposes.

It is only in this modern age when virtually every musical concept imaginable has been experimented with that, paradoxically, much musical creativity appears to have been exhausted. A new, lazy disregard for original music has appeared, as well as a cynical monetary motivation that did not exist previously (to as great an extent) in musical eras before.
eg: Sweetbox’s Everything’s Gonna Be Alright sampling Bach’s Air on a G String
DJ Tiesto’s Adagio for Strings sampling Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings
Pachelbel’s Canon.

Plunderphonics

Plunderphonics can be considered a form of sound collage / music made by taking one or more existing audio recordings and altering them to make a new composition. No attempt is made to disguise the fact that the composition uses ‘borrowed’ sounds – sometimes the sounds may be taken from very familiar sources.
Straightforward sampling used in electronic/industrial/hip-hop music – in plunderphonic music the sampled material is often the only material used.

This obviously raises legal issues.
In 1989, Ozwald released a expanded album version of his Plunderphonics EP with twenty-five tracks. It reworked material by popular musicians like The Beatles / Elvis Presley / Dolly Parton and classical works such as Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 / Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring but it was not offered for sale. A central idea behind the record was that the fact that all the sounds were ‘stolen’ should be quite blatant.

Plunderphonic artists whose work is sold commercially –
Kid606 – The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You The Fucking Jams.
DJ Shadow – Entroducing / Girltalk – Night Ripper
Worth mentioning…The Droplift Project created a compilation CD of plunderphonic works which was then “droplifted” into record stores (this involved slipping copies of the record onto the shelves without knowledge of the store owner — a sort of reverse stealing).

http://www.droplift.org/

Positive aspects of imitation in the Music Industry

Floods market with success
Boybands
“Some of the most common themes in pop music are romantic love and feelings. Pop music often uses the technique of taking from other records producing a satirical or self-reflexive mixture of past styles. It also employs techniques of sampling and sequencing to introduce individuality and creativity.”

“Coldplay’s early material was compared to acts such as Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, while also drawing comparisons to U2 and Travis. Since the release of Parachutes, Coldplay have also drawn influence from other sources, including Echo and the Bunnymen and George Harrison on A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) and Johnny Cash and Kraftwerk for X&Y (2005). Both of these albums were released to great critical acclaim and commercial success.”

Dangermouse
The Beatles’ White Album
Jay-Z’s Black Album
Completely illegal

Music industry begins

Handel’s La Rejoussance
Beethoven
Tchaikovsky

Negative aspects of imitation in the Music Industry

How imitation has failed
There are rules on plagiarism
Industry is unoriginal due to imitation
So many diluted versions of other bands
All of this is inoffensive, easy to digest, uncontroversial.
Pointless!

Plagiarism & Imitation from the artists perspective

There is a fine line to be tread between the act of plagiarism and the artist’s right to imitate. Without imitation there would be no development – look as far back as the renaissance period to see obvious examples of imitation between composers, as have already been discussed. Without this, we would not have seen the rise of the Classical period, and eventually the Romantic period where experimentation with orchestras began.
To put a more relevant spin on things, look at popular music from the 1950s onwards. Since the likes of Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley there has been one long chain of development. Without the skiffle bands of the 50s there would have been no Beatles, who have been endlessly imitated and have influenced basically all pop music after them. Without Jimmy Page first learning to play Lonnie Donegan songs there would have been no birth of heavy metal. It is hard to argue that we would be at the same place we are today in the modern pop industry were it not for this long chain of imitation from artist to artist.

Plagiarism, however, is something far more controversial….

It can be argued that, when it is done right, it brings older music that most weren’t aware of back to the fore, and brings back some appreciation for older music; for example, take a listen to DJ Tiesto’s or William Orbit’s version of Samuel Barber’s piece Adagio for Strings. Unless you’ve seen the movie Platoon, or else Kevin and Perry Go Large, very few would be aware of the piece or indeed of Samuel Barber, and it gives the piece a new life.

Would the composer be happy? When people get more fame/money out of something they ripped off from you would you be flattered? This was the case when The Verve released Bittersweet Symphony. This song uses a sample from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s recording of the Rolling Stone’s Last Time as its basis, from which Ashcroft builds his own original continuous riff. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards however, seeing how well the song was doing commercially, took all the rights to the song.
Plagiarism is alive so much in the modern music industry people just take it for granted. Look at the use of the same old chord progressions and cadences in songs. So many pop ballads have followed the same format and chord progression, with the same use of the first, fourth and fifth chords, even down to the same interrupted cadence before the end.

Also then, look at the modern “RnB” and Hip Hop. Most have the same beats and the same percussive sound to them. This is what people want to hear, so this is what people get. This does nothing for the true artist, who wants to explore and develop music.
It just gets lazy; even for the listener. People have been conditioned to expect this when they listen to the radio. This is not good artistically. This restricts those who want to explore other elements in commercial music. This is especially the case with US rock bands, where it seems the industry is irreversibly restricted. It takes a band ten years to have established themselves enough to be allowed to try anything different. For example, it took the death of Kurt Cobain for Pearl Jam to be allowed to explore anything outside grunge, and it took REM nearly a decade after their first album before they were allowed to stop producing the same old indie music expected of them.

Other examples of plagiarism:
Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” is a good example of when appreciation of another artist’s music crosses the line into plagiarism. It samples Queen/Bowie’s Under Pressure without permission.
George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” uses the melody of The Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”.
John Fogerty was sued for plagiarising himself. His song “Old Man Down the Road” was ruled to be a musical copy of the Creedance Clearwater Revival Song “Run Through The Jungle”. Is this lazy song-writing or an artist claiming his right to his own sound?

Progression or recession?

Does Plagiarism and Imitation further the boundaries of modern music, or are we curbing creativity by promoting re-mixing and sampling?
Remixing: Magic Carpet Ride
Jimi Hendrix // The Crystal Method
Revitalising or tiring?
Sonically enhanced? The warmer sound of vinyl vs digital clarity
A matter of taste?

Impossible to argue: there is equal progression and recession through the remixing and recreation of existing music.
Existing popular music is more economically viable than a new song / piece. More and more existing music has been re-used by more recent artists: generating more income for the publishing labels and songwriters, but very little income for the artist.
“New artists are often introduced to the record-buying public with performances of well known, “safe” songs as evidenced in Pop Idol and its international counterparts. It is also a means by which the public can more easily concentrate upon the new performer without the need to judge the quality of the songwriting skills.” (wikipedia)
However, from a creative and critcal perspective, re-mixing and reproduction has a very limited lifespan and a limited appeal. The Beatles’ Yesterday is the most covered song since the original was released.

