Under Ice Flashcards
Kate Bush
What is the song about
Psychological state, weather, reality vs illusion.
Skating alone and seeing your doppelgänger
Structure
Through composed
What is strange about the strings used
They are synth strings (artificial)
How long did this piece take to record and compose
1 day
What is the effect of the Fairlight CMI in this piece
Produces a claustrophobic effect
The opening in terms of harmony (accompaniment)
Tonic pedal on A
What is the first chord heard
Asus2
What key is this piece
A modal minor
Why is the Asus2 chord strange in the beginning
It appears from nothing
Describe the tempo in the opening
Starts at 65 bpm, then keeps accelerating throughout the piece until she says “The river has frozen over”
Why does the tempo accelerate
To create urgency and momentum before the quaver ostinato
What are the synth strings doing
- playing consecutive perfect 5ths
- move in 3rds
- Playing octaves (tonic pedal)
The quaver ostinato played against the octaves in bar 3, produce…(rhythm) throughout the piece because…
Cross rhythms
RHYTHMIC DISPLACEMENT
3 quaver ostinato wider listening
Dream of Sheep
When do the strings stop playing
IN the final 4 bars
Which instrument is playing in the final 4 bars when the synth strings drop out
Synth pad with an “overtone singing effect synth”
Instrumentation
Synth strings
Synth pad
Singer
Back up singers
Baseline plays..which is similar to…(genre of music)
Octaves
Film music
The baseline descends in 3rds. Give the notes
A
F
D
The chords are either
Added / extensions
Slash
ALL IN ROOT POSITION
Which bar does the new section start
15
Describe the vocal melody in terms of notes
Repeats the same 2 pitches
In b.22 something is added. What is it? And what is the texture
Lower male voice
Homorhythm
What occurs when she sings “Ah” in bar 23
Dissonance, clash
Give an example of word painting in this piece. And say the performance technique used
“Moving” -> she uses tremolo
Time signatures in the piece
2 bars of 4
5 bars of 3
3 bars of 4
Which chord is not used in the piece
Dominant chord
The chord sequence is composed of
Asus2
Fmaj7(#4)
Dm9
Am/C
Why are these chords used
To blur out the tonality of the piece
Tends to revolve around chords…from Am
(Roman numerals)
I, vi, IV
The vocal melody is…
Syllabic
Composed of the PENTATONIC SCALE
Give one example of when the vocal melody is composed from the pentantonic scale
“The river has frozen”
The male voice sings in harmony of intervals…
2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths
The backup singers sing …with the lead
Dialogue
Conventional chords and harmony are…
Subverted
This song is part of a
CONCEPT ALBUM
What is the range of the singer
Small
What is the effect of having a small range
Detached feel
The back up singers…
Are multitracked
What is the AO4 point for the fact that this piece does not change key
Isolation and desperation
There is an…
Improvised nature to the piece
What ornament is used/gives the impression of being heard
Appoggiaturas
The Fairlight CMI has been used for 2 samples which are
Ice cracking
Solar ping
“It’s me” performance technique
Portamento
What effect has been used on “It’s me” and give AO4
Filter sweep -> Mongolian singing feel
Towards the end of the piece, what rhythms are heard
Brief triplets
Fermata
Rif
When are the triplets heard towards the end
Every time she says “Me”, (except in the last long one)
When is the fermata heard
In the very last bar of the song
