Excerpt+14

media type="file" key="14 Track 14.m4a" width="300" height="50"

1. This excerpt is reliant on small musical ideas being repeated with slight variations. By concentrating on separate instruments, identify and describe at least three of these repeated ideas and any changes that occur.
 * Track 14: The Neville Brothers: Voodoo on me (1:50)**

The percussion instrument starts off by itself with its own individual rhythm, but later on the rhythm will be a little bit more complex. When the bass guitar comes in, the bass drum is played at the same time to emphasize the 1st beat.

Bass guitar is playing repeated walking bass throughout while the synthesizer comes in just playing single repeated notes, mostly quavers and semiquavers on the off-beats to create the edgy feeling which creates the syncopated rhythm between the other instruments. And then the piano/keyboard comes in on top of all the repeated layers the bass guitar, synthesizer and percussion has been doing to create a busier texture. Piano/keyboard rhythm is very similar to the synthesizer, but instead of one note, the keyboard plays the rhythm in block chords to create more colour in the piece. All of this rhythm combines to create polyrhythm from one rhythm at the start of the piece.

The voice (male tenor) comes in with the trombone. Voice has the melody with short regular phrases, and after each phrase ends, the trombone answers the melody with the same phrase length as the voice. The melody however, isn’t as complex as the voice; it has the same rhythm and notes as the keyboard with a slight variation.

In the last section of the excerpt, the synthesizer and trombone doesn’t play the repeated quavers and semiquavers anymore, instead, they play a long chord which gradually crescendos until halfway throughout the phrase to create more intensity and colour and then changes back to the original rhythm. The keyboard is now less chordal, but has a busier melody (more note values and rhythm) and seems improvisatory with gliss after the climax.

**__Repeated Ideas with slight variation:__** - ­Rhythm of synthesizer is being repeated with keyboard. - Later on, keyboard’s melody has more notes and rhythm, less chordal but the melody is still based on the chords it was playing originally. - Vocal phrases occur more often, rather than in the beginning, it always alternates with the trombone. - Vocal melody mostly has the same rhythm throughout, later on in the excerpt the same rhythm was sung in a higher register.

**Widdy**

Electric Bass: At the start, the electric bass plays a repeating 4 bar riff. It uses short articulation, swing rhythm, is in a low register and has quite a small range (about a 6th). The harmony is static for most of the song, so the tonic of the bass line stays the same on every repeat. Near the end of the excerpt, there is a contrasting section which is repeated twice, the second time a little more developed. Here, the bass line plays a repeating 2 bar riff which essentially outlines an ascending 7th chord. It has a bigger range and the second time this contrasting section is heard, the harmony changes and the bass supports this by changing the tonic of the bass line, creating an even bigger range. It is also overall in a higher register in this section

Tenor Sax: The tenor sax plays a 2 bar phrase intermittently throughout the first section. It uses short note values, short articulation, syncopated rhythm and only uses a few different notes (within the range of a 5th) to create a groovy riff. In the second, contrasting sections it plays longer note values in sustained chords which crescendo to the end of every 2nd bar and changes notes with the chord changes.

Male voice: The male voice sings short phrases in the first section. They are quite flat in contour, based on the minor pentatonic scale, in a middle - low register and make use of a lot of repetition in pitches and rhythmic values. The male voice has quite a dry, grunty tone colour and sings a different word to every note. In the second section, the male voice sings longer note values in a higher register which create a slightly lighter tone colour. The phrases are longer and more melismatic, with some 'oohs' and 'aahs' being sung over a few different notes. Pitch bends are also used in the second section.

Emily Sheppard

Funk like rhythms in the electric bass guitar very syncopated, very short accent rhythms mainly accenting the downbeat. As the excerpt progresses the bass lines has many passing notes added in leading mainly into main beats such as the down beats again for emphasis. The rhythms begin to even out and become slightly longer to fill out the texture. From the beginning the bass guitar plays very accented syncopations but as the instrumentalists fall into the groove of the piece the accents are less obvious giving variation but also making way for the voice to come through the texture.