Similar to the evolution of music over the past two millennia and beyond, music will continue to develop by imitation and expansion into future.
Due to the availability of equipment and teaching, more people are able to compose. This exponential growth of numbers of composers should allow music to diversify and develop more quickly.
Over time, however, as music continues to be critically analysed, and as taste dictates the soundscape, the same classic songs retain their status, whilst the others are ignored to fade into obscurity… Until it is remixed. Again and again.
Perhaps the combination of Progressive Recession will continue to be the foremost method of development.

A Crisis or a Revolution?

Introduction

Our concern is with the current musical climate. Together we feel that certain changes in the last 4 or 5 years in the music industry, and in how we access and enjoy music, are leading to a new generation of musicians, producers and consumers. No-one can doubt that music has changed a lot recently, with so much focus now on the Internet and success-stories of unsigned artists taking over the music world in record-breaking time. But how has this change come about? Will it take us in a new direction?

More importantly, will it affect how we listen to and critically analyse music in years to come?

Who are the DIY Generation?

WE are the Do It Yourself Generation of musicians and consumers. We own computers, we enjoy making and listening to music and we have found a way to combine those things, otherwise we would not be studying this course!

How did it begin?

It began as the worlds of music and computing technology merged and developed with the Internet and with social networking.

Where is it leading us?

We don’t know but it is interesting to speculate about, which is why we got together to discuss it.

How has it affected our musical climate?

Music is freer than ever! In terms of producing music, more people are doing it for themselves. In distributing music, more people are doing it for themselves, using the Internet. In sharing music, peer networking has helped to bring record labels to a state of quiet panic.

Has music become diluted?

Is all of this new music just flooding the industry with repetitive, heard-it-all-before rubbish? Are we losing touch with originality, classic idioms and the language of musicology which has taken centuries to perfect?

Or are we on the verge of a new musical age?

Perhaps this is the beginning of a new revolution in music, made by people…for people. Could it generate new ideas? New genres? Provoke a reaction from the music industry conservationists? Create a whole new language with which to describe and analyse music?

Recording/Production

Traditionally, an artist would be approached by a record label with the opportunity of making an album. They would be set up in a professional studio with a team of engineers and a producer who would implement their skills in the recording, mixing and production of the artists songs. Those songs would then be mass produced and distributed to stores by the record label, assisted by an appropriate marketing campaign. Of course, there also exist numerous independent recording studios, run by engineers/producers with industry experience who are willing to hire out their facilities and skills to artists for a substantial cost. Only artists with considerable financial backing could make use of these facilities to record this music, therefore the usual aim was to seek recognition from record labels willing to invest time and money in them. However, this recognition has traditionally been difficult to establish and so the spiraling cost of recording and producing their music has often caused would-be artists to become stifled and lose interest.

One of the major reasons for the emergence of this new age of Do It Yourself artists has been the shift in the focus of music technology toward consumers. Manufacturers have increasingly sought to provide professional-level equipment or alternative solutions at cheaper prices. The competition between such manufacturers, along with numerous innovations and new technologies, have seen a massive paradigm shift in music technology in the last 5 or 6 years.

A quote from Federico Bersano Begey in his article ‘Getting The Perfect Mix‘ from the ‘The Guide: Music Industry 2007′ supplement of the Independent Newspaper:

“…affordable digital technology has made it possible for a new generation of artists to start producing records – without anyone’s approval…”

A New Digital Era

Consider this typical computer setup from a recording studio, circa-2002:

PowerMac G4 500MHz

256 Mb RAM

18 Gb Hard Disk

Digidesign Pro Tools 5.1/ Cubase VST/24 4.0

Numerous outboard hardware processors

Cost upwards of £3000

At that time, this cost of setting up a digital recording studio would have put many people off the idea. As a hobby, it was beyond the reach of most consumers. For experienced musicians, the alternative option of recording in a professional studio with qualified people was a much more feasible solution. So how have things changed?

Huge advances in the fields of music and computing technology have occurred both independently of one another, and in their ever-increasing connection. Originally, combining digital technology with music production was seen as an experiment or a solution for the problems presented by analogue equipment. It soon developed and expanded, with innovation being high on the agenda for many manufacturers. The rate of these developments has increased steeply in the last 3 years on many fronts:

Affordable computers with incredible power

High-quality consumer audio interfaces and controllers

Competitive DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) development

‘Virtualisation’ of the studio space – streamlining studios by removing hardware and virtualising it with software (more affordable than hardware units)

Innovations and competitive manufacturers providing for the new ‘pro-sumer’ demographic, driving down costs

Leading to…

The Project Studio

An affordable home production solution

A new generation of domestic songwriters/engineers/producers

Access to almost the entire world via the Internet

A massive rise in global music productivity and circulation – a mass-production cycle

Now consider this modern computer setup from a simple Project Studio, circa-2008:

Apple MacBook w/Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz)

1 Gb RAM

120 Gb Hard Disk

2in-2out USB Audio Interface

MIDI Keyboard Controller

Passive Desktop Monitoring

GarageBand (free with every Mac)

Logic Studio, Pro Tools LE, Cubase Studio 4 (all under £300)

Numerous software plug-in’s to replace physical hardware units

Cost of around £1200-£1400 (less than half of the circa-2002 setup cost)

What is also interesting about this current situation is that, removing the additional equipment from the setup and leaving the laptop computer alone, it is still possible (with GarageBand and built-in microphone/line-in socket) to record simple songs, mix them and export them for online distribution. The laptop costs £700, this is the minimum possible expenditure for a piece of essential equipment which, as well as providing the many other utilities of a personal computer, can become the core of an artist’s project studio and live performance setup. It is a portable recording studio with a lot of power and capability, which has led to the laptop becoming an extremely important aspect of today’s music technology market and practice. MIDI devices such as keyboards, trigger pads and software controllers are becoming more portable and more functional in tandem with these changes, putting such high-quality devices in the hands of aspiring songwriters and producers at very low prices.

The Impact?

More music from unknown artists, creating a massive online catalogue of unsigned, self-marketed material available to anyone with an internet connection

Peer-to-peer networking overshadowing traditional music distribution by the industry

Music has become ‘watered down’ by a new generation of artists writing/recording/producing/promoting by themselves en masse

Is putting music back into the hands of the people a good thing? Or has the critical ability of the record labels to spot potential, worthwhile talent been sorely missed?

