A

Duration – Comprehensive Study Notes

Outcomes

  • By the completion of the unit you should be able to:
    • Distinguish short vs. long sounds in any texture.
    • Identify regular (predictable) vs. irregular (unpredictable) metres by ear or from score.
    • Recognise and label simple metric groupings (groups of 4, 3 or 2) and compound metric groupings (combinations such as 12 = 3+3+3+3, 6 = 3+3, 5 = 3+2, 11 = 3+3+3+2).
    • Perform basic percussion patterns in compound groupings and record the results clearly.
    • Detect syncopation – i.e.
      Accents that fall on normally unaccented beats – in melodies or accompaniments.
    • Hear when multiple metric groupings are used simultaneously within a single piece.

Timetable & Required Resources

  • Unit length ≈ 2 weeks (flexible: 2 lessons / week or 1 lesson / week; negotiate with teacher).
  • Equipment checklist:
    • Cassette player with record function and resettable counter.
    • Optional second playback machine for overdubbing.
    • Pens, pencils, writing paper & a dedicated work-file tape.
    • Any instrument suitable for percussion or rhythmic practice.

Glossary (Key Terms)

  • Metric groups – organisational blocks that collect beats into 4s, 3s, 2s, or compound hybrids.
  • Staff / staves – the 5-line lattice on which pitch & rhythm are notated.
  • Syncopation – accent on a beat that is not ordinarily accented.
  • System – several staves bracketed together, read simultaneously.
  • Tabla – North-Indian pair of hand drums; central to complex rhythmic cycles.
  • Transducer – device that converts one form of energy to another (e.g.
    microphone, ear).

Introduction – A Finke River Soundscape

  • Recording location: billabong on the Finke River (~250\,\text{km} SW of Alice Springs; one of the world’s oldest rivers; floods ≈ every 30 years).
  • Time of recording: 05 : 30 a.m., pitch-dark.
  • Aural observations:
    • Multiple bird calls.
    • Loud roar = flock of ducks landing; sound caused by wing-feather turbulence.
    • Demonstrates natural variety in duration, timbre, and rhythm before any organised music begins.

Physics & Perception of Sound

  • Analogy: dropping a stone in a pond ⇒ ripples; vibrating object ⇒ sound waves in air.
  • Propagation speed: v_{sound\,\text{(air, 20 °C)}} \approx 343\,\text{m s}^{-1}.
  • Dynamic microphone (transducer):
    • Diaphragm vibrates with incoming waves.
    • Voice coil attached; moves in a permanent magnetic field, inducing an electrical signal.
  • Human ear = biological transducer; converts wave motion → neural impulses; capable of focusing on one source while filtering others.
  • Simple, regular sources (tuning fork) vs. complex, chaotic sources (spinning metal lid) illustrate differing waveform complexity.

Hearing vs. Listening

  • Everyday exposure: supermarkets, car radios, TV, etc.
  • Hearing = passive; listening = active analysis of musical “building blocks.”
  • Musicians train the ear in the same way athletes train muscles → enables clearer performance, composition, and critical writing.

Duration – Core Components

  • Encompasses:
    • Regular & irregular metres.
    • Simple vs. compound metric groupings.
    • Rhythmic devices (e.g.
      syncopation).
    • Notation systems for depicting length.
  • Initial listening tasks:
    • Percussion ensemble with short sounds & regular rhythm.
    • David Chesworth’s “Composition No.
      5 for Silicon Valley” – mixture of short & long sounds, irregular rhythm.
    • Tip: attempt to clap along; inability to settle into a steady pattern suggests irregularity.

Simple Metric Groupings (4 – 3 – 2)

  • Counting cues:
    • 4-group excerpt: four preparatory clicks; listeners counted “1-2-3-4” four consecutive times.
    • 3-group excerpt: three preparatory clicks; count “1-2-3.”
    • 2-group excerpt: no clicks; heard 8 groups of two.
  • Exercise results (Answer key):
    • Excerpt 1 → 3s, Excerpt 2 → 4s, Excerpt 3 → 2s.
  • Personal repertoire task: list songs played & annotate their grouping.

Compound Metric Groupings

  • Formed by combining simple units.
  • Key examples:
    • Twelve ( 3+3+3+3 ) – can feel like a slow 4; emphasised hi-hat re-mix clarifies the four internal 3s.
    • Six ( 3+3 ) – common in folk dance (e.g.
      Irish jig).
    • Five ( 3+2 ) – less common; exercise with five preparatory clicks; count “1 2 3 1 2.”
    • Eleven ( 3+3+3+2 ) – prevalent in Indian classical music.

