Rhythm Texture and Instrumentation
Three songs, all in 4/4 and within 100-120bpm, yet each completely different in sound. By an analysis of rhythm, texture and instrumentation, we can show how these songs produce they're different sounds. Each song is different from the others and acts as a general representative of three distinctive genres, or sounds.Latra-ta, (Tania Maria-Latin/Brazilian jazz) This consists of your typical jazz band, with a plucked double bass, clean guitar and a percussive kit, beaten with a very rim orientated method. The counter melody is played with a piano, with the main vocal melody sung in a very distinct "scat" style by a female vocalist. The sharpness of the rim drumming contrasts with the legato plucked bass and the clean guitar provides the middle sound between them. The female vocals cover a 3, maybe 4 octave ranges, and this with the extensive range of the piano, provides the improvisational quality needed for a jazz based song. Jazz also contains high and complex syncopation, and there is no shortage in this example. Between the bass and the piano, high levels of syncopation combined with polyrhythms in the head displays the high level of technical composition had musicianship jazz musicians pride themselves on. In places the
A male lead vocal is backed by a mixed se and range backing vocal group, much like the piano and vocal in places in the Latra-ta, which creates the funk sing-a-long funk dance feel. In conclusion, songs with similar instrumentation and tempo, are defined by how the instruments are played, the choice from a huge dictionary of rhythms, which instrument plays when, which instruments do the same thing, the changes, it all defines the track, even a triangle accenting a different beat of a bar can change the feel of an entire composition. In this example it is the piano, that is most interesting, with its ability to change its integrating instrument constantly, using complex and completely independent melody lines. The beat emphasis is produced by the drums, using the kick drum for 1st and 3rd beat emphasis and the snare drum on the 2nd and 3rd beats. pairing unison of bass and piano developing to the unison of piano and vocals, shows the pianists improvisation skills, alternating which instrument the improvisation is around, whilst the general scales of the composition create a foundation under the improvisation, to create a steady, constant counter melody. The synthesizer and the bass play consistent quavers, unlike the funk track, that plays around the emphasis beats. The beginning of the song is terraced, much like the later Bon Jovi composition, which slowly builds the track and place the emphasis on lyrical content, typically a character description ("shaft") or a story based (carwash) theme, all usually fictions based off a friend or environment. This track is based on a series of riffs, rather than the jazz jack (based on improvisation), and the funk track, a repetitive two bar singular riff. It is unusual for jazz to be written in such a simple time signature of 4/4, but it allows a constant for comparison between the other songs. Running away (Roy Ayers-Funk) This track is simpler in its composition, but has similar instrumentation; the double bass is replaced by an electric bass, a kit is still the centre of percussion (assisted by genre typical hand claps), but is played on skins with sticks, producing in longer, looser feel than jazz rim tapping. In itself, stating the use of power chords come with the anthemic nature of the song, they are simple and effective, much different to the complexity of jazz, and similar to the repetitive "chunky" sound of funk. The guitar using the voice box has a strange structure, completely different to the other tracks and helps define the sound, accenting alternate quavers, playing each of the following two, and leaving two quavers before repeating. Rhodes and vibraphones add to the collaboration of rhythm. The track is designed to be anthemic, and so, has a lot of dynamic variations, typically rising at the chorus.
Common topics in this essay:
Bon Jovi,
Tania Maria-Latin/Brazilian,
Congas Caribbean,
Roy Ayers-Funk,
Jovi-Anthem Rock,
,
similar instrumentation,
clean guitar,
double bass,
bass clean guitar,
funk track,
bass piano,
counter melody,
bon jovi,
voice box,
typical jazz,
bass clean,
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Acceptance Essays
