Sound and Timbre - Types of A Cappella

What is A Cappella?

A Cappella is a group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment.

1. Religious A Cappella
It was formed because instruments were forbidden in worship in both Judeo-Christian an the Islamic tradition, so they could only use their voices to chant. It then became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of the album "Chant" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos.

2. Barbershop A Cappella 

This form of A Cappella is characterised by its taunt, consonant four-part harmonies and ringing overtones.
The roles of the four parts are:

·         The lead sings the melody.

·         The tenor harmonizes above the melody.

·         The bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes.

·         The baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead.

Some famous quartets are:

·The Buffalo Bills

·The Singing Senators

·The Dapper Dans

3. Pop music A Cappella

It began when Bands like the Persuasions and Manhattan Transfer brought A Cappella elements closer to the center of pop music. 

An example of this form of A Cappella is Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday", which became an enormous hit in 1991 and remained on the Billboard charts for 133 weeks

4. Collegiate A Cappella
This form of A Cappella is  also known as ensembles. They are student-run and directed singing groups. Such groups could be found at many colleges and universities in the United States and are increasing worldwide. 

      
Some famous groups are:

·RPI Glee Club – perhaps the world’s earliest group

·The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University – perhaps the longest-continuously singing group

Sound and Timbre - Types of Ensembles

What is an ensemble?
A group of musicians who perform together.

Solo - a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer. Performing a solo is "to solo", and the performer is known as a soloist.

Duet -  a piece of music that is performed by two singers or musicians.

Trio - a piece of music that is performed by three singers or musicians.

Quartet - a piece of music that is performed by four singers or musicians.

String Quartet - a musical group that includes two violins, a viola and a cello.

Quintet - a piece of music that is performed by five singers or musicians.

A cappella - a group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment.

Accompaniment - providing background music for a performance. 

Unaccompanied - performing without supporting harmonies.

Choir (Chorus) - a group of six (6) or more musicians performing choral music (vocal music), usually accompanied by a piano.

Brass band - a group of musicians playing brass instruments and sometimes also percussion.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA DEFENSE FORCE BAND

Steel Band/Orchestra - are groups of musicians who play steelpan instruments including the Single Tenor, Double Tenor, Double Second, Cello, Guitar, Quadrophonic and Bass together as an orchestral ensemble, often with expansive percussion and rhythm section.

Symphony Orchestra - A symphony (or philharmonic) orchestra is an orchestra of 70 - 100 players, who are divided into strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. 

Chamber Orchestra - a small orchestra of about fifty (50) musicians or less.

String Orchestra - A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first and second violin players, the viola, the cello, and the double bass.

Concert band - a group of musicians that sits down to play brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.

Marching band - is a group in which instrumental musicians perform for entertainment, and prepare for a competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, and colour guards.

Sound and Timbre - Other Families of Instruments

KEYBOARD FAMILY

Keyboard instruments have a keyboard, like a piano, that you play and which then produces the given note for you.

This family includes:

• Piano
• Harpsichord
• Organ
• Electric organ
• Electric keyboard
• Clavichord

ELECTRONIC FAMILY

An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker. this family including synthesizers, midi controllers, drum machines, instrument effects and sampler.

ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER

DRUM MACHINE

FM SYNTHESIZER

GUITAR EFFECTS

SAMPLER

ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR

Sound and Timbre - The Orchestra

ORCHESTRA

What is an orchestra?

An orchestra is a large group of musicians (usually about 70 performers) that is led by a conductor.

What is a symphony orchestra?
A symphony (or philharmonic) orchestra is an orchestra of 70 - 100 players, who are divided into strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

Who is a conductor?

A conductor is the leader of an orchestra or band. He or she helps all the musicians not only stay together and play on the same beat, but the conductor also leads the musicians to play with the same musical expression (dynamics and tempo). The conductor stands in front of the orchestra and directs then using a stick about the size of a pencil called a baton. The score is the music the conductor reads off and it has all the parts for all the instruments listed on it.

CONDUCTOR

BATON

SCORE

FAMILIES OF THE  SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

There are four (4) families of the orchestra. They are string, woodwind, brass and percussion.

Play "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". Take detailed notes about each instrument and family as you play through the game.

STRINGS

Most of the instruments in the string section look alike. The main difference between them is their size, as they are all played in very much the same way; their strings can be plucked (this is called “pizzicato”) or made to “sound” with a bow. The string section is the largest section of the orchestra. In the string section there are 5 groups of players 1^st violin, 2^nd violin, violas, cellos and double basses – as well as the harp.

