IN on Music Theory Print

In Nomine

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

History#

This “most conspicuous single form in the early development of English consort music” originated in the early 16th century from a six-voice mass composed before 1530 by John Taverner on the plainchant Gloria Tibi Trinitas. In the Benedictus section of this mass, the Latin phrase “in nomine Domini” was sung in a reduced, four-part counterpoint, with the plainchant melody in the meane part. At an early point, this attractive passage became popular as a short instrumental piece, though there is no evidence that Taverner himself was responsible for any of these arrangements. Over the next 150 years, English composers worked this melody into “In Nomine” pieces of ever greater stylistic range. In Nomines are typically consort pieces for four or five instruments, especially consorts of viols. One instrument plays the theme through as a cantus firmus with each note lasting one or even two measures; usually this is the second part from the top. The other parts play more complex lines, often in imitative counterpoint. Usually they take up several new motifs in turn, using each one as a point of imitation. However, there are In Nomines composed for solo or duo keyboard instruments and even one for the lute: a fantasy titled Farewell by John Dowland. Examples of the genre include compositions by Christopher Tye (the most prolific composer of In Nomines, with 24 surviving settings), Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Tomkins, William Lawes, and Henry Purcell, among many others. They can vary in mood from melancholy to serene, exultant, or even playful or hectic (as in Tye’s In Nomine “Crye”, in which the viols seem to imitate the call of a street hawker). Composition of In Nomines lapsed in the eighteenth century but was revived in the twentieth century, an early notable example being Richard Strauss’s opera Die schweigsame Frau, which quotes a keyboard In nomine by John Bull. Later examples are found in works by Peter Maxwell Davies and Roger Smalley. Starting in 1999, the Freiburg new-music organization ensemble recherche began commissioning an ongoing series of short In Nomine compositions for the festival Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. The series is dedicated to , director of the festival since 1989, and is collectively titled the Witten In Nomine Broken Consort Book. Some of the notable composers who have contributed pieces to this series to date include Brian Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa, György Kurtág, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Gérard Pesson, Robert H.P. Platz, Rolf Riehm, Wolfgang Rihm, Salvatore Sciarrino, Hans Zender, and Walter Zimmermann. In 1995, for the 300th anniversary of the death of Purcell, Gavin Bryars composed In Nomine (after Purcell) for the viol consort Fretwork. Graham Waterhouse composed In Nomine for cello solo in 2013.

Incelcore

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

Etymology and characteristics#

According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, writer Dan Collen stated that incelcore draws from “internet culture, symbolism and terminology”. The genre draws musical influences from punk, electronic and alternative rock. Collen adds that not all artists and fans identify with the incel movement; however, they evoke the same themes of self-hate, hopelessness and misogyny. Collen further stated that incelcore was a musical and online subculture influenced by the “imagery, attitudes and irony” of internet image boards and that references to mass shooters were a common subject. Merchandise of Varg Vikernes’ project Burzum is noted as “not uncommon among incelcore fans”.

Incidental music

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

History#

The phrase “incidental music” is from the German Inzidenzmusik, which is defined in the Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre as “music that is specifically written for a play but does not form an integral part of the work”. The use of incidental music dates back to ancient Greek drama and possibly before the Greeks. A number of classical composers have written incidental music for various plays, with the more famous examples including Henry Purcell’s Abdelazer music, George Frideric Handel’s The Alchemist music, Joseph Haydn’s Il distratto music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Thamos, King of Egypt music, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Egmont music, Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream music, Robert Schumann’s Manfred music, Georges Bizet’s L’Arlésienne music, and Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt music. Parts of all of these are often performed in concerts outside the context of the play. Vocal incidental music, which is included in the classical scores mentioned above, should not be confused with the score of a Broadway or film musical, in which the songs often reveal character and further the storyline. Since the score of a Broadway or film musical is what actually makes the work a musical, it is far more essential to the work than mere incidental music, which nearly always amounts to little more than a background score; indeed, many plays have no incidental music whatsoever. Some early examples of what were later called incidental music are also described as semi-operas, quasi-operas, masques, vaudevilles and melodramas. The genre of incidental music does not extend to pieces designed for concert performance, such as overtures named after a play, for example, Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture (written for Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s tragedy), or Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture. Incidental music is also found in religious ceremony, often when officiants are walking from place to place. (This is distinguished from hymns, where the music is the focus of worship.) Incidental music is also used extensively in comedy shows for a similar purpose: providing mild entertainment during a dull transition. Comedy incidental musicians include Paul Schaffer, Max Weinberg, and Jon Batiste. Modern composers of incidental music include Pierre Boulez, Lorenzo Ferrero, Irmin Schmidt, Ilona Sekacz, John White, and Iannis Xenakis.

Indeterminacy (music)

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

Definition#

Describing indeterminacy, composer John Cage said: “My intention is to let things be themselves.” Cage initially defined indeterminacy as “the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways”. Bryan Simms thus conflates indeterminacy with what Cage called chance composition when he claims that “Any part of a musical work is indeterminate if it is chosen by chance, or if its performance is not precisely specified. The former case is called ‘indeterminacy of composition’; the latter is called ‘indeterminacy of performance’.”

Indian classical music

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

History#

The root of music in ancient India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism. The earliest Indian thought combined three arts, syllabic recital (vadya), melos (gita) and dance (nrtta). As these fields developed, sangeeta became a distinct genre of art, in a form equivalent to contemporary music. This likely occurred before the time of Yāska (), since he includes these terms in his nirukta studies, one of the six Vedanga of ancient Indian tradition. Some of the ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Samaveda () are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of Rigveda set to music.

Indian film music

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

Origins#

In the earliest years of Indian cinema, film music was primarily influenced by Indian classical traditions, including Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music, as well as regional folk music. Over time, Western musical elements such as orchestration, harmony, and instrumentation became increasingly incorporated into film music, especially from the mid-20th century onward. Despite these changes, film soundtracks remain diverse, often blending multiple musical styles or returning to classical roots.

Indian folk music

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

Chawtal#

Chawtal or Chowtal, aside from being the name of a “taal”/“tala” or meter in Hindustani classical music, is a form of folklore song of North India’s Bhojpuri region, sung by its native people during the Phagwa or Holi festival.

Tamang Selo#

Tamang Selo is a musical genre of the Tamang people and widely popular amongst the Nepali speaking community in India and around the world. It is usually accompanied by Tamang instruments, the Damphu, Madal and Tungna. although modern instruments have found their way into the compositions these days A Selo could be very catchy, attractive and lively or slow and melodious and is usually sung to express love, sorrow and stories of day-to-day life. Hira Devi Waiba is hailed as the pioneer of Nepali Folk songs and Tamang Selo. Her song ‘Chura ta Hoina Astura’ (चुरा त होइन अस्तुरा) is said to be the first Tamang Selo ever recorded. Waiba has sung nearly 300 songs in a career spanning 40 years. After Waiba’s death in 2011, her son Satya Aditya Waiba (producer) and Navneet Aditya Waiba (singer) collaborated and re-recorded her most iconic songs and released an album titled Ama Lai Shraddhanjali (आमालाई श्रद्धाञ्जली-Tribute to Mother).

