"BEFORE I DIE ": ORIGINAL COMPOSITION WITH A CRITICAL ESSAY EXPLORING THE TECHNIQUES OF SIX CROSSOVER COMPOSERS. Robert Trusko

Transcription

1 "BEFORE I DIE ": ORIGINAL COMPOSITION WITH A CRITICAL ESSAY EXPLORING THE TECHNIQUES OF SIX CROSSOVER COMPOSERS Roert Trusko Thesis Preared or the Degree o MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2014 APPROVED: Kirsten Broerg, Major Proessor Catherine Ragland, Committee Memer Poovalur Sriji, Committee Memer Joseh Klein, Committee Memer and Chair o the Division o Comosition Benjamin Brand, Graduate Advisor in the College o Music James C. Scott, Dean o the College o Music Mark Wardell, Dean o the Toulouse Graduate School

2 Trusko, Roert. Beore I Die : Original Comosition ith a Critical Essay Exloring the Techniques o Six Crossover Comosers. Master o Arts (Comosition), August 2014, 106., 5 tales, 22 examles, iliograhy, 26 titles. Candy Chang develoed a ulic art installation here eole are given the oortunity to rite their ansers to "Beore I Die I ant to." in a ulic sace. I created one o these alls in Denton, TX and set it to music in a 12 minutes and 42 second iece titled Beore I Die..., hich comines elements o South Indian carnatic music, gosel, RB, jazz usion, and minimalism. The comosition as inluenced y the music o several crossover artists Becca Stevens, Michael League (Snarky Puy), Nico Muhly, Poovalur Sriji, Tigran Hamasyan, and James Blake. Crossover music, usion, and third-stream are all synonymous terms used to descrie music here multile genres or styles are authentically comined. The urose o this thesis is to examine the alance o musical elements in crossover orks as ell as ho seciic orks comosed y the artists mentioned have inluenced the creation o the Beore I Die... iece.

3 Coyright 2014 y Roert Trusko ii

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ould like to thank several eole ho have heled me make it through this roject. To my riends ho have shon me great music, suort, and love. To all the musicians rom the Beore I Die erormances ho ut in hours o their time to learn the arts and the madness: thanks to Jimin Lee, Marion Poers, Gay Byrd, Jordan Coing, Isael Creso or their vocal talents; to Brian Handleland, Mark Hartsuch, Jonathan Mones, Seth Ely, Daniel Matthes, and Iver Sneeva or their skills on ind instruments; to the rhythm section Anthony Corsaro, Kelly Eler, Daniel Porter, Nick Olynchu, Roy Blades, Kent Shores, Elliot Lieman, Ben Greenurg; and to the string layers Cameron Reherg, Russell Roinson, Michael, Thao, and Erin Rich. Thanks to the engineers Daniel Pardo and William de Alcuaz, to the videograhers David Soden and Nick Zerun. Thanks to Will Huener, Taylor Wimerg, and Raena McEuin or heling set u, move, uild, and romote the all. Thanks to my roommates ast and resent or dealing ith my madness. A secial thanks to Katie Troutman or editing, advising, encouraging me, and loving me through this entire rocess. Without you there ould e no thesis. I ould also like to thank my roessor Dr. Broerg. iii

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... iii LIST OF TABLES... vi LIST OF EXAMPLES... vii PART I CRITICAL ANALYSIS... 1 Introduction... 2 Comoser Backgrounds... 4 A Word aout Transcritions... 7 Techniques Alied to Beore I Die... 7 Polyhony... 7 Parallel Meter and Phrasing Alying Mora Rhythmic Stratiication in Snarky Puy s Flood Feel and Groove Metric Sudivision Gosel Inluence: Imlied Harmonic and Rhythmic Elements Pacing in Snarky Puy s Flood Familiar Material Exanding Accessiility Snarky Puy Marketing Method Marketing Model or Beore I Die Reaching a Wider Audience Discussion o Authenticity Friends not Hired Players Communal Eect Conclusion Aendix: Extended Musical Examles Biliograhy iv

6 PART II MUSICAL SCORE Instrumentation Perormance Notes Beore I Die v

7 LIST OF TABLES Page Tale 1: Rhythmic Grouings in Becca Steven s Weightless Tale 2: Harmonies rom Snarky Puy s Flood, B Section (1:56-2:51) Tale 3: Harmonies rom Snarky Puy s Solo o Second A Section (3:20-4:21) Tale 4: Formal Structure o Flood Tale 5: Chord Comarison o m and m in Beore I Die vi

8 LIST OF EXAMPLES Page Examle 1: Oening o Nico Muhly s Mothertongue Melodyne Analysis... 8 Examle 2: Oening o Beore I Die Melodyne Analysis... 9 Examle 3: Beore I Die Canon (m ) Examle 4: Transcrition o Becca Stevens Hocket (2:06) Examle 5: Beore I Die Polyhony (m ) Examle 6: Carnatic Grouings in 7/ Examle 7: Carnatic Shaes in 7/ Examle 8: Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song Phrase Grouings Examle 9: Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song Phrase Grouings Part Examle 10: Carnatic Rhythms and Mora in Beore I Die Examle 11: Transcrition o Drum Machine in James Blake s Unluck Examle 12: Drum Machine Part in Beore I Die Examle 13: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) Examle 14: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) Examle 15: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) Examle 16: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) Examle 17: Comarison o Lines in B Section and Drum Solo o Flood Examle 18: Transcrition o Middle Section (1:55) o Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song Examle 19: Beore I Die Voice (m ) Examle 20: Beore I Die Voice (m ) Examle A.1: Transcrition o Becca Steven s Weightless m.(1-27) Examle A.2: Transcrition o Snarky Puy s Flood (m.1-28) vii

