AL on Music Theory Print

Al jeel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

JSTOR, Rai Tide Rising, Middle East Report, No. 169, Crossing the Line, (Mar. – Apr., 1991), pp. 39–42
Afropop Worldwide, https://web.archive.org/web/20080516040645/http://www.afropop.org/explore/style_info/ID/3/Al%20Jeel/
Afropop Worldwide, https://web.archive.org/web/20020113110538/http://afropop.org/explore/style_info/ID/6/shaabi/
MySpace, Fathy Salama, http://www.myspace.com/fathysalama
Fathy Salama, http://fathysalama.free.fr/gb/gb-biographie.htm
Salome, http://www.orientaldancer.net/guest-stories/guide-arab-music.shtml

Alaskan hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Alaska as a whole has seen a steady increase in population across its metropolitan areas since the late 1970s. Despite the predominantly white ethnic background; communities of African-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics have seen a notable rise as they emigrate from the continental United States in search of stable employment.

First wave#

In parallel with Alaska’s cultural renaissance, crime began to grow in numerous pockets of Anchorage in the 1990s and 2000s. As was similarly the key influence in such genres as gangsta rap and hardcore hip-hop, artists such as ‘Out Tha Cut (ODC)’, ‘Baydilla’ or ‘Joker the Bailbondsman’ with ties to known drug traffickers began to see a flourishing first wave scene of underground hip-hop among Anchorage’s black population in the late 1990s. The growth in the scene was ever present as Anchorage’s crime began to increase with the growth in population. By the late 2000s, Anchorage’s rap scene began to decline as federal attention began to shift towards numerous arrests in connection to crimes ranging from drug trafficking and murders.

Albanian iso-polyphony

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Geographic distribution#

The Albanian polyphonic traditional music is performed in two dialects of Albanian: Tosk and Lab. The Tosk musical dialect comprises the Albanian ethnographic regions of Toskëria, Myzeqeja, and Chamëria, while the Lab musical dialect comprises Labëria.

Origin#

Albanian Iso-Polyphony is considered to have its roots in the many-voiced vajtim, the southern Albanian traditional lamentation of the dead. Many scholars who have studied the Albanian iso-polyphony and in general the polyphonic music of the Balkans consider it an old tradition that dates back to the Thraco-Illyrian era. There is a lack of historical documentation of the Albanian polyphonic traditional music. However, since it is considered the product of oral transmission down many generations, scholars came to their conclusions by analyzing this musical tradition that continues to be performed in modern days. There are found many specific features of the Albanian polyphonic tradition that indicate its ancient origin: the pentatonic modal/tonal structure, which is widely thought by scholars to represent an early beginning to the musical culture of a people; the presence of recitative vocals, because when the melody of the vocals is not developed, the tradition is thought to be in a more primitive phase; the presence of calls and shouts, which indicates a primitive phase of development in the musical culture of a people; the a cappella singing style, which suggests an old age of a musical tradition since it lacks of instrumental accompaniment. Although the region was under the dominion of the Byzantine Empire for many centuries, the Balkan polyphonic traditional music had a different development than medieval Byzantine music. The Balkan tradition was non-institutionalized and has been continually collectively formed, while the Byzantine music was created by individual composers and was institutionalized. The Balkan tradition has been transmitted orally down the generations, and its performers were common people musically illiterate, while the Byzantine music was widely documented, and has been performed by professionals who were trained and educated. The two musical traditions lived side by side for centuries, therefore they would have had a mutual influence on each other. However, it is thought that the interaction between the Albanian polyphonic traditional music and the Byzantine music has been relatively small.

Album-oriented rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Freeform and progressive#

The album-oriented rock radio format started with programming concepts in the 1960s. The freeform and progressive formats developed the tone for AOR playlists for much of its heyday. In July 1964, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a non-duplication rule prohibiting FM radio stations from running a simulcast of the programming from their AM counterparts. AM/FM affiliate station owners fought these new regulations, delaying enactment until January 1, 1967. The freeform format in commercial radio was created to program the FM airwaves inexpensively. Programmers like Tom Donahue at KMPX in San Francisco developed stations where DJs had the freedom to play long sets of music, often covering a variety of genres. Not limited to hits or singles, DJs often played obscure or longer tracks by newer or more adventurous artists rather than those heard on Top 40 stations of the day. This new format caused albums, instead of singles, to be rock’s main artistic vehicle in the 1960s and 1970s. With a few exceptions, commercial freeform had a relatively brief life. With more listeners acquiring FM radios, it became more important for stations to attract larger market share to sell more advertising. By 1970, many of the stations were instituting programming rules with a “clock” and system of “rotation”. With this shift, stations’ formats in the early 1970s were now billed as progressive. However, DJs still had input over the music they played. The selection was deep and eclectic, with a range of genres.