Indian hip-hop

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

1980s to early 2000s: Early beginnings#

Indian hip hop emerged in the mid-1980s, driven by American breakdancing films such as Wild Style (1982) and Beat Street (1984), gaining popularity in urban youth culture in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. By the late 1980s, Kolkata became a centre for hip hop dance workshops, while Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai prioritised rap, leading to emergence of distinct regional hip hop scenes in local languages by the late 1990s. Apache Indian, a UK artist of Indian origin, was the earliest to make an impact on the UK charts with a series of hits during the 90s. This also paralleled the rise of Asian Underground in the UK. The inflow of hip hop into India is also attributed to certain clubs and DJs in New Delhi in the 90s. Baba Sehgal introduced a caricaturist version of Hindi rap in the 1990s with his albums. In 1992, his album Thanda Thanda Pani sold 100,000 copies in three and a half months and brought rap music to the Indian club scene, his cadence and flow particularly drawing inspiration from rapper Vanilla Ice. Hip hop in India developed slowly in the early 2000s, as earlier efforts by artists such as Baba Sehgal and Apache Indian failed to create substantial buzz, due to their styles being more rap–oriented than representative of the larger hip-hop scene. It was initially confined to urban areas with niche and expatriate audiences, but it gained prominence through MTV and the increasing worldwide impact of American rappers like Eminem, 50 Cent, and Jay-Z. The release and popularity of Bohemia’s second album Pesa Nasha Pyar in 2006, which also featured veteran American rapper Snoop Dogg, is considered as a turning point for Desi hip-hop, accompanying the growing role of NRIs and cultural intermediaries bringing fundamental hip hop elements like DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing into Indian masses. Around the same time, rapper Young Prozpekt (now KR$NA), started gaining traction with his conscious hip-hop songs, “Kaisa Mera Desh” and the “Lokpal Freestyle” on YouTube.

Indian pop

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

History#

Pop music originated in Pakistan with the playback singer Ahmed Rushdi’s song "" in 1966 and has since then been adopted in India, Bangladesh, and lately Sri Lanka, and Nepal as a pioneering influence in their respective pop cultures. Following Rushdi’s success, Christian bands specialising in jazz started performing at various night clubs and hotel lobbies in various Southeast Asian cities. They would usually sing either famous American jazz hits or cover Rushdi’s songs. Pop music began gaining popularity across the Indian subcontinent in the early 1980s, with Pakistani singers Nazia and Zoheb Hassan forming a sibling duo whose records, produced by Biddu, sold as many as 60 million copies. Biddu himself previously had success in the Western world, where he was one of the first successful disco producers in the early 1970s, with hits such as the hugely popular “Kung Fu Fighting” (1974). The term Indipop was first used by the British-Indian fusion band Monsoon in their 1981 EP release on Steve Coe’s Indipop Records. Charanjit Singh’s Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982) anticipated the sound of acid house music, years before the genre arose in the Chicago house scene of the late 1980s, using the Roland TR-808 drum machine, TB-303 bass synthesizer, and Jupiter-8 synthesizer. In the late 2000s, Indi-pop music faced increasing competition from film music. Major pop singers stopped releasing albums and started singing for movies. Recently, Indian pop has taken an interesting turn with the “remixing” of songs from past Indian movie songs, new beats being added to them. In 2022, Jaimin Rajani, an Indian singer-songwriter, fused the sitar’s Indian classical sound with Western rock sensibilities in “Something Here to Stay,” a track from his debut album Cutting Loose. I-pop is a new and emerging music genre in India, blending Indian sounds with global pop influences. It features a mix of Hindi and regional languages, with themes ranging from romance to social issues. Gaining popularity among youth, I-pop reflects a shift from traditional Bollywood music, driven by independent artists and digital platforms.

Indian rock

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

Early history#

India, in the 1950s and 1960s, had a record industry in the Gramophone Company of India (an EMI subsidiary), and LPs, EPs, and 45rpm records were freely available, including those of rock and roll acts from the US and Britain, but also of contemporary pioneering Indian rock bands. The president of the firm, Bhaskar Menon (who later became the President of Capitol Records in the United States) was the leading promoter of Western pop music in India. Later in 1970, Polydor, the German Label, began an India-based branch that distributed rock music locally. Of these mid-1960s to early 70s beat groups, as they were then termed, some of the most notable were the Mystiks from Bombay, the Beat-X from Madras, and The Cavaliers, Calcutta-16, and The Flintstones from Calcutta, who composed and played both early British Invasion influenced songs, and post-Sgt. Pepper hard rock. During this period from Delhi there were The Thunderbirds (featuring singer Ashwani Bali, Bass Guitarist Percy Singh), and WAFWOT (also with Ashwani on vocals, with organist Mark Spevak, from the U.S. and Bass Guitarist Percy Singh) These bands played regularly on the Indian university and college music circuits, and some had successful EP and LP releases. Also notable from this period (1964–1970) was the female R&B singer, Usha Iyer, now Usha Uthup, who had successful covers of “Jambalaya” and The Kingston Trio song, “Greenback Dollar”. A notable compilation LP titled “Simla Beat ‘70” was released during this period, from a contest of the same name. The winning bands recorded their versions of Western hard rock of the time. This tradition of covering Western rock would continue until the 1980s when it was more common to compose original songs. The rock n’ roll scene was also closely followed by Junior Statesman (or JS), a magazine started in 1965 contemporaneously with Rolling Stone magazine in the US and NME in the UK. Like Western rock bands at the time, Indian bands also began fusing rock with traditional Indian music from the mid-1960s onwards. A notable example of this is in the Cavaliers’ 1967 hit “Love is A Mango,” which incorporates sitar accompaniment alongside Beatlesque songwriting. However, filmi songs, those produced specifically for popular Bollywood films, often overshadowed the country’s budding rock scene, which otherwise contrasted from that within the film industry. Some of the more well known filmi songs (including styles such as funk rock, pop rock, psychedelic rock, raga rock, and soft rock) from Bollywood films include Mohammed Rafi’s “Jaan Pehechan Ho” in Gumnaam (1965), Kishore Kumar’s “O Saathi Re” in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), and Asha Bhosle songs such as “Dum Maro Dum” in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), “Ae Naujawan Hai Sab” in Apradh (1972), and “Yeh Mera Dil Pyar Ka Diwana” in Don (1978).

Indie classical

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

Terminology#

According to composer and co-founder of New Amsterdam Records, Judd Greenstein, the intention behind the term “indie classical” was a shorthand description of the kind of music they were making under a “do-it-yourself” institutional spirit. For New Amsterdam, indie classical was not intended to provide a context with which to comprehend its individual albums and compositions, but a term to brand the label’s identity and describe its innovations in the classical music market. The term’s usefulness is still debatable, and because it was promoted by publicists and accepted by journalists, “indie classical” could also be dismissed as outsider public relations jargon.

Indie folk

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

Characteristics#

The staff of Paste Magazine said in 2020: “No music genre is particularly easy to define, but “indie folk” is about as nebulous as they come.” Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The lyrical style commonly includes raw emotional experiences, social commentary and an introspective lens. The genre blends the ethos and experimental nature of indie music with the storytelling of folk music. Instruments frequently used in the genre include guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles.