The Internet and Musicians: A New Art Movement

The Internet and Musicians

• Myspace (social networking)
• Youtube
• Itunes
• Online Radio
• Band Websites

Myspace

• www.myspace.com
• Launched feb 1999
• Over 300 million users
• Local sites for Australia, Brazil , Canada (French and English), China, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latin America (Spanish), India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, UK, USA
• Artist profiles can have up to 6 songs which automatically play upon loading of screen
• No restrictions on quality of recordings that are uploaded; anyone can showcase their music
• Optional free download
• People profiles can display one song of a band of their choice
• Users do not need to be logged into view music
• Sending comments and messages is free
• Merchandise and cds can be sold
• Upcoming gigs, tours and news can be posted on blogs which users can sign up to
• Bands can be searched by genre, name, location etc.
• Myspace runs a competition for the “Gibson/Myspace” stage at download festival for unsigned bands
• Videos can be embedded from sites like youtube showing bands music videos or live performances

Youtube

• www.youtube.com
• Created February 2005
• Over 100 million videos are watched every day
• In Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, USA
• Anyone with a user account can upload videos of anything as long as it is not deemed offensive
• Bands can show live performances and music videos but so can anyone who is registered
• Bands success – ‘Ok Go’s video for their song “Here It Goes Again” gained a lot of radio play and airtime on music channels such as MTV because of its recognition on Youtube.

iTunes

• iTunes store opened in April 2003
• Has sold over 4 billion songs (over 70% of all digital sales)
• In Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, or the United States
• Artists do not need to be signed to upload songs and only need to fill in an online application form to be considered by Apple and have their songs sold in Apple’s own AAC file format and mixed at 0dB
• At the end of february, Apple announced that iTunes is the second biggest music retailer behind Wal-Mart

Online Radio

• People can listen to an online radio station from anywhere in the world unlike traditional radio – more choice
• Local example – Londonderry trio ‘Fighting With Wire’

Websites

• Most major artists have websites
• Advertise events, gigs and sell merchandise
• Give links to shops that sell albums
• Sell albums independently – Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails

Conclusions

So we have discussed how and why this change has come about, and heard how it has affected one of our own colleagues in his artistic adventures. The reasons are both technical, and ethical. We now have access to the technology that was beyond our everyday grasp only years ago. We can quickly and effectively put our musical thoughts and ideas onto a hard disk and then onto the Internet for the world to enjoy. We can reach friends and fans worldwide with the click of a button. The old avenues of demo tapes, hotheaded record executives and big-budget marketing schemes seem to be becoming a thing of the past. Our music really is in our hands now, but is that really a good thing?

The changing face of music in our generation

Consider the similarities with the musical movements of the 50s/60s/70s etc. and how music broke away from the church and regulation to be free, poetic and rebellious/controversial. Are we getting to that stage now in an artistic and ethical sense? Are we breaking away from the industry to put music in peoples hands the way we want it to be heard?

New genres, sub-genres, cross-genres…

The one thing music is definitely doing is developing and crossing over genres (indie and disco for example). An attempt at originality, or have ideas just simply run out?

Consider how this new generation of music lovers seem to reject the traditional musicology and language of music, but are developing a new tongue as well as a new ear for music. Modern un-trained musicians tend to speak in different terms and perform without traditional idioms.

New idioms being introduced?

Are we identifying with new idioms? Or just re-working old idioms into something slightly different? Taking the rhythmic ideas of one idiom and the harmonic ideas of another and merging them artistically, for example. The rise of ‘glitch’ music is another important example, as its characteristic sound has developed because of the digital nature of that particular musical idiom. Will this continue to happen?

Digital technology allowing more experimentation

Due to the limitless possibilities provided by new digital technology, we can interact with our music in more ways than ever. Consider the work being done with sensors, MaxMSP, the Yamaha Tenori-On device, the Jazz Mutant series of touch-screen interface devices and the fact that MIDI has seen a new revival in a new breed of controllers and instruments. Can we expect this experimentation to evolve into new genres and styles of musical performance breaking into the mainstream musical community?

Laptop performance

The laptop is becoming an instrument in its own right. Not only is it possible to record and produce music with one, its also becoming more popular to perform with one on stage. They can be used as samplers, keyboard patches, guitar amplifiers and effects processors etc. as well as instruments for electro-acoustic and acousmatic performances. An important example of this is the amazing development of the Ableton Live software program from a simple performance device into a fully-fledged production suite in a matter of 3 years. Also consider Apple’s inclusion of its MainStage application in the Logic Studio production suite, making performances utilising Logic Pro much more streamlined and functional. Surely this is in recognition of changing trends and the prospect of what is to come.

Self-produced and self-distributed music flooding the new online market

It’s more accessible than ever and more portable than ever. Practices have been changed. Consider the change from buying a CD on release from a store and listening on a home hi-fi system to downloading from iTunes and listening on an iPod constantly as you go about your business. Has the art of ‘listening’ changed? Has it just become an autonomous act? Many musicians and industry professionals fear that we are becoming conditioned to this lifestyle and that portable, digital music has desensitised us to our most beloved art form.

There are more questions than answers, because the changes are still happening. We can only look at the evidence around us and speculate on the future trends. We can be sure that technology will be the key to how these trends develop and the foundation to a whole new generation of music.

The End.

Definition?

- A genre of music that differs from mainstream (pop, rock, dance R&B etc…) and has become an umbrella term that now encompasses a wide variety of genres:

• Grunge, Britpop, Indie pop/ rock, Goth rock, Industrial, Glam Rock, Art Rock, Progressive rock, Acoustic pop, ‘Nu’ metal.

A Brief History…

• 1980s: originated from unsigned bands, or bands signed to independent labels, who differed from the mainstream genres of the time.
• Became widely popular in the ’90s, especially with the emergence of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Sonic Youth and Brit-pop acts Oasis and Blur. From this point on the number of Alternative artists breaking through to the mainstream gradually grew.
• Progressed with the influence of folk music, metal, reggae, jazz, blues and electronic music.