9 PART I CRITICAL ANALYSIS 1

10 Introduction In 2011, Candy Chang develoed the art installation Beore I Die... in Ne Orleans. The installation as a chalkoard uilt on the side o an aandoned house covered ith a grid o stenciled ords that stated "Beore I Die I ant to." The all gave eole the oortunity to rite their ersonal thoughts in chalk and alloed them to connect ith the community. The Beore I Die all reminded eole that no individual is alone and that eole are mortal. Since the irst installation in Ne Orleans, over 400 alls have een created in more than 25 languages and uilt in over 60 countries. 1 The Beore I Die concet, coined y Candy Chang, served as an insiration or not only my thesis, ut it also laid a oundation or my on creative thought and comositional ersectives. I created a iece o music ith a text dran rom several Beore I Die alls hich also included an installation that several colleagues and I constructed at the University o North Texas Lirary Mall in Denton, Texas. The iece entitled Beore I Die... is 12 minutes and 42 seconds in length, and it comines elements o South Indian carnatic music, gosel, RB, jazz usion, and minimalism. The 21-layer iece includes the olloing instrumentation: 4 voices: 2 soranos, 2 altos 4 inds: lute, alto saxohone (doules clarinet), tenor saxohone (doule clarinet and ass clarinet), trumet (doules lugelhorn) String quartet: violin I, violin II, viola, cello 2 electric guitars (volume edal, 1 octave shiter, distortion, rever) Keyoard (Fender Rhodes sound) Drum set 1 Beore I Die. Candychang.com. Accessed January 30, htt://candychang.com/eore-i-die-in-nola/ 2

11 Amliied ass (doule ass and electric ass) Electronics (Aleton Live layack o ile, interace, slitters, and headhones or 22 erormers) The musicians ho remiered the ork included jazz, orld music, and classically trained alumni and current students rom the University o North Texas. The ork as remiered on Saturday, Novemer 23, 2013 at 8:00 m at The Warehouse; a art o The Panhandle House located at 313 N Locust St, Denton, Texas The entire Beore I Die roject included a three-hour concert, a recording session, a documentary, a live video recording, an art installation, and romotion. Thanks to the hard ork o my team and I, e successully raised $1,900 or the roject through Kickstarter. The Beore I Die comosition egins ith a static texture that utilizes selling chords. The texture thickens ith re-recorded voices and vocoder, oth o hich state text rom the all. The ork then moves through several ne textures including a slo groove ith a vocal canon and a soering interjection rom the keyoard and voice. The iece also includes comositional techniques o hocketing, imrovised solos, canons, edal oints, lush harmonies, and hal-ste dissonances, hich ultimately uild to a climax at the conclusion o the iece. The comosition as inluenced y the music o several erormers and comosers including Becca Stevens, Snarky Puy, Nico Muhly, Poovalur Sriji, Tigran Hamasyan, and James Blake. These artists all have one rimary trait in common: their music is considered crossover music. Crossover music, usion, and third-stream are all synonymous terms used to descrie music here multile genres or styles are authentically comined. The urose o this thesis is to examine the alance o musical elements in crossover orks as ell as ho seciic orks 3

12 comosed y the artists mentioned aove have inluenced the creation o the Beore I Die... iece. Comoser Backgrounds Becca Stevens Becca Stevens is a comoser, singer, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist that gre u as a memer o a musical amily. Both her rother and ather comose classical music. In high school, Stevens attended North Carolina School o the Arts here she studied jazz and classical guitar. Folloing high school graduation, Stevens attended the Ne School in Ne York City or jazz and contemorary music. She has collaorated ith jazz greats such as ianist Brad Mehldau and vocalist Gretchen Parlato. In 2014 Stevens orked ith contemorary classical comoser Timo Andres at the Ecstatic Music Festival. Her and, Becca Stevens Band, is a olk ensemle ith the olloing instrumentation: doule ass, ercussion, guitar (douling on ukulele and charango), accordion (douling on iano), and voices. The memers Liam Roinson (accordion, keyoards, vocals), Chris Tordini (uright ass, vocals) and Jordan Perlson (drums and ercussion) all attended college or jazz. The ensemle comines elements o classical, jazz, o, and olk music into ell-crated songs and arrangements. Seciically, Steven s music has dense harmonies, canons, odd hrase structures, hocketing, and a ide range o timres. 2 Nico Muhly Nico Muhly is a comoser and ianist ho received his degree at the Julliard School o 2 Aout, Beccastevens.com, htt://.eccastevens.com/aout, (March 28, 2014). 4

13 Music. Muhly has ritten or many classical mediums and has received a commission or his oera To Boys to e erormed at the Ne York Metroolitan Oera. In addition to his strictly classical music, Nico Muhly collaorates ith Bedroom Community lael mates Sigur Rós. Muhly has also created string arrangements or Björk. Muhly s original comositions commonly use electronics, synthesizers, and samling techniques that are resent in oular electronic dance music. Aesthetically, much o Muhly s music is inluenced y minimalism, seciically the styles o Steve Reich. Muhly includes the use o additive samles as ell as large selling sonorities. 3 Poovalur Sriji Poovalur Sriji is a comoser and mridangam layer ho teaches the South Indian Bridge Cross Cultural Ensemle at the University o North Texas. Sriji has created many orks or the ensemle and has also erormed around the orld laying many genres o music. Sriji has given over 1,000 carnatic concerts since In 1996 Sriji collaorated ith Bela Fleck and received a Grammy nomination. Sriji s original comositions are not tyically ritten or a ixed ensemle, ut rather the orks are adated to hatever instrumentation is availale or the erormance. His music comines rhythmic and scalar concets rom carnatic music and interlocking arts rom gamelan music. Sriji oten collaorates ith his students to create ne ieces that can also involve any o the musical inluences o the students. These inluences tyically include jazz, classical, and rock music. 4 3 Biograhy, Nicomuhly.com, htt://nicomuhly.com/iograhy, (Fe 7, 2014). 4 Aout, Poovalur.com, htt://.oovalur.com/aout.html, (January 30, 2014). 5

14 Michael League Michael League is a assist, comoser, arranger, and roducer ho attended University o North Texas. League s music is rimarily ritten or his ensemle, Snarky Puy, hich is a grou that comines elements o gosel, RB, Aro-Cariean, and jazz music. The ensemle is a collective o over 30 musicians ho studied music through various music institutions, including the University o North Texas, as ell as Arican American gosel churches. While on tour, the ensemle tyically consists o ass, drum set, ercussion, guitar(s), keyoard(s), trumet(s), and saxohone. Within the recording studio the ensemle also utilizes strings, singers, and additional layers o the reviously mentioned instruments. The music is deined on their esite as, music or the rain and the ooty, imlying that not only can the music e comlex and virtuosic, ut it ill make the listener ant to dance. 5 James Blake James Blake is a ianist, comoser, vocalist, and roducer knon or his electronic music. He attended the University o London and received a degree in oular music. Blake s sel-titled alum exlores the comination o electronic music, such as duste, ith elements o gosel, RB, and hi-ho. The alum layers harmony, intricately incororated autotune and vocoder, glitched drum machines, and ell-aced structures. 6 5 Aout, Snarkyuy.com, htt://snarkyuy.com, (March, 2014). 6 Edards, Rhiannon. James Blake: my university exerience. The Telegrah, (Setemer 5 th, 2013). 6

