Afro Celt Flashcards
Melody
Mostly syllabic and conjunct
Repetitive vocal melody
Some spoken parts, including vocal samples
Some use of vocables
Melody lines mostly consist of short phrases
Descending vocal phrases
Improvisation, particularly at the start
The Uilleann pipe, whistle and hurdy-gurdy have solos
Female part has a smaller range (6th) than the male vocal part (13th)
Vocals use glissando and ornamentation
Fiddle melody uses double-stopping
Harmony
Minor key
Repeating chord sequences
Drone (C)
Harmony is mostly diatonic
Some chromatic notes (synth strings)
Some extended chords (7ths and 9ths)
Slow harmonic rhythm, common of dance music
Static harmony
Texture
Mainly homophonic
Loops create many layers
Loops are constantly dropping in and out, making the texture constantly changing
Texture and loops build up at the start of the song
Overlapping loops give a polyphonic feel
Outro is heterophonic
Start of the piece is monophonic
Structure
Verse form - no choruses
There are 3 verses and several solos
Metre + tempo
4/4 common of dance music
Start of the piece is in free time
Steady tempo set when the bodhran comes in
Tempo is 100bpm
Tonality
Main tonality is C minor
Has a modal feel at times
Based around an Aeolian mode in C
Rhythm
Many looped riffs/ostinatos
Syncopation throughout
Repeating loops are mostly 2 and 4 bars long
Triplets and sextuplets are used
Semiquavers are slightly swung
Some notes are accented to make them louder than others
Instruments
African instruments - kora, talking drum
Irish instruments - hurdy-gurdy, uilleann pipes, bodhran, fiddle, whistle, accordion
EDM instruments - vocals, synths, samples, drum machine, electric piano, shaker and tambourine
Made up of loops - common EDM technique
Playing techniques include glissando, ornamentation and double-stopping
Reverb effect on vocals
Synth drone filter gives a sweeping effect
