Anoushka Flashcards
Who is her father?
Ravi Shankar
What genres she explored?
Indian, Flamenco, Jazz, Electrona and Western classsical
Who collaborated on the album?
Anoushka Shankar
Karsh Kale
Salim Merchant
Norah jones
What fusion is there?
Indian Classical
Bollywood
Western
(Burn) How is Burn the most lavishly scored?
Sitar and strings heard then other instruments
(Burn) What’s heard in verse 1?
piano and very high Ethereal Synth bad
(Burn) What helps launch the first chorus?
Fat Lead Synth
(Burn) What adds a touch of ‘Eastern’ colour?
sarangi
(Burn) What Western orchestral instruments can be heard?
strings harp brass flute concluding cello solo
(Burn) What’s the primary melodic interest in the intro?
slow-moving string tune with some octave doubling for additional interest
(Burn) How does the Sitar countermelody contrast the main melody?
different timbre and lower pitch
less continuous
more diverse/vigorous rhythm
(Burn) What’s the main texture?
homophonic
(Burn) Name 3 dynamic features
opening sitar over low strings
magical quiet moments
crescendos into new section
(Burn) What is the structure and what marks it out?
verse-chorus
changes of sonority
(Burn) Name the key
Csharp minor
(Burn) What’s present most of the time?
Csharp
(Burn) Is the music diatonic?
Yes
almost always
(Burn) When’s the modulation?
Coda
interrupted cadence goes to an ambiguous tonality
(Burn) Why is the final chord unclear?
D with no third
(Burn) Are triads used?
Yes
What unusual chords are used?
slash
sus
add
Are harmonic used?
yes
(Burn) describe the vocals
small and narrow range
conjunct
motif made up of rising 2nd and falling 3rd
(Burn) Why do the vocals fit well with the harmony?
hypnotic narrowness and repetitiveness accords well with static harmony
(Burn) describe the string melodies
slow-moving
same notes as vocal melody
freer in use of small leaps and has some doubling at the upper octave
(Burn) what occurs more frequently as the song continuous
higher pitches
describe the sitar parts
elaborate with much ornamentation
phrases are often short and well separated by rests
Are microtonal intervals heard?
yes
in glissandi between notes
(Burn) Describe the tempo
80 cpm
4/4
both maintained throughout but rhythmic activity varies
(Burn) How do rhythms vary?
initially long notes which define the metre
(Burn) Describe the sitar rhythms
freer and more rhythmically diverse
various triplet groupings
syncopated rhythms
mixture of long and short notes
(Burn) What suggests a raga in the intro?
free improvisatory nature
(Burn) Where is there much syncopation?
vocal part, sarangi and lead synth
(Burn) What happens in the last part of the intro?
percussion and synth bass interject more movement with a clear and insistent ‘beat’
(Breathing) describe the sonority
sitar solo with strings
wordless vocal phrases
(Breathing) What Western instruments are there?
Woodwind
Horns
Flute
Chromatic cello solo
(Breathing) Describe the texture of section one
Mel-dom-hom
slow moving string chords accompanying the sitar melody
(Breathing) How is the sound expanded?
More complex texture
traces of melody in strings
wordless vocal countermelodies
What are the overall dynamics?
mostly quiet
few markings
(Breathing) What’s the structure?
gradually unfolding
unified by various important ideas
(Breathing) What’s the key of the opening and end?
Db major
(Breathing) Describe the tonality of the middle 8
Lydian A
tertiary modulation
(Breathing) Are the vocal melodies varied?
Yes
(Breathing) Describe the string parts
chordal
long succession of minims cover a perfect 12th
(Breathing) Describe the sitar part
continuous
repetition
variation
improvisatory
(Breathing) What suggests blues notes?
Fbs and Cbs compare to the lowered third and seventh scale-degree in blues music
(Breathing) What’s the tempo?
120 cpm
rit in vocal phrases
(Breathing) Describe the metre
4/4
single 2/4 bar
(Breathing) What rhythms does the sitar use?
diverse
syncopation
triplets
quintuplets
(Breathing) How does the sitar compliment the strings?
strings lack syncopation and chords often last one or two bars
(Easy) How is the sonority the most western?
prominent role for electric guitar and piano
(Easy) What’s the centre of attention?
Singer
Sitar if singer silent
(Easy) Where is there interplay?
Between voice and sitar
(Easy) What’s the structure?
AABA
(Easy) Describe the vocal melodies
vocal range wider in the verses
intervals of a fourth and octave
(Easy) describe the sitar melodies
elaborate with much ornamentation
(Easy) What’s the tempo?
84 cpm
(Easy) What’s the metre?
4/4 with a five quaver pick up bar
(Easy) What’s the most striking rhythmic feature?
syncopated guitar rhythm
(Easy) describe the sitar rhytgms
more rhythmically ornate than the other songs
(Burn) Give an example of a slash chord
Gsharp(add4)/Fsharp
(burn) give an example of an add chord
Csharpminor(add9)
(breathing) What chords are in the intro?
VI and V
(Breathing) Give an example of a slash chord
B/A
(breathing) What’s suprising about the link?
Am chord (key is A major)
(Easy) What’s the chord sequence?
Db(sus4), Gb(sus2)/Bb, Cb(sus2)
(Easy) What chord does it end on?
Db(sus4) unresolved
Alankara
ornaments
Andolan
Vibrato
Meend
Slides
Kan
Grace notes
Gamak
trills/mordents
Tar saphak
upper range of sitar
Mordra Saphak
Lower range of sitar
Pandiatonicism
diatonic scale without limitations of functional harmony
Comparisons
Within you, Without you - George Harrison Sea Dreamer 'Sunset' - Nitin Sawhrey Butterfly - Talvin Singh Talamanam sound clash - Tabla beat science Rad Desh Love You To - Beatles J'ai Ho I want to tell you Within you, without you
Within you, without you context
1960s
George Harrison spent time with Ravi Shankar and wrote this version of one of his songs
Within you without you instrumentation
Indian = Sitar, tambura, dilruba, swarmandal, tabla, tambura, drone, ornamented sitar Western = acoustic guitar, strings
within you, without you tempo/metre/rhythm
improvised feel no real sense of pulse tala-like rhythm tala changes metre ever changing rhythms
Within you, without you melody
Indian = improvised sounding instrumental
extended and decorated melody
minor decoration
antiphonal responses in sitar
Western = word painting, countermelody, octaves
withing you, without you structure
alap intro
continuous drone joins parts
Western = ABA (ternary)
Within you, without you sonority/texture
Indian = drone, decoration, slides Western = glissando, counter-melody, contrapuntal, dialogue, pizz strings
Within you, without you tonality/harmony
Done of Db and Ab
modal tonality closely linked to mixolydan mode based on major 3rd intervals
Sea Dreamer
Sting verse-chorus mel-dom-hom steady tempo maintained by drums simple and repetitive melody sitar and bansuri improvised feel syncopation
Rag Desh
Sitar solo accompanied by Tabla and Tambura drone
rag = Rag Khamaj
Alap - Gat ( fast, clear pulse)- Jhalla (fast end section)
Rhythms = Jhaptal (10 beats), Tintal (16 beats) and Tal in tabla
Improvised
Rag = scale
alap = strumming, plucking and note bending on sitar
Anoushka context
born 1981
daughter of Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar
First solo debut at the age of 13
Half sister Nora Jones = american singer
Breathing under water context
2007
colab with Karsh Kale (pioneer in Asian underground music)
What Rag is used in Easy?
Rag Khamaj