15 Tigran Hamasyan Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian ianist, comoser, and vocalist knon or his comositions that comine classical, jazz, Armenian olk, and oular electronic music. In 2013, Hamasyan on the Vilcek Prize or Creative Promise in Contemorary Music. During the same year, he also released his most recent alum Shado Theatre. Hamasyan s ensemle tyically consists o iano, drum set, ass (acoustic and electric), saxohone (doules on lute), and voice. On recordings, violin is oten resent. 7 A Word aout Transcritions Ater studying these orks in deth I created original transcritions. Some o the transcritions sho each individual art hile others only sho seciically excerted arts that are discussed in urther detail. Some transcritions are resented in grah orm hile others are in standard notation. Techniques Alied to Beore I Die The olloing section exlores techniques rom the reviously mentioned comosers and ho the techniques have een alied to the Beore I Die ork. The section egins y looking at olyhonic textures. Polyhony Polyhony is deined y Oxord Dictionary as the style o simultaneously comining a 7 Biograhy, Tigranhamasyan.com, htt://.tigranhamasyan.com/iograhy, (Fe 7, 2014). 7

16 numer o arts, each orming an individual melody and harmonizing ith each other. 8 In the music exlored in this document, each musician has an indeendent linear attern, hich layer uon each other to contriute to the texture. Each is interdeendent uon the other arts in order to create the overall exerience. Polyhony in Nico Muhly s Mothertongue Nico Muhly s Mothertongue oens ith a voice saying letters o the alhaet, olloed y a second, third, and ourth voice enters seaking syllales at dierent rates. This creates a cascading eect that is interruted y ells and lute in the uer register. The high lute and ells are then ansered y a heavily it crushed, or distorted, cello. Examle 1 deicts the entrances o the instruments over time. Note that each o the descending voices is accomanied y a violin. Examle 1: Oening o Nico Muhly s Mothertongue Melodyne Analysis 8 Oxord Dictionary Online, (March 31 st, 2014). 8

17 For the oening o my comosition, I utilized textural ideas like those o Nico Muhly s Mothertongue to create a ash o sound over sells o distortion. In many o his orks, Muhly asks musicians to sing itches in indeterminate rhythmic atterns hile imrovising uon a seciic text (i.e. states, days o the eek, letters, numers, etc.). Within Beore I Die, I used text rom the all that my colleagues and I uilt, and, ater rerecording certain texts, develoed a texture o drones, seech, and singing. In contrast to Muhly, I used rerecorded vocoders, hich layed the various rhythms and itches o the hrase eore I die. These various rhythms sell rom a distorted ass note. Examle 2 demonstrates the entrances o the instruments over time ithin the Beore I Die iece. Examle 2: Oening o Beore I Die Melodyne Analysis Polyhony in Becca Stevens Weightless Becca Steven s Weightless is a ork or three voices, doule ass, guitar, drum set, and accordion. To dierent olyhonic textures are resent ithin the ork: canon and hocket. 9

18 During the irst section o the iece listeners are introduced to the original melodic hrase (m.1-10). The hrase oerates as a run-on sentence that is quite comlex. This idea reeats and is then ound in canon in all three voices at 1:14 in the recording: Stevens enters on eat one, Liam Roinson enters on eat three, and Chris Tordini enters on eat our. The singers erorm in a staccato style so that each voice s articulations can e clearly heard. Because Steven s voice is an octave higher than the other to singers, there is a searation eteen her art and the other to. Further making this distinction is that Roinson and Tordini s arts are one eat aart rom each other. These staggered entrances contriute to a greater ash. Tordini s art is loer in the mix, hich makes it sound more like a quarter note delay o Roinson s art. Examle A.1 in the aendix is a comlete transcrition o measures 1-27 o Becca Steven s Weightless. The intricacy and rhythmic comlexity o the canon ound rom measures 20 to 27 is suorted y the diatonic melodic construction and the regular harmonic oundation. Each ar alternates eteen G major and F major. My ersonal examination o Becca Stevens canon in Weightless gave me knoledge aout ho canons can e hrased. Studying Steven s canonic riting also rovided me ith a deeer understanding o the structural elements involved in the develoment o canons. When I uilt the canon or my iece I maintained a simle harmonic rhythm similar to the canon in Weightless. The harmony alternates eteen BMaj7 and FMaj7. In order to exlore other colors I moved the ass around to create other chords ith these uer voicings. Examle 3 is an excert rom Beore I Die shoing the vocal canon and harmonies. 10

19 Examle 3: Beore I Die Canon (m ) During the 11/8 section o Weightless (1:44) the melodic line is hocketed eteen all three voices. The use o hocket in this articular moment in Weightless rovided the asis or intense melodic gesture. This section includes seven dierent musical ideas erormed y our erormers. No musician lays the same linear idea, ut several o the ideas are suorted y each other. The drum set suorts Stevens guitar art, hile the accordion line suorts all three vocal arts. Audily studying this articular excert reveals that the vocalists emellish and color the line o the accordion. 11

20 Examle 4: Transcrition o Becca Stevens Hocket (2:06) Like the Stevens examle, in measures o Beore I Die there are ten dierent rhythmic ideas laid on to o one another. The our vocalists construct an ascending hocketed hrase, the guitars interlock a 4+3 hrase, the inds alternate and atterns, hile the ass, keyoards, and drums lay a hrase. The inds create the melody and the rest o the ensemle lays interlocking suorting textures. 12

