In todays lessons we learned about even-note and off-beat syncopation.
We learnt about our ‘favourite’ rhytmn or most commonly used which is 12312312. I found when I was just tapping away I would also tap this beat and that it was used in a lot of popular songs.
We learnt about ‘accenting’ beats, which is making certain beats louder or more emphasised.
To get an off-beat syncopation you have to know the beat, otherwise you will not be able to construct a proper off-beat.
We also learnt about a new rhythmn called a Choro, which is Spanish for ‘Little Cry’ which paradoxically is quite an energetic beat that makes people want to dance.
The beat goes 12345678. I found I picked up this beat quite easily when tapping it out.
We were showed a video of ‘Stomp’ these are an act that create ‘music’ through everyday objects such as brooms, sticks etc much through the use of cross rhythms. I thought that their show was amazing as they have to always now the timing and if one person misses a beat it would throw the whole piece off.
I thought the energy created through using such mediocre objects was amazing.
I also thought it could link quite well with the painting we are using for our fixed stimulus piece, as slaves wouldnt have had the access to real instruments and may have tapped, or used everyday objects to create rhythmn while they were working.
Prometheus: Lyrics
Feels like it’s been years since you stole my light,
Now I’m lost, in the dark,
And I don’t know just how far.
Chorus: But we can’t stand, stand alone,
With this cold that seeps into our souls,
So I’ll look up to the Lord,
But he don’t see us anymore
But we’ve been begging on, our knees,
But you don’t hear our pleas,
So I’ll make my way skyward,
And do what nobody else could
Bridge: Ooooooohhhhh
Chorus x2
Fixed Stimulus: ‘Negres a fond de calle’
For our fixed stimulus piece we have been set a painting of slaves on there way to Brazil called the ‘Negres a fond de calle’ by Johahn Moritz Rugendas, a German painter.
In the picture the slaves are all black, they are wearing barely any clothes and being fed through a hole in the ceiling. There are two white men below in expensive looking clothes clearly seperate from the slaves. They are holding a lamp, which almost feels like a metaphor for them enjoying the light while the slaves are trapped below in the dark. The slaves all have very strong muscles, and the way the white people are looking at them makes it look as if they are examining animals to put to work.
The painting clearly depicts racial inequality between mixed race/black and white people. This is a major theme that will need to reflected in the song.
Other songs that have themes of racial seperation are ‘What a wonderful world’ , numerous Bob Marley songs and many motwon singers. These are possible ways the song could sound like.
Lyrics would need to include the pain, suffering, anger and desperation of the slaves. They will need to be brutal, harsh and honest.
I like the idea of singing the song from a black man or womans point of view and talking about ‘white men’. I also like the thought of doing a motown style of song, or a soul song almost in the style of Ray Charles works.
In this time of slavery many black wives and husbands were seperated from each other, black women were raped and both men and women subject to physical abuse and gruelling manual labour.
Nat King Coles peace speech played a major part in putting an end to racial separation.
Reviewing Performance of ‘Prometheus’
Last night we performed Prometheus at a Year 12 Showcase at BOA. The piece went according to plan and each part was played fluently. The solos on trombone and flute were well chosen and I believe the notes stuck to the key we were playing in.
After our performance we talked to our music teacher and thought that adding a gospel choir in halfway through would really lift the piece. We are going to look into developing this. Adding a bassist was also talked about as this would add another element to the song making it more interesting and would include lower tones.
However, I think we performed our piece confidently and with assurance and am very pleased with the piece so far.
Prometheus – Music Stimulus & Preparation for Showcase
Prometheus is finally finished, we are just working on last minute details such as certain words for lyrics and when instrumental solos start and finish.
We are also practicing the vocal harmonies so they are perfect for tomorrow night which is the showcase.
I am trying to practice the piano more and I felt it wasn’t as smooth and as fluent as I would like it to be at this point.
Looking at our piece, I think we have taken the core elements (that I have listed in previous posts) and turned them into a song that works. I especially love the range in our song, there is variety in the vocalists and the instruments which include a trombone and a flute.
If I were to change anything, I think our organisation of the time we had could have been changed for the better. We talked a lot about ideas and it took us a while to narrow down the folk tale we wanted to base our story on, therefore a longer time to create a piece of music and practice it.
I will try and take this into account for our next unit, and while I wont rush into an idea, I wont mull over the same ones for too long.
Prometheus – Harmonies & Musical Ideas
02.09.13
In today’s lesson we looked at the chords we had decided on last week. I thought these chords needed to be inverted as the sound didn’t seem to flow. I changed most of the chords into inverted forms and also changed the playing pattern. The new way of playing the chords make it sound more dramatic and as though something tragic has happened.
We discussed and decided that the new playing pattern didn’t fit the first part of our structure. We decided it sounded more like it should be at the end as the end is about the sadness of Prometheus being mounted to a rock.
I thought we could start our song acapella with harmonies. I thought that this would be a good idea as it would sound like the pleas of the people coming together. We decided to gradually have the different harmonies coming together so it would sound as if people were joining in. My group thought this sounded like the people praying.
The melody we chose is sad and mournful, I thought that this was appropriate as the people have just lost there beloved king Saturn and along with that, fire.
We want to create lyrics in our next workshop and create parts for musical instruments. We are unsure whether the end of our song and the start will combine together so may focus more on the harmonies and following those through and see if we can develop a middle to our song.
We may use juxtaposition and keep the ending to show the switch of moods.
Music Stimulus – Folk Tales II Choosing a Story
26.09.13
For out first unit we have been set the stimulus of Folk Tales as a basis for creating a piece of music. This piece should be inspired by a Folk story of our choosing, we must be able to explain why we made certain musical choices and what they reflect in the story.
We gathered into different groups and began to research stories. Each member of my group had different ideas of what they wanted to do. I liked the Native American Cherokee stories, there was one in particular, ‘The Good & Bad Wolf (a.k.a Grandfather Tells)’. I also found another story called ‘The Mexican Fishing Story.’
I thought these two stories had good morals and elements that could be transferred into lyrics however what my group and I agreed on was that these stories lacked was structure. We all thought that having a good structure would be a good way to adapt a story into a song.
Other stories we thought about were, Red Riding Hood, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast and the Twelve Ducks. We looked into each of these but eventually decided we wanted a more unusual story that had a strong topic.
We were particularly drawn to Greek myths and eventually chose Prometheus. This is a story about a man who steals fire from the Gods for his people so they can feel the benefits of fire.
Upon reading the story again I really find myself applying this to modern day situations. Prometheus (who is also called Forethought) always dreamed of the future and how he could make it better. He knew fire would extremely benefit the people of Greece, but their King, Jupiter, was too selfish to give them it for the fear of one day being over ruled. Prometheus stole it and taught the people many useful skills such as how to cook, farm, melt iron and much more. But he was tied to the Caucasus Mountains as punishment where eagles fed off him for years.
I actually like the ending of the story as he doesn’t lose his faith because of his resilience to keep thinking of the future he believes he will be freed and eventually is by Hercules.
Breaking it down the story has four main parts.
1. The hopefulness of Prometheus and his plea to Jupiter for fire
2. The refusal which led Prometheus to steal the fire
3. The happiness it brings the people
4. The punishment of Prometheus and his never-ending hope of being free
Me and my group will need to discuss these ideas in our next lesson and how we will adapt them musically.
Music BTEC Log 