Release Afro Celt Sound System. Score Annotation and Comments.

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(1)‘Release’ Afro Celt Sound System. Score Annotation and Comments. Differently to my other annotations, this is an explanation of the Music. I have not just listed terms on the score. I think there is more that can be said about the Music. Essentially, there are four contributing elements to this music. 1. African Music. •. All Jazz and Pop music relies on the beat and rhythmic drive traditional to African Music. Think about it – before Jazz, most Western ‘Classical’ Music used rhythms from stringed instruments. Percussion was limited, and didn’t drive the music.. •. Additionally, Instruments such as the talking drum originated from African Music. A ‘Talking’ drum sometimes imitated speech rhythms – and pitches, when the skin could be tightened or loosened when played to change the pitch. The Djembe, too, is another African Drum.. •. The Kora is an African stringed instrument. African Music uses pitched instruments melodically, but also to create rhythmic patterns. There is an overlap between these pitched instruments and pitched percussion. The written notes show accents, here.. •. Often African music overlaid patterns of drum rhythms, and using a lot of drummers overcame the failing of individuals who became tired. Many African traditional pieces use a very simple main beat, overlaid by Cross or Poly rhythms.. •. A Cross rhythm is where rhythms clash with each other, such as one part playing triplets where another plays straight quavers or semi-quavers – 2 or 4 against 3. Poly rhythms essentially means many.. •. You will notice from the number of written down drum rhythms, that put together they will be very complex. You will notice, too, that each bar is not the same. Essentially there is repetition every 4 bars – and in some melodic parts, every 8 bars.. •. Like Celtic Music, a lot of traditional African Music, Jazz and Pop uses a strong 4 beat. Logically this is because it is easier to dance to music with this metre.. •. In some African dances, the feet are places according to the beat. In some dances, the rhythms work around the feet.. 2. Celtic (or Folk) Music. •. Again, percussion played a strong part in Folk Music of the British Isles, and the Bodhrán reflects this. The Uilleann Pipes, Fiddle, Accordion, and Hurdy Gurdy (a bit like a sideways violin played by a handle turning a wheel) all have a strong place in Folk Tradition.. •. The lyrics have Folk inflections in the vocals. The artists are known for Folk performance. •. The subjects of Celtic or Folk Music – are that of the ‘folk’ the people. They are stories of their lives, of their times, and sometimes they use the politics or national concerns – as far as they affect the people. Humpty Dumpty and Ring-a-ring-a-roses are (not Celtic) songs that talk of national events. Most music, too, was a oral tale: ‘Do not do this’..

(2) •. The fact that the music is passed by word of mouth means that meanings and words can be corrupted – although the Victorians ‘sanitized’ a lot of folk songs into children’s songs, too.. •. Here, the lyrics suggest Death or Departure – part of the natural rhythm of life. Essentially this, too, is a moral tale – how to behave, or what to do.. •. The pipe and whistle melodies suggest ‘Improvisation’ – that they were made up as played. Although we have a ‘score’ this was written afterwards – like a lot of Jazz scores, suggesting that the music was made up, and might be different each time it is performed.. •. Structure. Traditionally a Verse is a repeated section of music in a song, where the lyrics change. A traditional refrain (and the Pop Chorus) is a repeated section of music with repeated words. In Folk Music, the refrain was often very short, often commented on the emotion (as does Pop choruses) and could just be a very few words – or even just vocal syllables )what we call ‘Scat’ singing today).. •. Often in Folk Music, the refrain was just a short section at the end of the verse, and the second main section was an instrumental. Sometimes the time signature of a song would change for the dance section – eg from a ‘Reel’ 4/4 to a ‘Jig’ 6/8.. •. The music is Modal. It is C Minor with a Flattened 7th, so it has transposed the Aeolian Mode (the white note scale based on A – A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A). Generally the 6th note (the Ab) only appears in some of the vocal lines.. •. Most Folk Music is Modal. All music before about 1550 was Modal. Western Classical Music then condensed the 6 modes to 2 scales (Major and Minor) – it became Diatonic.. •. In the Western C Harmonic Minor, there would be a C natural – although the Melodic Minor Descending uses Bb and Ab.. •. The Pipe and Whistle Melodies are Hexatonic. 6 notes avoiding the Ab.. •. A lot of Celtic Folk Music uses a Drone rather than chordal accompaniment. A Drone was usually the 1st and 5th (because of the natural harmonics). This made it easier to ‘Free’ a melody – as more notes were consonant or permissible.. •. Dissonant notes were ones that clashed with the 1 or 5 – eg the occasional Ab here.. •. The string parts move from C + G Double Stopped to C + A natural (A is Dissonant) to C + Bb. Bb is acceptable over the main drone (and we use it in 7 chords).. •. The Accordion part puts in the Mediant note (Eb) – although this note is low in volume. Interestingly the written Accordion part shows accents and staccatos. It tries to notate the playing techniques.. •. Again the syntheziser and the synth strings play dissonant notes – A natural, (D), E natural. The guide says that the A natural (which is the sharpened 6th) moves the music to the Dorian Mode (white note scale based on D). This suggests that the whole section does this. As I said the pipes avoid the note, so this is not clear..