Indie music

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

Characteristics#

Although “indie” was first used to describe music released on independent record labels, the term grew to describe a specific sound because of the creative freedom of its initial bands and artists. A defining characteristic of indie music is that artists retain much more creative control over their music as compared to major labels. Bands often have small budgets, and employ a do-it-yourself ethos which influences their sound. Indie music generally represents guitar-oriented music which strays away from commercial conventions. It often features lyrics that are earnest and emotive, with many cultural and sociopolitical references. Many artists signed to major labels have retained creative control and are still considered indie artists.

Indie pop

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

Characteristics#

Indie pop is defined by its DIY ethos, upbeat melodies, and an overarching sense of “authenticity.” It primarily takes influences from post-punk, jangle pop, and its counterpart, indie rock. While sharing overarching similarities, indie pop is more melodic, simplistic, and accessible, eschewing the more abrasive and conventional aspects of indie rock. Music journalist Nitsuh Abebe noted in Pitchfork that: Music critic Simon Reynolds says that indie pop defines itself against “charting pop”. Abebe explains: Indie pop was an unprecedented contrast from the gritty and serious tones of previous underground rock styles, as well as being a departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music. Distinguished from the angst and abrasiveness of its indie rock counterpart, the majority of indie pop borrows not only the stripped-down quality of punk, but also “the sweetness and catchiness of mainstream pop”.

Indie rock

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

Etymology and characteristics#

The terms “independent record label” or “independent music” were originally used in the 1930s to 1950s for American artists associated with jazz, rhythm and blues and early rock and roll, who were predominantly Black musicians initially sidelined by major labels, therefore relied on independent distribution to release their work. By the early 1980s, the earliest known use of the term “indie rock” was made in an article of Billboard magazine, titled “Despite Hard Times, Indie Rock Labels Survive” on 15 January 1983 by writer Roman Kozak, in which he used a short-hand for the term “independent rock”, to describe a growing trend of successful independent record labels in New York that primarily focused on the emerging alternative rock music scene. Indie rock originally described a style of alternative rock that was associated with small and relatively low-budget independent labels a do-it-yourself attitude. Drawing influences from punk, psychedelia and post-punk. Although record deals were later often struck with major corporate companies, “indie rock” became more closely associated with a specific style of rock music rather than its mode of distribution. AllMusic identifies indie rock as including a number of “varying musical approaches not compatible with mainstream tastes”. Linked by an ethos more than a musical approach, the indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge-influenced bands, through do-it-yourself experimental bands like Pavement, to punk-folk singers such as Ani DiFranco. In his book DIY Style: Fashion, Music and Global Digital Cultures, Brent Luvaas described the genre as rooted in nostalgia, citing the influence of garage rock and psychedelic rock of the 1960s in progenitors the Stone Roses and the Smiths, in addition to a lyrical preoccupation with literature. In this same vein, Matthew Bannister defined indie rock as “small groups of white men playing guitars, influenced by punks and 1960s white pop/rock, within a broader discourse and practice of (degrees of) independence from mainstream musical values.” Indie rock is noted for having a relatively high proportion of female artists compared with preceding rock genres, a tendency exemplified by the development of the feminist-informed riot grrrl music of acts like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, 7 Year Bitch, Team Dresch and Huggy Bear. However, Cortney Harding pointed out that this sense of equality is not reflected in the number of women running indie labels.

Indigenous metal music

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

Themes and lyrics#

The term “indigenous metal” is sometimes conflated with “tribal metal,” which is more broadly influenced by pan-indigenous stories and follows Viking metal bands’ approach to capturing their culture. Indigenous metal is often explicitly defined as exploring themes of “experienced dispossession, liberation, and death” in addition to preserving linguistic and cultural heritage. Native American metal bands in the Southwest United States sometimes refer to their musical style as “Rez metal,” as it concerns political issues that make it popular among youth on reservations. Many bands focus on linguistic preservation by singing either partially or exclusively in their indigenous languages. Notably, New Zealand band Alien Weaponry have performed several songs in the Māori language on international stages. Bands Aborigene and Araña, who write about Maya civilization and Pipil stories, are among the most popular metal acts from El Salvador.

Indigenous music of Australia

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

Didgeridoo#

A didgeridoo is a type of musical instrument that, according to western musicological classification, falls into the category of aerophone. It is one of the oldest instruments to date. It consists of a long tube, without finger holes, through which the player blows. It is sometimes fitted with a mouthpiece of beeswax. Didgeridoos are traditionally made of eucalyptus, but contemporary materials such as PVC piping are used. In traditional situations it is played only by men, usually as an accompaniment to ceremonial or recreational singing, or, much more rarely, as a solo instrument. Skilled players use the technique of circular breathing to achieve a continuous sound, and also employ techniques for inducing multiple harmonic resonances. Although traditionally the instrument was not widespread around the country - it was only used by Aboriginal groups in the most northerly areas - today it is commonly considered the national instrument of Aboriginal Australians and is world-renowned as a unique and iconic instrument. However, many Northern Aboriginal people continue to strenuously object to its frequent, inappropriate, use by both uninitiated Indigenous people of either gender, and by non-Indigenous Australians. Famous players include Djalu Gurruwiwi, Mark Atkins, William Barton, David Hudson, Joe Geia and Shane Underwood as well as white virtuoso Charlie McMahon.

Indigenous music of Canada

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

History#

Traditionally, Indigenous Canadians used the materials at hand to make their instruments for centuries before Europeans immigrated to Canada. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. Drums and rattles are percussion instruments traditionally used by First Nations people. These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Many traditional First Nations people consider song and dance to be sacred. For many years after Europeans came to Canada, First Nations people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies. includes music, the sound of speech, and noise. (Nattiez 1990:56) Today, a revival of pride in First Nations art and music is taking and beauty of traditional First Nations art, music and musical instruments. Drums are closely associated with First Nations people. Some people say, “Drumming is the heartbeat of Mother Earth.” First Nations made a great variety of drums. Healers sometimes use miniature drums. There are also tambourine-shaped hand drums, warrior drums, water drums, and very large ceremonial drums. Their size and shape depends on the First Nation’s particular culture and what the drummer wants to do with them. Many are beautifully decorated. In many First Nations cultures, the circle is important. Many First Nations objects, such as tipis and wigwams, are circular in shape. The Polaris Music Prize went to Tanya Tagaq for Animism in 2014 and to Jeremy Dutcher for Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa in 2018 and for Motewolonuwok in 2024. (The 2017 Polaris went to Lido Pimienta for La Papessa; Pimienta is of South American indigenous descent. The 2015 Polaris went to Buffy Sainte-Marie for Power in the Blood. Sainte-Marie claimed First Nations heritage at the time, though investigative reporting in 2023 would contest this claim.) The compilation album Native North America, Vol. 1, released by Light in the Attic Records in 2014, collects many rare and out-of-print songs by First Nations and Inuit musicians from the era in which the rock and country and folk genres were beginning to emerge as influences on Indigenous music.

