Think about a piece of music you believe has serious artistic quality. It can be any song/composition as long as it is “Band Room appropriate”. What are the particular sounds of this song? Sounds can be described by:
Instrumentation:
Harmony/key/progression:
Timbre:
Texture:
Melodies:
Tempo:
Rhythm:
Range:
Articulations:
Dynamics/volume:
Repetition:
Genre/cultural distinctions:
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.):
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):
Most of these sounds we have been exploring over this semester (for better descriptions or helpful leading questions, see the list at the bottom of this site). I want you to think about each of these sounds as they relate to the song you chose.
Now copy and paste the sound list into your blog.
1) Describe your song as fully as you can by EVERY sound on this list. Do not tell the composer or artist, name the title or post a link to your song.
2) Don’t skip a sound description. Answer each one as best as you can (the only exception to this may be "human inflections" if you choose an instrumental).
3) Now read the descriptions of someone else’s post. Make a guess on the song/composition they are describing. Post a link of the song you think it is so that we can compare it to the list.
4) Wait until Saturday and then post a link of your song. Read to see if anyone guessed your blog correctly. Judge whether or not they were right or at least close.
5) The person with the most correct guesses (that match the song – they don’t have to be THE song but they have to match the description - YOU are the judge) and the person who guesses the most blogs right both GET A PRIZE!
*IMPORTANT: The first part of this blog is due by Friday night because the counter-response starts Saturday and is due by Monday afternoon, no later than 5:00pm.*
instrmentation- 2 guitar, tambourine
ReplyDeletewhole progression-F, Bb, C.... I IV V
key- F major
timbre- purple
couldnt work out any melodies, has a some cool guitar stuff to work out the chords though
texture- very rough, but just smooth enough to thoroughly enjoy
tempo-exactly 84 bpm
some pretty complicated rhythms on guitar.
the range is less then an octave, the guy isnt super singer haha
accents on 2 and 4. the lead guitar uses slides and and slurs pretty often
it remains at a steady mezzoforte throughout
repetition format: A B A B A B C A B A B
genre/culture- uhmmmm kind indy soft rock blue country fusion
not a lot instrumental effect. just clean guitar tone and and tambourine
kinda of a raspy voice but still clean as could be
I don't think anyone'll guess mine, as almost nobody has heard it. It has people talking, but that really has nothing to do with the song. The music sorta stops and they talk, and then music stops again. He sounds really serious.
ReplyDeleteTo run down most of your list first, this is written with guns as instruments.
Timbre: Sharp, quick, and awesome.
Texture: Strangely, quite smooth.
Melodies: It's written with guns. It has no melody.
Range: Granted, some of the gunshots are higher than others, but you can't really put a letter to it.
Articulations: It's all staccato.
Dynamics/volume: Loud.
Repetition: All of the guns have set parts to play. Some of them have several parts, but they all play those measure-or-two-long sections over and over, adding more as the song continues. Never too much at one time, however. The song is clean and concise.
Genre/cultural distinction: It's a gamer's song, written from and for Half-Life fans.
Instrumental effects: There really aren't any instrumental effects... There's a strider (alien) that kind of wails at one point, but that's it.
It's played in 4/4
This is a bit of a round. Except it's all guns. The SMG and pistol start. They both have funky rhythms, but at different times, and it really has a nice effect. Then the pulse rifle comes in with a straight beat. It's rather fast, but when you're dealing strictly with gunshots (would this be considered percussion?), it'd be really, really boring if it were slow. But anyway. The rifle comes in every two or three beats, I forget which. Then a strider goes 'VVVvvv' every measure. This carries on for a bit. Then the strider wails. It goes 'Vvvvwwwauuuuh.' I really don't know how else to explain it. It sounds pretty cool. Then something similar starts up, except with the crossbow(I think) standing in for the pulse rifle, and the overall rhythm is a badabadadziw, ba dah dah, instead of a buh badahdah, bu dd dd dd buh badahdah. I know that probably bakes no sense, but that's how it sounds. I also know that half of you just said it out loud to try to see how that works.
