All Things Music09's Blog

Jamican Musical Culture – November 11

allthingsmusic09 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:18:34 +0000

Jamacian music’s main influences come from Africa, the caribbean and the USA. There are many different styles of music that come from Jamica. A more popular form of music today, ska, originated in Jamica during the 1950s. Ska eventually morphed into what is refered to as rocksteady music which then by the 1970′s became reggae music. Reggae has elements of American music combined with the Jamican style of mento music.

Redemption Song_ November 9

allthingsmusic09 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:41:09 +0000

Redemption song has a very conjunct contour to it. There are no sudden jumps and it moves in an up down motion. It has a very small range. Both in the instrument and the voice there is not a big range in either. The chorus that the vocalist sings is repeated after every verse. The phrasing in terms of the notes being sung are repeated in the verse as well as the chorus. The guitar is playing the same thing throughout the song over and over again. At the end of the song, the pattern changes to close out the song. The phrases go four beats with no singing, and then four beats of singing in the verses.

There are two layers in Redemption Song; voice and guitar. The function of the guitar was to provide the melodic line and center for the singer to work off of. It’s what keeps the song moving forward and because there is a lack of drums, it plays a strong down beat so the rhythm of the song doesn’t get lost. The function of the voice is to convey the message of the song and it’s meaning. Both layers move at a fairly slow pace, but its a steady one. The guitar has a very light sound, while the voice is gruffer and more solid. There is no call and response in this song.

This song is in duple meter. The guitar part has some syncopation in it, which is also an African musical trait. Redemption Song has a medium tempo, not very slow, but not fast either. All of the rhythms are repeating motives in both the voice and the guitar. There is swing in the voice in “ooh oh oh” parts before the chorus ends, and also in the gutiar at the closing pattern in the song.

Redemption Song has a very consonant harmony. It’s very easy to harmonize with and it’s not difficult to hear where the harmony is going. The dynamics stay the same throughout the song and there aren’t many changes if any at all. The voice is articulating the words of the song well. And the text is the meaning of the song.

Internet Research on Cuba

allthingsmusic09 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:46:46 +0000

Cuban music is a very popular style of world music. It comes from origins of Africa and of mostly Spanish cultures. Like other countries in the diaspora, many African slaves preserved their culture through music while working on plantations. Using found objects they would make instruments like the drum to keep their music and what was important about it intact. The European influence showed up in things like notation of the music that Cubans were creating.

Today there are a few different styles of music found in Cuba. Guaracha is a form of music that is very fast and has gone out of style, but was absorbed into the salsa style ideal for musicians who can handle the fast tempo. Trova is compiled of one or two musicians who travel around making a living off of their music. There are also many forms of folk music in Cuba. These are performed by the people in towns or families for entertainment.

Pan in A Minor culture differences

allthingsmusic09 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:14:40 +0000

Besides material culture, activities and social organization also changed. In track 12 the activity associtated with this is more of a concert setting where as track 15 has a much more dance/carnival feel to it. Where and how this song is performed would also affect the social organization of it. In a concert setting , the song would be performed by professionals where in a carnival or street performances, it may just be a group of talented musicians who enjoy making music or who have entered a competition.

Track 16

allthingsmusic09 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:10:51 +0000

The melody is jagged in terms of going up and down a lot, but the melody is also conjunct in the fact that there are no big leaps in the melody. The melody has a jazz feel to it and a very small range. This doesn’t change throughout the song. The phrasing of the soloist is four beats long while the group’s phrasing is two beats long. During the chorus they are singing together and the phrases are four beats. During the chorus the melody is being repeated.

There are seven layers in this song: Solo, group, horn, drums, guitar, bass, and xylophone. The solo and chorus are conveying the message of the song. The chorus of people represents the people the song is talking about. The drums are keeping the pulse of the song and the horn is harmonizing with the melody. The bass is playing a variation of the melody. The voice parts are moving quicker then the instrument parts. There is also call and response between the voice leader and the group

The song is in duple meter and the drums are playing the pulse while the voice have much quicker subdivisions of the beat. The horn and the xylophone are playing syncopated patterns throughout the song. The voice rhythms are always repeating as well as the drums and bass. The horn and xylophone do not always have a repeating rhythmic pattern.

There are some dissonant harmonies in this song. The dynamics don’t change very much in the song and it was pretty consistent at what I would say is a dynamic level of forte in the voice. The instruments were in the background and I would describe them as mezzo forte. The bass was probably even more mezzo piano. There was clear articulation of the text in this song. It was very much slurred at only the last syllables of phrases were really accented.

Tracks 12 and 15

allthingsmusic09 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:46:42 +0000

Track 12 has a very disjunct melody and small range. Track 15 is the same basic melody, but they do have some different embellishments in the melody. In track 15 the song is longer so they do a lot more with the melody, for example right before the 2 minute mark there is a modulation. Track 15 also has a lot more improvisation and there isn’t any call and response. Track 12 has call and response between the soloist and and the chorus and the trumpet. Track 12 has the function of telling a story with the lyrics while track 15 doesn’t have lyrics with their version so they use different “voiced” instruments to help convey the message. Both songs are in duple meter and only one instrument playing the pulse.