Indigenous music of North America

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

Characteristics#

Singing and percussion are the most important aspects of traditional Native American music. Vocalization takes many forms, ranging from solo and choral song to responsorial, unison and multipart singing. Percussion, especially drums and rattles, are common accompaniment to keep the rhythm steady for the singers, who generally use their native language or non-lexical vocables (syllable sounds outside of language). Traditional music usually begins with slow and steady beats that grow gradually faster and more emphatic, while various flourishes like drum and rattle tremolos, shouts and accented patterns add variety and signal changes in performance for singers and dancers. Although each Native American group can be characterized by their own distinct genres and styles, certain aspects of style can be found with similarities among native groups who would have been neighboring tribes. These similarities are even further expanded upon when music and instruments are shared between each tribe, making it easy to find certain characteristics in frequent use. Melodies usually consist of a different scale than the classical eight-pitch scale of eastern culture, often finding itself in the pentatonic or tritonic scale. The voice can range from a tense, nasal, or relaxed sound, and consist of higher timbres specifically for male vocalists where falsetto is common. Vocal vibrato, when it occurs, is a rapid pulsating of different pitches as a more ornamental effect. Rhythmic patterns often can be found in meters of two or three and account for the vocal rhythms and syncopation in order to incorporate it into the pattern. Call and response patterns are common in vocal parts and ostinato may be included in the percussion part as well. Drums consist of types ranging from single headed, double headed, and kettle drums. Other percussive instrumentation consist of rattles and shakers, and made out of things like turtle shells. In addition to percussive instruments and vocals, a common sound in Native American music is instrumentation like flutes, whistles, and other instruments that produce sound from the player’s breath (horns, pipes, etc.). Instruments with strings that may be struck, plucked, or bowed include that like the musical bow which originated to the Americas, but does not appear often in contemporary indigenous music. Other stringed instruments include native guitars and fiddles whose structure and composition vary from tribe to tribe. A study made in 2016 analyzed the musical features of indigenous music in relation to social contexts and lyrical subject. Upon analyzing over 2,000 songs from Frances Densmore’s collection of native music, the study was able to find even the relation between subjects like love in songs, and pitch variety and tessitura. Love songs could be characterized with high tessituras and spacious melodies, with larger intervals and ranges. They are also, in many cases, perceived as “sad”: pertaining to departure, loss or longing. This explains the relationship between the lyrical subject and relatively slow melodic movement and low dynamics. Hiding-game songs, such as those associated with “moccasin, hand and hiding-stick or hiding-bones games,” were found with a significantly low average duration and small pitch range and variety. They also found that “healing songs,” and their characteristic of a narrow range and comparatively increased repetition of low notes, was likely intended to create a soothing sound that would ease discomfort in the event when a healing song would be sung. Regarding the music of specific people, they found that Yuman nature songs often have a small range, a descending melodic movement, and frequent repeated musical motifs. The Densmore collection also characterizes war songs as having a wider range, higher register, and greater diversity in duration and pitch. In comparison, dance songs also have these distinctions, although they can be found in the opposite sense, as dance songs are often found with lower registers. Dance songs are also similar to animal songs in range, pitch variety, and primary register. This study also maintains a significant view that many of these characteristics (“pitch height, tempo, dynamics, and variability”) have a direct relationship with emotional response, bringing out such response regardless of culture, meaning that similar characteristics of one culture’s music and its function will often be found in another culture’s for the same function. This is how Shanahan, Neubarth, and Conklin were able to use Densmore’s collection of over 2,000 songs to create an analysis of comparison between subject and musical characteristic.

Indigenous rock

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

Australia#

In Australia, Aboriginal rock mixes rock styles and instruments (e.g. electric (guitar, bass and drums) with Indigenous Australian instruments such as the didgeridoo and clapsticks. Aboriginal rock is mostly performed by Indigenous bands, although some bands include non-Aboriginal members. Bands include Yothu Yindi, Us Mob and No Fixed Address. Yothu Yindi, with vocalist Mandawuy Yunupingu has politicised lyrics, such as 1991’s “Treaty”. Other songs relate more generally to Aboriginal culture. Another major band was the Warumpi Band, which toured with Midnight Oil. The Warumpi Band focuses more on the Aboriginal aspects of the music, rather than the rock sound of Yothu Yindi. In the 2000s, Aboriginal bands such as NoKTuRNL have adopted a rap metal or nu metal sound. Formal training institutions include the Government sponsored Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts. Famous songs include “Treaty”, “My Island Home”, and “Blackfella/Whitefella”.

Indo jazz

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Ashwin Batish#

One of the most innovative Indo-jazz experiences comes from Bombay native Ashwin Batish. Although classically trained in North Indian music by his father Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish, Ashwin’s growing up in the West, first UK, then USA, gave him a unique insight into the world of Western music. His frequent sit-ins with jazz musicians and his exposure to western musicians such as his father’s collaboration with George Harrison for the Beatles movie Help!, sparked in him a desire to stretch his classical music roots into the world of jazz and fusion. Ashwin has, for the past 35 years, been at the forefront of combining his classical sitar music with rock, pop and jazz. He has received critical acclaim from jazz and world music writers and audiences. His latest release, Jazz Is Where Is, is with his “fiery sitar power trio” (Nigel Wood, Ear To The Globe, Ireland). Batish is presently on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz where he teaches Indian music percussion theory and practice. Upon the invitation of the university, Ashwin will be teaching a five-week 2020 Summer intensive called Raga Jazz an application of Indian music to Western Instruments.

Indo pop

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

History#

One of the earliest form of Indonesian pop can be traced back to Orkes Melayu (“Malay orchestra”) bands in Medan starting in the 1930s to its peak in 1950s Jakarta and Surabaya mishmashing musical traditions of bangsawan theatre from the Riau Islands with Indian and Arabic influences filtered through Western instrumentation. The Jakarta stream especially took heavy influences from Bollywood laying the groundwork for a branching new genre named dangdut.

Indonesian hip-hop

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

History and styles#

Hip-hop music began to be produced in Indonesia in the early 1990s, with the first Indonesian artist to release a full-length hip-hop album being the emcee Iwa K. Many Indonesian hip-hop groups rhyme in the Indonesian language, but there are also groups that rhyme in English. Variously, songs often combine formal Indonesian with street slang, youth code, regionally colored pronunciations, and even expressions from regional languages (typically Javanese, Sundanese, or Betawi). Indonesian hip-hop is often mixed with heavy metal, dubbed “hip-metal”. Groups such as Iwa-K and Denada produce music in this style. Indonesian hip-hop music is a youth subculture. It has been seen as a form of protest against the New Order government’s state-imposed understanding of the Indonesian cultural identity. It has largely been condemned by key political figures such as former president B.J. Habibie. In January 1995, Habibie raised objections against organising an Indonesian rap festival. As reported in the weekly magazine Gatra, Habibie stated: The younger generation shouldn’t want to be enslaved by an aspect of foreign culture which isn’t even liked in its own country. It’s not even appropriate over there, much less in Indonesia. It’s not suitable… I don’t agree with it because it’s of no use whatsoever, especially for the young generation. Papuan hip-hop musicians often examine political issues such as Papuan independence.

