Central and South America

Central and South America

1. Calypso

   • Originated in Trinidad and Tobago
   • Uses syncopation
   • Call and response in the chorus
   • Major key
   • Primary Chords - I, IV and V
   • Verse chorus and instrumental structure
   • Main singer and backing vocals
   • Texture is melody and accompaniment
   • Calypso rhythm the guitar strumming patterns and also in the percussion parts
   • stops in the rhythm at the beginning of each verse
   • Famous singer - Harry Belafonte
   • Steel Pan Drumming
     • Steel pans are tuned percussion instruments, which can produce a number of different notes
     • Pans were originally made from large oil drums, but are now made from sheet metal
     • They have a concave surface with a dented appearance, each dent produces a different note
     • The drums come in different sizes, the deeper the pan the lower the note it produces, they are named according to pitch
       • Soprano (ping pongs), alto, baritone and bass
     • A soprano pan can be tuned to create all the chromatic notes within its range. This is not possible with the other pans, a set of pans is needed to cover the full range of notes, a single bass pan can only produce a small number of notes, so a bass pannist uses 4-6 pans to cover the range
     • Sets of pans have special names and are used for different pruposes
     • Rolling creates a sustained note
     • Steel pans are played with special mallets with rubber heads, they produce a warm, echoing metallic timbre from the pans
     • They can create dynamic contrast, with crescendos and diminuendos, depending on how hard they hit the pans
     • Steel bands can produce melodies, harmonies and rhythms. They're very versatile, and usually play syncopated calypso rhythms, but can play music of many other genres too, such as folk and jazz
   • Different styles
     • Rapso
       • first appeared in the 1960s - this sub-genre of calypso focuses on the lyrics, which are often about political and social issues. The style developed to use synthesized instruments and modern production techniques
     • Soca
       • Has a faster beat than traditional calypso, making it popular as dance music, particularly at carnivals. It first developed in thte 1970s, when calypso artists began using electronic drums, synthesizers and studio effects in their recording

2. Samba

   • Dance and musical style from Brazil
   • Routes from African drumming - african slaves brought to Brazil
   • Best known version is Samba batucada
     • Polyrhythmic
     • two beats in a bar
     • call and response
     • rhythmic ostinati
     • breaks and solos
     • predominantly percussion
   • A bateria is a band of drummers
     • Surdo is the biggest drum, played with soft beater and muted with hand - usually three surdos, low medium and high
     • Caixa - snare drum, plays constant rhythm that pushes piece forwards
     • Tamborim, small drum tuned very high and played with wooden or nylon beater - three prongs
     • Agogo Bells - tuned high pitch and low pitch played with beater
     • Chocalho - a shaker that plays a constant rhythm with main beat
     • Ganza - cylindrical metal shaker
     • Cabasa - twist percussion instrument
   • Leader plays repinique, a high pitched tom-tom and also has an apito whistle to announce changes of section

3. Instruments

   • Acoustic, electric and bass guitars
   • Brass
   • Woodwind
   • Bongos - small drums
   • Conga drums - tall narrow, barrel shaped drums
   • Claves - a pair of wooden stick that produce a ringing sound when one hits the other
   • Modern drum kit