afro celt

Question 1

fusion

Answer 1

Afro Celt Sound System is a fusion of African, Celtic and electronic dance music.

Question 2

African instruments:

Answer 2

kora, talking drum

Question 3

Celtic instruments:

Answer 3

hurdy-gurdy, uilleann pipes, bodhrán, fiddle, whistle, accordion

Question 4

Western (dance) instruments

Answer 4

male vox, female vox, synthesisers (including string pad, soft pad, bells, string bass), breath samples, drum machine, electric piano, shaker and tambourine.

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

• Intro
• verse 1
• verse 2
• solos
• verse 3
• build
• outro

Question 6

Rhythm

Answer 6

• Slightly swung semiquavers - relaxed feel
• Syncopation
• Fiddle uses Triplets, sextuplets.
• Rhythmic ostinato
• Loops, riffs, short rhythmic phrases, 2- and 4-bar phrases

Question 7

Tempo

Answer 7

• Free time at the start
• Steady tempo established at 50-100 bpm.

Question 8

Metre

Answer 8

Simple quadruple metre

Question 9

Texture

Answer 9

• Use of layering - multiple layers of music together - loops
• Main texture is homophonic.
• Heterophonic texture (during build) – one musical line has more elaborate texture than other musical line
• Polyphonic texture during verse 3

Question 10

Tonality

Answer 10

• Chords - Key of C minor
• Melody – Modal – Aeolian

Question 11

0.0–1.38 Intro - Rhythm

Answer 11

bodhran – dotted rhythm, syncopation, Rhythmic ostinato

Question 12

0.0–1.38 Intro - Texture

Answer 12

Layering of parts increase the texture as more loops of talking drum, synth strings drone, vocal samples (spoken) are added.

Question 13

0.0–1.38 Intro - Instruments added:

Answer 13

bodhran – backbone of piece (1), shaker (2) and drum machine (3)
Female vocalisation enters later using heavy reverb and panned centrally, with synth (4) and drum loops (5 and 6).

Question 14

0.0–1.38 Intro - Melody

Answer 14

The intro starts with a drone. It uses two different synth tones, hard-panned L and R. Both synths are being filtered with low pass filters

Question 15

1.38–2.55 Verse 1 - Harmony

Answer 15

• The accompaniment is simple synth chords
• low synth strings that play an ascending chromatic line

Question 16

1.38–2.55 Verse 1 - Texture

Answer 16

• homophonic texture.
• Layering of parts increase the texture as more loops are added – builds dynamics and tension.

Question 17

1.38–2.55 Verse 1 - Melody

Answer 17

• Main female vocal (Fig. 2) comes in singing with a limited range of a 6th
• The tambourine replaces the shaker.
• Kora (9) enters at the end of the verse along with low synth strings that play an ascending chromatic line (10).
• At the end we have a short instrumental before the breath sample and the bass loop enter. A short flute effect (showing obvious delay FX (echoes)on breath sample at the end of verse 1

Question 18

2.55–3.51 Verse 2 - Rhythm

Answer 18

fiddle - double stopping, accents and triplets and sextuples

Question 19

2.55–3.51 Verse 2 - Harmony

Answer 19

Towards the end the low chromatic synth strings enter

Question 20

2.55–3.51 Verse 2 - Texture

Answer 20

homophonic texture

Question 21

2.55–3.51 Verse 2 - Melody

Answer 21

• Male vocals (Fig. 3) take over singing a variation of verse 1. A more complicated drum pattern (14) appears.
• A fiddle enters playing an accompaniment using double stopping, accents and triplets and sextuples.
• Towards the end the low chromatic synth strings enter. A short drum and bass link leads to the solos

Question 22

3.51–4.55 Solos - Rhythm

Answer 22

Uilleann pipe - plays mainly running semiquavers with occasional glissando (slide).
low whistle solo – demisemiquavers (mostly semiquavers), triplets & sextuples
hurdy gurdy solo - plays mainly semiquavers with some demisemiquavers and a few quavers.

Question 23

3.51–4.55 Solos - Harmony

Answer 23

Uilleann pipe solo is accompanied by the accordion loop (playing accented chords)
low whistle solo is accompanied by the low synth strings along with the accordion.

Question 24

3.51–4.55 Solos - Texture

Answer 24

homophonic texture
Uilleann pipe solos are accompanied by the accordion loop (playing accented chords) (17) and bodhrán (18)

Question 25

3.51–4.55 Solos - Melody

Answer 25

Uilleann pipe starts the solo section (Fig. 5), joined by the whistle (an octave higher) playing mainly running semiquavers with the occasional glissando (slide). The solo continues with the low whistle (Fig. 6) playing a more complicated version of the pipe solo. It is more varied in rhythm and an increase in rhythmic variety (including the use of demisemiquavers, triplets & sextuples). Towards the end the male vocals (19) (short phrases) are joined by the hurdy-gurdy solo (20) and bass (12).

Question 26

4.55–5.51 Verse 3 - Harmony

Answer 26

new synth sample plays static extended chords (one chord per bar).

Question 27

4.55–5.51 Verse 3 - Texture

Answer 27

polyphonic texture - The hurdy-gurdy and uilleann pipe solo playing underneath the main vocals. Followed by a homophonic section of male vocal accompanied by the fiddle and ascending chromatic low synth strings.

Question 28

4.55–5.51 Verse 3 - Melody

Answer 28

female verse takes over with the hurdy-gurdy and uilleann pipe solo playing underneath the main vocals – creating a polyphonic texture. There is the addition of a new synth sample, which plays static extended chords (one chord per bar). The male vocal takes over accompanied by the fiddle (double stopping, accents and triplets and sextuples) with the ascending chromatic low synth strings.

Question 29

5.51–6.59 Build - Texture

Answer 29

heterophonic texture

Question 30

5.51–6.59 Build - Melody

Answer 30

The bass re-enters with a more complicated drum part (24). Layered on top is an electric piano playing a syncopated two note melody (F and G) over a chordal/arpeggio semiquaver accompaniment (25). Underneath there is a second electric piano playing an oscillating pattern of two notes (E[flat] and F) (26). The two electric piano loops drop out as a new hurdy-gurdy loop enters (27). Female vocal samples interject as a new uilleann pipe solo loop (28) creates a heterophonic texture with the hurdy-gurdy. Again they are layered with the low chromatic synth strings.

Question 31

6.59–7.28 Outro

Answer 31

Female voice sings ‘Reach out and you’ll touch me’ (Fig. 2). The bass loop drops out and the second fiddle loop re-enters. At the end the two electric piano loops enter as all the other loops drop out. The music fades out.

Question 32

Celtic (features)

Answer 32

* Regular beat * Instrumental solo * Modal * Ornaments * Repetitive melodies

Question 33

EDM (features)

Answer 33

* Layering * FX – panning, reverb * Loops * Follows edm structure * samples * pedal notes * static harmony

Question 34

African (features)

Answer 34

* Ostinato * Syncopations * Layered texture. * Polyrhythms * cross rhythms