WOODWIND

Wood and wind are what makes this family of instruments special. Long ago, all the instruments in this family were made of wood, but now some are made of wood or metal or a combination of materials. All of the instruments in the woodwind section are played with “wind” (the musician blows air into them). For the most part they look like sticks, though some are longer than others, but they have very different shapes. The different shape and materials of each instrument help create its unique sound. The woodwind tone carries well and can be easily heard when there are lots of other instruments playing. This section is located in the center of the orchestra. There are usually about 10-15 instruments in this section. Woodwind instruments include: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone.

BRASS

Brass instruments are usually made of metal, often brass. They can play the loudest of all the instruments in the orchestra and is placed at the back of the orchestra. Brass instruments are basically very long tubes with flared ends called “bells”. The brass tubes have been curved and shaped to make them easier to hold. A brass instrument is played by putting your lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece and buzzing. This buzzing makes air vibrate down the long metal tubes and creates sound. Many brass instruments have valves that look like buttons. When you press the valves, they open and close parts of the tubes. You change the sound by pressing different valves and buzzing harder or softer. Examples of brass instruments include: trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba.

PERCUSSION

This section has the greatest variety of instruments. Instruments in this family are banged, tapped, or shaken. All percussion instruments do not usually play at the same time, so very often a percussionist may play many different instruments during a concert. Examples include: snare drums, bass drums, cymbals, tambourine, timpani, steel pans, xylophone, glockenspiel, gong, tam-tam, tubular bells, triangle and celesta. There are two (2) groups of percussion instruments: untuned and tuned percussion.

Tuned Percussion - Steelpan

Listen to the families of the orchestra: Classics for Kids
Play the Orchestra Game: Listening Adventures

LAYOUT OF THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Sound and Timbre - Sound Sources

SOUND SOURCES

Music may be produced through three (3) Main Musical Sound Sources:

1. The Human Body and Voice
2. Traditional and Non-Traditional Instruments
3. Electronically Generated 

1. Human Body and Voice

A. Voice:

Ways of using the voice: singing, humming, whistling, mouth pooping, speaking, chanting, tongue clicking, rhythmic breathing, grunting, beat-boxing, rapping, etc

4 Main Categories of Human Voice

Women                Soprano

                            Alto

Men                     Tenor

                            Bass

Shortened to SATB.

B. Body Percussion:  the art of utilizing the human body to create sounds and rhythms.

Body percussion techniques: clapping, thigh-slapping (patsch), finger-clicking, top tapping, chest thumping, stomping, high fives, stepping, hand 'warming', etc.

2. Traditional and Non-Traditional Instruments:
A. Traditional instruments: may be classified in a number of ways. We will focus on orchestral families

Orchestral families

• Stings
• Woodwinds
• Brass
• Percussion

Two (2) other families are the Keyboards and Electronic.

B. Non-Traditional  instruments: home made instruments, folk instruments etc.

Examples of non-traditional instruments include:
pot and spoon, desk top, water xylophone, grater, bagpipe, banjo, cuatro, djembe, fiddle, guitar, lute, pan flute, sitar, steelpan, etc.

3. Electronically Generated Sounds/Instruments

Produced by synthesizers, samplers, keyboards, drum-machines, computers - MIDI, electronic guitar, electronic drum, drum machine, etc.

Recorder - How To Play The Recorder

Recorder - How To Hold The Recorder

Recorder - How To Care For Your Recorder

1. Label your recorder and the case with a permanent marker. That way, if you leave it somewhere, it can be returned to you.

2. After playing, wipe the moisture from the inside of the recorder with a small piece of cotton cloth tied onto a cleaning rod. Do NOT use tissue or paper towel because these will fall to piece inside your recorder and would be very difficult to remove.

3. Clean the mouthpiece of your recorder with an old toothbrush or pipe cleaner. It is important to keep the mouthpiece clean.

4. Plastic recorders can be washed in the dishwasher or in warm, soapy water once in a while.

5. If your recorder is hard to take apart or put back together, you may use a little joint grease  or petroleum jelly on the joints.

6. Keep your recorder in its case when you are not playing it.

Sound and Timbre - Elements of Music

ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

• Timbre - the unique quality of a musical sound in a voice or instrument.

• Rhythm - the organization of music in time using long and short sounds and silences.

• Expressive Techniques:
• Tempo - the speed of the beat or the "rate of speed"

  

• Dynamics - the loudness or softness of a musical sound

• Articulation - how each note is attacked, sustained and released.

• Stylistic Indications - advise on how to play the music

• Melody - A melody is a series of pitches sounding one after the other, i.e., the tune of a song.

• Harmony - two or more pitches sounding at the same time

• Texture - the layers of music

• Form - a musical plan

Strophic form

Binary form

Ternary form

Round form