Indonesian rock

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

1940s - 1960s#

Rock music began to enter Indonesia around the 1950s during the western rock fever. However, the heyday of rock music in Indonesia was preceded by the band The Rolles (1967) with the genre of jazz rock music. They brought music with different concepts so that they were able to play with the tastes of music lovers at that time. The band was also able to survive and was still popular until the 1980s. In that era, Indonesian-Dutch rock bands were also very popular, such as The Tielman Brothers, which was founded in 1947 by several youths from Kupang (Reggy, Ponthon, Andy and Loulou Tielman). The band is generally seen as the founder of Indorock, although other Indorock bands have existed before them. Being ethnically Indonesian and playing Western music for white audiences in the Netherlands and Germany. During that time, Dara Puspita emerged as a pop rock group consisting of women from Surabaya, Indonesia, which was active in the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was formed in 1964, with Titiek Rachman and his sister Lies on guitar. Apart from that, Ani Kusuma is a rhythm guitarist, and Susy Nander is a drummer. When Lies left the band for a month in 1965 to complete his education, his bass position was replaced by Titiek Hamzah. When Lies returned, Ani Kusuma left the band, and Lies became a rhythm guitarist. This female rock band was also influential in the early development of rock music in Indonesia. In fact, not only the rock scene, Indonesian pop was also quite influenced by the Dara Puspita band. In July 1968, the band left Indonesia, and toured to Europe and Asia, including West Germany, Hungary, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Iran, and Turkey. Touring for three years, before returning to Indonesia on 3 December 1971. In this way, Dara Puspita also gained international popularity even though the support base was still larger in the local music scene.

Indorock

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

History#

The guitar was imported to the East Indies by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. The traditional Portuguese song styles, saudade and fado, played with guitar accompaniment, later became kroncong music. Many Indorock musicians had a predilection for Hawaiian music, which was popular in the Netherlands at the time. Other significant influences include American country & western, and the rock & roll repertoire played on radio stations in Indonesia via American (AFN) stations from the Philippines and Australia. While Dutch audience were interested in Rock & Roll, white Dutch musicians did not perform the genre in the mid-1950s, and Indonesians and Moluccans filled the void at that time, and bands such as the Bellboys, the Room Rockers, the Hap Cats, and the Hot Jumpers performing to a mixed audience in venues such as pubs. Since the Dutch music industry offered few venues for Indorock artists, many of them went to Germany where it quickly became highly popular, at least until the advent of British beat music. The Indorock scene had largely faded in the Netherlands by the mid-1960s, as it was superseded in popularity by British rock as a result of the British Invasion. However, it would continue to be an influence in Indonesian rock music. Indorock has also been considered by some to be an early form of proto-punk, as some of its stylistic elements are similar to those in the punk rock movement of the 1970s.

Industrial folk music

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

Origins#

Industrial folk song emerged in Britain, the first nation to industrialise, in the 18th century, as workers and their families moved from a predominately rural and agricultural society to an increasingly urban and industrial one. These workers tended to take the forms of music with which they were familiar, including ballads and agricultural work songs, and adapt them to their new experiences and circumstances. Unlike agricultural work songs, it was often unnecessary to use music to synchronise actions between workers, as the pace would be increasingly determined by water, steam, chemical and eventually electric power, and frequently impossible because of the noise of early industry. As a result, industrial folk songs tended to be descriptive of work, circumstances, or political in nature, making them amongst the earliest protest songs and were sung between work shifts or in leisure hours, rather than during work. This pattern can be seen in the first industry to fully develop, textile production, which was particularly important in Lancashire, with songs like ‘Poverty knock’ which described the relentless movement and noise of the loom.

Industrial hip-hop

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

1980s#

The origins of industrial hip hop are in the work of Mark Stewart, Bill Laswell, and Adrian Sherwood. In 1985, former The Pop Group singer Mark Stewart released As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade, an application of the cut-up style of industrial music, with the house band of Sugar Hill Records (Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc, and Skip McDonald). In 1986, The Beatnigs were formed in San Francisco. As a collaboration between Michael Franti, Rono Tse and Kevin Carnes, The Beatnigs combined hardcore punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as “a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective”. The band’s stage performance included the use of power tools such as a rotary saw on a metal bar to create industrial noise and pyrotechnics. In the late 1980s, Laswell’s Material project began to take increasing influence from hip hop. Adrian Sherwood was a major figure in British dub, as well as working with industrial groups such as Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ministry, KMFDM, and Nine Inch Nails. Tackhead, a collaboration between Sherwood and the Sugar Hill band, picked up where Mark Stewart left off. The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and Consolidated from San Francisco, MC 900 Ft. Jesus from Texas and Meat Beat Manifesto from the UK are also early representatives of the style. The industrial group 23 Skidoo, Miles Davis’s album On the Corner, and the Nine Inch Nails single “Down in It” are also important precedents for the style.

Industrial metal

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

Early innovators#

Though electric guitars had been used by industrial artists since the early days of the genre, archetypal industrial groups such as Throbbing Gristle displayed a strong anti-rock stance. British post-punk band Killing Joke pioneered the crossing over between styles and was an influence on major acts associated with industrial metal such as Ministry, Godflesh, and Nine Inch Nails. Another pioneer industrial rock group, Big Black, also impacted some later groups. By the late 1980s industrial and heavy metal began to fuse into a common genre, with Godflesh’s self-titled EP and Ministry’s The Land of Rape and Honey at the forefront. Godflesh was founded by former Napalm Death guitarist Justin Broadrick. Drawing from a wide array of influences—power electronics forefathers Whitehouse, noise rock band Swans, ambient music creator Brian Eno Faith No More, and Fear Factory. Ministry emerged from the scene surrounding Wax Trax! Records, a Chicago indie label dedicated to industrial music. Ministry’s initial foray into guitar rock happened during a recording session of The Land of Rape and Honey on Southern Studios, in London. The band’s frontman, the Cuban-born Al Jourgensen, explained this transition: Jourgensen seemed particularly fond of thrash metal. After the release of Land, he recruited guitarist Mike Scaccia from Texas thrashers Rigor Mortis. On one occasion, Jourgensen told the press that Sepultura was his favorite band. He also expressed the desire to produce a Metallica album. Jourgensen’s interest in dance-oriented electronic music did not entirely fade, however; he also formed the side-project Revolting Cocks, a more electronic body music-inflected collaboration with Richard23 of Front 242. German band KMFDM was another seminal industrial metal group. Although not a metal fan, KMFDM leader Sascha Konietzko’s “infatuation with ripping off metal licks” stemmed from his experiments with E-mu’s Emax sampler in late 1986. He told Guitar World that, A Swiss trio, The Young Gods, brushed with the style on their second album, L’Eau Rouge (1989). Prior to its release, singer Franz Treichler declared: Canadian thrash metal band Malhavoc became one of the earlier acts of the genre when they began to mix extreme metal with industrial music in the late 1980s. Pigface, formed by Martin Atkins and including Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin, emerged as an industrial metal collective of sorts, participating with many figures from the noise rock and industrial worlds. Nine Inch Nails, the “one-man-band” formed by Trent Reznor, brought the genre to mainstream audiences with albums such as the Grammy-winning Broken and the best-selling The Downward Spiral, accompanied by their groundbreaking performance at Woodstock ‘94. The rivethead subculture also developed at this time, along with the so-called “coldwave” subgenre, which encompassed Chemlab, 16 Volt, and Acumen Nation. Some electro-industrial groups adopted industrial metal techniques in this period, including Skinny Puppy (on their Rabies, co-produced by Jourgensen), and Front Line Assembly. British band Pitchshifter, formed in 1989 by brothers Jon and Mark Clayden, also started as an industrial metal band. The band later included elements of drum and bass. Frontman JS mentions:

Industrial music

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

Etymology#

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the genre was first named in 1942 when The Musical Quarterly called Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1927 Symphony No. 2 “the high tide of ‘industrial music’.” Similarly, in 1972, The New York Times described works by Ferde Grofé (especially 1935’s A Symphony in Steel) as part of “his ‘industrial music’ genre that called on such instruments as four pairs of shoes, two brooms, a locomotive bell, a pneumatic drill and a compressed-air tank”. Though these compositions are not directly tied to what the genre would become, they are early examples of music designed to mimic machinery noise and factory atmosphere. Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo laid the groundwork for industrial music with his book and work The Art of Noises (1913), which aimed to reflect “the sounds of a modern industrial society”.