Aleatoric music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early precedents#

Compositions that could be considered a precedent for aleatory composition date back to at least the late 15th century, with the genre of the catholicon, exemplified by the Missa cuiusvis toni of Johannes Ockeghem. A later genre was the Musikalisches Würfelspiel or musical dice game, popular in the late 18th and early 19th century. (Such dice games are attributed to Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.) These games consisted of a sequence of musical measures, for which each measure had several possible versions and a procedure for selecting the precise sequence based on the throwing of a number of dice. The French artist Marcel Duchamp composed two pieces between 1913 and 1915 based on chance operations. One of these, Erratum Musical, written with Duchamp’s sisters Yvonne and Magdeleine for three voices, was first performed at the Manifestation of Dada on 27 March 1920, and was eventually published in 1934. Two of his contemporaries, Francis Picabia and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, also experimented with chance composition, these works being performed at a Festival Dada staged at the Salle Gaveau concert hall, Paris, on 26 May 1920. American composer John Cage’s Music of Changes (1951) was “the first composition to be largely determined by random procedures”, though his indeterminacy is of a different order from Meyer-Eppler’s concept. Cage later asked Duchamp: “How is it that you used chance operations when I was just being born?”

Algorave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Algoraves can include a range of styles, including a complex form of minimal techno, and the movement has been described as a meeting point of hacker philosophy, geek culture, and clubbing. Although live coding is commonplace, any algorithmic music is welcome which is “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive conditionals”, which is a corruption of the definition of rave music (“wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”) in the UK’s Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Although algorave musicians have been compared with DJs, they are in fact live musicians or improvisers, creating music live, usually by writing or modifying code, rather than mixing recorded music. At an algorave the computer musician may not be the main point of focus for the audience and instead attention may be centered on a screen that displays live coding, that is the process of writing source code, so the audience can not just dance or listen to the music generated by the source code but also to see the process of programming.

Alpine folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bibliography#

Marcello Sorce Keller, Tradizione orale e tradizione corale: ricerca musicologica in Trentino, Bologna, Forni Editore, 1991.
Marcello Sorce Keller, “Gebiete, Schichten und Klanglandschaften in den Alpen. Zum Gebrauch einiger historischer Begriffe aus der Musikethnologie”, in T. Nussbaumer (ed.), Volksmusik in den Alpen: Interkulturelle Horizonte und Crossovers, Zalzburg, Verlag Mueller-Speiser, 2006.
Marcello Sorce Keller, “Costantino Nigra und die Balladen-Forschung. Betrachtungen über die Beziehung zwischen Nord-Italien, Frankreich und der Suisse Romande”. Bulletin. Gesellschaft für die Volksmusik in der Schweiz, X(2011), 33-40.

External links#

Volksmusiknet, all about Swiss Volksmusik with 24/7 Nonstop Music-Radio and CD Novelties

Alpini songs

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

www.corocaiuget.it/ One of Italy’s historical choirs
http://www.alpini.torino.it/ An Alpini choir
http://www.corosat.it The most famous choir of the Society of Alpini of Trento
Some lyrics

Alté

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Alté fuses a wide array of musical influences from afrobeats, rap, R&B, soul, dancehall, and others. The term was coined by DRB LasGidi members and was first heard on Boj’s 2014 song “Paper”; it was later used to describe left-field styles of music. TeeZee explained about the term saying “Alté is Nigerian lingo for ‘alternative’ which means freedom of expression essentially through any medium. It has been going on since the 1960s as Nigerians always experimented with music. It became recognized as a style or genre from about 2012 upwards and it broke into the mainstream in 2016 with the rise of its new stars.” Its fashion culture has been inspired by the early 2000s, and its music videos have been inspired by 1990s Nollywood horror drama.