And here's the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteA human voice comes in and says something - I don't know what, but I think it's Alyx Vance talking, and nothing she says makes any sense anyway - over the music. Then pulse rifles come in over everything in sixteenth notes. Then everything but the strider going 'vvuah vvuah' every measure stops, and the G-man's voice says "Lets' just say your hour has... Come again." and the pistol starts up as two eighth notes, an eighth note rest, and then a quarter note, and three eighth notes rest. A pulse rifle has three eighth notes rest, then almost the same thing. Then a turret gun goes 'bp bpbpbpbp bp *dingding (reloading sound)*. Silence for a measure. Then the same turret thing (this time with no bullets) goes dit dit, didit dit, (quarter quarter eighth eighth eighth rest quarter quarter rest) and another gun (no idea what it is) starts at the last two quarter notes of the last measure, and goes "bf bf." Then a strider shoots and a more complex version of the beginning sequence starts up, with a shotgun every measure. The girl talking starts up again over the music, and again, I think it's Alyx Vance, and if you ever play Half-Life, don't listen to a word she says she's the most annoying compainion you will ever have in a video game. And then the pulse rifles begin their sixteenth-note thing again for a few measures and it ends with one clear concise gunshot noise, but it's actually all the gunshots.
I think there's only one song that matches this description, and I also think I described it pretty well. I went through the entire song and wrote it out as well as I could, only I'm not sure what exactly I was supposed to do as I'm one of the first people blogging. If I DO do this wrong, then I have no idea just what the heck I'm supposed to be doing, but at least I have an excuse. Not a very good one, but it's an excuse.
I guess I SHOULD include all the instruments, though...
ReplyDeleteUSP Match Handgun
.357 Magnum
SPAS-12 shotgun
MP-7 sub-machine gun
Gravity Gun
Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle
Crossbow
Strider
If you have questions, just remember, you're inconveniencing me. Google Half Life 2 (gun name here)
The strider is an alien with a gun underneath it's head.
Instrumentation:
ReplyDeleteProgression:C
Timbre:I have no idea what this is...
Texture:A little rough
Melodies:Couldn't fugure this out but it sounds full.
Tempo: It's in 4/4
Rhythm:...
Range:...
Articulations:...
Dynamics/volume:about the same throughout
Repetition:The chorus is repeated four times
Genre/cultural distinctions:
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.):None that I know of
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):They scream, just a bit....
Okay, so I forgot to finish the progression and the instrumentation.
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation: Guitar, Piano, Drums
Progression: C D# A# C it repeats that until the bridge
Bridge Progression: C A# D# B
Composer: Named after the directors of an old 80s clown movie.
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation: Violins, a guitar, a drumset, and a piano.
Harmony: The violins start out with a progression and about 30 seconds into it, the guitars take the progression over.
Timbre:The Violins and guitar play a soft progression, while the drums keep a heavy beat with the double bass pedal.
Texture: The notes are played a little close together.
Melody: The singer tends to sing very high with the guitars, while the drums almost seem like improv.
Tempo: It's in 12/4 I think.
Rhythm: Drums keep the rhythm and play over most instruments. They cut out for short solos of other instruments.
Range: The singer and the instruments all seem to play very high and hardly get low.
Articulation: Not really sure
Dynamics/volume: It's pretty loud for the most part, but it quiets down a few times.
Repetition: Chorus is repeated 3 times, but the progression at the beginning is repeated by different instruments.
Genre: The band is a metal band that weighs more heavily on piano and strings they have done a remake of a famous pop song.
Instrumental Effects: They don't use effects.
Human Inflections: The singer likes to make a whining sound quite a bit.
This is Rachel Wood
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation:string quartet, 2 violins, cello, viola
Harmony/key/progression: the viola plays the harmony.Major key tonality
Timbre:I googled this and tried to figure it out but I couldn't
Texture: polyphonic
Melodies:played by the violin and very repetitive
Tempo: Most of the time the tempo is allegro, but then it is adagio at the bridge which is repeated. The song is pretty long and everything is repeated at least once.
Rhythm: The rythm is held by the pulsing beat of the cello but differs when all the strings harmonize for the bridge
Range:I couldn't figure out exacts, but its like soprano high to tenor low.
Articulations:The cello is staccato while the violins and viola are legato
Dynamics/volume:most of the song is at a constant medium volume the with the bridge the music starts to crescendo
Repetition: the whole song is the repition of melody and bridge its like a mini song is repeated over and over
Genre/cultural distinctions: it is definitly classical, but it is technically a remix of a pop song.
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.): none
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):no voices
are we supposed to guess others now?
Instrumentation: Guitar, Voice, Piano, Shaker, Drum Set, Bass, Digital Noise,
ReplyDeleteHarmony: Good amount of dissonance between harmony and melody. The harmony is actually usually just a mass of noice.
