Throughout this course, I have been introduced to numerous new songs and variations of music over the last ten weeks. I’ve chosen three new songs from the selections which stood out to me to compare the musical elements of. These three songs are: “Devil in a New Dress” by Kanye West, “Take the A Train (1962)” by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, and “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift. These songs vary vastly from one another regarding time period, genre, and the style of the performers themselves, so it will be interesting to see their differences and similarities. I will be specifically focusing on the timbre and rhythm of the songs, essentially drawing on the overall sounds and rhythmic factors. Kanye West’s, “Devil in a New Dress” is quite popular …show more content…
This is a classic jazz piece with a consistent pulse driven by the rhythm section (drums and double bass). The walking bass line definitely emphasizes the pulse and provides a strong foundation. It does happen to be in a 4/4 meter like the previous song, but jazz musicians often like to play around with the meter by adding their own variations and also “swinging” the beat. Swing refers to the rhythm in which beats are divided unevenly. This gives it an incredibly distinct “jazz” sound and also shows that the song will be different every time it is played based on the performer’s decisions. This is a key aspect of jazz and is what separates it as a genre. Syncopation goes hand-in-hand with the swing and leads to unusual accents on offbeats or unexpected parts. The tempo can vary per performance as well depending on the musician’s mood and style, but in this case it also sounded moderate. The timbre of this song is significantly rooted in traditional jazz instrumentation, consisting of brass, woodwinds, piano, double bass, and drums. The nature of these being acoustic instruments –rather than electronic—contributes to the rich and warm ensemble sound. This song also features a few soloists such as the alto saxophone and muted trumpet which are their own unique timbres separate from the collective tone. …show more content…
Unlike the other two songs, the beat is driven by a combination of electronic percussive sounds and what sounds like live acoustic percussion. I have seen videos of Taylor’s performances before and she does have a band performing live on some instruments, but there is also a heavy backing track to cover the electronic sounds. This seems to be reflected in her studio recordings as well, seeing as how I can distinguish the sounds within the song. Once again, it is in a 4/4 meter providing a stable structure. The tempo can also be considered moderate, providing a lively and energetic feel. It seems like the idea behind these pop songs is to create something catchy and fun. I believe this song exhibits a variety of rhythmic patterns and catchy percussion elements that drive the song and make it “danceable”. It stays consistent throughout and is also synchronized with the dynamics, adding intensity whenever there are buildups or breakdowns in the music. It does however sound more monotone in the sense that all the instruments and sounds sort of blend together (which would be consistent with contemporary pop). In Kanye’s song, there was a lot less going on in the music which made the sounds that came out much more distinguishable and gave it depth. In “Take the A Train”, we also hear very separate layers as if you could break it down by section. The
Of the five minutes, I believe that the most interesting segments are the first solo and the last minute or so; I will be analyzing these particular portions in depth. From the very start, this song is hot and fast. To open, the entire band plays a fast phrase that follows the 12 bar blues scale and this phrase remains central throughout the entirety of the song. The bass and piano hold this phrase while the horns transition into a separate rhythm to compliment it. These two phrases are repeated until the beginning of the first saxophone solo at :56. During this solo the bass transitions to a shuffle line while the piano compliments. The other horns join in with riffs after the first two choruses of the solo. The solo continues for another two choruses with the whole band playing before it is rounded off. The final minute of the song begins with a repeat of the third, fourth, and fifth choruses. In the final 20 seconds, things begin to get very interesting. The horns hold the last note of the chorus as the rhythms comes to a sharp halt. The horns engage in a brief agglomeration of notes that exhibits a strong use of polyphony and could be described as somewhat hectic. The drummer begins to shine with a solo of his own which he continues for the final seconds of the song, before resolving the entire song with a final
Stephen Sondheim is a well-known musical theatre composer who has been quite successful with his work. This world-renowned composer has had many prosperous musicals such as West Side Story, Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods. These are only a few out of over twenty of the other musicals he has written. This man’s music is very different from music written by other composers. This certain kind of music has a unique sound that has clashing notes, yet is sounds satisfying and appeals to large audiences.