Indian Rhythmic Practice (Tabla-Inspired)

  • Exercise 1 ( 3+3+3+2 ):
    • Left thigh tap = first beat of each group; count aloud.
    • Challenge: maintaining steady pulse when the 2 arrives.
  • Exercise 2 (relocating the 2):
    • Shift the 2 subdivision through the cycle → patterns such as 3+2+3+3, 2+3+3+3.
  • Exercise 3 = full four-pattern cycle, each pattern repeated 4\times before moving on.
  • Recording requirement: use distinct timbre for each group’s first beat when submitting.
  • Cultural note: Virtuoso Ravi Shankar popularised the sitar (with tabla & tambura accompaniment), inspiring Western artists (e.g.
    George Harrison, The Beatles).

Why Group Beats? (Practical & Musical Rationale)

  • Reading analogue: paragraphs & sentences aid comprehension; metric bars do the same for music notation.
  • Accent hierarchy:
    • Primary accent = first beat of the bar.
    • In compound bars, sub-group first beats receive a secondary accent.

Syncopation

  • Definition restated: accent on a beat not typically accented.
  • Drum-pattern case study (4-bar loop):
    • Accents clearly on beats 1 & 3.
    • Adding a melody produced a line where only two notes coincide with the normal accents → highly syncopated.
  • Listening quiz answers: Melody 1 = not syncopated, Melody 2 & 3 = syncopated.

Reading Percussion Scores & Repeat Signs

  • System = 5 parallel staves (timbales/tambourine, cabasa, conga 1, conga 2, djembe).
  • Observation tasks:
    • Ensemble enters layer by layer, one staff per iteration.
    • Repeat sign (:\,!: ) encloses identical bars 2 & 3; play material twice.
    • Additional repeats indicated by “n\,\text{times}” or “n\times.”

Extension – Escher Sketch (Michael Brecker, 1990)

  • Opening ride-cymbal pattern = primary tempo reference; persists.
  • At \approx17\,\text{s} a drum fill introduces a second tempo.
  • Analytical tasks:
    • Maintain “1 2 3 4” count; notice alignment/misalignment.
    • Determine mathematical relationship between the two tempi (hint: likely simple ratio such as 2!:!3 or 3!:!4).
  • Context: Brecker names piece after M. C. Escher (Dutch graphic artist renowned for interlocking, self-referential patterns) – mirrors the simultaneous rhythmic planes.
  • Creative suggestion: record your own loop, then overdub a contrasting metre; explore metric modulation.

Concepts Checklist (Self-Assessment Grid)

  • Rate understanding of:
    • Regular / irregular metres.
    • Metric groupings.
    • Syncopation.
    • Notation of duration.
    • Use “high”, “medium”, “need more practice.”

Answer Key (Activities)

  • Simple grouping exercise: 3, 4, 2 respectively.
  • Syncopation quiz: Melody 1 – no; Melodies 2 & 3 – yes.
  • Staff identification:
    1. Timbales & tambourine
    2. Cabasa
    3. Conga (higher pitch)
    4. Conga (lower pitch)
    5. Djembe

Discography & Suggested Listening

  • Mozart – Symphony No.
    39 (K.
    543), Prague Chamber Orchestra, Charles Mackerras (Telarc CD 80203, 1990).
  • Michael Brecker – Now You See It… (Now You Don’t) (GRP Records GRD-9622, 1990).
  • Use these recordings to reinforce metric grouping & syncopation recognition.

Ethical / Philosophical / Practical Considerations

  • Cultivating active listening enhances cultural appreciation, empathy, and mental acuity.
  • Respectful engagement with non-Western traditions (e.g.
    Indian tala) combats musical ethnocentrism.
  • Practical skill: mastering a tape machine, overdubbing, and critical self-recording prepares you for modern DAW workflows.

Real-World Relevance & Connections

  • Sport analogy – rhythmic precision parallels athletic timing.
  • Language analogy – metre = grammatical structure of music; syncopation parallels poetic enjambment or conversational emphasis shifts.
  • Technologies (microphones, ears) share transduction principles with seismology, medical imaging, etc.

Numerical & Technical References (LaTeX)

  • Speed of sound in air: 343\,\text{m s}^{-1}.
  • Map scale mentioned: 1 : 48{\,}000{\,}000.
  • Example compound counts: 12 = 3+3+3+3, 6 = 3+3, 5 = 3+2, 11 = 3+3+3+2.
  • Recording counters: reset to 0 before starting to synchronise written notes with tape positions.