Capetcaille: Skye Waulking Song Flashcards
What does the word waulking mean?
It’s the process if pounding tweed cloth against a wooden board in order to soften it. As women worked they would sing waulking songs. They were usually call and response.
What is Celtic fusion?
Celtic means folk music that comes from Wales, Ireland or Scotland. Celtic fusion refers to Celtic folk music which had been combined with elements of pop music.
What album did this song come from?
Nàdurra
When was this song released?
2000
Describe the texture of this song
a layered texture is created by a rhythmic pattern on drum kit, a bass line played by bass guitar, chords in the synth and accordion, the main melody sung by voice, countermelodies on the other melody instruments. In the score : N.C means no chords this is where the accompaniment drops out. The words ‘with modulation’ means that modulation is applied to the synth girds which makes the pitch fluctuate slightly. The chord that opens the song is a cluster chord-a chord whose notes are all next to each other.
Describe the most unusual instruments in this piece.
The Wurlitzer piano (a type if early electric piano), the uilleann pipes (like the bagpipes but with a sorry tone). The bouzouki ( a type of lute that comes from Greece)
Describe the use of harmony in this song
The songs in g major and it’s diatonic. The three main chords used are G, Em and C. The dominant chord D is avoided so the music has no modal feel
Describe the how the vocal line alternated in this piece
The vocal line alternated between four different phrases (1 bar) In a call-response pattern: phrase 1: call ( Gaelic starts on high D), refrain 1: response (vocables, starts on mid B), Phrase 2: call: (Gaelic low D), refrain 2: response (vocables high E)
Describe the overall structure of this piece
- Introduction: an instrumental section, after which the voice enters with the first line if text, 2. Verse 1: voice and accompaniment, 3. Verse 2: voice and accompaniment-includes instrumental break 4. Coda: short vocal phrases echo the end of refrain 1 and the accompaniment fades out
Describe the use of vocal melody in this song
The vocal melody is pentatonic, uses a low register of the voice- the soloists score is notated in the vocal tenor clef, so the music sounds an octave lower than printed, it’s mainly syllabic, alternates between 1 bar phrases in Gaelic and phrases that use vocables in the response.
Describe the instrumental melody of this song
Instrumentalists play short motifs and countermelodies that are mostly based in the vocal phrases. The main instrumental break eg is based on refrain 2.
Describe the use of rhythm and metre in this song
The song’s notated in 12/8 (compound quadruple metre). There’s frequent syncopation in the vocal line and instrumental countermelodies. At the start of the song the hi-hat pattern creates cross rhythms. When the full band enters, the hi-hat rhythm changes and it emphasises more on the 12/8.
What is Gaelic?
A language spoken in some parts if Scotland
What are vocables?
Nonsense syllables
