Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Blog #5: Non-Traditional Rhythm Instruments

Hello class,

This week, you will watch just two videos you see to the right - another stomp video, and a video from the Blue Man Group.

As you listen, think about the rhythms that you hear and see. Use at least 5 of the words you see here:
improvisation
solo
ostinato
tutti
polyrhythm
syncopation
accent
coordination
meter
beat
Write 2 paragraphs - one about Stomp, and one about the Blue Man Group.

Rubric:
20 pts. You wrote a comment!
20 pts. You used correct grammar, punctuation, capital letters, etc.
20 pts. paragraph one (at least 3 sentences)
20 pts. paragraph two (at least 3 sentences)
20 pts. 5 of the above words were used correctly

If you cannot see the videos, here are the URL's
Stomp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu15Ou-jKM0
Blue Man Group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOL8-qIYemg

21 comments:

Christina Wallace said...

In the Stomp! Video, the performers’ energy is very high. They seem to have enjoyed playing the music. The instruments they used were everyday items that we all use in our lives. Coordination was essential to make this piece work because everyone had to be in rhythm with everyone else. There was one moment when the crew wasn’t coordinating and the beat kind of sounded off. There was a lot of syncopation in the piece as well. The accents typically fell on every other beat, making me jumpy and interested because I didn’t know what was to come next in the ensemble. Although there weren’t any major solos, in this piece, there were times when each instrument had there spotlight. By spotlight I mean that each instrument stuck out from the others. Tutti is a term that can best describe this piece because all the instruments that they had on stage were basically played. Hence, this was polyrhythmic.

Unlike the first video, the second video that featured the Blue Man Group began with a single instrument. The PVC pipe started out with a solo. As the piece progressed, the instruments in the background added on to the first one. The tempo gets faster as we get closer to the end of the clip. The ostinato is the beat made with the PVC pipe; however, the ostinato depletes later in the song. The meter seems to frequently change. I can’t really count how many different time signatures there are. Just like the first video, this is polyrhythmic. This piece looks like it was intended to be improvisational, but I don’t think it was. The background music played too well with their act. The beat also changed, especially near the end.

Torry Walker said...

The STOMP video had a number of solos toward the middle to the end. There was also syncopation at about the 2:30 mark. There were various rhythms in the video causing it to be polyrhythmic.

The Blue Man Group video begins with a solo. It takes a lot of coordination to focus and beat on the end of the pipes without missing once. The meter was fairly consistent through the whole piece. It seemed to have changed but it wasn't too noticeable. The pipes varied in pitches when struck. I say that the video was an ostinato because the same rhythm and pattern was repeated throughout.

Markita Kirkpatrick said...

The first video of stomp was very unique on how they used different things like garbage cans or barrels,things that weren't particualry instruments.There was alot of improvisation throughout the piece,with different people coming in at different times playing different things.There was also syncopation in the piece,when different accents were shifted or changed.The beat was fast.
The second video of the Blue Man Group,there was alot of coordination when they were beating on the tubes.They knew just when to move it.The meter count was four beats.There was no ostinato.

armani said...

The stomp out loud piece was great. The meter was in fours. The beat was very easy to do. There were a few times there was syncopation. I think it was with the trash cans coming in with the drums.
The Blue Man group was spectacular. There was alot of polyrhythms throughout the song. The pipes changed the pitch when the blue man lifted it or lowered it. In the beginning the first dude had a drum solo. Towards the end the guitar players and blue men did syncopation.

Armahd Williams said...

In both the blue man Group and the stomp video I heard a lot of polyrythym. When the Blue Man Group first started playing on steady rythym, anothen rythym came in while one rhthym was still going which makes the music sound more interesting. There was also ostinato, which means a repeated musical figure in the stomp video.

Devon Dobbs said...

In the first video I think that the rhythem of the song was very unique. It sounded like the kind of music played in Africa. Their was alot of solos in it. The song was an ostinato. I could also hear the beat in this song. The accent was very famillar. They has alot of coordination.

The blue man group strated off with alot a solo by one of the members. It sounded like a lot of improvisation. The blue man group sounded more moderate than the first video.

Aleya Washington said...

In the stomp video, there was coordination and syncopation in the song which created an exciting feeling throughout the song. There was polyrhymn and accents at some parts of the ensemble. Although the piece could be described as a tutti, each instrument did have a solo.

In the blue man group video, the beat created on the pipes was the ostinato. You could hear it mainly in the blue man group solo. The music definitely had some mixed meters and polyrhythmn.

Riane Nuby said...

In the first video,STOMP had a very steady beat, and about the same polyrhythm throughout the whole song,until you got towards the end when everyone began their own solo. The instruments STOMP used were everyday objects, such as:garbage cans, pots and wooden spoons.

The second video, which was The Blue Man Group. The Blue Man Group had a lot of syncopation in the beginning of the song. Their man instrument was the pipe that they used in the beginning of the song. Towards the end they used drums and the electric guitar. Also towards the end the meter became faster.

Montanna Ross said...

In the video STOMP! the performers had to have high energy and focuse. When it came to the trash can tops it seemed to me it was there solo,there time to shine. That performance had to have tight coordination and a bit of syncopation. Not only that but the beat was mixed and you can see in the middle of the performance it had some improvisation.
In the Blue Man Group performance i thought it was old and more about the "regular" instruments. In the very beggining i liked the solo of the pipes. Through out the piece the group continued with a basic beat of the pipes untile the drums kicked in. The syncopation started when the other instruments kicked in and the pipe beats changed. But what i saw was instresting was was the improvisation of the pipes during the performance of the other instruments. Also the coordination of the Blue Man had to be tight because of the other instruments and and the audience distractions.