Alternative country

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definitions and characteristics#

In the 1990s, the term alternative country, paralleling alternative rock, began to be used to describe a diverse group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. Lyrics may be bleak or socially aware, but also more heartfelt and less likely to use the clichés sometimes used by mainstream country musicians. In other respects, the musical styles of artists that fall within this genre often have little in common, ranging from traditional American folk music and bluegrass, through rockabilly and honky-tonk, to music that is indistinguishable from mainstream rock or country. This already broad labeling has been further confused by alternative country artists disavowing the movement, mainstream artists declaring they are part of it, and retroactive claims that past or veteran musicians are alternative country. No Depression, the best-known magazine dedicated to the genre, declared that it covered “alternative-country music (whatever that is)”.

Alternative dance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

AllMusic states that alternative dance mixes the “melodic song structure of alternative and indie rock with electronic beats, synths and/or samples, and club orientation of post-disco dance music”. The genre draws heavily on club culture for inspiration while incorporating other styles of music such as electropop, house, and EBM. The performers of alternative dance are closely identified with their music through a signature style, texture, or fusion of specific musical elements. They are usually signed to small record labels.

Alternative hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

During the commercial rise of hip hop in the 1980s and early 1990s, the popularity of hardcore hip-hop and gangsta rap led to themes of gangsterism, consumerism, and club culture becoming defining stereotypes of mainstream hip hop, with more negative stereotypes being related to homophobia, violence and sexism. Alternative hip-hop emerged largely to subvert, satirize or challenge these conventions, utilizing unconventional musical techniques, production, and sampling not commonly found in mainstream hip-hop at the time, while aligning itself with underground youth subcultures such as skaters, nerds, punks, and goths. though early artists associated with the movement such as A Tribe Called Quest would also perpetuate some of these traditional stereotypes, with their song “Georgie Porgie”, being rejected for being “too homophobic”. While some groups achieved commercial success, most alternative rap acts tended to be embraced largely by alternative rock listeners and indie music fans rather than hip-hop or pop audiences. By the 2000s to 2010s, the stereotypes popularized by West Coast gangsta rap in the 1990s had become dominant in mainstream hip hop, prompting discussions about the genre’s portrayal of violence, drugs and sexism as well as the commercial prioritization of these themes, which some critics argued perpetuated negative representations of African-American culture. However, artists emerging through the internet rap movement continued to carry the legacy of alternative hip-hop, through experimental production techniques and satirical lyrics.

Alternative metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

One of the main characteristics of alternative metal and its subgenres are heavily downtuned, mid-paced “chug”-like guitar riffs. However, funk metal bands often use a more conventional riffing style influenced by 1980s thrash metal. Alternative metal features clean and melodic vocals, Examples include alternative metal bands associated with the nu metal movement, such as Korn and Deftones, who have been described as having “bipolar vocals”. Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1990 “Just as rock has an alternative, left wing-bands like the Replacements and Dinosaur Jr.-so does metal. Alternative metal is alternative music that rocks. And alternative metal these days can reach 10 times the audience of other alternative rock. Jane’s Addiction plays an intense brand of ’70s-influenced arty metal; so does Soundgarden. In fact, the arty meanderings of Sabbath and Zeppelin themselves would be considered alternative metal.” Houston Press has described the genre as being a “compromise for people for whom Nirvana was not heavy enough but Metallica was too heavy.” The first wave of alternative metal bands emerged from many backgrounds, including hardcore punk (Bad Brains, Rollins Band, Life of Agony, Corrosion of Conformity), noise rock (Helmet, the Jesus Lizard, Today Is the Day), Seattle’s grunge scene (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), stoner rock (Clutch, Kyuss), sludge metal (Fudge Tunnel, Melvins), gothic metal (Type O Negative), groove metal (Pantera, White Zombie) and industrial (Godflesh, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry). These bands never formed a distinct movement or scene; rather they were bound by their incorporation of traditional metal influences and openness to experimentation. while Primus were influenced by progressive rock, and funk and Faith No More mixed progressive rock, R&B, funk and hip hop. Fudge Tunnel’s style of alternative metal included influences from both sludge metal and noise rock.