Industrial musical

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

History#

Industrial musicals originated from company songs, anthems and jingles for promoting enthusiasm among workers. The songs were brought in by the management, as opposed to worker-created work songs. Internal musical groups could be formed to encourage company loyalty, keep employees happy, and to help advertise the company to the public. Early 20th century examples include IBM’s internal songbook Songs of the IBM, and the Larkin Soap Company which organized community singing and had a women’s drum corps, an orchestra, a ukulele club, and daily recitals on a pipe organ. At some point, a collection of company songs was extended into a full musical theater format, and the industrial musical was born. Many of these musicals were made in North America during the economic boom that followed World War II, and this practice continued into the 1980s and 1990s. The earliest known industrial musicals were produced by retail and automotive companies such as Ford, General Motors, and the Marshall Field’s chain of department stores. By the end of the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, other types of businesses also began to put on shows. Some musicals were part of annual showcase events for presenting a company’s new line of products. Businesses could spend a lot of money to produce a musical, hiring talented Broadway composers and lyricists. The pay was very good, the task was challenging, and from the theatre’s point of view, the production costs were much higher than a regular Broadway musical. Shows could have as many as 30 people in the cast and a 60-piece orchestra. Composer Hank Beebe estimates that the 1957 Chevrolet musical was budgeted at over 3 million dollars (U.S.), because it cost six times the amount it took to bring My Fair Lady to the stage that same year. The song performances were rarely heard outside of the companies they were written for, but sometimes the employees would be given a souvenir record album. Some productions lasted for a limited number of nights, while others traveled from city to city for regional sales meetings. According to composer John Kander, who conducted several industrial shows early in his career and wrote the music for the 1966 General Electric industrial Go Fly a Kite (the complete score from which was issued on a 2-LP set that was given to GE employees), the cast albums for these industrial shows “were never intended for commercial release. … It was sort of a separate world.” Yet it is largely through these rare albums that evidence of these shows has survived. By the 1980s, industrial musicals were made less and less often. Jonathan Ward, a writer and DJ who collects industrial musical albums, theorizes that the reason for the decline was partially due to rising production costs for stage shows, and the availability of low-cost video and multimedia technology. Ward thinks another reason for the decline was a change in work attitudes. In the 1950s and 1960s, employees might have expected to spend the majority of their working careers with one company. By the 1980s, employees and the management may have been less inclined to think this way. The feelings of company loyalty and community promoted in the song lyrics would have been met with more cynicism. Some corporations, however, continued to successfully produce industrial musicals during the 1980s and 1990s and beyond. The Shaklee Corporation created its own in-house production company in 1980. Their team, led by producer Dale T. Hardin, director Craig Schaefer, and composer/lyricist Michael Reno created dozens of Shaklee Shows from concept to performance, and eventually branched out into in-house satellite TV. The Shaklee creative team created their own production company called “Command Performance Productions” that produced shows for other clients such as Charles Schwab and Marriott Lodging until 2000. Despite the trends that affected industrial musicals, businesses have continued to make company songs. For example, KPMG produced a corporate anthem in 2001 titled “Our Vision of Global Strategy.” In 2013, the first book on the history of industrial musicals, titled Everything’s Coming Up Profits, was published, written by Steve Young and Mike “Sport” Murphy. A series of industrial music audio anthologies, organized by decade, accompanied the book. In 2018, Bathtubs Over Broadway, a documentary on industrial musicals and Steve Young’s quest to discover their creators, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The fourth episode of the fifth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel involves the title character being cast in a fictional industrial musical about waste management.

Industrial rock

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

Characteristics#

Industrial rock is defined by the merging of rock music with influences lifted from industrial music, electronic, and avant-garde music. Industrial rock bands are characterized by harsh, abrasive sounds, blending distorted, aggressive guitar riffs with electronic textures and experimental production techniques. Exemplified by artists who signed to industrial focused independent record label Wax Trax! Records, while some industrial rock artists later overlapped with industrial metal.

Forerunners#

Cromagnon’s 1969 record Orgasm has been credited with foreshadowing the industrial rock sound, with AllMusic describing it as sounding “like it could be a Ministry … recording from 1989”. Pitchfork labelled the opening track “Caledonia” as a “pre-industrial stomp”. During the 1970s, industrial music emerged through the early works of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, NON, SPK and Z’EV. SAlongside, New York City band Suicide, formed in 1970, by Alan Vega and Martin Rev, whose 1977 debut album has been credited with providing “the blueprints for … industrial rock”. Furthermore, Iggy Pop who released his debut solo album The Idiot, produced by David Bowie, in 1977, was later retroactively recognized as a forerunner to industrial rock, particularly the closing track, “Mass Production’, which contains numerous “proto-industrial noises” created using tape loops, which Hugo Wilcken described as “early industrial electronica.” Ian Curtis of Joy Division, cited the album as an inspiration, and later influenced the work of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who’d cover their song “Dead Souls”. Other influences on industrial rock include Einstürzende Neubauten, Alien Sex Fiend, and Come.

Industrial techno

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

History#

The origins of industrial techno date back to the early 1980s with the work of Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, then a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. According to Fact and Louder Than War, Sakamoto’s solo album B-2 Unit (1980) anticipated the sounds of industrial techno. Some of the earliest musical projects in the genre include the band Final Cut, formed by Jeff Mills and Anthony Srock in Detroit during the late 1980s. Their 1989 debut industrial-techno album Deep into the Cut was described by The Wire as “a significant moment in the convergence of the classic industrial aesthetic and the emerging sound of Detroit techno”. Forward Strategy Group, Jeff Mills, Regis, Dominick Fernow and Mike Banks. Perc Trax record label has been credited with the revival of the genre in the UK, with artists such as Perc, Truss, Happa and Ansome. Some revival artists have subsequently been criticized for making the new music in the genre that “sounds old, that it’s overly indebted to a sound invented and thoroughly exhausted in the ’90s”, but despite this, innovation derived from the post-dubstep and garage scene have been highlighted. As a result, it has gained a significant fanbase from the post-dubstep audience.