Monique Carpenter said...

The Stomp! has a very fast beat.The coordination is perfect they have it down pact.The performers are entergetic.Non of the players have any solos throughout the piece.

Monique Carpenter said...

The Blue Man Group is very good at the beats they created.The very first beginning of its very slow.Then its monophonic.

Quentin Pittman said...

The first piece stomp out loud was excellent. The beat was somewhat simple n the meter had 4 counts. The music was polyrhythm. There were solos throughout the song. There was also a great deal of coordination and timing.

The second group was also excellent. There was a solo in it and some polyrhythm. There was also a great deal of coordination in it. There were accents as some parts just got extremely loud. The beat was strange.

Ashanti said...

The blue-man video was very interesting. The pace was kind of fast and i really enjoyed it. I could also really feel how the music flowed. I was also very amazed at how they were using there heads and their bodies as they played.Also the beat and the rhythm was very unique. They used every day tools like stomp out loud. The video on stomp was also very entertaining. It was very creative how they used trash cans as instruments. They did good at slowing down and speeding up the pace.

Adontis Larry said...

The first video of stomp was very similar to the Blue Man Group in some ways the meter cont for the stomp video was 4 and it's tempo changed from time to time. In addition it was coordinated. The most unique thing about stomp was everyone had a solo. Cant forget the ostinato.

The Blue man group was funny the thing that i liked is how they added accents when he was drumming.The beat was very steady and they stayed together the whole time it sounded like a rock/jazz type of genre. They also had poly rhythm

Aaron Booth said...

The Stomp video was very exciting to watch their was was a lot rhythms in it and as a result it is poly rhythmic.I did notice some accents on some of the beats as well. The whole performance was improvisation because their was no sheet of paper where they were looking at or anything.
The Blue Man Group was highly interesting as well because they incorporated ostinato and accents. The meter was the same in both I believe and the coordination was definitely presented in both as well.The tutti was also presented but hardly noticeable. Their was a solo in stomp but not in Blue Man Group because the task of the performance was evenly divided. Overall both Stomp and The Blue Man group did a wonderful job showing the importance of coordination, incorporating accents, ostinato, syncopation and keeping a good well balance tempo.

Devom Dobbs said...

In the stomp video I felt there were alot of improvisation. At one point of the video there was an ostinato. The accent sounded like something you would hear in Africa.


At the begining of the blue man group video there was an solo. I also heard the polyrythem in the song. The blue man group video was more interesting than the first video.

D'Angelo Hooks said...

In the stomp peace most of it was improvised. It had some parts in it that seemed coordinated but otherwise I felt that it was improvised. There was a lot of polyrhythm in the peace as well. It sounded a little off in the middle because it sounded off beat and like all of the instruments were doing their own thing.

In the Blue Man Group peace it started off with a basic solo. It had some ostinato which helped put an emphasis on the beat. I feel that this peace was a coordinated peace because it seemed that it was on a time scale. This was unique from some of the other blue man group performances because most of the performances that I’ve seen have been improvised.

~FUISCHA~ said...

In the first video of Stomp improvisation was consistent. The people in the video seemed to have alot of energy causing the rhythm and beats to stand out. The beats were in line for the most part, but sometime the beats often strayed away. The meter is in a four count. There were a number of solos throughout the performance. the piece is polyrhythmic.

The Blue Man Group video had one solo,which was at the beginning. The performance showed lots of coordination and skill. The rhythm of the video constantly came back, causing it to be an ostinato. The piece was also polyrhythmic and had lots of syncopation.

Evelyn said said...

The first video portray improvisation by using a variety of props as instruments. Towards the middle there were a lot of soloist who were both inspiring and creative when playing their pieces. The music was polyrhythm. I especially like the way they contribute different ideas and sound. I could tell that they really worked hard and put a lot of thought into the music.

The blue man group used coordination and a variety of props that made the music sound more lively and entertaining. When the PVC pipe was a solo i recall i heard a instrument added. The video had a various meter and that it changed in some parts. It seemed that reaching the climax of the music the tempo got faster.

Aubrey said...

In the stomp video the musicians seem to have a variety of tools to make their piece. In the Blue Man group it was more relax and calm and meaningful like you could really feel the beat of the song. Also in both stomp and Blue Man Group the dynamic of the the piece change through out both pieces from low to loud or loud to low. In the stomp there was some ostinato in it as well. During the Blue Man Group there was some polyrhythm in the piece. Both Blue Man Group and stomp really interested me especially Blue Man Group.

Ariana Williams said...

The organ video sounds like patriotic music, music that you would most likely hear in a Catholic church. The music was very high in pitch and it had parts that were repeated and this music had terraced dynamics. The timbre in this video was that the music was very heavy, using the lower and much darker keys on the piano.

The second video with the lady playing the harpsichord was played very quickly. the sound in this music is lighter than the man playing the. A good timbre word for this music is punchy, because when she played, its punch to the music, and it puts lots of force to the music. There is no vibration in this piece.

The piece that the little girl played on the piano has a focused and light timbre. She played really quickly there was no vibration in the pieces she played.

Evolution of Music

Background - Lecrae

Hansel and Gretel