Transcript Day 4

NB. Most of today’s slides are
not covered in the text book.
What is “Music”?
“Organized Sounds and Silences”
--John Cage
What can you organize?
• The 4 Parameters of Sound
• Pitch = the frequency of vibration (heard as
“high” vs. “low”)
• Duration = the length of time a sound lasts
(heard as aspects of rhythm)
• Timbre = tone color (the source of the sound,
i.e., instrument, voice, other)
• Dynamics = Loudness/Softness
• More Music Terminology—mine (not in the book)—
today and next week
TIMBRE
• Pronounced “tam-ber”
• Also known as “tone color”
• The aspect of sound that makes a guitar
different from a saxophone
• Literally, the source of a sound
• Technically derives from the “shape” of
the sound wave [don’t need to know this]
Sources of Musical Sounds
• Human Voices (probably the earliest
way humans made music)
- soprano, alto, tenor, bass (& others)
• Musical Instruments (devices or “tools”
for making and controlling sounds)
- strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion
• “Other” sources, e.g., “natural” sounds,
electronic devices (synthesizers), etc.
Examples of Human Voices
•
•
•
•
•
Vocal Range from Bass to Soprano – YouTube
Female Voice Types – YouTube
Mariah Carey - Vocal Range In 1 Minute! (F2-Bb7)
Adele '21' Studio Vocal Range - C3-D6 – YouTube
Russian Basso Profondo: The Lowest Voices YouTube
• My "Basso Profondo" Range (F1 to F5) - YouTube
• Adam Lopez - Highest Vocal Note- Guinness World
Record – YouTube
Examples of Classical
Orchestral Instruments
• How To Listen To Music 1: Orchestral String
Instruments – YouTube
• How To Listen To Music 2: Orchestral Brass
Instruments – YouTube
• How To Listen To Music 3: Orchestral Woodwind
Instruments - YouTube
• How To Listen To Music 4: Orchestral Percussion
Instruments - YouTube
• Instruments of the Orchestra - YouTube
Back in the text book (briefly).
Five “Themes”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Listening Critically
Music and Identity
Music and Technology
Music is a Business
Music has “Centers” and “Peripheries”
(places)
Music and Business
(Theme 4)
• Music as a commodity
(something bought and sold, and “consumed”)
• Industrial Model
- efficient (“assembly line”) production
- marketing
- distribution and sales
• Illusion of “individuality”
- manipulation of taste
Theodor
Adorno
- leads to passivity
1903-1969
- fragments community
Music Makers
Brill Building (NYC)
Capitol Records (LA)
Jerry
Leiber
& Mike
Stoller
“Wrecking Crew” (LA Studio Musicians)
“Indies”
(Independent Regional Companies)
Sam Phillips
(1922-2003)
Sun Records (Memphis, TN)
“Million Dollar Quartet”
Behind the Scenes
David Sarnoff
(1891-1971)
NBC, RCA
Phil Spector
(b. 1939)
“Brill
Building”
Berry Gordy
(b. 1929)
Motown
Records
Quincy Jones
(b. 1933)
trumpeter, conductor,
arranger, composer,
producer, record
company executive.
27 Grammys,
Rock ‘n Roll Hall of
Fame
(2013)
2009
– Conviction
for 2nd degree Murder
(Still More) Useful Terms for
Describing Music
(my terms – most not in the textbook)
“RHYTHM”
• From a Greek word (“rhythmos”) that
means “flow”
• Refers to all temporal (durational)
elements in a piece of music
• “The organization of time in music,
dividing up long spans of time into
smaller, more easily comprehended units”
Some Terms related to Rhythm
• Beat – regular, unchanging pulse
• Accent – emphasis on a beat (or other)
• Meter – measurement of time in regular
groupings of beats
• Measure or Bar – one group in a Meter
- can be Duple, Triple, or Quadruple
• Division of beats can be Simple (2) or
Compound (3)
• Tempo – speed of the beat
Examples for Rhythm
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Thunderer by John Philip Sousa – YouTube
Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz – YouTube
Dave Brubeck - Take Five ( Original Video) – YouTube
Alan Jackson - Amazing Grace – YouTube
The King's Singers - Greensleeves – YouTube
Jethro Tull - Living In The Past 1969 – YouTube
Don Ellis 1977 (10) Pussywiggle Stomp
Monks singing Gregorian Chant in a Catholic Benedictine
Seminary