Timbre: Timbre startes out very soft and easy, but becomes very harsh and hard as the song progresses. Then at the end it returns back to soft and even.
Texture: Notes start out and end very sparse and quiet. During the middle of the song however they become very close and almost jumbled together.
Melodies: The melody is usually held in either the guitar or voice. When the guitar has the melody it is very repetitive, but the voice hardly ever repeats itself.
Tempo: The tempo is about 70 or 80 bpm and is fairly consistent throughout the song.
Rhythm: The main rhythm is eigth, eigth, sixteenth, sixteenth, eigth rest (in the repetitive guitar melody).
Range: All of the instrumentation is low, but the voice is on the higher end, but still male.
Articulations: Not very articulate. Most of the sound blurs together.
Dynamics/volume: Very p during the beginning and end but very fff during the middle
Repetition: Guitar repeats itself during most of the song
Genre/cultural distinctions: Alternative
Instrumental effects: hammer on and off, grace notes
Human inflections: somewhat whispering, sliding
I guess that Kitty's song is the Ballad of Black Mesa.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTbL5elVXrU
Nice pick and awesome game.
Instrumentation: The song has a really rubato acoustic piano with one singer, no harmonies. HER voice is pure (meaning NO AUTO-TUNE!), it's also raspy and BEAUTIFUL!
ReplyDeleteHarmony/Key/Progression: The piano part has a few suspended chords but the main progression is rather long. The song is in C major and the chords are I(C) V(G) vi(a minor) IV(F) I(C) V(G) IV(F) V(G) vi(a minor) V(G) I(C) V(G) I(C)! No vocal harmonies.
Timbre: Breathy, Mellow, Clear
Texture: Sparse
Melodies: VOCAL ONLY. PAINO IS ONLY HARMONY EXCEPT FOR THE LAST NOTE!
Tempo: Andante, slow, calm
Rhythm: Rubato Rythm Piano is tthe only instrument...
Range: Limited Mezzo-Soprano
Articulations: Lazy pulses in piano.
Dynamics/Volume: Piano throughout verses chorus is slightly louder, maybe mezzo forte.
Repitition: Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3, Chorus, Verse 3 again.
Genre: Indie or maybe Acoustic Alternative
Instrumental effects: damper pedal, I guess is an effect?...
Human Inflections: as stated previously, BREATHY!
Instrumentation: vocal and piano
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key/progression: Original key C Major
Timbre: breathy but not too much
Texture: I think that the notes are dense
Melodies: In the chorus
Tempo: its in 4/4 time
Rhythm: I dont hear any drums so I think that the rhythm is in the piano
Range: Voice range G4-A5
Articulations: in the chorus
Dynamics/volume: pretty loud
Repetition: in the chorus and the final verse
Genre/cultural distinctions: christian
Instrumental effects: piano
Human inflections: He suceeds in his message
I agree with Lucy that kitty's song is Ballad of Black Mesa...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation: Guitar (Electric) and Male singer. Its a solo that provides great emotion and aside from the soft guitar, his voice provides an unforgettable chorus.
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key/progression: The harmony from the guitar is very close to the actual melody from the chorus. It even plays a version of the chorus before the voice begins to sing.
Timbre: Soft like a serenade.
Texture: Guitar opens and starts out soft with a high scale, and then the voice comes in. The voice stays soft throughout the song but becomes loud for the final chorus and then dies softly.
Melodies: There is only one melody. It is hinted by the opening guitar but it is in the voice and never changes.
Tempo: tempo starts out slow and then transitions to a moderately fast tempo once it gets past.
Rhythm: There isnt an acutal instrument playing the rhythm since there is only a guitar. Maybe the rhythm can heard by the accented notes from the guitar.
Range: It has a pretty large range in all but the verses and most of the song has about a medium range, each chorus is different and is either high or low.
Articulations: Very casual in guitar playing and filled with emotion. The voice is very soft and casual yet strong when needed as if it were a person telling a story.
Dynamics/volume: All the verse start out soft and build up into the chorus for the refrain and then dies down. For the most part, its pretty soft.
Repetition: The whole song repeats the same melody over and over again with very few tempo changes. The voice of the singer repeats the same notes during the verses and reapeats the famous one worded chorus many times throughout the song yet in a different way either in notes or emotion.
