IB Music Appreciation

Musical Investigation:Óró Mo Bháidín (Irish Folk) – Mary O'haraEyes As Candles (Synthpop) – Passion Pit

Song Timelines

Óró Mo Bháidín

0:00-0:15 – Harp melody with both strumming and plucking

0:15-0:59 – Singer takes over melody and the harp plays the harmony, most of which is composed of broken chords

The above applies to 1:05-1:50, 1:56-2:38, 2:45-3:11

3:11 – A fermata is applied to stretch out the last note

Eyes As Candles (1)

0:00-0:07 – Percussion acts to set a tempo at which the piece will be kept

0:07-0:38 – Xylophone-like melody introduced with a synthesizer and bass guitar providing harmony

0:38-1:09 – In the verse, the vocals take over same melody with a bass guitar, synthesizer, and subtle falsetto vocal harmony

1:09-1:23 – Vocals shift to a transition melody with a different synthesizer and (subtle) falsetto vocal harmony

1:23-1:38 – Vocals shift to a falsetto chorus melody with two separate synthesizers providing harmony

Eyes As Candles (2)

1:38-2:09 – Same as the original verse

2:09-2:24 – Same as the original transition

2:24-2:55 – Same as the original chorus

2:55-3:25 – Develops a new “bridge” melody with synthesizer effects in the background

3:25-4:03 – Overlays the bridge melody onto the original chorus, so that the original chorus becomes a harmony in this coda; abrupt ending causes a dissonance from the tension created

Cultural Backgrounds

Irish Folk

Óró Mo Bháidín is a traditional Irish song (interpreted by Irish singer Mary O'hara)

Traditional Irish folk music often incorporates strings (especially fiddles and harps), flutes, and pipes

Traditional harp playing ended near the end of the eighteenth century, but Mary O'hara and other modern artists revive this instrumentation; she incorporates this in Óró Mo Bháidín

There were two variations of the traditional Irish music: one purposed for dancing and one purposed for leisure or ballads; while the majority fell under the category of dancing music, Mary O'hara's music intends to portray the “ballad”

The melody is the central and most important factor of this music and to keep it perfect, it is kept simple

Synthpop

Categorized under (electro) synthpop/rock, which is intended to be danceable, with a heavy use of electronic instrumentation, namely the synthesizer, but still incorporates the common “rock” instruments (guitars, drums, etc.)

While Passion Pit follows such dancing styles, it is far too draconian to be “danceable” like its brethren synthpop music (which is one of such music's foremost purposes), with “insistent major keys” (Ian Cohen) and synthesizer instrumentation building on the melody rather than adding complexity, diversity; easily describable as contradictive

Tempo is consistent throughout a piece, almost always using Common Time

Pop music branches off into many subcategories, but all share the same basic structures; since America has always been defined as the “first” in many things, an experimental nation, Passion Pit earns itself the title of a true “American” band, because, although it uses the same structure as all pop music, it is not received in the same manner, with an “in-your-face” effect on the listener

Timbre is electronic; instrumentation is often broad because of the capabilities of the synthesizer introduced in the 70s/80s; while the synthesizer did not sound as authentic as some of the instruments it imitated, it had a warm tone and broad capability, friendly to many musicians

Uses common time and repeats simple chord progressions, variations of I, ii, IV, V, and vi (or I, iv, V, VI for minor keys) set in a progression of four chords

Song Analysis

Óró Mo Bháidín

Homophonic

The harp, which is a chief component in Irish folk music, is the only instrument used, so the timbre is strictly that of strings

The vocals are the main melody with the harp playing as the complementing harmony

Repetitive structure (one long melody line repeated throughout)

Melody is the main focus and is kept simple

Harmony is often single notes (strums) or broken chords

Absence of blocked chords; mostly consists of arpeggios

The dynamics are mostly crescendo, accent, and then decrescendo, repeating with the sections of the piece; the sound flows very smoothly because of the type of dynamics used in the music

Eyes As Candles

Homophonic

Dynamics in the verse are fortes, followed by decrescendo, and repeating this pattern

Dynamics in the transition and the chorus are sforzando, sounding harshly accented and forward

Dynamics in the coda alternate between forte and piano, without any crescendos or decrescendos during such changes

This song is quite “black and white” in its flow, changing abruptly changing moods

The unrelenting major keys are sharply contrasted by the lamenting and melancholy tempo

The only “natural” sounding timbre would be the bass guitar and the percussion (drums and cymbals) as most of the instrumentation is spuriously imitated by the electronic synthesizer

The song has a simple melody, which is a driving element for the piece; harmony develops as the piece progresses, adding more instrumentation to this harmony

The song's function, unlike most synthpop, is not applicable to dance (for that matter, it doesn't use the common chord progressions either, largely experimenting with major seventh chords); rather, it catalyzes, instigates, provokes, and inspires and serves purely for entertainment with Michael Angelakos conveying his own mind rather than asserting a opinion or discontent

Similarities Consistency in tempo and rhythm Common Time

No ritardandos, rallentandos, or accelerandos to modify tempo

Both have a simple melody

Single note melodies are consistent with tempo and easy to follow

Melody-dominated structure

Both are homorhythmic and both have a single tonality

Both have repetitive forms (Óró Mo Bháidín has a single repeated section and Eyes As Candles is structured as ABABCBcoda)

Both are consistent in structure in this manner

Neither shifts the key

Keeps to the central tone

Both have instrumental intros

Variation in arrangement of chord progressions (i.e. the common use and repetition of an arrangement of I V vi IV)

HomorhythmBoth pieces have a consistent rhythm; that is to say, there are no

accelerandos or ritardandos to rupture the steady paces of the music. One could easily do a “1, 2, 3, 4” counting throughout both pieces without being thrown off with sudden quickening or slowing in the tempo, much unlike Bartók's volatile tendencies or free form jazz's fluidity. In this manner, both songs are simplistic in form and lucid in presentation. However, as will be discussed later, while the “homorhythm” qualification for homophonic texture is met, the two pieces cannot be generalized as both homophonic.

Monotonality

Neither piece deviates from the initial tonic. There is not transposing or modulating throughout the extent of both pieces. Consequently, the repetitions of melodies and harmonies are identical. The pieces are short in length, so classifying both pieces as homotonal would prove to be too broad a statement. But, after delving farther and linking the two songs with monotonality, the understanding of adamant loyalty to the tonic is much more evident.

Differences

Timbre (strings vs electronic)

Instrumentation (single harp vs synthesizer/bass guitar/drums/cymbals)

Óró Mo Bháidín is limited to a two-note harmony, while Eyes As Candles is broader in harmony and is more homophonic in texture, forming chords in the harmony as opposed to simple intervals (or, at times, monophonic texture)

Pitch range

Eyes As Candles stretches from the low frequencies of the bass guitar and drum to the high pitched falsetto and cymbals

Óró Mo Bháidín remains in the higher range with Mary O'hara's soprano vocals and the light harp

Overall flowing of the piece

Óró Mo Bháidín is smooth with fluid dynamics that transition with an upwards or downwards movement

Eyes As Candles is brash and bold, using multiple fortes and insistent accents

Works Cited

Fernbom, Hugo. "The History of Synthpop." 1995. <http://www.synt.nu/history/>.

Robinson, Michael, and Vicki Parrish. "The Origins of Irish Traditional Music." 2002. <http://www.standingstones.com/cmaoitm.html>.

Chan, Liane. "Indie Pop History 1980-1987." 2008. <http://student5www.fullcoll.edu/00782895/history/history.htm>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Folk music of Ireland." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 Feb 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_music_of_Ireland>.