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Do You Speak Music?
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- Coolsville - Laurie Anderson Wed, 2011-06-08 14:02
- Farewell - Apocalyptica Wed, 2011-06-08 13:57
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt Wed, 2011-06-08 13:51
- Ride of the Valkyries - Richard Wagner Wed, 2011-06-08 13:44
- Bubblehouse - Medeski, Martin and Wood Wed, 2011-06-08 13:42
Farewell - Apocalyptica
Lesson 1: Sound
Listen to this track and write down every different instrument you can identify. If there's something you can hear but you don't know what it is, try to describe the sound of it. Of all the sounds in this particular track, which one do you find the most interesting?
Lesson 2: Rhythm
Listen to this track and find the pulse. What are you hearing that tells you where the pulse is? Are there certain pars of this track where it's harder to hear the pulse? What is the tempo of the song? What is the meter of the song? How do you know that? Are there any commonly recurring patterns in this song? What do you find rhythmically interesting about this track?
Lesson 3: Melody
Describe the shape of the melody in different parts of the song. Do you hear any motifs or melodic patterns? If so, how are they changing or developing? How do they use the range of the melody to increase the intensity? Where are the highest and lowest notes throughout the entire track?
Lesson 4: Harmony
Listen for the harmonic rhythm? How often does it change? What is the difference in the rhythm for the cellos playing the melody vs the ones playing the harmony?
Instruments:
Cello
Violin
Bass Guitar (?)(played with a pick)
Distorted Electric Guitar
Drumkit
Synthesizer - sounds like a keyboard with choral effect, high pitched (?)
I find the synthesizer sound most interesting - probably because it sound the most foreign.
This group is actually 4 cellists plus a drum set. They mostly do arrangements of heavy metal songs (some originals too, I think), which 4 cellos can create a very similar timbre to those of electric guitars, both in terms of pitch (same general pitch area) and articulation (both are string instruments). So you have a couple guys playing the low part of the cellos with distortion that create the harmony and drive and edge and then a couple guys that play the melody on the high parts of the cello, in this case without distortion.
There's also a drummer playing what sounds like a standard acoustic drum set for this type of music, which means big, low drums that sound fat and rather dead, meaning the drums don't ring for a very long time. Actually they don't really ring at all. Listen to the bass drum and compare it to the bass drum from Truth. Or compare the snare drum to Bubblehouse. Very different sounds.
This is such a luscious instrumentation. I remember hearing a classical composition played live once that was written for 5 cellos and 7 basses. There are no other words to describe it that, "It Rocked."
cello, guitar, drums,
My metronome says the tempo of this track is about 100. It's easiest to hear when the "power chords" come in on the distorted cellos. Harder to hear when it's just the melodic cellos playing up high.
The meter is in 4, though you can feel it in a slow 2 if you like as well. Notice the change in feel around 3:15 when the rhythmic pulse drops out. The pulse is still there, in that the musicians are counting and playing their notes "in time", but without that driving pulse from the drums and the power chords it's a whole other vibe.
A great way to listen for the meter is to listen for the changes in harmony. We don't really cover that until lesson 4. But listen for it anyway and you'll hear the harmony change on beat 1, usually every other bar.