Soprano voice A high pitched female voice. Tenor voice A high male voice. Alto voice A low female voice. Bass voice A low male voice. Countertenor - a male alto achieved using a falsetto voice Falsetto – ‘false voice’ technique where male singers can sing higher using a softer voice. Vibrato – A slight regular wavering of a pitch used by singers and instrument players to add warmth and interest to the note.
Instrumental Music – Music played by instruments only. (No singing!)
Instrumental family – e.g. String family, Woodwind family, Percussion family, Brass family.
Muted (Con sordino)– To deaden/quieten the sound. Brass players put mutes in the bell of the instrument to do this.
Vibrato – See above
String instruments can be played:
Con arco (Arco) – with a bow Pizzicato(pizz)– plucked with the finger Double stopping – when 2 strings are played at once Tremelo/tremolando– literally means ‘trembling’. Rapid up & down movements of the bow on the strings. Good for building suspense etc.
Technology – Use of technology in music
Reverb – this is when the sounds of an instrument last longer, imitating the sound of the instrument reflecting against walls, floors and ceilings. Distortion – Usually used in rock, this is when an instrument is forced to sound ‘aggressive.’ Chorus – This is when a voice or instrument is multiplied electronically, so it sounds like many Multitracking – A recording technique where different sounds/instruments are recorded seperatly and played back together e.g. Logic Compression – Used mostly as a recording technique, this is where the quietest sounds are boosted and the loudest are lowered, so the recording is evened out. E.g. drums. Vocodor – Device used to electronically combine a human voice with a musical instrument Sequence - Electronic device or computer program that is used to record, edit and play back music data using MIDI Panning - Sound is electronically moved acrossfrom one speaker to another, or is separatedinto different speakers