21 Examle 5: Beore I Die Polyhony (m ) 13

22 These interlocking hrase structures can also e ound in other kinds o music, including the Balinese gamelan and the Shona mira music. In the Balinese gamelan, a tye o ercussion ensemle, layers erorm short motives hich are layered ith other instruments and ornamented, creating a ash o sound. In Shona mira music, there are interlocking rhythms and call-and-resonse sections. In oth o these kinds o music as ell as in Beore I Die, the interlocking arts serve as communal elements in the ay the music is erormed and exerienced. Parallel Meter and Phrasing Several elements ound ithin Beore I Die are directly linked to my exeriences in the UNT South Indian Cross Cultural Ensemle. Ater studying South Indian carnatic music or to years ith Poovalur Sriji, one seciic South Indian rhythmic concet that I learned involves the use o simultaneously occurring meters. This concet is ound throughout many o the orks studied and examined in this roject. In estern comosition this articular concet is called arallel meter. In his thesis Asects o Rhythm in the Music and Imrovisations in Six Pieces y Avishai Cohen, Nicholas Aey descries concet o arallel meter as: the juxtaosition o to or more meters o the same temoral length ith the same asic division or delierate exloitation y the soloists and accomanists. Seciically, this concet is only alicale to rhythmic structures estalished y the comosition, reventing conusion ith tyical cross-rhythms. (Aey, 2011, ii.) Within carnatic music it is ossile to hear many divisions o a meter. In 7/4, or examle, a estern-trained musician may think o the divisions o eighth notes in 4+3 or 3+4. A carnatic musician, hoever, may aly a variety o dierent grouings. The simlest variations o division in carnatic music involve slitting the our into to grous o to. 14

23 The musician ould then move the location o the grouing o three into dierent arts o the measure. Belo are several examles that deict various carnatic divisions through the use o numerical values. They could lay all divisions o each grouing or just the irst note o the grouing. I learned these seciic concets rom Poovalur Sriji. Each numer reresents a grouing o eighth notes, and each line reresents a rhythmic hrase. Examle 6: Carnatic Grouings in 7/ I the numer o ars is douled the ossiilities increase: This grouing could e urther divided and maniulated: This idea and all reviously mentioned ideas could e layed ackard and orard. The versatility o arallel meters creates crescendos and decrescendos as ell as diamond or hourglass shaes. The diamond and hourglass shaes ork as alindromes. 15

24 Examle 7: Carnatic Shaes in 7/4 In addition to my ersonal uses o these tools in comosition, these detailed rhythmic concetualizations and methodologies can also e alied hen listening to orks y other artists. During Becca Stevens song Weightless, the oening melodic line is in 4/4, although her lyrical hrases orm grouings that are not commonly ound in 4/4. When alying the carnatic method o listening one could hear the oening ar hrased as and the sequent ar as In the olloing tale the grouings are roken don or the oening melodic line o Weightless. The arentheses in the olloing tale reresent each ar. In the case o measures 4 and 5, to arentheses are given on each side ecause the grouings continue over the ar line. Tale 1: Rhythmic Grouings in Becca Steven s Weightless Measure Numer Grouing 1 2 ( )( ) 3 4 ( )( ) 4 5 (( )) 6 7 ( ) ( ) 16

25 When the and enters in measure 10, the grouings continue to generally suort the concet o arallel meter through hrasing ith every ourth ar sounding as This concet can also e alied to the third section o Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song. Road Song, a ork or iano, violin, to voices, doule ass, and drum set, resents a micrometer at 1:55 that oerates as ollos: These articular grouings ere determined y the volume and the register o each note o the melody. The C-D on the last to eats o the 2 nd, 4 th, and 6 th measure reresent the eginning o each hrase (see examle 8a). When the hrase reeats, the grouings stay the same (examle 9). Examles 8 and 9 sho ho the grouings may e heard: Examle 8: Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song Phrase Grouings Examle 9: Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song Phrase Grouings Part 2 Measures o Beore I Die contain arallel meters: the inds lay 4+3 continuously hile the keyoards lay The melody, in grous o 4+3, occurs in to-ar hrases through the use o long rhythmic durations that soar over the texture. At measure 265 the grouings change, so that the melody sounds as though it is in 4+3 and the accomaniment is in grouings o (2+2+3) (2+2+3) ( ). The use o arallel meters rovides rhythmic tension and ultimately creates a sense o unredictaility and continuous orard momentum. Measures can e vieed in examle 5. 17

26 Alying Mora Beore I Die... egins ith metric grouings o 4/4 in the inds, strings, voices, and electronics. In measures in Beore I Die guitar 1 and acoustic ass doule a reducing rhythmic idea rom South Indian music. First the idea is introduced as ive held eats, hich gradually introduce ive grous o ive sixteenth notes. The idea then reduces to ive quarter notes three times, and inally aears as grouings o ive eighth notes three times. The irst igure occurs seven times, the to-note igure occurs ive times, the three-note hrase occurs six times, and the ascending our-note motive occurs tice. Starting at rehearsal letter D, the inal hrase acts as a rhythmic cadence also knon in carnatic music as a mora. In a mora, or rhythmic cadential attern, each motive occurs three times and each idea is a diminution o the revious motive. In this case, the mora is three reetitions o a our-note hrase consisting o a duration o ive eighth notes, olloed y three reetitions o our quarter notes, and inally three reetitions o a our dotted eighth note hrase. Examle 10 demonstrates the reduction and utilization o mora. Rhythmic Stratiication in Snarky Puy s Flood In Snarky Puy s Flood there is a singale melody as a rimary ocal oint. The melody is accomanied y a danceale groove. A closer analysis o the song ill sho that the groove is in 7/4; the drum set lays in large hrases o 7/4 hile the keyoard and guitar hrase in quicker measures o 7/8. The eginning o the melody sounds as though it occurs on the ueat, ecause the listener erceives the time in 7/4, as oosed to to smaller measures o 7/8. 18

27 Examle 10: Carnatic Rhythms and Mora in Beore I Die It should e noted that the assist and drummer hrase lines across the ar line hich connect the sarse melodic hrases. This creates a more interactive energy in the and and ulls the listener urther into the iece. Examle A.2 in the aendix rovides a detailed transcrition o the irst 28 measures. Another examle rom the same comosition is ound in the B section. The melody contains long sustained notes that loat aove a groove; the meter eels like a large to in a comound meter that indicates a 6/8 time, though in actuality, the larger to is divided into to grous o 5/8 and the 5/8 meter is ultimately masked y layers o olymeter. The ercussionist lays a groove o to dotted eighths and a quarter note hich masks the eeling o the irst three eighth notes. 3+2 is generally a more diicult rhythm to eel than 3+2, hich 19