Elements of Alternative Music

The elements of Alternative music have grown to differ across the subgenres, but generally:

• usual band setup of vocals, guitar, bass, drums with the occassional addition of strings, brass and additional percussion.
• often includes a prominent bass line ranging from fairly regulated (e.g. Oasis – Wonderwall, Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box) to slightly more difficult, yet still repetitive (e.g. Red Hot Chilli Peppers – By The Way).
• intricate guitar riffs (e.g. Muse – Hysteria, Plug-In Baby).
• a variety of time signatures but rarely compound.
• a few complex rhythms, often alternating throughout songs (e.g. Biffy Clyro).
• Rarely in an odd key – usually in a key that’s easily accessible to a guitar (e.g. G, C, D, E, F majors, Em.)
• Vocal line is the most prominent, with vocal harmonies most often running a 3rd above or below.
• Texture and timbre vary greatly across the subgenres and both often depend on the effects applied to the instruments (e.g. ‘Nu’ metal – guitar distortion).

A ‘critically analysed’ example…

KT Tunstall – Black Horse and the Cherry Tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIO2qpSsUTA

• E minor, 4/4 time.
• Root chord is played most, with B7 (the dominant chord, V) in the verse and the addition of D (vii) and C (VI) in the chorus.
• Rhythm outlined by muted strumming and percussive beating on guitar body
• Vocals give us a catchy riff (harmonised a third above) and are sometimes improvised.
• With the help of a loop pedal, the texture builds throughout until a gradual climax (about 4.15mins) and a sharp anti-climax.
• Obvious influences from blues and folk.

Why I love Alternative music…

• There is a wide variety of subgenres and sounds to choose from (e.g. from We Are Scientists to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, from Deftones to The Cure.)
• Unique sounds, but sharing similar values.
• Influenced by a great number other genres – we hear glimpses from the past, for example in The Donnas we hear Kiss.
• This means as a genre it’s constantly growing and changing, producing new sub-genres (e.g. electro-indie in the past few years with CSS and Klaxons).
• Therefore tends to be more adventurous and less predictable!

HATE: COUNTRY & WESTERN MUSIC

A brief history…

• Developed from Celtic music, blues, gospe music, hokum (a comedic type of piano blues) and old-time music (a form of N. American folk music usually played on a combination of the fiddle and a plucked string instrument, most often guitar/banjo).
• Evolved rapidly in the 1920s
• Used to be called ‘hillbilly’ music until the 1940s when this term was thought to be degrading…

The development of Country & Western music…

• Cowboy songs – 1930s + 1940s: popularised by Hollywood films.
• Boogie-Woogie: piano-based blues that became very popular at thistime and was associated with dancing.
• Honky-Tonk: associated with Texas and California barrooms (Hank Williams particularly).
• The ‘Nashville Sound’: Began in the ’50s, reached its peak in the early ’60s. It turned country music into a multi-million dollar industry centred in Nashville, Tennesse. It borrowed the 1950s pop style: smooth prominent vocal, string section and vocal chorus. A key element was its trademark licks. Some notable artists: Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves + Tammy Wynette.
• Rockabilly: 1956: Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel, Johnny Cash I Walk the Line, Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes.
• Bakersfield Sound: 1966: telecaster-driven music that grew out of ‘hardcore honky-tonk’ (a horrifying thought…).
• The Outlaw Movement: 1970s: derived from Honky Tonk. Most notable artists were Ray Price, Willie Nelson.
• Country Rock/ Country Pop: 1970s: where todays popular country music comes from – the Eagles, the Byrds.

Elements of Country & Western Music

• Mostly basic 4/4 time.
• Chord progressions usually consist of basic I-IV-V-I movement.
• Regulated bass figure.
• Same song structure throughout: A B A B C B (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus).

A ‘critically analysed’ example…

Kenny Chesney: She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2KmzFABujM

• B flat major (adventurous? don’t be fooled! it has a capo on the first fret – it’s really in A).
• 4/4 time.
• Follows the aforementioned, typical song structure: ABABCB.
• Primary riff on the fiddle supported by second fiddle.
• Predictable chord structure:

Verse: I – IV – I – IV – V Chorus: I – V- I – V – I – IV – I – V – I – IV – I – V – IV – I – V – I – IV – I Bridge: I

Why I hate Country & Western music…

• Subject matter of songs: Although country lyrics may appeal to a lot of people, this is in one area of the world…it is doubtful that most other cultures would feel they could relate to them.. e.g. She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy (Kenny Chesney), International Harvester (Craig Morgan), Hillbilly Deluxe (Brooks & Dunn).
• The infamous twang: rarely used in a new, interesting way and makes every song sound the same.
• Predictable chord progression + structure of song.
• Rhythmically uninteresting.

However! One must take into account that this is music that is not intended to be revolutionary or to push the boundaries of music as we know it…it is simply straightforward musak that some people enjoy. I would not be one of them.

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Group 2 – John Close, Philip Crane, John D’Arcy, Shannon Doherty, Paul Elliot

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Anatomy of the Voice – Paul Elliott

The voice box contains various anatomical features that work together to create the characteristic sonic qualities of a human voice.

- The vocal ligaments
- Cricoid and thyroid cartilages
- The Vocalis muscle (used to control the pitch of the sound)
- The Vocal folds (used to alter phonation)

A video showing the inner workings of the voice box

What characterizes the sound of a voice?

Formants
- Resonant peaks in the vocal track
- Basis of vowel sounds
- Used for communication
- Also affects phonation
- Timbre

It has been scientifically found that classically trained singers create more formants than those found in a normal speaking voice. It has also been discovered that even in singing the same passages, there is a notable difference between the formants of trained and untrained singers.

Trained singers also develop their vocal projection techniques. These can include adjustments of posture to create a smoother, straighter path for airflow. The may also train their breathing support muscles to breath deeper and have greater control over the usage of breath.

Vocal Ranges

The male vocal range can roughly be defined between 85 Hz – 455 Hz. The femal vocal range can be found between 165 Hz and 1000 Hz. This gives an overall span of roughly E2 – C6 for the various vocal types.

The wide variety of noises the voice can make exceeds that of most standard musical instruments. However, some instruments can be made to sound like the voice through lyrical playing, or even physical adaptations of the instrument – e.g. using a ‘hat’ mute on a trumpet (so called because some players used to use their head wear to create the effect!).

If you want to find out more on the anatomy of the voice, check this out.

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The Voice is MORE than a musical instrument – John D’Arcy

Aside from it’s timbral capabilities; the voice’s use of language has strongly defined it’s role in many different musical genres. The voice’s ability to convey speech to the listener makes it much more powerful than a violin, and can make for a more ‘affected’ listening experience than one would have when faced with an instrumental piece.

Why did the voice start making music?

When music originated as an activity that humans could perform, it had a few main outlets for its use: entertainment, celebration, and religeous ceremony.
The voice (being the most rudimentary instrument) instantly became the basis of these musical past times – and it seems that while music as a ‘system’ developed, the language used as ‘lyrics’ became a fundamental part of the voice’s performance.

