Shared Flashcard Set

Details

MUSI1002
Midterm/Final
88
Music
Undergraduate 1
10/25/2012

Additional Music Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Popular music is criticized through ______ writing & _______ writing.
Definition

1) Journalistic (Reviews, Magazine articles, Interviews)

 

2) Acadamic (Books/Articles frm variety of different disciplines)

Term
What is popular music and how is it defined?
(3 Main Points)
Definition

It is often defined by:

 

1) Commercialization

2) Status as a commodity

3) Mass Appeal

Term
What are some "other" considerations used when definining popular music?
Definition

1) Geographical Location

2) Time Period

3) Social & Cultural Context

Term
How is culture defined?
Definition

Understood as the ever-changing values, tradiations, social and political relationships, and world-views shared by a group of people bound together by a combination of factors that can include a common history, language, social class and/or religion

Term
A ____   ____ stands at the centre of society.
Definition
Dominant Culture
Term
_____  _____ lack access to power and resources within society.
Definition
Subordinate Cultures
Term

The dominant centre of our culture still reflects:

 

White, upper-middle-class, Western, heterosexual male persepectives

Definition
Eurocentrism
Term

Definitions

 

1) Books, music and art that have been important and influential in shaping Western culture

 

or

 

2) The body of cultural knowledge that is said to be important for an educated or "cultured" person to know

Definition
The Western Canon
Term

Colour of a musical sound, the quality that distinguishes one instrument from another (ex. a piano vs. a saxaphone)

Definition
Timbre
Term
The loudness of a musical sound.
Definition
Intensity
Term

We hear sound as wave vibrations. When a sound vibrates at a specific frequency, then it has a definite ____.

 

We identify rapidly vibrting sounds as high _____ and slower vibrations as low _____.

Definition
Pitch (es)
Term
Measures how long a musical sound lasts.
Definition
Duration
Term

1. The range of timbres in a performance

 

2. Instruments used (includes voice, electronic sounds, etc)

Definition
Instrumentation
Term
How the instruments are played or how the voice is used.
Definition
Performing Style
Term

1. Gradations of intensity, volume levels (loud and soft)

 

2. Inflection is a subtle use of ______.

Definition
Dynamics (volume of a sound or note)
Term

Slow change within one parameter, or an overlapping of two blocks of sound.

Definition
Gradation
Term
_____ is concernced with duration -- it involves any aspect of the music considered as a function of time.
Definition
Rhythm
Term
A group of notes played one after the other (is the tune). Often the easiest part of music to remember.
Definition
Melody
Term
A group of notes heard as a simultaneous event (a chord)
Definition
Harmony
Term
Two different but intertwined ways of organizing pitch
Definition
Melody and Harmony
Term
Describes the various relationships among parts (each voice or instrument is a part)
Definition
Texture
Term
The organization of music in time; it emerges from the interactions of all the elements
Definition
Form
Term

1) The transformation of goods and services (or things that may not normally be regarded as goods or services) into a commodity.

 

or

 

2)The assignment of a commercial value to something previously valueless

Definition
Commodification
Term
The condition in which a standard has been successfully established;
Definition
Standardization
Term

 School of thought that stresses the examination and the critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities

Definition
Critical Theory
Term
 German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has come to be associated with thinkers such as Horkheimer and Marcuse, for whom the work of Freud, Marx and Hegel were essential to a critique of modern society.
Definition
Theodor Adorno (1903 - 1969)
Term

•Made up of economic institutions


•It produces forms of culture that are commodities


•According to Adorno, the commodification of cultural products leads to a standardization of these products


•Standardization leads to passivity in consumers

Definition
The Culture Industry
Term
The culture industry is successful in part because people fetishize cultural objects.
Definition
Commodity Fetishism
Term
Popular Music is standardized in three ways:
Definition

1) a number of types that are immediately recognizable


2) a small number of structures


3) a small number of components to each song that are interchangeable

Term
The type of variation that exists between standardized products; surfaces changes; they do not alter the basic structure
Definition
Pseudo-Individualization
Term
High culture = _____ music
Definition
Serious
Term
Low culture = _____ music
Definition
Popular
Term
Differences between High/Low Culture include:
Definition

1) Degree of Standardization

 

2) Level of Complexity

 

3) Market Context

Term

- The use of popular music in advertising is growing

- Companies are attempting to reach a wider audience with the use of music

- Musicians seem more willing to have their music used for commercial purposes

Definition
David Allen on "On Popular Music in Advertising"
with reference to Theodor Adorno
Term
An area of Manhattan around 28th street where much of the sheet music for the popular vaudeville tune of the late 19th and early 20th century were written.
Definition
Tin Pan Alley
Term

Handwritten or printed form of music notation that uses modern music symbols

Definition
Sheet Music
Term

•Irving Berlin was the most prolific of the Tin Pan Alley Composers


•Wrote songs such as “God Bless America” and “White Christmas”