28 makes it seem more disorienting. The ass suorts the idea o to, as ell as the long soaring melody. When ocusing on the duration o the individual notes in the melody, it ecomes clear that the grouings are uneven, hich imlies the 3+2 hrasing. Flood is similar to Beore I Die in several asects including meter and groove. Like Flood, the meter or my iece can e elt in either a quick 7/8 or a moderate 7/4. As mentioned reviously, Beore I Die contains several layers ith dierent rhythmic grouings, relating to oth the South Indian style and to the music o Snarky Puy. It must also e mentioned that the idea o eeling a iece simultaneously in to dierent time signatures is an indigenious trait to Arican music, such as Shona mira music, as ell as Aro-Carriean music. Feel and Groove Ben Ratli s article, Music: Out o a Rut and Into a Ne Groove, descries the change rom the RB sound o the 90s to the develoment o neo-soul. Ratli exlains that early 90 s RB as ocused on releasing singles, cookie-cutter designs, and rimarily electronicallyroduced sounds. In 2000 came D Angelo s sohomore alum Voodoo, hich deined a ne sound. One o the alum s singles, Untitled, deies all rules o this revious style. The music is more groove oriented, ocused on the and (the vocals ere loer in the mix), and had live musicians on the record as ell as live erormers. Artists like D Angelo and Maxell ecame singer-songriters and ere including elements o other genres such as jazz and music o other cultures. This as the eginning o neo-soul music, hich made reerences to the music o the 60 s and 70 s, ith modernized grooves and additional inluences. 20

29 In much o the music that inluenced Beore I Die, there is a seciic eel and groove that is essential or erormance. This is the sound made amous y roducer J-Dilla, drummer mir Questlove Thomson, assist Pino Palladino, keyoardist James Poysner, trumeter Roy Hargrove, and vocalist D Angelo. In D Angelo s alum Voodoo, J-Dilla started to develo drum machine arts that ere not erectly in time. This unevenness created a more human eel. Instead o quantizing and making short to-ar drum loos, J-Dilla recorded lengthy 128 measure tracks o rogrammed drums. Within these tracks, small metric glitches ould occur such as a late snare. This human eel is art o hat set J-Dilla s roduction aart rom many other roducers. Once the drum machine as recorded, Questlove and Piano Palladino ould record a groove that locked ith the o the grid rogrammed drums. Oten Questlove s snare and high hat consistently laid ehind the eat, hile the ass drum as on the eat. Palladino s ass line laid eore and ehind the eat. Palladino descries this eel in an article in Slate y Jason King: Hi-ho is music that s een deconstructed, it's made u o its o samles arranged in dierent laces and oten laced ehind the eat. The ay eole samled stu inluenced D[ Angelo] in terms o the ay he ould rite his music. When I irst heard the acking tracks or Voodoo, it struck me as the kind o thing J-Dilla ould do, ho he ould deconstruct and reconstruct rhythms and just kinda delierately mess things u. So you get these messed-u oly rhythms. You kno, Dilla might take a our-chord attern and start it on the second chord. D does that kinda thing too in his riting. (King, 2013) This articular style and eel can e ound in a variety o music that insired the Beore I Die roject including Arican American gosel, the music o Snarky Puy, Tigran Hamasyan, and James Blake. On Blake s track Unluck, the oening section contains the J-Dilla eel. 21

30 Metric Sudivision In Unluck, the drum set rovides a loose oundation or the song. In the irst section o the song, the snare samle lies incredily ar the ehind the eat; this instaility creates an uneasy sensation. During the chorus section (0:55), the high hat alternates eteen various divisions o 4 and 3. The drum machine art is a six-eat loo that occurs in a our-ar hrase, hich hels intensiy that eeling o instaility. Examle 11: Transcrition o Drum Machine in James Blake s Unluck During Beore I Die I used alternating divisions o the ar moving eteen tulets o 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, hich can e seen in Examle 12. The rerecorded drums and electronics rom measures are in a style reminiscent o oth J-Dilla and James Blake: the rerecorded electronics ush and ull much like J-Dilla s drum tracks, hile the keyoard arts recorded into the electronics are modeled ater the sound o Blake s Prohet 08 keyoard. Similar to Blake s song I Never Learnt to Share, there is a chromatic uild-u that utilizes glitched drums and dissonant keyoards. Examle 12: Drum Machine Part in Beore I Die 22

31 Gosel Inluence: Imlied Harmonic and Rhythmic Elements Many elements o Arican American gosel music involve the concet o imlied musical materials. In the second B section o Flood, Roert Sut Searight, a gosel drummer rom Dallas, erorms virtuosic metric modulations. Many gosel drummers oten ractice or shed together, here one drummer holds a groove hile the other solos. On Saturday, Octoer 19, 2013 I had the rivilege o attending one o the most successul Dallas drummer s clinics at Zion Chael in Lancaster, Texas. The drummer s name is Cleon Edards and he currently lays or Erykah Badu as ell as RC and The Gritz, RSVP, Jill Scott, Snarky Puy, and in the gosel ield. Cleon exlained the concet o a drummer shed, here to drummers lay at the same time. One holds groove hile the other solos and ills. They then sitch roles, ith the idea that each layer is suosed to imrove over time. He had all o the memers o the clinic articiate in a mini-shed. As each erson layed, Cleon rought u other musical techniques to make the drumming more interesting. He talked aout dynamics, hich many o the younger drummers lacked, as ell as the idea o suorting the main idea. When soloing, Cleon exlained that the soloist may lay anything he/she desires including various time signatures, eel, metric modulation as long as the soloist ends in the hrase. Another ay o descriing this is that the original groove is to e imlied during the solo. This imlied rhythmic element can also e alied to the role o the ass layer. Michael League, a seasoned gosel ass layer, oten imlies grooves hen erorming. From the irst 28 measures o Flood, it ecomes clear that the ass layer lays many variations o the same line ith dierent syncoated rhythms. In measures 20-21, League lays a hrase over the ar 23

