Music GCSE - Release

What instruments are heard in the song?

Synthesisers

Djembe

Vocals

Accordion

Violin

Whistle

What are the genres of the song?

Pop, African, folk

What is the texture of this piece?

Homophonic

How is the tonality described?

Modal

What harmonic feature is heard in the beginning of the song?

Drone

What melodic features can be heard in the song?

Acciaccatura

Leap

Recurring motif

Riff

Scales

Conjunct movement

Disjunct movement

Repeated notes

What rhythm mix features are played by the percussion and the beginning?

Syncopation and ostinato

What time is signature is used in the music?

4/4

How was the tempo described after the percussion starts to play?

Moderato

What does fusion mean?

Genre of music, the confines different musical stars together, usually from different countries or cultures

What is the type of fusion Afro Celt Sound System perform?

West African

Celtic

Western pop

What is a transcription?

A score that is notated by listening to an audio recording rather than notated at the time of composition and performed from the score

Why is the song not notated using traditional notation at the time? It was composed?

African and Celtic music would not be notated but learn and composed orally

It would be difficult to Notate due to layered texture of loops

The performers are from around the world so would not be able to perform together easily so there’s no need to not the full song

The final composition was constructed and layered using music technology after loops were performed

Instrumental solos would have improvised rather than performed from notation

What instruments were used in the song from western pop?

Electric piano

Synthesisers

Female vocals

Drum machine

Tambourine

Shaker

What instruments were used in the song from Ireland

Accordion

Fiddle

uillean pipes

Whistle

Male vocals

Bohrán

Hurdy-gurdy

What instruments were used from West Africa?

Djembe

Kora

Talking drum

What are three different languages that are heard in the vocal part?

Gaelic

English

Maninka

How are uillean pipes played?

Pumping air into a bag using a bellow

How is a bohrán played?

By hitting it with a stick

How many strings does a kora have?

21 strings

How was a hurdy-gurdy played?

By turning a wheel with one hand and operating a keyboard with another to change the pitch

How was the pitch of an accordion altered?

By pressing different keys or buttons

What instrument plays a drone?

The hurdy-gurdy

What are differences between uillean pipes and traditional bagpipes?

uillean pipes have a softer tone

Uillean pipes have a wide range

Ares produced with an elbow operated below on uillean pipes

How has Afro celt Soundsystem Used instrumentation to create a musical fusion

By blending traditional instruments from different cultures and styles such as west African percussion instruments and instruments traditionally found in Celtic board music, and technology commonly used in west popular music

What does build mean?

Adding more instruments with a crescendo

What does break mean?

A pause just before a new section or solo

How does the structure of the verse differ in traditional pop songs?

Each of the verses have slightly different melodies, which is different to pop songs that have the same melody but different lyrics. Repeating chorus section would be expected, but in this song, they are separated by instrumental breaks.

What is the harmonic device played by the synth in the beginning of the song?

The drone

What mode is the peace in?

Aeolian

What is static harmony?

When a piece remains largely on a single cord for prolonged period of time

What are melodic features of the first line?

Two bars long

Range of a sixth

Notes in the aeolian mode

Conjunct

Descending until the last note

Why is the range small in the song?

Folk singers are beginners So don’t have a wide vocal range

Describe the metre of the music in the beginning of the song

Free time

How does the meter change after a few bars?

4/4

what rhythmic device describes the bodhrán part?

Ostinato

Syncopation

Dotted rhythms

Semiquaver

How was the rhythm of the lyric part?

Starts with an offbeat

Syncopation

Mainly straight quaver movement

Phrase and with a longer note

How is the role of the bodhrán important/not important?

Important:

• It provides a clear mètre/constant pulse

• Creates fusion links with Africa

• Cue other loops in time

Not important

• Plays the same rhythm

• Not audible

• Other links to African music

• Other parts of percussion Clarify the meter