•Other Tin Pan Alley songwriters include: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, George and Ida Gershwin, and Cole Porter

Definition
Important Tin Pan Alley Information
Term
___  ___ records represented the beginning of the transition from written to recorded music.
Definition
78 r.p.m (see Technology & Mass Dissemination)
Term
"On Wax", Paul Whiteman and Mary Margaret McBride
Definition
Paul Whiteman's Ambassador Orchestra achieved unprecedented commercial success
Term
Consists of sound recording companies who develop and market artists and their music
Definition
The Music Industry
Term
Publishing, Music Retail, Music Press, Music Hardware, Sound Recording, Tours and Concerts, Merchandising, Royalties and Rights
Definition
Othe industries branching from the Music Industry
Term

Power centered in the hands of larger, international companies, such as:

 

  • Universal Music Group
  • Sony/BMG
  • Warner Music Group
  • EMI
Definition
The Economic Structure of the Popular Music Industry
Term
The ownership of popular music production is __________ in the hands of a small number of companies
Definition
Concentrated ; Concentration
Term
Where concentration of the music and media industries lead to control of the total production flow, from raw materials to wholesale
Definition
Vertical Integration
Term

Some critics have observed that periods of concentration have produced a lot of similar music

 

Some have observed that this has lead to bursts of creativity by the public

  • Innovation is therefore linked to independent record labels
  • A cycle of innovations and consolidation
Definition
Large Record Companies vs. Independent Labels
Term
With respect to Large Record Companies vs. Independent Labels, this framework has been argued against:
Definition

- Music production is more complicated

 

- Webs and networks operating within the music industry

 

- Interconnections between large and small companies

Term

For the use of musical material collected on the behalf of writers and publishers when music is performed or broadcast

Definition

Performing Rights

 

Term
Paid for the privilege of broadcasting or playing the actual recording in public
Definition
Public Performance Rights
Term
Paid to the copyright holder every time a particular song or piece of music is recorded
Definition
Mechanical Rights
Term

Income from rights -- Copyright;

 

What are the three types of rights?

Definition

1) Performing


2) Public Performance


3) Mechanical

Term
Provides a legal shield around the name, slogan, shape, or character image, and in conjuction with product licensing, makes it possible for the original proprietor to transfer this sign to second and third parties for a limited period of time in exchange for royalties
Definition
Trademark
Term
The forging of links of image and perception between a range of products; images are transferrable between different media
Definition
Branding
Term

Necessitates the construction of a desirable appearance around the commodity

 

This stimulates the desire to purchase and possess

Definition
Commodity Aesthetics
Term

Positive and negative aspects of technological advancements in sound recording

Definition
Sound Production
Term

New recording technologies have opened up creative possibilities that have led to the emergence of new genres

Definition
Sound Recording
Term

Developments in sound systems correspond to how, when and where we listen to music

Definition
Sound Reproduction and Dissemination
Term
  • The rise of 1990s electronic dance music begins with the fall of disco
  • DJs developed a number of techniques to create new music
  • The DJ became central to the dance-music experience
Definition

Electronic Dance Music

 

Term
  • While disco was still popular, Larry Levan established himself as one of New York’s top dance DJs
  • As disco faded, Levan developed his own approach to re-working and combining records
  • This New York approach to dance music is often called “Garage”
  • E.g. The City Peech Boys’ “Don’t Make Me Wait” (1982)
Definition
Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage
Term
  • Developed at a Chicago dance club called the Warehouse
  • Frankie Knuckles brought Levan’s techniques with him to Chicago (c. 1977)
  • By the early 1980s the Chicago sound was developing (would soon be called “house”
  • E.g. Jesse Saunders’ “On and On” (1983)
Definition
House Music
Term
  • takes disco’s use of a prominent bass/kickdrum on every beat (four-to-the-floor beat)
  • Heavy electronic synthesizer bassline, electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and pop samples
Definition
House Music
Term
  • The Belleville Three (Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin saunderson) began producing a refined, futuristic, and sonically sophisticated version of dance music that many called “Detroit House”
  • Style now referred to as Techno
  • E.g. Juan Atkin’s “No UFOs” (1985)
Definition
Techno
Term
  • Emerged in the early 1990s
  • Fast tempo broken-beat drums
  • Tracks often used ragga vocals
  • E.g Goldie “Angel” (1995)
Definition
Jungle / Drum and Bass (DnB)
Term
  • This subgenre includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses
  • This music is not always intended for dancing (unlike most other types of EDM)
  • E.g. Moby “Natural Blues”
Definition
Electronica
Term
  • Mashups embody musical collisions
  • They often rely on irony and nostalgia
  • They have the potential to convey cultural critique
  • When listening to mashups, “we discover correspondences, connotations, and critical readings of performances that we may not have given a second thought” (307)
  • They have turned consumption into production
Definition