Genre/cultural distinctions: Alternative Rock recorded in the 90's. Very different style of music than what was popular at the time.
Instrumental effects: Capo on the 5th fret
Human inflections: Breaths, Clear, almost troubled or struggling sounding voice.
instruments: orchestra (with a harp)
ReplyDeletetimbre: soft low in beginning but at the middle and end its grows
texture: low and soft but grows
rhythm: might be in the drums or i think the brass a little (sounds like a brass, but idk)
range: low and middle but goes high back down alittle
dynamics/volume: starts out soft but grows. at the ending it goes down a little
genre/cultural distinctions: its in a fighting anime, but its opera
instruments effect: vibrato, growing and backing down, sounds like a little sluring
human inflection: sounds like the AH are a little scale but are different exacpt the ending (depending on the instruments), full of emotions.
Well, its Saturday so here is my link of White Waves by Shearwater.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7djOSm7vDUA
Nobody guessed on mine so...
Here is the link to my post of Such Great Heights by the section quartet
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIQskg-zOCs
instrumentation: piano
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key progression: key of "G"
Timbre:sof in the biginning then it grows, then it becomes soft again.
Texture:soft and loud.
Melodies:one melody.
Tempo:its is slow
Rhythm:slow rhythm
Range:vocal range
Articulations:just very smooth and flowy
Dynamics/Volume:very full volume
Repetition:the song repeates the chorus more than once throughout the song
Genre/Cultural distinctions:not new song but now old song very popoular still
Instrumental effects:vibrato, grows louder throughout song
I think that Viva La Vida by Cold play is a good piece of music. Here is the link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5TNK-TvIcI
ReplyDeleteThe progression was steady until it hit the climax of the song. The timbre is almost like a stecodo within each note in the base. The texture is a smooth feel to the song. The melody of the song has a soft feel to it. The tempo is at medium pace. The rhythm is exact per each beat, and not all over the place. The range is steady, it doesn't really move up or down in pitch to much. The articulations of the song are on each beat because of the fluctuation of the backround notes being played. The volume of the song is right in the middle. The courus is the only part reapetted. The genre is definitly European,mostly English. The electric piano is used for different sound effects, also the crash symbol is used in part of the song. There aren't really any human effects in this piece.
Guess for musicmans post is Hotel California by the Eagles
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIm gonna guess that andrew's is viva la vida. I just have a gut feeling about it...........
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5TNK-TvIcI
Internet was all messed up. Was supposed to be working by Friday night but it wasnt. So here is my blog. Yes I know it is late and I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation: Male singer sounds like a girl. Usually sings screamo. Acoustic guitar, singers, some drums near the middle and end of the song.
Harmony/key/progression: The chord progression is G, F#, Em7, Cadd9
Timbre: starts soft and then gets more emotional but only with acoustic guitar.
Texture: soft and almost loud. Not to soft but not to loud.
Melodies: some harmony and counter melody
Tempo: slow but speeds up a little but no too much
Rhythm: slow but speeds up a little but no too much
Range:regular male vocal range
Articulations: flows
Dynamics/volume: gets loud but not to loud and soft but not to soft
Repetition: the chorus repeats
Genre/cultural distinctions: from modern day. Screamo band. Love song. A love songs that will get you all teary eyed.
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.): just acoustic and some pedal.
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.): not really any inflections. there is some vibrato but that is how the singer sings.
Sylas's song is Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Ingrid Michaelson
ReplyDeleteMy song was "Starry Night" by Chris August
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1-qHCmDUQ
I dont think that anyone guessed on mine...
I realise that I was supposed to post a link just now. I've been superbusy thinking up excuses for not posting, and this is the best one I can come up with. Not really.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTbL5elVXrU
I know Trevor guessed it right... I don't know if anyone else did, as I'm lazy and refuse to scroll up.
Here' my post. Andrew good guess, but not the correct one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3IzeHStfrA
ReplyDeletediva's song from blood+
Dynamics/volume:
ReplyDeleteSoft to Loud all the time.
Repetition:
Title of the song overe and over.