32 line hich ends inside o the imlied groove. Unlike other styles here the ass lays the same attern in an ostinato ashion, this style allos the layer to imrovise around the groove, not just create exact reetitions. Another examle o imlied musical materials is ound ithin the harmonies o Snarky Puy s Flood. The iece oens ith to alternating chords, each o hich is relatively amiguous and allos or the chord to e heard many dierent ays. The irst chord is F#-C#- D#; the D# resolves to the E, imlying that e are erhas in the key o E major. The second chord, selled as A-B-C#-G#, more clearly suggests an AMaj7 harmony. The ass layer enters in the 5 th measure laying a lick in B minor entatonic to urther oscure the key center in the ork. With a B sounding in the ass, the resulting irst chord is a B-11 (B-F#-C#-E). The same ass lick occurs over the second chord, continuing the harmonic amiguity, as the chords seem to loat over the ass art. This tye o amiguity is an examle o imlied musical materials. Throughout the song s A section, the keyoard art has the same to alternating chords, hile the changing ass notes result in dierent harmonies, alloing or more imrovised reharmonizations and more reedom in the ass art. Such elements commonly occur in traditional and contemorary Arican American gosel music. Another examle o imlied harmonies can e ound in Flood s irst B section. The keyoard and guitars lay the notes F#-G#-D# or the irst chord and G-A-E or the second. The ass line moves to dierent notes creating unique sonorities, even though the same to alternating chords continue in the keyoards and guitar. Both chords in the keyoard and guitar arts are susended chords. Belo is a tale descriing the various ass notes and the resulting 24

33 harmony throughout the irst B section o Flood. In measures the resulting harmony is an A7sus ecause the string melody includes a D, thus comleting the chord. Tale 2: Harmonies rom Snarky Puy s Flood, B Section (1:56-2:51) Measure Piano/ Guitar Notes Bass Part Resulting Chord F# C# D# C# C#sus G A E G Gsus F# C# D# C# C#sus G A E G Gsus F# C# D# C# C#sus G A E G Gsus F# C# D# C# C#sus G A E E Emin(add11) F# C# D# F# D#sus/F# G A E A A7sus During the second solo section in the song (3:20), there is another examle o imlied harmonic materials. Instead o laying hrases in B minor entatonic or E major, this time League alternates eteen a C# Minor entatonic, A Lydian, and occasionally F# Dorian. Tale 3: Harmonies rom Snarky Puy s Solo o Second A Section (3:20-4:21) Measure Piano/ Guitar Notes Bass Part Resulting Chord 57 F# G# E C# C#min(add11) 58 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 59 F# G# E C# C#min(add11) 60 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 61 F# G# E C# C#min(add11) 62 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 63 F# G# E C# C#min(add11) 64 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 65 F# G# E F# F#min9(no 3rd) 66 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 67 F# G# E F# F#min9(no 3rd) 68 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 69 F# G# E F# F#min9(no 3rd) 70 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 71 F# G# E C# C#min(add11) 72 A B C# F# A AMaj(add13) 25

34 A comarale rameork alied to several arts o Beore I Die. In measures , a our-chord harmonic attern occurs, as shon in examle 13. Examle 13: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) The chord sequence starting measure 314 uses the same GMajor7(no3rd) and A Major7(no3rd) voicing, ut no ith ne ass notes, a B or the irst chord and a D or the second. Examle 14: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) Another examle o this harmonic aroach occurs in measure 266 here the ass note lays a edal F as the chords move rom GMaj9(no 3 rd ) to AMaj9(no 3 rd ) to BMaj7(add11). 26

35 Examle 15: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) A more astract relationshi to the gosel-style chord construction is at the eginning o the ork, hen the keyoard art consists o to stacked triads on to o one another. Measure 105 has an A major chord in the right hand or the hole measure, hile the let hand lays A major, B major, and inally G major chords. Examle 16: Beore I Die. Keyoards (m ) The descending ass line during the canon o Beore I Die is a relection o the imlied musical materials mentioned reviously during the discussion o Flood. Pacing in Snarky Puy s Flood The musical and technical acility o the Snarky Puy aids in shaing the overall contour o their comosition Flood. Even though the keyoard art stays the same, the ass groove changes rhythm and serves to ush the music orard. Players erorm ills and secondary gestures over the ar line, hich also hel rovide orard motion through the ork. 27

36 There are only a e motives ound in Flood: an A section melody ith accomaniment, a B section melody ith accomaniment, and B section, hich has a longer melody than the original B section. The texture o the B section motive ecomes more intense over time y changing the guitar ri to a hal-ste in the ottom. Examle 17 comares the guitar line rom the irst B section o Flood (1:56) ith the solo section o Flood (5:57). Examle 17: Comarison o Lines in B Section and Drum Solo o Flood The B section advances ith a eel o the larger 5/4, comining elements o the A section groove into the B accomaniment. An augmented version o the B section melody is introduced at the end o Sut s drum solo hile the tension continues uilding. Tale 4: Formal Structure o Flood Measures Section Meter Melody Accomaniment 1-8 Introduction 7/4 None A 9-28 A 7/4 A A B 5/4 B B A 7/4 A A' Ne Bass Line B' (Drum Solo) 5/4 B' B' + A' Bass Line C 4/4 B'' C+ A' Bass line The iece uilds rogressively until 7:10, here there is only drum set and guitar, creating an element o uncertainty eore the and alls into a ackeat 4/4 groove. This continues until a alse ending (C section) here the groove returns one more time. Tale 4 shos sections o Flood and the derivation o the comosition s musical materials. 28

37 Snarky Puy s Flood is a ell-aced iece, develoing each motive sloly and delierately. Its additive lock orm eectively suorts an imrovised rameork y the rhythm section and soloists. As a result, the ork invokes a visceral resonse and an energy that must e engaged y the audience. This acing as ell as similar models such as The Funky Knuckles song Rain Journey ere incredily inluential on the creation o Beore I Die... Seciically, the end section o Beore I Die uilds ith a drum solo and then ith a guitar solo at the climax. The ork alternates eteen sections and doesn t introduce ne material, seciically the BMaj7(add11) chord, until late in the iece. Beore I Die also oerates on an additive structure here ideas are layered on to o each other. Familiar Material When listening to the drum solo in Flood, the listener can ollo the guitar art throughout the entire section. Familiar or constant material can kee a listener grounded through more comlicated musical textures. For examle, the oening descending third motive o Beethoven s Fith Symhony can e heard throughout the irst movement o the iece. This motive ecomes distorted and the amount o musical inormation increases as the comoser takes the listener on a journey. Similarly, the oening texture in Mothertongue is a constant that kees the listener grounded as interjections occur rom high inds and itched ercussion. During many carnatic erormances the mridangam, much like the drummer in a gosel setting, the layer oten erorms virtuosic rhythms hile the rest o the ensemle kees tala, a orm o conducting. 29

