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Glossary
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217 artist biography a short informational sheet or group of sheets sent by record labels or publicity firms to critics, radio stations, and other media outlets to publicize a new recording or a particular musician. artists and repertoire (also A&R) the division of a record company focused on signing musicians and supervising their recordings. background a rifflike ensemble figure that functions as an accompaniment for a solo or a portion thereof. bass drum the lowest-pitched drum in a drum kit, played with the right foot by means of a foot pedal. behind (the beat) indicates attacks that come rhythmically a fraction of a second after a perceived metronomic pulse. bleeding a situation in which a sound, in a recording studio, is picked up by a microphone intended to capture other, isolated sounds. blow to take a solo; to play behind/with a soloist as if one were taking a solo. bottom the last section or measures of a tune’s form. break a section, generally in the final measures of a form, in which all instrumentalists , save a soloist, cease playing for a specified number of measures. The other performers rejoin the soloist at the location in the form where they would have been had they not ceased playing. breakpoint a point in a form that marks the separation of sections or choruses from each other. bridge the section of a tune’s form that presents a contrasting key area, sometimes with changes in texture, tempo, and/or feel, usually eight measures in length or some multiple thereof. In an AABA form, the bridge would be the B section. Glossary 218 | Glossary build to move gradually toward a climax. Building can be done in a variety of ways, none of which are mutually exclusive, such as decreasing the amount of space, increasing volume, thickening texture, or increasing density. cat musician; more generally, a scene participant. changes harmonic progression for a given tune. channel see bridge. chorus (1) one cycle through a tune’s form. chorus (2) audio effect produced by splitting an electronic or digital audio signal into two streams, detuning and slightly delaying one before recombining it with the unaltered stream. comp to provide rhythmic/harmonic/textural accompaniment. concept the general principle undergirding a particular recording or group of compositions by a given musician. It can also refer to an individual’s approach to performing. crash cymbal a usually large cymbal in drum kit, named onomatopoeically for the loud “crashing” sound it makes when struck with force. It is usually struck for emphasis. density the number of sounding events occurring per unit time; the number of sounding events occurring in a given moment. double book to agree to do multiple engagements or recording sessions occurring simultaneously, e.g., to agree to play two gigs on a certain day, both of which begin at 9 pm. double-stop on a stringed instrument, the act of playing two pitches simultaneously. effects electronic devices for altering sound, such as reverb and chorus. embouchure for brass and wind instruments, the positioning of the mouth, lips, tongue, and/or teeth with respect to an instrument’s mouthpiece. feel the rhythmic/accentual/textural patterning of or approach to playing a tune or section thereof based on conventional understanding. Several different feels exist; among the most common named ones are Latin, bossa, samba, ballad, two-beat, and swing, each of which carries with it expectations about how rhythm section members (piano, bass, and drums, in particular) are supposed to play. Indeed, some feels are named for particularly distinctive players , especially drummers: Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes. flow the general sensation or perception of continuous forward motion or drive generated in a musical performance, analogous to swing, but more inclusive , engendered by rhythmic, harmonic, dynamic, and textural means. References to “getting into the flow,” like stepping into a river, are frequent. Also, to create and maintain such a sensation or perception. form the harmonic/textural/rhythmic structure that is the basis for improvisation . Forms generally consist of a specific number of measures divided into sections that are usually multiples of four or eight measures in length. Frequently used forms are twelve, sixteen, and thirty-two bars in length. Ones based on variants of the twelve-bar blues and on the structures of popular standards (“I Got Rhythm,” “Cherokee”) are used often as well. (See also intro, bridge, tag, vamp.) [18.208.203.36] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 09:36 GMT) Glossary | 219 free denotes situations...