Rest, sweet nymphs, let golden sleep
Charm your starbrighter eyes,
Whiles my lute the watch doth keep
With pleasing sympathies.
Lulla lullaby, lullaby!
(‘Rest Sweet Nymph’ by Francis Pilkington (c.1570-1638) )

The Western music world recognises the medieval masses, motets and madrigals as some of the earliest Western music we can trace. Above is an example of some early lyrics from a madrigal by Francis Pilkington. It belongs to the Secular face of the two-sided coin which existed back then – one side was Sacred, and one side was Secular.

As you can see in the lyric, the language is very romantic. It belongs to the mythical age of Shakespeare where composers wrote about fairies and witches. The term ‘love’ was like a golden challice kept high in the clouds among the Gods where the ordinary people didn’t dare tread. Basically – the lyrics did not concern ‘real life’.

This was a trend which seemed to continue through the Baroque era (through chorales and passions) to the Classical era (Operas) and on to the Romantic era, where the German ‘leider’ started to define the concept which we now call the ‘song’.

Let Nimrod, the mighty hunter,
Bind a leopard to the altar
And consecrate his spear to the Lord.
(‘Rejoice in the lamb’ by Benjamin Britten – words by Christopher Smart)
The lyric above comes from Britten’s ‘Rejoice in the Lamb’ in which Christopher Smart expels his lunacy-tinged outlook on his own religion. This example highlights the a few things. First off, the ‘classical’ composers’ trend to use someone else’s lyrics (echoed in pop music via Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Burt Bacharach/Hal David etc). Secondly, it demonstrates the 20th Century move into more characteristic lyrics, i.e. breaking the rules of what came before.

Hey Charley I’m pregnant
And living on 9-th Street
Right above a dirty bookstore
Off Cuclid Avenue
And I stopped taking dope
And I quit drinking whiskey
And my old man plays the trombone
And works out at the track.
(‘Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis’ by Tom Waits)

At this point I move into the 20th Century ‘pop’ song – and although Tom Waits isn’t exactly what most people would label ‘pop’, it lies in the realm of commercial music (or ‘music that people enjoy’ or ‘not art music’… well… some people enjoy art music… ARGH… what’s in a name??).

SO… at this stage we have singers telling us about THEIR lives, and the happy/sad/exciting/sinister events that happen in their day. Tom Waits is writing from the perspective of a prostitute who lives “right above a dirty book store”. Now this is ‘real life’. This is a great example of the trend for gritty realism in the modern song. It defies the whimsical romanticism of the old. Of course, many purveyors of the ‘pop’ song use the best of both worlds, and have detailed, realistic lyrics in the verse of the song and zoom out for all-inclusive, romantic visions in the chorus. Check out THE BEATLES.

See I reckon you’re about an 8 or a 9,
Maybe even 9 and a half in four beers time.
That blue top shop top you’ve got on IS nice,
Bit too much fake tan though – but yeah you score high.
(‘Fit but you Know it’ by The Streets (Mike Skinner))

Mike Skinner speaks to his audience in a voice that they understands. He talks of easyjet holidays, binge-drinking and casual drug use. And the girls working in Topshop love it. Dizzee Rascal’s new album features lyrics telling the listener to “Suck my dick”. Gosh, he really is a rascal. But this says a lot about the how the boundaries of what an artist can convey to a listener in the modern musical climate.

Some people regard lyrics as poetry. But when does poetry become music? On the latest Cribs album (Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever), the band play the backing for a poem, read by Sonic Youth’s Lee Ronaldo. In essence, it is a spoken-word track (‘Be Safe), but it bares resemblance to the sonic delivery of those in the current ‘street poet’ idiom. This genre itself blurs the lines between poetry and Rap – it seems that the 21st Century melting pot of creativity is playing havoc with our artistic pigeon-holes.

Lyrics bring a different dimension to music – as opposed to instrumental music. Lyrics can bring a cinematic quality to the listening experience. Lyrics can provide social commentary to create a biased listening experience, and a more affecting listening experience. The can turn music, which can be an interpretive artistic format, into a totally literal medium for creative expression. In a way it’s like a painting:

An instrumental piece portrays colours, space and even different shapes. If you add a vocal parts with lyrics, you can see detailed lines. Suddenly the shapes turn into people and scenery that you can relate to.

That’s my take on it. Lyrics change the rules of music. If you want to find our more about this subject start listening to songs in a different light.

And remember: a clarinet will never tell you to suck its dick.

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Sonic Experimentation using the voice – Philip Crane

Scat

Apparently first used by Louis Armstrong, the ‘Scat’ technique allowed vocalists to enter the realm of improvised music. By removing words and replacing them with any assortment of vowel and consonant noises, Scat let jazz singers in particular join in with the fun of ad libbing. The loosened restrictions of what language could be used allowed the voice to be used like a guttural instrument. An example of Ella Fitzgerald singing amazing scat (she starts around 0:44)

The influence of scat has led to the voice being commonly accepted outside its lyrical funtion in popular music. However, the word ‘accepted’ doesn’t really apply to this example, which sounds uncannily like Ella Fitzgerald.

The Voice is a sampler

The amazing timbral and phonetic abilities of the voice combined with the Human memory make for a great ‘sampler’. The guy in the Polic Academy movies isn’t alone in recreating everyday sounds with his gob. A great example of the technical possibilities of vocal ‘sampling is the choir performance in the Honda Civic Car advertisement. Here is a video of the rehearsal process for you to check out.

One of the most popular practices of this style of performance is beat boxing. The guy in this video is performing infront of a massive crowd – and they’re loving it.

The Voice in Art Music
The voice is often creatively used in modern art music. Diamanda Galas is known for her intense performances of vocal experimentation.

SARC recently hosted a performance of ‘Iminana – From Mother to Smother’ in which the female performer conveyed the intese emotions of a omther killing her child through sparing words and harsh noises.

Unfortunately before our presentation we were not aware of Joan la Barbara. She performed at SARC last Thursday and demonstrated amazing vocal experimentation with the Ne(x)tworks Trio.
Finally… art music would not be the same without Napalm Death’s lovely vocal timbres!

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Alternative Techniques in foreign cultures – Shannon Doherty

Throat singing / Overtone singing

Throat singing is a peculiar vocal art. It allows a singer to simultaneously sing with two, indeed, sometimes even with four voices. The technique is traditionally found in Central Asia.