The book Devil in a Blue Dress is written by Walter Mosley. There are lots of devils who appear in the story. Albright, Mouse, Carter, Easy and Daphne are devils without any questions because actions like hustling, and killing people show that they aren’t good people. From the story, we may easily conclude all characters are devils, but we should always think about who makes them commit illegal actions. When they were children, none of them thought about doing any illegal jobs. All of them wanted to be good guys. The real devil is the one that led them against the law. Who is that devil? It is money. Money connects the entire story, and it makes poor people want to do illegal things to make easy money. On the other hand, it
Philip Auslander’s book “Performing Glam Rock” talks about a type of music that until this class, I have not heard much about. When I think Glam Rock I think of artists like Prince and Kiss, ...
There were three techniques I heard at this performance which were back beat, rhythmic contrast, and break. Within “Unsquare Dance”, the bass, played by Carlos Henriquez, provides a steady back beat throughout most of the performance. The accompaniment of the
Throughout History, there have been many different varieties of music performed. There have also been several American Artists who have made important contributions towards the development of American Music. Many artists out there have made a huge impact not only towards the development of American music but to people as well. Those of which have been a big inspiration to America’s youth throughout this paper, I will focus solely on the life of Etta James.
Many say that music has evolved over the years. This essay shall explore the elements of two versions of one song. It shall discuss the correlations and disparities of these songs and confer how it has been revolutionised to entertain the audiences of today.
There is one universal language: the language of music. Music has a special quality and ability to bridge both social and cultural divides. A proposed theory by Dr. Gray, Founder and Director of National Musical Arts’ BioMusic Program; describes music has been around longer than human-beings have. Music is the one thing human beings from various backgrounds can relate to. Every living creature would agree. Music is heard everywhere not just among humans, but in nature as well, through the twitting of birds, winds blowing, the soft sound of raindrops against a windowpane, the ocean waves moving back and forth and the hum of the ocean rushing in a sea shell. There is no escaping it; music lives in and surrounds us steadily. While there are countless songs which confer social or cultural consciousness, this paper will analyze and address the dynamics of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, video. Stylistically, the paper will examine the artist point of view, the unique use of lyrical analysis and sound description in relation to its historical, social, political and/or cultural context. This essay will also trace the lyrical analysis and sound description of song and discuss how the elements (visually, sonically, and lyrically) interplay with the theme of immigration and/or violence.
Willoughby, David. "Chapter 11." The World of Music. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 249-53. Print.
...nt from lower pitch sound to high pitch, showing various pitches they can make. They differed in style when they went solo. Ron Eschete mixed high and low pitch sound very irregularly and each tone seemed very distant like Monk?s style. Todd Johnson rhythm and tone was more smooth and close to each other, giving impression of cool jazz style. The other element is a swing feeling. This can be described as a feeling that makes you want to dance, clap your hands, of tap your feet. During the concert, as I looked around in the audience, I could see people bobbing their heads, and tapping their feet. Due to the fast tempo, the Ron Eschete Trio?s music just made people want to dance even though it sounded smooth and mellow.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
Rytell, David. “Music Worthy of a Riot.” David Rytell’s Home Page. 1989. Web. 17 September 2011.
Rhythm and blues, also known as R&B, is something that I really enjoy. I am a singer and along with country music, R&B is my favorite thing to sing. With rhythm and blues, there is a song for every emotion, so most of the time the songs can be very relatable. The songs have a variety of subjects like sex, work, and even drinking. In this paper I will briefly discuss how rhythm and blues started, how it evolved into today’s music and why I like it so much.
Wharram, Barbara. Elementary Rudiments of Music. Ed. Kathleen Wood. 2nd ed. Mississauga, Ont.: Frederick Harris Music, 2010. Print.