Insertion aria

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Reasons for insertions#

To explain why the practice of insertion arias existed, Hilary Poriss stated: “In a world where superior vocal performance was the most highly valued economic and artistic commodity that an opera house possessed, singers inserted arias to accommodate their individual vocal strengths and ranges and to augment their roles. The better they sang, after all, the more likely they were to attract large audiences to the box office.” Insertions were expected and could be considered “integral components” of an operatic performance. Contemporaries regarded aria insertion with particular interest as it was known to be a vehicle where singers should show off their best attributes. In that way, it would serve as a way to judge a singer’s taste and qualities. The insertion was specific to the venue or community. Rather than travel with the opera, singers would be engaged by the opera house for the season. A highly regarded singer would not randomly choose arias to insert in whatever opera was to be performed but would make reasoned decisions based on the dramatic context and the compositional style. Poriss tells of the soprano Carolina Ungher’s decisions on which aria to insert at the entrance of Elena in Donizetti’s Marino Faliero. For her performance in Florence, May 1836, she inserted the aria "" from Donizetti’s Sancia di Castiglia for her entrance. Later that year she inserted the aria "" from Donizetti’s Ugo, conte di Parigi. In the fall of 1837, she planned to insert "" from Donizetti’s Pia de’ Tolomei (although illness prevented her from performing this run of the opera). Poriss argues that this indecision shows a conscious effort to select an aria that would produce the best initial vocal impression. Yet it also shows the singer wanting to select an aria which best fit the composer’s style and stayed close to the dramatic and musical shape of the opera. Impresarios also took an active interest in insertion arias, working closely with singers to ensure good quality performances (Poriss raises the question of what was the artwork nineteenth century audiences wanted to see: a performance, or a musical composition.) One of the means by which Saverio Mercadante developed the ability to write for the stage was by composing ballets and insertion arias for operas. By 1830, a singer’s contract could have stipulated the number of insertions (Poriss cites a contract of Giulia Grisi). Clauses in contracts limiting the number of insertions kept evolving through the nineteenth century. By 1870 a standard clause became accepted which, while not entirely prohibiting insertions, strictly limited the circumstances under which they could be made, as well as those of transpositions and other alterations. Poriss suggests this represents a move away from authority of singers toward authority of composer. Philip Gossett, a Rossini specialist, has said: “In living art, there are no correct or definitive answers about performance decisions. Every situation is different, artists change, the same artists mature (or at least get older), instrumentalists have different characteristics from one pit orchestra to another.”

Instrumental

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

In popular music#

In commercial popular music, instrumental tracks are sometimes renderings, remixes of a corresponding release that features vocals, but they may also be compositions originally conceived without vocals. One example of a genre in which both vocal/instrumental and solely instrumental songs are produced is blues. A blues band often uses mostly songs that have lyrics that are sung, but during the band’s show, they may also perform instrumental songs which only include electric guitar, harmonica, upright bass/electric bass and drum kit. Instrumental versions of songs can also be used to create remixes and mashups or used in DJ sets. If an instrumental version of a track is not released, it can be created through stem separation/vocal removal.

Instrumental rock

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

Early history#

Instrumental rock was most popular during rock and roll’s first decade (mid-1950s to mid-1960s), before the British Invasion. One notable early instrumental was “Honky Tonk” by the Bill Doggett Combo, with its slinky beat and sinuous saxophone-organ lead. Jazz musicians who scored pop hits include Earl Bostic and Arnett Cobb. Several rhythm and blues sax players had hit instrumental songs, including Big Jay McNeeley, Red Prysock, and Lee Allen, whose “Walking with Mr. Lee” was quite popular. There were several notable blues instrumental songs during the 1950s; Little Walter’s rollicking “Juke” was a #1 R&B hit. Instrumental hit songs could emphasize electronic organ (the Tornados’ “Telstar”, Dave “Baby” Cortez’s “The Happy Organ”, Johnny & the Hurricanes’ “Red River Rock”), or the saxophone (the Champs’ “Tequila”, Bill Black’s Combo’s “Don’t Be Cruel”, the Piltdown Men’s “McDonald’s Cave”), but the guitar was most prominent. Duane Eddy scored several hits (his best known probably being “Rebel-‘Rouser”). Eddy was the first rock & roll artist to release an album in stereo. The Fireballs, featuring the distinctive guitar work of George Tomsco, began their career in the late 1950s with instrumental hits such as “Torquay” and “Bulldog.” The band pioneered the guitar/guitar/bass/drums configuration, paving the way for the Ventures, the Shadows, and the surf music scene. The Fireballs were one of a few instrumental bands that successfully transitioned into vocal music, having the biggest hit of 1963 in the US (“Sugar Shack”). B Bumble & the Stingers gained hit “Nut Rocker”. In 1958, Link Wray’s “Rumble” proved to be a particularly influential instrumental rock single, with its pioneering combination of distortion, power chords and vibrato inspiring rock musicians including Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Iggy Pop. Its suggested resemblance to a street fight saw it banned by many radio stations, yet it went on to sell four million copies. The Shadows, from the UK, had several hit singles from 1960 onwards, including “Kon-Tiki” and “Apache”. The Shadows (alone and accompanying Cliff Richard) featured heavily in the UK charts until 1963 when Beatlemania arrived, combined with DJ indifference to non-vocal singles. The Ventures’ precise guitar work was a major influence on many later rock guitarists; they also helped shape surf music. The band reached chart success with songs such as “Walk-Don’t Run” and “Hawaii Five-O”. In the U.S. they greatly escalated the guitar instrumentals and use of the vibrato bar on the lead guitar. Surf music was quite popular in the early 1960s, and was generally rather simple and melodic—one exception being Dick Dale, who gained fame for his quick playing, often influenced by the music of the Middle East, and frequently using exotic scales. Around the time of the British Invasion, rock changed appreciably, and instrumental hits came mostly from the R&B world. Notable artists include Booker T. & the MG’s and saxophonist Junior Walker. Just before the British Invasion, Lonnie Mack’s version of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis” reached #5 on the Billboard Pop chart in June 1963. Employing both the blues scale and distortion, it ushered in the era of blues rock guitar of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac with bandleader Peter Green achieved number one chart positions with the guitar-based instrumental “Albatross” in February 1969. Previously, only three other rock guitar instrumentals had cracked Billboard’s top five: the Virtues’ “Guitar Boogie Shuffle” in 1959, and Duane Eddy’s “Because They’re Young” and the Ventures’ “Walk, Don’t Run” in 1960. In August 1964, Checker Records released the album Two Great Guitars, recorded by rock and roll pioneers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, which is one of rock music’s first recorded guitar jam sessions.