A singer produces a fundamental tone, then constrains part of throat called false vocal chords. The singer then extracts overtones by varying the shape of his oral parts and pharynx

This results in two, three, or even four distinct tones being projected. The highest overtone resembles the sound of a flute

There are three types of Throat / Overtone singing
• Chömei
This is the easiest of the three to learn. It is the first step on the way to developing the full technique.

• Sygyt
To practise Sygyt you must master Chömei

• Kargyra
This is an extremely low sound. To get an idea of Kargyraa imagine a voice that resembles the roaring of a lion.

Amazing Grace in throat singing

To find out more go to www.throatsinging.com

Yodeling

Yodelling is a technique which involves changes in pitch from the vocal chest register to the head register.
It was actually developed in the Swiss Alps as a method of communication
As you may have heard, some of the techniques yodelling are often used in American bluegrass and country music. Yeehaw!

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Technological enhancements of the voice – John Close

Amplification

In the 20th Century the voice got a lot louder – the invention of the microphone and the amplifier meant that we are now able to hear voices from far distances and at high volumes

Recording
We are also able to listen to voices that were recorded in different places and at different times. We can also colour the sound of the voice through different types of microphones and different production techniques.

Production techniques

Sampling – We can cut and slice vocal parts to create new songs. Kanye West loves doing this. He took an old blues singer and sampled it in his song Golddigga
Effects – We can use Eq, Compression, and loads of other effects to the voice to enhance or distort it. This habit of altering the voice in the studio may have led the listening public to ‘expect’ the voice to come to their ears through a stream of compression and equalization.
Autotune – You don’t need to sing in tune anymore, because we can fix it in the mix.
Vocoders/talkboxes – Daft Punk have made Vocoders famous with its use in songs like ‘Around the World’. The sound of the voice is altered by the pitch played on the keyboard. Similar effects can be achieved with talkbox pedals for the guitar.
Voice simulation – We can use software to recreate the sound of instruments quite easily. It is a different matter when trying to create the complexities of the voice, with its unlimited possibilities of timbre and phonations. This is changing however, as the enhancements in technology are bringing us closer to realistically replicating the human characteristics of the voice.

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Cheers for reading this far

John, John, Phil, Paul and Shannon

Modern Metal

Clever music?

Tuning
Downtuned – Evolution of instruments (8 String Guitar/6 String Bass for lower tuning)
Drop Tunings – Drop D/C, regular guitar tuning with low “E” string lowered a tone
Experimental Open Tunings – Strapping Young Lad (open C Tuning)
Complicated structure / rhythm / time signatures
Songs made up of many different riffs in different tempos, maybe as many as fifteen riffs per song
Complicated polyrhythms and fast rhythms with many changes
Many times there are odd time signatures
Key / Use of modes / Harmony
Minor keys
Modes such as phrygian used frequently
Minor 3rd Harmony popularised by Iron Maiden has evolved to more dissonant harmony in todays metal

Virtuoso

High level of technical proficiency needed
Fast Tempos of songs
Time changes – Changing tempo within a song
Complicated riff structures
High levels of competition
Thousands of bands competing for commercial success
Much smaller commercial recognition for metal than other genres, thus a lot tougher to get noticed and therefore more talent needed to write better songs
Worlds best musicians
Within the genre some of the worlds best musicians reside
Vocalists – Ronnie James Dio, Mark Hunter
Guitarists – Rusty Cooley, James Murphy
Bassists – Steve Di Georgio, Steve Harris
Drummers – Tim Yeung, Chris Adler

Feeling/Emotion

All compositions original
Written by musicians from scratch
Lyrics convey emotion
Usually written around a theme such as hate, war, historical events etc.
Or to display a particular feeling / emotion /event in a persons life
Political views – Displayed by bands such as System Of A Down
Mood created
Different types of modern metal create different moods (for the listener)
Lyrical Content
Dimmu Borgir – The Serpentine Offering
Reconcile not with the fear of the snake, but embrace it as your own, inject its venom into your veins, and replant the seed that gives growth, still shrounded in mystery, until you arise above perception, a veil of ignorance is in motion, continuing

Live

Live performance is a critical factor for metal
Atmosphere created by the volume / stage set up / performance by musicians
Intensity of performance relates to the music
Activity of musicians on stage – Head banging / Running around on stage
Energetic and fast paced – Movement of musicians ties in with the music
Technical ability
Playing v.s performing – Playing complicated instrument parts becomes even harder whilst having to focus on putting on a show aswell
Brings a new level to music
Live presentation brings deeper meaning to the lyrical content of the music
Crowd reaction adds to the music – stage diving / moshing (type of dance commonly found at metal gigs)

Unearth – Endless

Recommended Albums
Meshuggah – Obzen
Ion Dissonance – Breathing Is Irrelevant
Killwhitney Dead – Nothing Less Nothing More

Happy Hardcore

Form of dance music
“Cheesier” version of hardcore dance music
Evolved from rave music
Very similar to dutch genre “gabber”
Very Fast Tempo
Fast tempo with very little variation between songs – Usually around 200bpm
Male/Female Vocal Hooks
Short and usually pitch shifted to a higher register / sped up from original recording
Samples
Songs usually made up of repeated samples – either taken from other songs / copyright free samples or made by computer
Piano/Synth Riffs
Main melody is carried by piano or synthesizer – cheesy “space” like sounding piano lines
Standard 4/4 time signature
Mainly always straight 4/4 time – Very little (if any) deviation from this

Talent/Skill/New Thinking

Sampling
Remixed versions of other songs – Very often DJs take original songs and speed them up and add extra drum beats / different vocal lines
Including samples not created by DJ
Generic sound
All songs sound the same – Even songs by different DJs
No new thinking – i.e. taking current ideas to new levels
Drum beats
Most songs contain the same beat – Very fast and straightforward
Bass drum on every beat – Heavy thumping repetitive pattern
Home recordings
Due to the increasingly popular idea of home recordings, basically anyone can create a decent sounding song in this style, with minimum experience and money.
Increases the amount of songs being made and lowers the overall quality of general material available

Instrumentation

Vocals
Male / Female vocal samples – short (usually one line) repeated unimaginative phrases
Sentimental meaning – Such as topics on love
Piano / synthesizer
Main melodic source – Often played through midi keyboards and sound is altered using computer software
Simple phrases with simple rhythm
Uncreative
Unimaginative song writing – Imitation of many ideas present in current songs. Reprocessing of current ideas
Drum Machine
Drum beats created by drum machine / samples – quite rigid and un-natural in sound
Computers
Computer instruments – Such as computer simulations of real instruments such as violin / trumpet

What goes into the music?