(3) •. Like much Celtic Folk Music, the vocal melody is composed of a succession of short 5 or 6 note motifs using the notes of the Mode (there are arguments that Blues composers inherited this). Again, the vocal melodies emphasize the Tonic and Dominant.. •. The vocal motifs are mainly scalic with small leaps. Traditionally Folk and Blues motifs could be sung by people who were not trained singers. It has also been suggested that the descending scale from the Tonic down to the Flattened 7th was easier to sing than a semitone.. •. The vocal motifs descend. Descending motifs provide a laid back or resigned nature. Rising motifs ‘aspire’ or ‘hope’ or dream. Here the rhythmic excitement in the accompaniment drives the music forwards, but the words bely this.. •. Rising motifs are seen in the pipes. Several lines start with a G followed by 3 Cs. The G is the 5th of the mode, and emphasise the ‘Drone’ feel as opposed to a chord.. •. Again, the whistle often starts on the G, but often descends.. •. The Hurdy Gurdy is shown as playing Db and B natural in it’s patterns. Again, I wonder if this is down to a playing technique, rather than an attempt to shift the tonality.. •. Essentially dissonant music in this piece is where notes conflict with the 1/5 C/G feel.. 3. Pop Music. •. Mainly instruments. Electric Bass Guitar (slightly heavier than a Folk Music upright Bass), Electric Piano, Synthesizer. Also, performer’s tradition or experience.. •. There is also the basic structure of the piece. In Pop, the solos is often places central to the verses and choruses.. •. The study guide gives the structure as Intro, Verse 1, Break, Verse 2, Solos 1 and 2, Break, Solo 3, Verse 3, Build / Outro – just a bit more complex than the one on the following pages.. •. Outro is a modern term used to replace Coda (or Tail). It is simpler. Often an outro includes a studio fade where the music gradually dies away. This cannot be done very well on stage. Although the guide uses the word Outro in the structure summary, it uses the word Coda in the following text.. •. A Build is self-explanatory. The music builds up. Build is not, though, a formal term.. 4. Music Technology. •. Although repetitive patterns have been used in Music for thousands of years to accompany dance, the use of Loops and Samples removes the human failing of getting tired and slowing down. It is easier to construct music today than it was in the ‘60’s with tape loops.. •. The amount of timbres available by moving one control on a synthesizer allows a band to incorporate ambience (the sound of the performance environment) and even emotional impact – sadness or wistfulness into the background of the Music..

(4) •. Although not mentioned on the score, some of the drums are sampled/electronic in addition to the ‘live’ drums. There is a mixture live performance on stage, of accompaniment parts created at the work station, some pre-recorded live parts that are looped or sampled.. •. A Loop is a repeated pattern – essentially a technological Riff or Ostinato while a Sample is a recorded sound that is often repeated, or the pitch changed, or an effect added. Learn the difference – a Loop can use Samples and visa versa. You will also see the word ‘grooves’ used to define loops.. •. The study guide says Techno is a style of electronic music. Essentially this is true, but it is difficult to define the style using Musical Elements, and the word is also used to define everything using Technology.. •. Techno therefore is like the word Classical which can either be used to refer to music written between 1720 and 1805 (and which is mainly Melody Dominated Homophony) or the whole Western ‘Classical’ tradition.. Having said all of that, the score is on the flowing pages..

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