Activities of Track 13

allthingsmusic09 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:25:23 +0000

The most important activity associated with this song would have been dancing at the carnival. The other activity may have been a competition between different groups. Dance connects to many of the sounds of track 13. There is a clear pulse being played the entire way through the song which would make it easy to move with and to feel the pulse of the music. It is also performed at a quick tempo which is what people enjoy dancing to and having fun. These activities connect to the idea of context and function of the music. The context is being played for entertainment at carnival. This is why there could be dancing or competitions related to the music. The function of the song could be to bring together a group of people which is why it involves so many different instruments and groups performing rather then solo performers.

Track 13

allthingsmusic09 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:09:52 +0000

The contour of the piece is a little disjunct. It is going up and down rather sharply and not smooth. The range is limited to what the tones of the different drums can play. This doesn’t change throughout the piece and they are playing the same rhythms and melody during the song. After the introduction to the song, a melody sets in that the steel drums are playing and this is repeated over and over again. In the melody, there is phrasing that would end with a brief pause before starting the new one. They were each usually four beats long. The instrument keeping the pulse is repeating the same thing over the entire song, and doesn’t use phrasing. The piece is homophonic because they are playing the same melody, just a different variation of it.

There are four layers to this piece. One higher pitched drum is keeping the pulse and the other is playing the subdivided beats of the pulse. another is playing the main melody, while another played the melody, but a variation on it. The function of the higher pitched drums was to keep the steady tempo of the piece. The one playing the main melody was to keep the convey the message and be the melodic base for the song. The drums playing a variation on the melody were providing the harmony. All the layers were moving quickly and this didn’t change. The pulse keeping instrument has a very high pitched timbre, so it is probably a smaller steel instrument. The other drums have a fuller sound, the main melody being the most prominent, so they are bigger drums.

The meter is duple meter in this song. I can hear this by the pulse being played in the drum that sounds like a snare drum. The rhythm in this drum is the pulse while the other high pitched drum is playing the subdivided beat ex 1-ee-an-uh. The drum playing the harmonizing melody has a syncopated pattern and this doesn’t change. The main melody doesn’t have a syncopated rhythm and is very good at accenting the strong beats in duple meter. This song has a very quick tempo and doesn’t speed up or slow down, but it is consistent. All of the rhythms are repeating patterns.

This is a very consonant melody. The dynamics are consistently loud, but they do accent a few notes that are the high points in the melody by making that one note louder. all of the instruments are articulating their parts well, making it easy to pick out each individual part. It really has the sound of a Caribbean piece.

Track 11

allthingsmusic09 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:22:39 +0000

Congo Bara has a very smooth contour that could easily be drawn as an up down motion. It is very conjunct and there are not big breaks or jumps. The range of the melody is not very big and doesn’t go very high or low. There is a repeating phrase by a group at the end of the soloists’ line. This is consistent throughout the whole song. This changes in the last ten seconds in the song where there is only a drum, shaker and trumpet playing. When the singers are present in the song there is no trumpet melody.

There are 4 layers: Shaker, drum, voice, and trumpet or horn. There are only 3 present at one time though. In the first ten seconds of the song, there is only the shaker, drum and trumpet. After that, the trumpet drops out and is replaced by voice; a soloist answered by a group. In the last ten seconds of the song, the voice drops out and the trumpet ends the song. The shaker has the function of keeping the pulse during the song. The drum is providing rhythm as well as a melodic base because this drum has a voice to it that is clear. The solo’s job is to provide the message of the song, and the chorus of voices backs up what the soloist has just sung, keeping the point of the song in the audience’s ears. The trumpet in the beginning has the purpose of introducing the melody, but in the end of the song it is a great way to resolve the song. The speed of the layers is quite slow. The chorus of people is responding to the call of the different soloists.

The meter is duple meter, and this doesn’t change. The shaker and the drum are keeping the pulse with their rhythms, but the voices have a syncopated rhythm. The solo part is more on the naturally accented beats then the repeating chorus. The tempo is a walking pace tempo, and it doesn’t slow down or speed up during the song. Every instrument including the voices in this song have motives that are repeating and constant; they do not change.

This song is very consonant and that doesn’t change. The dynamics are soft when the solo is being sung, and when the group comes in they grow louder, and then grow softer as the chorus ends. The words are very articulate in the solo, but are more slurred in the chorus and not as crisp.

Ideas

allthingsmusic09 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:35:34 +0000

The context of Jean and Dinah was to have fun and dance at carnival, but it also had a message behind it. The song was used to demonstrate the fear Trinidad had about Americans withdrawaling and how it would affect their economy. (Dudley 28). The song writer liked people to have fun when they were listening to music, so this would connect to the steady drum beat and the light heart sounding melody. Mighty Sparrow was the performer of this song and he was considered by many to be “the greatest calypsonian of all time”. People at carnival would listen to his music, which is why on the second recording of the song you hear many people yelling and dancing to the music. The song was done at a competition and was supposed to be fun and easy to dance to, while the lyrics had a message. People are supposed to moving down the street with this music so that is also why the pulse is so clearly heard in the drum pattern. This setting is totally appropriate to have the audience clapping and singing along.