DAY 3
*** This assignment will be due AFTER WE COME BACK FROM BREAK !!******
Assignment :
- Same idea as last week - Below you will see a template that you can choose to use, or not ! If you want to do your own thing, make sure to model it after the template so you finished product looks pretty much the same
There are 2 activities you will complete as you go along !
There are 2 activities you will complete as you go along !
| week_3_assignment.pdf |
Activity #1 : Research
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This activity will deal with finding songs that have a specific number of instruments. For example, you will have to find 2 examples of songs that have only 1 instrument. For each song you find, tell me what the instrumentation is.
Example
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Find examples that adhere to the following:
1. 2 Songs with just 1 instrument (1a, 1b) 2. 2 Songs with 2 Instruments (2a, 2b) 3. 2 songs with 3 instruments 4. 2 songs with 4 instruments 5. 2 songs with 5 instruments. 6. 2 songs with more than 15 instruments . |
INSTRUMENTATION QUESTION #1:
HOW MANY INSTRUMENTS ARE THERE ?
- Lock this question in !!!
- This is something you should be asking yourself constantly while listening to music for class and just on your own ! It is a great exercise to try to separate the sounds / tones in your head .
Remember :There are NOT VERY MANY songs (Especially popular songs) that only have 1 instrument ! What we really like to hear is a combination of different instruments and sounds that come together and compliment each other ( hint: that is the definition of instrumentation!)
Are there JUST A FEW instruments , or MANY ?
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Listen to this example ------>>>>>>>>>
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Here's another Example of the same Instrumentation ----->>>>>
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These are relatively easy instrumentations to wrap your hear around because:
1. there are only 2 instruments
2. The instrument's (guitar/vocals) tone/sounds are particularly different
IF YOU REFER BACK TO OUR 2 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS CONCERNING INSTRUMENTATION FROM LAST CLASS , THESE ARE VERY SIMILAR
1. HOW MANY INSTRUMENTS ARE PRESENT
2. WHAT TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS ARE THEY
^^^^ THIS IS WHAT WE ARE ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT IN REGARDS TO INSTRUMENTATION. HOW MANY & WHAT ARE THEY ! ^^^^
SO....
Variables that make this exercise more difficult :
1. Increase the Number of Instruments
2. Vary the types of instruments we hear
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Dian Krall - Fly me to the Moon
1. Piano 2. Voice ( female ) 3. Upright Bass 4. Drums 5. Guitar |
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The Roots - Jimmy Fallon Theme-------->>>>>
From Left to Right: 1. Electric Bass 2. Electric Keyboard 3. Tube 4. Saxophone (can't see instrument) 5. Vocals / Singer 6. Trumpet (can't see instrument). 7. More Electric Keyboards 8. Electric Guitar 9. Auxiliary Percussion 10. Drum Set |
We can use a room full of people as an analogy here :
Take this kids lunch room for example . Full of chattering and screaming and eating kids.... Lots of echo in the gym.... Utter Chaos
Take this kids lunch room for example . Full of chattering and screaming and eating kids.... Lots of echo in the gym.... Utter Chaos
Imagine if you walked into this lunch room and I said: " Ok, Now Close your eyes and tell me how many people are talking in the room "
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Wouldn't this be a difficult task ? Why ? Because there are dozens of little voices happening at one time ... it's impossible to sift through them all !
Now imagine I say : "Now tell me what one of the conversations is talking about "
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Difficult again right ? because there are so many different noises happening , they all have an effect of baffling and masking each other
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Wouldn't this be a difficult task ? Why ? Because there are dozens of little voices happening at one time ... it's impossible to sift through them all !
Now imagine I say : "Now tell me what one of the conversations is talking about "
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Difficult again right ? because there are so many different noises happening , they all have an effect of baffling and masking each other
Now imagine the same situation here :
****You are dropped in the room*****
"How many people are talking int he room " ?
"What are the people saying " ?
****You are dropped in the room*****
"How many people are talking int he room " ?
"What are the people saying " ?
Much more manageable to answer in this situation , as there are only 5 people in the room ! Even if they are all talking, you can probably sift through them and count , or at least say ' more than 3 ' etc.
Now finally here - the easiest of all - we could instantly answer there is 1 person talking and tell you exactly what they are saying - because there is no other noise pollution or to distract us from the 1 speaker
Now Let's bring our analogy full circle. Compare the situations we just talked about with a room full of conversation to the pictures of performances below. Imagine again you are magiacally dropped in the room where each of these are taking place
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The picture on the LEFT is more comparable to the last room situation - where there is just 1 conversation happening, and everyone is listening in to just that (granted there are 2 instruments in this picture....)
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Now contrast that with the picture on the RIGHT.
This is much more akin to the first room situation , where there are multiple conversations happening in the room . Here we have 16 instruments !!! all playing over top of eachother at the same time - imagine having to pinpoint just one of those !
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So - Let's start thinking of instrumentation of sort of sliding scale or spectrum of Thin ----->> Thick
Thin/Sparse/ ---------------VS--------------Thick/Dense/
Simple Complex
Thin/Sparse/ ---------------VS--------------Thick/Dense/
Simple Complex
Look at some of the instrumentations below , Thin/Sparse falling on the left, and Thick/Dense on the Right
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Listening ...
- Take a Listen to the following examples which will go from Thick to Thin in instrumentation
- As you are listening, think of the analogy about walking into a room and trying to pick out the different conversations - but in this case the conversations are what each individual instrument is playing.
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1
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2
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3
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4
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?
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Many !!
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Group Activity
For the Following Songs, make some observations about the instrumentation, and rank them on our Thick / Thin Scale from Thinnest to Thickest Instrumentation
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Song 1
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Song 2
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Song 3
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Song 4
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Activity #2 : Listening Exercise
Pick 10 songs you enjoy listening to ( by different artists !) and analyze the instrumentation .
Analyze the instrumentation = answer our 2 big instrumentation questions
1. How Many instruments are there
2. What are the instruments
After doing this , can you make any observations? Are there any combinations of instruments, or instruments that pop up more commonly than others (if so, which ones and why) ? Do more of your songs stick to one side of the dense --- sparse scale ? OR maybe its all over the place ? Do you think that instrumentation has any kind of effect on your tastes in music ?
Analyze the instrumentation = answer our 2 big instrumentation questions
1. How Many instruments are there
2. What are the instruments
After doing this , can you make any observations? Are there any combinations of instruments, or instruments that pop up more commonly than others (if so, which ones and why) ? Do more of your songs stick to one side of the dense --- sparse scale ? OR maybe its all over the place ? Do you think that instrumentation has any kind of effect on your tastes in music ?