El Cuarto de Tula - Buena Vista Social Club

Tone Colour:

12 String Cuban Guitar

• 12 string Cuban Guitar (plucked)
• Normal Guitar (plucked)
• Electric Guitar (plucked)
• Male vocals (sung)
• Trombone (blown using mouthpiece)
• Trumpet (blown using mouthpiece)
• Maracas (shaken using hands)
• Drum Kit (hit with sticks)
• Double Bass (plucked)
• Bongos (hit with hands)
• Bells
• Cowbell (hit with mallets)

Texture:

• The texture is generally homophonic; melody and accompaniment with the main male vocals holding the melody and the instruments and other singers holding the accompaniment.
• However, the texture isn't homophonic the whole way through; in the intro it is monophonic as only the 12 string guitar plays and at 3.34 only the guitar plays as the caller and the rest of the band as the responders. 
• The texture is fairly dense and full with the exception of the monophonic guitar sections. 

Pitch:

• The melody and the accompaniment both move in steps
• The range of the melody is not very broad. It generally stays in the 'tender range'. This is the same for the accompanying vocals
• The back up vocals rhythm at 0.36 is repeated several times throughout the song, usually in a call and response with the main vocals.

Duration:

• The tempo is quite fast and lively; allegro
• The time signature is 4/4; common time
• The rhythm is syncopated; mainly the accompanying instruments
• Ostinatos
• Maracas play repeated ostinato; quavers in one hand and then the right hand plays on every beat
• Double Bass plays; long short, long short, long short on beats 'and 2' and 'and 4'
• 
  

Dynamics and Expressive Techniques:

• There aren't really any dynamics in this piece except when the guy plays the guitar without looking; the dynamics soften a little to the thinner texture
• At the beginning the guitar uses slides, turns and runs.

Structure:

BVSC

• Intro; just 12 string guitar playing
• 'Chorus'; everyone in and the main lyrics in the chorus are that of the title
• Break where main vocals sing
• 'Chorus'; backing vocals sing same lyrics as first chorus
• Main vocals
• 'Chorus'
• Verse; new idea
• 'Chorus'
• Main vocals
• 'Chorus'
• Instrumental; guitar
• 'Chorus'
• Main Vocals
• 'Chorus'
• Guitar; caller
• Vocals; responders
• Guitar



Album Cover


• Vocals and all instruments

El Cuarto de Tula

Indian Classical Music

• Indian classical music is based mainly on melody and rhythm rather than harmonies. This is very different to the basics of Western Classical Music.
• It originated in the Hindu temples, hence it being very religious and a way to connect eith God.
• It is a very old style of music
• Raga Sangeet (a system of Indian music)
• Can be traced back nearly 2000 years
• Ancient Vedic Scriptures
• There are 2 types of sounds according to these scriptures
• Vibrations of the air in the upper atmosphere
• Vibrations of the air in the lower atmosphere; closer to the earth. These are man-made or natural sounds, musical or non-musical
• Tradition of Indian Classical music is an oral one; it's taught directly by the guru to the disciple, not through notation.
• The 'Raga' is the heart of Indian music. It's the melodic form which the musician improvises, no notation used. It's imspired by the creative spirits of master musicians.
• A Raga is a precise scientific melodic form with its own peculiar ascending and descending movement, consisting of either a full seven note octave or a series of five or six notes. This structure is called the Arohana and the Avarohana. 
• The two main instruments played in Indian music are the Sittar and Tabla 

"Raga Anandi Kalyan"-Ravi & Anoushka Shankar

Pitch:

• The pitch is generally high
• The music doesn't sound like it's using normal Western scalic structure due to the pitch bends and ornamentation used.
• There is a constant lower drone underneath the main melody of the Sittar. This contrasts the higher pitch of the Sittar.
• Ravi uses many scalic runs and pitch bends for interest and contrast.
• The Tabla is an untuned drum/s but the way (technique) that is used to play the instrument, gives the different pitches.

Our Samba Batucada

We composed our own arrangement of Samba Batucada and performed it at Musicale 2011. We used many traditional instruments but also added some contemporary intruments to create interest and contrast. The different range of instruments also created a different sound in the Samba which was relevant to todays contemporary society.

Tone Colour:
Instruments Used:

• Timpani-deep, heavy, hollow sound
• Congas
• Bongos
• Snare Drum with snare off-higher and less nuffled sound than a snare drum with the snare on
• Piccolo Snare Drum-higher and not muffled sound compared to the snare drum because the piccolo is a smaller drum, meaning it has a higher pitch
• Agogo Bells-tinny sound
• Cowbell-tinny sound similar to Agogo bells but the sound is deeper
• Djembe-has three different sounds, but generally sounds bouncy and joyful
• Egg Shakers
• Guiro-rough sound as the guiro stick runs along the ridged edge of the guiro
• Cajon-slightly muffled

The Timpani, Egg Shakers, Guiro, Piccolo Snare Drum and Agogo Bells were the original instruments used, however we added in many other modern instruments.

Texture:

• The texture is polyphonic as there are many layers of sound of equal importance. However, the call and response section is homophonic as there are two layers of sound; the caller and the responders.The was only one caller and the rest of the class responded. This created the main textural change, hence creating interest, and increasing the dynamics and musical layers.

Structure:

• Call and Reponse Intro
• Samba-everyone in
• Pause
• Call and Response
• Samba-everyone in
• Accelerated Outro
•