Performing Arts Listening to Music Sam Acosta
Listening to Music 1 Jenny Tallentire
Listening To Music 3 Ross Tucker
Responses to Music 1
Track #1 - Scars By James Bay
What Are Your First Impressions?
We thought that the song was quite emotional even though it sounds different from the mellow song category it belongs to due to it's beat. We thought it's beat was nice, slow and steady and it had potential. We also agreed that its gradual tempo increases and decreases has made it sound melodic and pleasing to the ear. We couldn't decide on its originality as I said that song was quite original as I have not heard that style of music that much but I listens to songs with a similar beat due to the songs I listen to such as R&B. Another person said that it wasn't quite original and also; that it didn't sound manufactured but performed acoustically.
Do You Like The Piece Of Music? Why?
We all said that we quite like the piece because although it sounded quite mainstream, it would be the kind of music that we would be listening to. One person said that he like the piece due to it's tempo that gradually increases as the song goes on. We also liked the monotone and repetitional beat of the song as the vocalist can easily twist how the song goes and manipulate it with his voice. Finally, we also liked how the solemn beat at the beginning slowly increases and gets louder into a crescendo then effectively goes back to the guitar. We found this pleasing to the ear
What Emotion Does This Music Convey? Why?
We all agreed that the song conveyed the emotion of sadness and inspiration. This is because of its solemn beat and depressing lyrics at the start
You're setting off,
It's time to go, the engine's running
My mind is lost,
We always knew this day was coming
And now it's more frightening than it's ever gonna be
It gradually sounds quite inspirational as the tempo and dynamics slowly increases into a smooth, clean melody. One person said that this piece of music conveyed anger towards them. They said that it's because of the way the tempo and dynamics increased and what the lyrics was about changed was in a kind of upset way. They also said that the lyrics came from the actual lyrics, how the singer sang the song and the melody of the song.
What Music Do You Normally Listen To? How Is This Different?
We all said that it falls into the category of each our music choices. R&B as R&B usually have slow calming beats and Rock, where songs usually start slow then gradually increases into loud and violent styles. However it wasn't our first choice of music style.
What Do You Like The Most About This Piece Of Music?
We all liked the bassline, the gradually increasing tempo and the melody and lyrics of the song. It all fits in perfectly with the song and also the way the singer sang it. It was a delightful piece.
What Do You Dislike Most About This Piece Of Music?
We didn't particularly had anything that we didn't like about the piece except the fact that is sounded too mainstream and too repetitive
Analysis - Include Tonality, tempo, instrumentation, lyrical content and production techniques.
What Are Your First Impressions?
We all thought that the song was emotional. This is because of the tempo. We all liked how the tempo gradually increases then decreases as it made it sound pleasing to the ear. It also sound sweet and mellow as it sounds like it was performed acoustically. Finally, we like the lyrical content. The lyrics of the song matched its genre. It is about someone who left him (from a relationship?). It's also on a G key so it sounded euphonious. Overall, it was pleasing to the ear because of it's changing tempo and it's cheesy lyrics that matched its genre.
Do You Like The Piece Of Music? Why?
We all agreed that we like the song and it would be the type of song that we'd listen to. This is because of its tempo increasing gradually. It sound nice as it's almost like a build up to a drop. We also liked the monotone and repetitional beat as the vocalist can easily manipulate the song's rhythm with his voice. It's almost like one of the 4 chords 10 songs kind of thing as they just manipulate the beat with another song's beat.
What Emotion Does This Music Convey? Why?
This song made us feel distressed but inspired at the same time. This is because of its solemn beat and the depressing lyrics at the start. We all thought the lyrical content was inspiring and depressing because of the words he used and how he sang it. Also, as the tempo and dynamics start quite slow, making the song sound mellow. It then increases and becomes fast-paced halfway through the song. It then repeats this pattern. One person said that it conveyed anger towards them as the tempo and the volume increased in an upset way as the change was gradual at first then halfway through the song, it starts going slow again then it gets a sudden change and gets fast paced right away when the chorus comes.