Genre/cultural distinctions:
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):
Breathy Effects, Echo-ish Stuff, Whispering
Title: True Colors
ReplyDeleteArtist: Cyndi Lauper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS53zuf_X10
Artist: Chiodos
ReplyDeleteSong: Life is a Perception of Your Reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNdQrt_tAI0
And I never posted my guess of Kitty's I just talked to her on Saturday bout it. It's the Ballad of Black Mesa. And Jacob Meyer's is Young by Hollywood Undead.
okidoki i didnt blog yet so i will now i guess... :)
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation:um electric guitar, drums, male vocal, one voice
Harmony/key/progression:they are very slight harmonies they resolve fairly simple
Timbre: the sounds are mellow, they have some slight sharp points when its no drums then the drums come in. They have a great contrast
Texture: the texure is very thin i think there is only a little of the guitar yet it is very important. you can pick out the harmonies but they are kinda hidden. the instrunments are very important to the lyrics.
Melodies: one melody, one voice,it is mostly a safe range that anybody could hit, except occasioally he goe a little too low for most girls... :) too low for me!
Tempo: the tempo is 4:4 i think im probaably wrong. um the tempo is almost slow.
Rhythm: the rythm is found in the drums and in the guitar. i think that the purcussion does kinda end it like sentences, but it also flows very nicely.
Range: range is mostly easy but a little low.
Articulations:they are all fine...
Dynamics/volume: well the volume is good, its very soft, but is a song i like to play loud cus it is really pretty and moves in volume, espically louder on the chorus.
Repetition:repitition is mainly on the chorus yup!
Genre/cultural distinctions: um very country, but very modern country like taylor swift country not johnny cash country (its NOT by Taylor Swift!)
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.):not really sure probably guitar pedal...
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):umm, the man singing is very passionate about the song and even if you cant see them you can tell by the way his voice is put. also the instrunmentation is very passionate sounding and that adds to the fact that it is a passionate song but not neccesarily sad.
i guess i post a link i wont say what the song was thought yet just follow the link!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5tbx2MkFI
This blog is now closed. Do not try to post any more comments, guesses or descriptions. Thank you for all who participated! Great job in spite of the confusion! :)
ReplyDeleteInstrumentation: Beat Box Kit
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key/progression: Crazy Thumpin
Timbre: Hard Heavy Base
Texture: No notes just thumpin bass
Melodies: Base has it
Tempo: Fast
Rhythm: Beat Box Kit
Range: ...?
Articulations: ...?
Dynamics/volume: Loud
Repetition: Just the chorous
Genre/cultural distinctions: Rap
Instrumental effects: Heavy Thumpin
Human inflections: None
The song is about respectin your hood
I think that Jenny Cat's song is
ReplyDelete"Starry Night" by Chris August
My song was:
ReplyDelete"I Do It For My Hood" by Yound Jezzy
To Miss. Burk:
I could not find the clean version so assume that I did it perfectly and earned a 100%
To Everyone else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW7QpMkntxw
Instrumentation:Guitar and bass
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key/progression:
Timbre: Starts off soft with the guitar and then hits hard with bass
Texture: smooth and clean
Melodies:the guitar in the background is constantly being played
Tempo: I think the tempo is a 3/4
Rhythm: it starts off soft, then hits, then goes soft again
Range: The vocals range from mid altos to high sopranoes
Articulations:?
Dynamics/volume: Depends how much bass boost you have. With little boost there is hardly any beat, but when you have more it increases dramatically
Repetition: The beginning and end of the song sound exactly the same
Genre/cultural distinctions: Its hip hop and a popular song right now
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.): Sounds like finger picking on an electric guitar
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.): very soft voice and reminds you of someone in the past
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6O2ncUKvlg
My song was Just a Dream by Nelly (a little different from my country taste, but I like it)
I've just now gotten around to finishing this blog. Thank You for letting me do this late.
Instrumentation:Drums,guitar, keyboard
ReplyDeleteHarmony/key/progression:E,B,C#m,A
Timbre:starts off with just guitar but speeds up
Texture:Guitar opens and starts out soft, and then the voice comes in. The voice stays soft throughout the song but becomes loud for the final chorus and then dies softly.
Melodies:one melody
Tempo:4/4
Rhythm:the drums
Range:low
Articulations:The voice is very soft and casual yet strong when needed as if it were a person telling a story.
Dynamics/volume:For the most part, its pretty soft.
Repetition:The whole song repeats the same melody over and over again with very few tempo changes.
Genre/cultural distinctions:Country
Instrumental effects (pedal, hammer, pizzicato, mute, etc.):
Human inflections (effects of the human voice such as crying, sliding, breathy effects, vibrato, screaming, etc.):
I know its very late sorry :)
ReplyDeleteBut its Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwAucpiC6Q