38 In the case o Becca Steven s Weightless, the melody is diicult to sing and may not e easily retained in the listener s ear. The rhythm is comlex, and involves arallel meter. The most constant element o this iece is the text, hich reeats and serves as a guide through the various textures o the iece: There s nothing like itnessing the moment that a lie lets loose and alls to the ground eak autumn inds ti and easy like a ish uon eightless dandelion seeds each lie eaming at its rightest no alling the road rises u to greet and is ainted or the day sacred to itness hen lie lets loose and e grateul or this git (Becca Stevens 2011). The reeated text occurs three times eore moving to a dierent text; ith each iteration, the texture ecomes additively more intricate. When the text irst enters, it is sung y to voices and accomanied y guitar. The ass enters during the irst stanza and the drums enter during the interlude ater the irst stanza. The texture uilds during the second reetition, ith the selling accordion chords and sustained ackground vocals roviding orard motion. In the third stanza, the melody is resented in canon, adding to the intricacy o the texture and uilding until a release in the second section in 11/8. A similar model o introducing materials ith an additively comlicated texture may e ound in Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song. In this ork, Hamasyan takes an idea and reeats it ith alterations. Once the idea has started to develo, he ill occasionally restart ith a ne idea. The oening gesture o Road Song he egins ith solo iano, ith the voice and violin 30

39 joining in the ourth ar, soon ater accomanied y the ass. This second our-ar hrase ends ith a hiccued gesture and then the oening motive is reeated. This gesture is then relaced y another solo iano idea, hich is a rhythmically more comlex version o the original idea that develos again into something still larger. Another examle o a constant musical element may e ound in the middle section o Road Song. During this 6/8 section, the iano is laying a quick and constantly-changing motive hile the vocalist and violinist erorm a long legato line aove the melody. The comlexity o the iano art is grounded y the simlicity o the melody. Examle 18 is a transcrition o the middle section o this ork. Examle 18: Transcrition o Middle Section (1:55) o Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song During the olloing section hen the drum set enters, the accomaniment ecomes even more comlicated hile the melody remains simle. This rovides the listener ith something to ocus on hile the ackground changes at a ast rate. 31

40 When comosing the transition (m ) in Beore I Die it as diicult to ind a ay to connect the electronics section and the large melody at the end o the iece. Ater my irst listen to Tigran Hamasyan s Road Song, I realized that a keyoard-driven section ould ork onderully as a transition in my ork. I used to the melody rom the revious section at the start o the transition, ut modulated it through the key o the next section o the ork. Using this melody rovides continuity that the listener can recall through the changing context o the transition. Examle 19 shos the original melody rom measure 154, hile examle 20 shos the melody used during the transition in measure 174. Examle 19: Beore I Die Voice (m ) Examle 20: Beore I Die Voice (m ) The transitional version o the melody has several eatures that create a sense o orard motion. At this oint, the iece is moving at doule seed ith an areggiating iano 32

41 art ased on our chords: one ne chord (Gmin9), one chord rom the canon (Dmin(add11)), and to chords rom the 7/8 section (Emin11 and GMaj7(omit3)). These chords continue reeating until the end o the section. Tale 5: Chord Comarison o m and m in Beore I Die Measure Original Measure Transition 154 BMaj7 174 Gmin9 175 Dmin(add11) 155 Dmin Emin GMaj7 (omit3) 156 BMaj7/F 178 Gmin9 179 Dmin(add11) 157 Amin7 180 Emin GMaj7 (omit3) 158 BMaj7 182 Gmin9 183 Dmin(add11) 159 Fmaj7/A 184 Emin GMaj7 (omit3) 160 BMaj7 186 Gmin9 187 Dmin(add11) 161 FMaj7 188 Emin GMaj7 (omit3) Exanding Accessiility In addition to examining these artists orks, I have also studied the methods these artists have used to make a living and to reach an audience. This is a ject that oten goes unexlored in academia, yet is an integral art o eing a roessional musician. Snarky Puy Marketing Method During the Question-and-Anser session at Dan's Silver Lea on Feruary 19 th, 2014, Mike League discussed Snarky Puy s aroach to touring and creating a an ase. League exlained that they ould lay locations here eole encouraged them to go. During set 33

42 reaks they ould talk ith the audience memers and make riends. The and didn t just talk, ut ould make a connection ith individual audience memers. League and the rest o Snarky Puy tell their ans inside inormation, hich allo the ans to eel secial. These ans and ne riends then hel dra larger audiences and connect them ith venues to lay in other areas. In addition to erorming concerts, Snarky Puy oers master classes and lessons to local high schools, music organizations, and colleges. These grass roots marketing camaign and educational outreach activities connect the audience to the and at a deeer level. Marketing Model or Beore I Die The Beore I Die roject as aroached in a manner similar to Michael League s marketing method. Creating the all on camus as a ay or the general ulic to see the roject in its early stages. Once the all as constructed, eole gathered around the all and egan to engage ith it. Some eole ould ick u ieces o chalk and rite their thoughts on the all. Others ould read the entire all and contemlate the messages. Peole ould oten ask questions aout the roject to the erson ho as running the all. These conversations led to develoing relationshis ith the audience and making a connection ith them. Peole ould exchange stories ith one another and develo a larger sense o community. When the event at the Warehouse Room occurred, more than hal o the audience consisted o eole rom outside the music school, many o hom ere eole that I met ersonally at the all. Reaching a Wider Audience One o the eneits to crossover music is that it has the caaility to reach a ider audience than music comosed in a single style. For examle, Snarky Puy comines elements 34

