Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint - revision flashcards

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What is the style of this music?
Minimalist
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Give four techniques commonly used in this style of music:
Note addition, note subtraction, augmentation, phase shifting
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What instruments are used in this piece?
7 electric guitars, 2 bass guitars and 1 acoustic live guitar
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When was the piece written?
1987
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Who was the piece written for?
Pat Metheny
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What metre do the ensemble parts play in?
3/2
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What is looping?
Repeating a section of recorded sound
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What is the melody made up of?
Ostinatos
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What metres does the live guitar play in?
3/2 and 12/8 occasionally
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Why do the two metres fit together?
They can both be divided into 12 quavers per bar
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How are harmonies created?
The ostinatos build up slowly and are layered
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How does guitar 3's introductory part build up and in what bars does it do so?
Note addition, from bars 10 - 15, the whole riff isn't played until bar 15
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Where does canoning occur?
When four ensemble parts play the same riff at different times
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What is the texture of this piece?
Polyphonic (two or more independent parts playing at the same time)/ contrapuntal
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What is the form of this piece?
Binary form (AB)
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What is the tonality of this piece?
It is modal
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What is the key of the first section?
Unclear at first then develops into E minor
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What are the keys in the second section?
C minor and E minor - the music changes more frequently after halfway the key changes to C minor
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Why does the music sound hypnotic?
There are many repeated loops
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Give an example of when the live guitar plays in 12/8 showing obvious polyphony:
Bars 82 - 85. The other parts remain in 3/2
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What is muti-tracking?
Having multiple different tracks playing (commonly in software)
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What is overdubbing?
Adding tracks to a recording over the top
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What are canons?
When instruments play the same riff over each other at different times
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Why doesn't the timbre change much?
The instruments all blend together and the piece only contains guitars
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What makes the polyphony complex and interesting?
The two canons going on at the same time
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What are the dynamics like in the piece?
There are lots of changes - mainly for the solo part that fades in and out
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What is the dynamic marking of the four ensemble parts playing the same riff?
mf (mezzo forte), moderately loud
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Give four techniques commonly used in this style of music:

Back

Note addition, note subtraction, augmentation, phase shifting

Card 3

Front

What instruments are used in this piece?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

When was the piece written?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Who was the piece written for?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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