What Music Do You Normally Listen To? How Is This Different?
We all said the song falls in the category of songs that we listen to as we listen to songs that starts with a slow beat then gradually increases as the song progresses. Like R&B. R&B is usually slow paced all throughout the song but some songs increase in tempo. Also, like rock. Rock songs usually starts fairly slow then its tempo increases as the song progresses on.
What Do You Like The Most About This Piece Of Music?
We all said that we liked the bassline as it was catchy. We like the gradually increasing tempo and dynamics of the song and the lyrics of the song as I have mentioned above. We liked the increasing tempo and dynamics as it sounds pleasing to the ear.
What Do You Dislike Most About This Piece Of Music?
We didn't particularly dislike anything about the song apart from the fact that it sounded too mainstream. This is because we have heard quite a few songs similar to this one. Also, because it sounded too repetitive. Its beat and most of his lyrics were repeated. It still sounded quite good as it gave a nice effect to the song but it was still quite repetitive.
Song - Scars by James Bay
Notes: G, C, Em, C, Gm, D
Tonality : G Major
Tempo : Slow but gradually increases
Instrumentation: Acoustic Guitar and Electric guitar,percussion instruments: maracas, drums
Lyrical Content : About someone (from a relationship) who left him
Production techniques : Acoustic.
Track #2 - Make up By R-City
What Are Your First Impressions?
I thought it sounded quite good. It had a steady reggae beat and
rhythm. I didn't expect the chorus to go that loud. The tempo suddenly
increased and the dynamics got louder and louder. When the female singer
started singing, these all happened and she sang it in quite a high pitch and
also louder. When the male singer was singing it, it was quiet , and the tempo
was at mediocre speed, it wasn't fast, it wasn't slow. But when the chorus
came, the tempo slightly increased but the dynamics suddenly increased.
I like this piece of music as I like listening to songs with slow beats but of which eventually increases. The tempo is quite similar to the first track. It is quite mainstream as most modern songs have the same type of tempo, gradually increasing as today, genres like dubstep, house and party songs are dominating the music industry. Only its tonality and the beat is different to the first track as this song had a reggae beat and the other one was just like most songs of today.
What Emotion Does This Music Convey? Why?
It conveyed energetic emotions and happiness as the song was quite upbeat and its dynamics were quite loud. It had a reggae beat which changed up from time to time. It wasn't repetitive so it gave me something different to look forward to.
What Music Do You Normally Listen To? How Is This Different?
I listen to R and B often so it's quite similar but different. It
obviously had a different beat as r and b songs usually has calming beats
whereas this song was upbeat and had a reggae beat. It's also different as it
was upbeat and again, r&b songs are usually quite calm and relaxing. Their beats
are also repetitive whereas this song's beat was unpredictable.
What Do You Like The Most About This Piece Of Music?
I liked this song's reggae beats as it contrasts other Reggae artists such as Bob Marley as this song was quite upbeat and non-repetitive. Bob Marley's songs like Three Little Birds and No Woman, No Cry were quite slow, relaxing, similar to r&b.
What Do You Dislike Most About This Piece Of Music?
There's nothing in particular that I dislike about this piece of music apart from that it's beat is quite repetitive.
Listening to Music Track #2 - Sam Acosta
Sam, your explanation is very good. However, you need to state which song it was that you listened to on both occasions.
ReplyDeletePiece 1: You have clearly assessed in detail and accurately your own responses to the song, and you have compared, with good detail, your initial reaction, emotions, musical background and preferences. You have also explained how the tempo, instrumentation, lyrics, tempo and production techniques have an impact on why each difference occurs. To gain a merit, you need to:
1. Find examples of the lyrics as evidence for your comments.
Piece 2: You need to follow the same structure - you need to write this up in the document and embed via Scribd. You also need to get everyone elses responses before your analysis.