43 o jazz, gosel, and RB. The crod that they dra includes eole that enjoy all three o these genres collectively, as ell as eole ho only listen to one o these genres. Consequently, i Snarky Puy layed only jazz they ould not dra as many audience memers. While Nico Muhly s music is rimarily heard y the contemorary classical audience, he has also collaorated ith Björk, has created string arrangements or Sigur Rós, and has imrovised on iano in concert ith Jónsi Birgisson, Sigur Rós ront man,. Engaging in this oular music vein has alloed Muhly to e exosed to audiences that ould not have heard his ork, thus serving as a gateay or those listeners to exerience his original ieces. Part o the eauty o reaching a ider audience is that the music can e enjoyed and areciated at various levels o understanding. From my on exeriences at their concerts, Snarky Puy may make inside musical reerences to the music o D Angelo or Chick Corea, hich may relate seciically to the RB and jazz ans in attendance, though everyone in the room ill enjoy it. Discussion o Authenticity Many comosers throughout Western classical music history have comined elements o other styles in a ne musical comosition. For examle, Renaissance comosers ould orro a cantus irmus melody; in the Romantic eriod, Tchaikovsky used olk songs, and in the Tentieth Century, Stravinsky used elements o jazz. Such orroing still occurs today, the dierence eteen the musical collaorations o the ast and contemorary third-stream or crossover music is that the latter oten incororates musicians associated ith these dierent styles: in order or crossover music to sound authentic, the layers must e amiliar ith the 35

44 style they are laying. For examle, i a Baroque string layer articulates a line o stacatto eighth notes in a connected manner ith heavy virato, secialists o the style ould critize the erormance as eing inconsistent ith erormance ractice o the eriod. Similarly, i a classical musician is laying an excert o a third-stream iece in a jazz style, the layer must e ale to emulate the rhythmic eel and hrasing o the roer style or the result ill sound inauthentic. In his ook Musings The Musical Worlds o Gunther Schuller. Schuller descries the comination o jazz and classical music in third-stream music y hat it is not: It is not jazz ith strings. It is not jazz layed on 'classical' instruments. It is not classical music layed y jazz layers. It is not inserting a it o Ravel or Schoenerg eteen e-o changes nor the reverse. It is not jazz in ugal orm. It is not a ugue layed y jazz layers. It is not designed to do aay ith jazz or classical music; it is just another otion amongst many or today s creative musicians. (Schuller, 1986, 120) Friends not Hired Players A trend among the music o Becca Stevens, Snarky Puy, Nico Muhly, Poovalur Sriji, Tigran Hamasyan, and James Blake is that the music is created and erormed y riends. In all o these musical entities, the relationshis go eyond just erorming on stage. Having dee and trust-ased relationshis ith your erormers leads to a deeer understanding o the music. Almost all o the layers on the Beore I Die roject ere close riends o mine. Having a close ond ith the erormers creates a realm o trust. The layer and comoser kno each other s strengths and eaknesses. We are ale to e honest ith one another and ork 36

45 eiciently and eectively. Knoing the layers allos the comoser to rite idiomatically to the skill sets o the erormer. This leads to a dee ersonal and musical connection. I the music ere given to a dierent musician, it ould e more diicult to e erormed in the intended manner. The irst guitar art, or examle, as ritten or my riend Kent Shores. The art involves heavy use o eects edals, seciic carnatic music ideas, an understanding o gosel stylistic traits, and the aility to imrovise ith rock and jazz vernacular all elements that are art o Shores musical exerience. A similar examle can e made o the drum set art, comosed or my riend Anthony Corsaro. Corsaro is amiliar ith laying ehind the eat grooves, imrovisation in odd meters, and gosel-style drum set hrasing. I the layer is not amiliar ith these styles, the music ill not sound authentic. Communal Eect Similar to the music o the gamelan, or Su-Saharan Arican music this music is designed to e a communal exerience. Memers o the Denton cultural community ere ale to interact ith the Beore I Die all and make a connection. This communal exerience as translated into the music y incororating rerecorded versions o text read rom the all, similar to John Adams On the Transmigration o Souls. Many o the audience memers ere eole ho had ritten on the all and ere curious ho the text ould e used. Several o these audience memers came u to me ater the erormance and mentioned to me hat they had ritten and ho it aected them hen they heard their comments read during the iece. 37

46 In addition to the eole dran to the erormance rom the Beore I Die Wall, there ere many eole in attendance to hear the and The Funky Knuckles, ho ere also eatured on the rogram. This and, a grou o excellent musicians rom Dallas, hosts a eekly Monday night jam at The Freeman on Commerce Street in Dallas. The Funky Knuckles jam session is mostly a tight grou o Dallas roessional and student musicians laying and atching music together. Many o these eole attended the Beore I Die erormance, creating a diverse crod o ne listeners or my music. Conclusion When comosing, I ind mysel constantly dealing ith ostacles. In order to overcome these ostacles, I look to the music o others or insiration and solutions. Examining the uildu in Snarky Puy s Flood as a good model or Beore I Die, as an examle o roer acing and to reairm that only a e motives are needed to make a oerul ork. It should e mentioned that in addition to Snarky Puy, many o the imlied materials techniques ere rought to my attention y a and called the Funky Knuckles. During their eekly jam sessions, I as ale to learn aout ho drum solos over vams ork, as ell as ho imlied harmony and rhythm can e alied to any song. Additionally, the music o many other artists have inluenced my comositions, hether through seciic musical materials or more general concets. The music o Je Buckley, Porcuine Tree (comoser Steve Wilson), and John Adams are alays resh in my mind hen orking on a ne roject. These musicians are ale to develo musical materials in interesting ays, unhindered y traditional oundaries. 38

47 The musicians mentioned in this thesis are considered crossover artists ecause their music is inormed y multile genres. Such crossover music can serve as a gateay into other kinds o music ecause it may introduce audiences to styles o music they have never exerienced eore. Aroaching music ithout genres allos the comosition to e reer and to take a direction that could not e imagined i the comoser s mind as limited to a single aesthetic. 39

48 Aendix: Extended Musical Examles Examle A.1: Transcrition o Becca Steven s Weightless m.(1-27) 40

49 41

50 42

51 43

52 44

53 45

54 Examle A.2: Transcrition o Snarky Puy s Flood (m.1-28) 46

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56 48