Intelligent dance music

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

Intelligent techno and electronica#

The origins of IDM date back to the early 1980s with the work of Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). In 1980, YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto’s solo album B-2 Unit anticipated the sounds of IDM. According to NME, “the entire album eschewed traditional song structures for atmosphere and tone, anticipating the rebellious wave of 1990s IDM” a “full decade beforehand.” According to Vice, the B-2 Unit track “E-3A” offered “a hint of the decade to come with its IDM-leaning cut-up complexities.” YMO’s 1981 album BGM was also a foundation for IDM. According to Analog Planet, the BGM track “Ballet” has an IDM-like electronic soundscape that combines “electronic drums, persistent hi-hats, and sustained synths” with a “melancholic emptiness.” In the late 1980s, ensuing from acid house and early rave party scenes, UK-based groups such as the Orb and the KLF produced ambient house, a genre that fused the pulses of house music, particularly acid house, with ambient music and sample-based soundscapes. By the early 1990s, the increasingly distinct music associated with dance music-oriented experimentation had gained prominence with releases on a variety of mostly UK-based record labels, including Warp (1989), Black Dog Productions (1989), R&S Records (1989), Carl Craig’s Planet E, Rising High Records (1991), Richard James’s Rephlex Records (1991), Kirk Degiorgio’s Applied Rhythmic Technology (1991), Eevo Lute Muzique (1991), General Production Recordings (1989), Soma Quality Recordings (1991), Peacefrog Records (1991), and Metamorphic Recordings (1992). In 1992, Warp released Artificial Intelligence, the first album in the Artificial Intelligence series. Subtitled “electronic listening music from Warp”, the record was a collection of tracks from artists such as Autechre, B12, Black Dog Productions, Aphex Twin and the Orb, under various aliases. This would help establish the ambient techno sound of the early 1990s. Steve Beckett, co-owner of Warp, has said the electronic music that the label was releasing then was targeting a post-club, home-listening audience. Following the success of the Artificial Intelligence series, “intelligent techno” became the favoured term, although ambient—without a qualifying house or techno suffix, but still referring to a hybrid form—was a common synonym. “armchair techno”, and “electronica”, but all were attempts to describe an emerging offshoot of electronic dance music that was being enjoyed by the “sedentary and stay at home”. At the same time, the UK market was saturated with increasingly frenetic breakbeat and sample-laden hardcore techno records that quickly became formulaic. Rave had become a “dirty word”, so as an alternative, it was common for London nightclubs to advertise that they were playing “intelligent” or “pure” techno, appealing to a “discerning” crowd that considered the hardcore sound to be too commercial.

Intermezzo

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Renaissance intermezzo#

The Renaissance intermezzo was also called the intermedio. It was a masque-like dramatic piece with music, which was performed between the acts of a play at Italian court festivities on special occasions, especially weddings. By the late 16th century, the intermezzo had become the most spectacular form of dramatic performance, and an important precursor to opera. The most famous examples were created for Medici weddings in 1539, 1565, and 1589. In Baroque Spain the equivalent entremés or paso was a one-act comic scene, often ending in music and dance, between jornadas (acts) of a play.

Internet music

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

1980s–1990s: Forerunners#

Internet music traces back to the late 1980s to early 1990s, beginning with the rise of tracker music, a form of digital audio files made on music trackers and shared online through early internet communities like Usenet. Tracker scenes helped establish norms around open sharing and online collaboration that would later shape broader internet music trends. Many tracker musicians gained international prominence within MOD software users and some of them went on to work for high-profile video game studios, or began to appear on large record labels. The Usenet newsgroup “alt.music” would focus on music submitted through the platform. In 1990, the Residents released the CD-ROM The Residents: Freak Show. At the time, Todd Rundgren would also be credited as an early pioneer of Internet music distribution through self-made music videos and his interactive album No World Order. In 1996, David Bowie released the single “Telling Lies”, which was made exclusively available as an Internet download on his site BowieNet. The song was the earliest lyrical reference to the Internet in pop music, and its promotion campaign marked a landmark in online music distribution. The Guardian later stated that Bowie helped create a market for “digital music”, his 1999 album Hours was first released online before reaching in-person stores. In 1997, Duran Duran’s single “Electric Barbarella” became the first song by a major label artist to be available for digital purchase. During the late 1990s, American rappers such as Canibus and Trick Daddy would set up sites and promote their music on the internet, with Canibus referencing the internet on his songs. Trick Daddy released the album www.thug.com. Other albums following this format include Pitchshifter’s www.pitchshifter.com (1998) and Jethro Tull’s J-Tull Dot Com (1999).

Internet rap

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Etymology and characteristics#

According to music journalist Alphonse Pierre, writing for Pitchfork, the term “internet rappers” was once used as a dismissive label but later popularized by the “SoundCloud generation”. Writing for The Guardian, journalist Emilie Friedlander stated that during the blog era, bloggers “were trawling the internet to uncover the next great bedroom producer, internet rapper or hyper-specific musical trend.”

1990s–2000s: Forerunners#

During the mid-to late 1990s, Canibus became the first rapper to make references to the Internet in hip-hop. On the track “DJ Clue Freestyle” released in 1997, Canibus stated, “I’ll battle you on the net, I’ll battle you in the flesh.” In 1998, Florida rapper Trick Daddy also made reference to the internet and its visual aesthetics, with the release of his album www.thug.com, which was the URL of his official website.

Intuitive music

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External links#

Intuitive Music Homepage, Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen
“What is Intuitive Music?”, Steven Miller (drums), Harrison Goldberg (saxophone)

Inuit music

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Cultural role#

Traditionally Inuit languages did not have a word for what a European-influenced listener or ethnomusicologist’s understanding of music, “and ethnographic investigation seems to suggest that the concept of music as such is also absent from their culture.” The closest word, nipi, includes music, the sound of speech and noise. Traditionally, “Eskimo songs seem to have been intended to be heard as parts of a whole—a series of auditory experiences.” Until the advent of commercial recording technology, Inuit music was usually used in spiritual ceremonies to ask the spirits (see Inuit religion) for good luck in hunting or gambling, as well as simple lullabies. Inuit music has long been noted for a stoic lack of work or love songs. These musical beginnings were modified with the arrival of European whalers, especially from Scotland and Ireland. Instruments like the accordion were popularized, and dances like the jig or reel became common. Scots-Irish derived American country music has been especially popular among Inuit in the 20th century.

Inuit throat singing

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Names#

The name for throat singing in Canada varies with the geography: * Iirngaaq – some Nunavut communities * Piqqusiraarniq – Igloolik and Baffin Island * Qiarvaaqtuq – Arviat * Katajjaq or Katadjak – Nunavik and South Baffin * Nipaquhiit – some Nunavut communities

History#

Originally, katajjaq was a form of entertainment among Inuit women while men were away on hunting trips, and it was regarded more as a type of vocal or breathing game in the Inuit culture rather than a form of music. Katajjiniq sound can create an impression of rhythmic and harmonious panting. Inuit throat singing can also imitate wind, water, animal sounds and other everyday sounds. This playful practice testifies to a long oral tradition of the women of Nunavik, a territory located in the North Québec region. From generation to generation, the Inuit have passed on knowledge of nature and the environment as well as the techniques associated with throat singing. Katajjaniq has rare, even unique, expressive characteristics. Even though Inuit throat singing is no longer performed to hasten the return of hunters, attract animals or influence the natural elements, they still retain some of their original functions, such as entertainment and group cohesion. Very much alive in the Inuit communities of Quebec, the katajjaniq still marks the high points of Nunavik people since it is present in calendar holidays, cultural celebrations and important political events. A source of great pride and a powerful symbol of identity, the katajjaniq is a distinctive expression of Nunavik culture. The Inuit recognize katajjaniq as part of their cultural heritage.

Invention (musical composition)

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Form#

Inventions are similar in style to a fugue, though they are much simpler. They consist of a short exposition, a longer development, and, sometimes, a short recapitulation. The key difference is that, unlike fugues, inventions generally do not contain an answer to the subject. Two-part and three-part inventions are in contrapuntal style.

Exposition#

In the exposition, a short motif is introduced by one voice in the tonic key. This is also known as the theme. The subject is then repeated in the second voice in the dominant key while the initial voice either plays a countersubject or plays in free counterpoint.