Alternative pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alternative R&B

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

“Alternative R&B” was once used by the music industry during the late 1990s to market neo soul artists, such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell. There has been a variety of discussion about the differing genre terms, with several critics describing the music under the broad category of “alternative R&B” or “indie R&B”. The term “hipster R&B” has been commonly used, as has the term “PBR&B”—a combination of “PBR” (the abbreviation for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer most recently associated with the hipster subculture) Three years later, amazed and distressed at how far the term—meant as a joke—had traveled, Harvey wrote an extensive essay about it for Pitchfork. Slate suggests the name “R-Neg-B”, as a reference to “negging”. The genre has sometimes been called “noir&B”. However, the terms are often criticized for “pigeonholing” artists into hipster subculture and being used in a derisive manner.

Alternative reggaeton

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The precursor is arguably one of the founding fathers of reggaeton: Vico C, whose albums relied heavily on hip-hop acoustics, keyboards, and reggae roots. Xplosión (1993), Aquel Que Había Muerto (1998) and Desahogo (2005) are good examples.

Rise of a new sound#

The starting point of alternative reggaeton per se is considered by many to be the album El Abayarde, the 2002 debut of Tego Calderón. The blend of Puerto Rican folk music, known as bomba y plena, two Afro-Puerto Rican genres and steady beats of hip hop and classical reggaeton served as a base for the new variant. The album became a major success, launching the underground status of Calderón to the pinnacle of the Spanish-speaking MC’s.

Alternative rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Record companies usually sign contracts with those entertainers who are thought to become the most popular and generate the most sales. In the past, these bands were able to record their songs in expensive studios, and their works were then offered for sale through record store chains that were owned by the entertainment corporations, along with eventually selling the merchandise into big box retailers. Record companies worked with radio and television companies to get the most exposure for their artists. The people making the decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term alternative to describe the groups he was writing about. In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled “Rock and Roll Alternative”. “College rock” was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture. According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called “Alternative Charts”. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status. The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s; at the time, a music industry term for cutting-edge music was new music. In 1987, Spin magazine categorized college rock band Camper Van Beethoven as “alternative/indie”, saying that their 1985 song “Where the Hell Is Bill” (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory) “called out the alternative/independent scene and dryly tore it apart.” David Lowery, then frontman of Camper Van Beethoven, later recalled: “I remember first seeing that word applied to us… The nearest I could figure is that we seemed like a punk band, but we were playing pop music, so they made up this word alternative for those of us who do that.” DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of the 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, “Somehow this term ‘alternative’ got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music.” At first the term referred to intentionally non-mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by “heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave” and “high-energy dance anthems”. Usage of the term would broaden to include new wave, pop, punk rock, post-punk, and occasionally “college”/“indie” rock, all found on the American “commercial alternative” radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. Journalist Jim Gerr wrote that alternative also encompassed variants such as “rap, trash, metal and industrial”. That summer, Farrell had coined the term Alternative Nation. In December 1991, Spin magazine noted: “this year, for the first time, it became resoundingly clear that what has formerly been considered alternative rock—a college-centered marketing group with fairly lucrative, if limited, potential—has in fact moved into the mainstream.” In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as the mainstream rock, with record companies using the term “alternative” to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach. Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock. Additionally, Rhys Wiliams of Loudersound observed, “musical genres collided more in the 90s than in any other decade, making ‘alternative’ rock ever harder to define.” Until the early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms “indie rock” and “alternative rock” were often used interchangeably; while there are aspects which both genres have in common, “indie rock” was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American “alternative rock”.

AL on Music Theory Print

Al jeel

External links#

Alaskan hip-hop

Background#

First wave#

Albanian iso-polyphony

Geographic distribution#

Origin#

Album-oriented rock

Freeform and progressive#

Aleatoric music

Early precedents#

Algorave

Description#

Alpine folk music

See also#

Bibliography#

See also#

External links#

Alpini songs

See also#

External links#

Alté

Characteristics#

Alternative country

Definitions and characteristics#

Alternative dance

Characteristics#

Alternative hip-hop

Characteristics#

Alternative metal

Characteristics#

Alternative pop

Alternative R&B

Etymology#

Alternative reggaeton

History#

Rise of a new sound#

Alternative rock

Etymology#