Mashup Poetics as Pedagogical Practice (2011), Wayne Marshall

 

Term
  • Brought the genre into public discourse
  • Combined vocals from Jay-Z’s The Black Album (2003) with backing tracks from the Beatles’ White Album (1968), creating The Grey Album (2004)
Definition
DJ Danger Mouse (Mashups)
Term

The documentary is particularly interested in the legal grey area of remixing existing works. The film features appearances by:

  • Gregg Gillis (better known as Girl Talk) an American musician specializing in mashup-style remixes, which often use a dozen or more unauthorized samples from different songs to create an entirely new track.
  • Director suggested we should take control back from government/industy
  • Issue with who is benefitting from copyright? (how much goes to the artist)
Definition

RiP! a Remix Manifesto

 

Directed by Brett Gaylor

Term

- Article gives us othe side of Manifesto Documentary

- Focus on sampling in Hip Hop

- Criticism on artists who make hit songs by sampling old songs

- MC Hammer "Cant Touch This" samples Rick James "Superfreak"

- Strauss:  "Popularity not due to rapper skills, but due to sample of other song"

- Questioned whether this was a sign of a creatival slump

Definition

Bracket, "Sample Mania"

 

Neil Strauss, "Sampling is a Creative Theft or Theft?)

Term

What is popular music text?

 

Definition

"Text" refers to any media form that is self-contained and conveys cultural meaning

 

Ex. Recordings, Album Covers, Music Videos, Live Performances



Term
Is concerned with identifying and analyzing the formal qualities of texts, their structures, and characteristics
Definition
Textual Analysis
Term

•Intertextuality is the idea that a text communicates its meaning only when it is situated in relation to other texts
•Preferred reading: dominant messages set within the codes and conventions that went into the creation of the text
•A song’s meaning is not definite
•Context plays a large role in how meanings are interpreted
•Cultural meanings are made by consumers

Definition
Shuker, Chapter 5 (Sounds, Meanings and Interpretations)
Term
What are the three (3) forms of text?
Definition

Graphic, Musical, Video


•Graphic Texts
▫Concert posters
▫Street flyers
▫T-Shirts
▫Packaging of albums
•Contribute to advertising/branding

 

•Musical Texts
▫Includes the study of both music and lyrics

 

Term

•Music Video
-Music videos are promotional devices
-There is often a pre-occupation with visual style
-Music videos abolish traditional boundaries between an image and its real-life referent

Definition
Shuker, Chapter 5 (Sounds, Meanings and Interpretations)
Term

- A category or type

 

- An organizing element
    Musical chracteristics

    Time periods

    Uses

    Types of listeners

 

- Defined in part by distinctions made by the music industry

Definition

Genres


- Genres standardize codes and conventions (Musical, lyric, visual, ideological)

 

- These codes are fluid

Term
  • Placed in the context of historical roots and social context
  • Stylistic traits in the music
  • Non-musical stylistic traits
  • Primary audience
  • The style’s durability

 

Dimensions of Popular Music Genres

Definition
Dimensions of Popular Music Genres
Term
In what 3 ways are genres categorized?
Definition

Metagenres

 

Genres

 

Subgenres

Term
Large categories, that contain variety of genres
Definition
Metagenres
Term
Category class below metagenres
Definition
Genres (Disco falls within pop)
Term
Category below genre
Definition
Subgenre (screamo falls within rock)
Term
Issues with Sampling:
Definition

1) Copyright

 

2) Creativity

Term
Musical Borrowing and Appropration
Definition

Appropriation

 

The artistic use of another's work in the creation of a new piece (ex. Andy Warhol: Campbell's Soup Can Art)

Term
Issue that comes up with covers is ________.
Definition

Authenticity
1. Author's Intent
2. Style and Genre Manipulation
3. Musical Originality

 

Shuker talks about authneticity in terms of


Pop and Rock polarized:


- Pop = artiface (trick people)
- Rock = Authentic

Term
Possessing original or inherent authority
Definition
Authenticity of Expression
Term
Based on Allan Moore (2002), what are the there types of authenticity?
Definition
Expression, Experience, Execution
Term

A modern visitor to a museum may not only see an object in a very different context from that which the artist intended, but may be unable to understand important aspects of the work. The authentic _______ may be impossible to recapture.

Definition
Authenticity of Experience
Term
3rd Person Authenticity
Definition
Authenticity of Execution
Term

Covers
- Originating moment

 

Spectrum of Copies
- Original
- Direct Copy
- Minor Interpreatation
- Major Interpretation
- Parody

Definition
Information
Term
  • Appropriation
  • Authenticity
  • Intertextuality
  • Context

    - Genre
    - Time period
    - Gender
    - Race
    - Location
Definition
Cover Songs
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