Male voice, very passionate with melismas and high pitched notes occasionally. Quite small phrases at the beginning with a melody which uses the blues scale, the contour of the melody is often wavelike in a small way and then for interest it varies by these added higher pitched notes that seem to just pop out. As the Excerpt progresses these extra high pitched emotional notes become more featured and create variation in the melody with melismas and ornamentations such as small slides and falls in the voice.

Saxophone provides short fills after each line of the verse, it changes throughout the excerpt by swapping the rhythms around or sometimes by repeating the last rhythm after a short pause which creates a nice relaxed "groovy" syncopated effect. The saxophone also provide hairpin sustained notes when the voice reaches a highly emotional point to further increase the heightened emotional quality of the excerpt.

Troy Rogan

Instrumentation: cow bell, hand drums, electric bass, electric jazz piano, male vocals, saxophone, trumpets (horns)

Male vocals: Repeated melodic motif in middle register, medium range. Variation created through changes in lyrics, improvisatory sounds such as minimal slides and ‘oh’s as well as some melodic ornamentation at singer’s discretion, changes in emphasis, increasing intent of meaning through change to more “charged” tone colour and strong articulation to emphasis established rhythm. At “you must have been fond of candles,” harmonic back up vocals sing a third apart, creating a thicker texture and providing variation to the very repetitive and settled tone colour of the main male voice.

Saxophone: The main melodic idea is 7 notes. The opening descending major 2nd in the upper range is repeated after the main idea, this in itself varies the use of the motif. The overall varied line however, is extremely repetitive. 9 notes on 4 different pitches, wave-like structure, melodic motif first enters towards end of first vocal line of verse, overlapping momentarily. This entry is slightly earlier than the other entrances of the saxophone motif which then are straight after the vocal line, finishing before the beginning of the next vocal line. This premature entrance of the saxophone created a very brief polyphonic exchange between vocals and saxophone. After the vocals “you put me in a trance” the saxophone uses the original motif but instead of repeating the first two notes the second time, the fragment of the last 5 notes is repeated, providing a refreshing change from the descending major 2nd which dominated previous saxophone entries and exits.

Piano: Enters off beat one with similar motif to saxophone: descending major second. Piano repeats motif every bar, modulating down an octave just before the entrance of the male voice. Motif enters with two straight quavers but very quickly becomes swung with emphasis on the first note, similar to saxophone. As the vocal line becomes more improvisatory on “Ohhh, just cause of a glance” the piano motif is omitted. At “you put me in a trance” the piano enters once more but instead of the motif, a short improvised line is included. This improvisation occurs at the same time as the fragmented variation of the saxophone motif. The piano promptly exits once more. When the vocals initiate a repetition of the original melodic idea with neither swells nor slides, the piano motif recommences but modulated tone, with p dynamics.

Harriet Davies

**Mati:** **Notes:** **-percussion, cow bell** **-low drum/bass drum with bass riff, low combined with higher pattern every 2nd bar |ta zi ti ta -** **-rhythm guitar- funky pattern** **-reverbed piano- syncopated** **-male vocals - uses pitch bends** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**-tenor sax- fills gaps in vocal melody - uses falsetto and pitch bends** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**-all short repeated ideas** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**-backing vocals are under lead vox - only occurs twice** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**-synthesiser comes in later with swells - horn section?**

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**| za ta ta zi ti-|-ti ti ti ti ti ti ta| main rhythmic patter in the melody/vocals/sax fills concentrate on first two notes, that always descend by a step, sax begins just playing and emphasising the 2nd & 3rd beats before going on to have more complex ideas including more notes, quaver rhythms/patterns and greater contour, working always in-between the vocal phrases:** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**||:za ta ta za|za zi ti ti ti ta:|| - sax line, complements bass line**

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**the male vocals don't always follow - go at anacrusis and use quavers - repeat ideas at start, but as vocals get more excited the range increases and uses falsetto as well as sights nad falls, in the middle section the note values in the vocals are long and usually higher, with lots of ornaments, inflections and bends before returning to the more rhythmic first idea.**

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**bass guitar has a 4 bar motif repeated - only changes at short contrasting section**

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Piano begin as the molodic interest befroe going to the background and comping a little more simply**