No feeling
All work done on computer
Straightforward simple repeated patterns – no thought process or originality

Separated from the music
No direct “hands on” creation of the music – no creation of music on actual instruments or time taken to master / learn how to play the actual instrument itself

Low level of technicality
A high level of musicianship is not needed as music is uncomplicated
Drag and drop computer selections take away the need for creative arrangements

DJ Ravine Youtube Video

Artists Of Interest (Or lack of)
DJ Rankin
Scooter
DJ Cammy

Musical Theatre – James Reid

Opera

Claudio Monteverdi in Early 16th Century
Mozart popularised comic opera in 18th Century
Bel Canto style came forward in early 19th Century with Rossini and Donizetti
Mid to late 19th Century – “The Golden Age of Opera”. Wagner and Verdi
20th Century – Stravinsky’s Neo-Classicism, Schoenberg’s atonalism and serialism and Phillip Glass’s minimalism

Musicals

Started as early as 1866.
Truly popular by 20th century on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lots of big names both writing and performing, e.g. Gershwin, Porter, Rogers & Hammerstein, Wodehouse, Kern // Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman etc.
Movie business sky-rocketed musicals’ success in 50s
70s saw the rise of the Rock Musicals
This decade a revival of the musical motion picture.

Music in TV and Film – Matthew Rutherfoord-Jones

Films and TV shows were designed for profit. It is no wonder therefore, that for every film and every show, an image is built. Branding is important in marketing and that’s why we associate certain theme tunes and sound tracks, with certain movies and TV shows!

Music is also very important for preparing an audience emotionally and psychologically. Our minds are more open to stimulus when we are in this state.
Think of the most exciting action sequence you’ve ever seen. Now look it up on youtube and watch it with the sound off. Any good?

Trainspotting
In the seminar, I played two scenes chosen for their use of music. The first was the opening scene of Trainspotting. The song played in this scene was not composed specifically for this movie, but I believe that the monologue read by Ewan McGregor was written to work seamlessly with the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3g9nTOV9KM

When watching this scene, you can hear how the message of ‘Choose Life’ implied by the track gets further and further from the ideals being portrayed by the monologue. At the end of the scene Ewan simply says ‘Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?’… a far cry from the ‘Lust for life’ that Iggy Pop encourage.

American Beauty
The final scene of American Beauty is particularly poignant because of the music featured in it. It was composed specifically for this film and so its structure fits in perfectly with this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztkd6VP8vHw

Note the way that the piano gives way to the monologue and also subsides, as the shots are fired. A very moving scene.

Music Videos – Andy Shields

Music Video: “Short film or video that accompanies a piece of music.”

Music Videos are primarily used to promote the sale of music – they are
used as a marketing device to further promote a bands music.

This had advantages for both the band and the record companies.

Record companies

- Able to market the band through another medium. This gives them a chance
to make money off the video every time it is played. – Also able to promote
the band through a new use of advertising which would give the chance for
more people to hear them, which could potentially lead to more people
buying their music.

Band:

- The bands music is now to reach a further audience. – Able to promote
their image/style through the use of video. – Ability to convey additional
feeling that the music cant account for alone.

The term “Music Video” came into popular usage in the early 1980’s

The key innovation in the birth of the modern music video was the
development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and
editing equipment. Technology became a lot easier to use, more portable.

1981 Marked the launch of MTV.
A television channel dedicated to playing music 24 hours a day.
First song ever aired was “Video Killed the Radio Star.” By the Buggles.

The launch of this channel led to a massive increase in the creation of
music videos. Now that there was a mainstream means in which music videos
could be played, bands seen the opportunity to further promote their music.

2 Concepts for music Videos.

Focusing on two ways music is implemented through the use of music videos:

Visual Representation & Live Action

Visual Representation

This is when the audio content of the song can be directly linked to what
is happening in the video. It can be implemented in different ways such as
representation of lyrics, where the storyline helps to explain lyrics, or
perhaps the tempo of the song controls what is happening in the video.

To demonstrate the use of Visual Representation in the use of music videos
I chose a video where it was very apparent how the music was conveyed by
the video content.

Daft Punk – “around the world”
Directed by Michel Gondry

The video is a visual representation of the song.
Each element of the song represents a different instrument.

Uses repetition up to the point of it getting boring then it stops and
moves in another direction before it gets boring. Uses 5 instruments, hence
the five different groups of people in the video:

Voice
High Pitched Keyboard
Bass Guitar
Electric Guitar
Drum Machine

Androids represent the singing robot voice
They stay static until the vocals come in.

Rapidity of the athletes represents the ascending/descending bass guitar.
Their movement up and down the stairs represents the ascending and
descending phrases played. Femininity of the disco girls represents the
high-pitched keyboard. Itchy Skeletons represent the guitar Mummies
represent the drum machine

Choreography is used as a visual means to represent the audio content of
the song.

Live Action

Refers to work that is acted out by human actors, as opposed to animation.
Many bands prefer it because they can create music videos that they can
star in. This helps to establish the band, as fans like to know what their
favourite bands look like.

I chose this video as an example because I think that the video has really
captured what the band was truly about.

“Smells like teen spirit” Nirvana Directed by Samuel Bayer. He believes he
was hired because his test reel was so poor the band anticipated his
production would be “punk” and “not corporate.”

At the end of the video the crowd come down and invade the set, smashing
amps and jumping about. This was completely unplanned, all the fans that
were there for the fimling of the video became tired of waiting around all
day taking numerous shots of the same thing.

Questions to think about – possible blog discussion?

Are music videos simply a marketing tool to make more money or are they a
way for bands to further express their music? Do bands sell out by making
music videos? Anyone have a favourite music video that they would like to
share?

Thanks for reading

Group 7

• People generally see the rhythm section as the drummer as he/she is not playing an instrument that adds melody to the piece therefore his aim must be for the rhythm.

• However it can be a whole variety of instruments that can be placed in the rhythm section. Therefore it can be said that the instrumentation and characteristics of the rhythm section is strongly related to the genre.

• Our main aim is to study 4 different genres of music (Classical, Heavy Metal, Jazz / Funk & Flamenco) and portray the role which the rhythm section plays within each one.

Areas of Study.

• Is the rhythm section the prominent “pulse maker” of the piece?

• What are the rhythmic characteristics with the different genres?

• Can it display different kinds of emotion/timbres?

• Is it used effectively in providing a rhythmic structure, i.e. when the other instruments are soloing etc.

• Is it the section which triggers different changes within music i.e. Crescendos, Accelerandos, Key Changes, Mood Changes etc.

The Importance Of Rhythm Within Classical Music.

What is rhythm?

• No specific rhythm/percussion section, more focused on scoring.

• First known use of timpani: Thésée (Lully, 1675)

• Often limited to tonic-dominant.

• Piano only became prominent in 18th century

• First ever piano recital – Bach in 1768 (Thatched House, London).

• Percussive instruments only become prominent from 19th century onwards.

How was it used throughout classical music?

• Renaissance Music

• Church music (Thomas Tallis – If Ye Love Me)

• Secular music

• Baroque Music

- Move to homophonic textures

- Opera (Monteverdi – Orfeo)

• Classical Music

- Piano music (Mozart K545)

- Concerto (Mozart Horn Concerto No. 3 K447)

• 19th Century Music

- Thematic transformation (Wagner/Liszt)

Does it clearly define the tempo of the piece?

• Doesn’t define tempo/emotion by itself.

• Longer/shorter note values, rhythmic figurations.

• Compliments compositional tempo markings.

Does it create a rigid structure for the other performers?

• Classical music all fairly rigid.

Figured bass: a form of improvisation?

• Nothing wrong with rigidity.

If performers are rhythmically ‘together’ there is musical coherence.

The Importance Of The Rhythm Section In Jazz / Funk.

Characteristics Of Rhythm Sections in Jazz / Funk.

• Jazz is quite open in the form of instrumentation i.e. any instrument can be placed within the rhythm section. (Drums, Bass, Brass, Guitar, the left hand of the Piano to name just a few).

• In funk it would generally take the form of Bass, Drums and perhaps a cheesy Synth line.

• However in funk there are some examples were rhythmic instruments are used as the main focal point. Hence writing compositions using just instruments from the rhythm section. For example, Victor Wooten & Carter Beauford – Victa.

Does It Clearly Define The Tempo Of The Piece.

• In jazz music it is common for the tempo to be defined by the rhythm section.

• Within jazz/blues the relationship between drum and bass is so important as it is generally the heartbeat of the song.

Does it Create a Rhythmic Structure?

• Within jazz it is important to mention the style of jazz before studying.

• In Free Form Jazz it is difficult to hear any kind of rhythmic structure created by any of the instruments.

• On the other hand in swing the rhythms are clearly defined.

• In funk there are many rhythmic fingerprints which can be heard in many different funk songs

Can Rhythm Trigger Changes?

• Accelerandos, Crescendos, Ritardandos, Key Changes, Mood Changes etc can all be triggered by the rhythm section.

• Bass guitar playing a high pitched harmonic tells the rest of the band to move to a different cell.

• In a more conventional scenario it could be as simple as the rhythm section beginning to slow down indicating to the rest of the band that this is the end of the piece

The Importance Of The Rhythm Section in Flamenco.

Flamenco – Brief Introduction

• Originates from the Andalusian Region of Spain, and has influences as far back as the 14th Century. Wasn’t until the late 18th Century when it adopted its own characteristics.

• Comprises of four main elements: Singing, Dancing, Guitar and Percussion.

• Has over 50 various styles of song, known as Palo’s. Varying rhythmic patterns, chord progressions and moods.

• A very upbeat genre of music, generally fast, upbeat tempos and styles of playing.

Flamenco – Rhythmic Patterns

• 2/4 and 4/4. Used for pieces such as tango’s and rumba’s. Farruca -

• 3 / 4. E.g. Fandango’s and sevillinas. Fandangos -

• 12 Beat Rhythms. E.g. Aelgrias, Soleá and Burias.

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

• Seguiriyas

Flamenco – Percussion

• Clapping -

• Striking objects with hands.

• Golpes (Striking the guitar soundboard)

• Mostly Improvised

Flamenco – Use of Rhythm

• Emotion set by style of song; i.e. a Soleá would have a sorrowful mood, while a Bulerias is upbeat and cheerful. Alegrias used for dancing etc.

• Different Palo’s mainly identified by their Rhythmic Structure. Set structure for each piece.

• Improvisation is a key feature of Flamenco.

The Importance of the Rhythm Section in Heavy Metal

As with the vast majority of music, the primary focus of the rhythm section is to establish the rhythmic pulse of a song as well as to operate the chordal structure of a piece.

Heavy Metal music (generally) incorporates the standard instruments associated with a rhythm section, namely, Bass guitar, Drums and Rhythm Guitar.

Heavy Metal is primarily a guitar-orientated genre, emphasising highly amplified distortion,rapid solos and coarse, screaming vocals.

One of the most defining characteristics of this genre is the complex structural arrangements frequently used in songs, which often involve stark tempo changes, unusual time signatures

and irregular patterns, breaks and stops.

The instruments in the rhythm section occupy their own niches, each with it’s own set of unique characteristics, in order to provide an appropriate backing to these defining characteristics.

The complicated nature of this type of music opens up a myriad of possibilities to the rhythm section, allowing it to flourish behind this complex framework, proving it’s worth, and extending the genre’s capability to the maximum level.

Bass Guitar

Heavy Metal bass is a role, though prominent, that holds two polar opposite approaches. One form is that of holding “pedal points”, or root notes, to provide a solid low-end foundation that adds to the music’s “heaviness”.

This low-frequency aspect is also extended by frequent use of 5 or 6 string Basses, or detuned instruments.

Rhythmic Instruments Used as Lead Instruments.

Alternatively, the approach often called “Lead Bass”, popularised by Cliff Burton in the 1980s, is also widely used in Metal. This approach calls for an intricate harmonising interplay between guitar and bass, often in a higher register.

Both approaches compliment the complex arrangements of metal music, as the pedal approach allows for guitar-driven harmonies, while lead bass playing extends the role of the bass, bringing it to the forefront of the band and complimenting the harmonies of the guitars with its own.

Drums

Like Bass, Drumming in metal music holds an extremely important position. Due to the often highly technical nature of the music, metal drumming requires a high level of speed, stamina, dexterity, precision and an IQ of over 40, in order to provide the intense, powerhouse backbone to the music.

There are a number of specific techniques often applied in metal drumming that contributes to the notion of heaviness and power. Such techniques include double-bass and cymbal chokes. These techniques are applied to metal in order to provide

bursts of power and to maintain the often breakneck speed at which the music is played.