Acoustic music | |
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Cultural origins | Ancient |
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Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the advent of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar, electric violin, electric organ and synthesizer. [1] Acoustic string instrumentations had long been a subset of popular music, particularly in folk. It stood in contrast to various other types of music in various eras, including big band music in the pre-rock era, and electric music in the rock era.
Music reviewer Craig Conley suggests, "When music is labeled acoustic, unplugged, or unwired, the assumption seems to be that other types of music are cluttered by technology and overproduction and therefore aren't as pure." [2]
Acoustic instruments can be split into six groups: string instruments, wind instruments, percussion, other instruments, ensemble instruments, and unclassified instruments. [3]
String instruments have a tightly stretched string that, when set in motion, creates energy at (almost) harmonically related frequencies.
Wind instruments are in the shape of a pipe and energy is supplied as an air stream into the pipe.
Percussion instruments make sound when they are struck, as with a hand or a stick. [4]
The original acoustic instrument was the human voice, which produces sound by funneling air across the vocal cords. The first constructed acoustic instrument is believed to be the flute. The oldest surviving flute is as much as 43,000 years old. The flute is believed to have originated in Central Europe. [5]
By 1800, the most popular acoustic plucked-string instruments closely resembled the modern-day guitar, but with a smaller body. As the century continued, Spanish luthier Antonio de Torres Jurado took these smaller instruments and expanded the bodies to create guitars. Guitar use and popularity grew in Europe throughout the late 18th century [6] and more acoustic instruments were crafted, such as the double bass. Its popularity later spread to cities and towns in the new United States. [6] In the 19th century, the guitar became a recognized instrument played in grand galas and concerts. [7]
As electric instruments took hold during the 20th century, many stringed instruments were redefined as acoustic. Instruments that involve striking or vibrating the strings, such as the violin, viola and cello, fall under the acoustic category. The violin became popular during the 16th and 17th centuries, due to technological advancements in building them, brought on by luthiers such as Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Amati. [8] The modern version of the instrument developed gradually from older European acoustic stringed instruments such as the lira.[ citation needed ]
Following the birth of rock in the 1960s, some rock bands began to experiment with acoustic songs. This would be known as acoustic rock, and many well-known artists such as Eric Clapton and Nirvana performed acoustic versions of their well-known songs in the early 1990s, which were collected on the MTV Unplugged series.
Pop music artists have also experimented with acoustic music as well, with this variant sometimes being called acoustic pop. Like acoustic rock, some acoustic pop songs have also made their way to MTV Unplugged as well. Some notable acoustic pop songs include "True" by Ryan Cabrera and "Exile" by Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver.
By the 2000s, popular indie musicians began to identify their genre as "contemporary acoustic", in opposition to being classified as "folk music". Daniel Trilling wrote, "Folk is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of many aspiring pop musicians. Not only does it conjure up images of the terminally naff — woolly jumpers, beards, and so on — but it is also the journalist's catch-all term for legions of singer-songwriters too bland to merit a better definition." [9]
Some music interest groups in the United States use the term "acoustic music" alongside the genres of folk and Americana music, like the Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music. [10]
The International Acoustic Music Awards [11] hosts an annual competition for original songs. Their rules state that a song can be considered acoustic as long as an acoustic instrument, including voices, can be clearly heard. [12]
Acoustic music is often easier for business owners to host because there is less need for amplification and the level of volume is less intrusive. In June 2021, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, allowed small businesses to host acoustic concerts without applying for a live entertainment permit. [13] Cambridge defined an acoustic performance as having no amplification of sound except for one microphone, and having no more than five acoustic performers or musicians at a single venue at one time. [13]
The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply as an acoustic guitar, or sometimes as a folk guitar.
The violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh, Italian pronunciation:[vjolonˈtʃɛllo]), often simply abbreviated as cello ( CHEL-oh), is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef, with tenor clef, and treble clef used for higher-range passages.
The double bass, also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched chordophone in the modern symphony orchestra. Similar in structure to the cello, it has four or five strings.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars.
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo-wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds, and percussion.
The violin, sometimes referred as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the pochette, but these are virtually unused. Most violins have a hollow wooden body, and commonly have four strings, usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and are most commonly played by drawing a bow across the strings. The violin can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow.
In musical instrument classification, string instruments or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night. Their lineup has seen many changes over the years; Blackmore and Night have been the only two constant members. They have released eleven studio albums. Their early releases were mostly acoustic and imitated early music, but eventually Blackmore's Night started using more electric guitars and other modern instruments, as well as performing folk-rearranged cover versions of pop and rock songs.
A twelve-string guitar is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in octaves, with those of the upper two courses tuned in unison. The gap between the strings within each dual-string course is narrow, and the strings of each course are fretted and plucked as a single unit. The neck is wider, to accommodate the extra strings, and is similar to the width of a classical guitar neck. The sound, particularly on acoustic instruments, is fuller and more harmonically resonant than six-string instruments. The 12-string guitar can be played like a 6-string guitar as players still use the same notes, chords and guitar techniques like a standard 6-string guitar, but advanced techniques might be tough as players need to play or pluck two strings simultaneously.
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar and the double bass, the acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings, which are normally tuned E-A-D-G, an octave below the lowest four strings of the 6-string guitar.
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fitted with an electric pickup of some type, although "amplified violin" or "electro-acoustic violin" are more accurate then.
A luthier is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players.
The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar. As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms. Most common is a carved-top eight-string instrument fitted with an electric pickup in similar fashion to many archtop semi-acoustic guitars. Solid body mandolins are common in 4-, 5-, and 8-string forms. Acoustic electric mandolins also exist in many forms.
A music store or musical instrument store is a retail business that sells musical instruments and related equipment and accessories. Some music stores sell additional services, such as music lessons, music instrument or equipment rental, or repair services.
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, resonating through the air in the body, and producing sound from the sound hole. While the original, general term for this stringed instrument is guitar, the retronym 'acoustic guitar' – often used to indicate the steel stringed model – distinguishes it from an electric guitar, which relies on electronic amplification. Typically, a guitar's body is a sound box, of which the top side serves as a sound board that enhances the vibration sounds of the strings. In standard tuning the guitar's six strings are tuned (low to high) E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.
Kroncong is the name of a ukulele-like instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong. A kroncong orchestra or ensemble traditionally consists of a flute, a violin, at least one, but usually a pair of kroncongs, a cello in Pizzicato style, string bass in pizzicato style, and a vocalist. Kroncong originated as an adaptation of a Portuguese musical tradition, brought by sailors to Indonesian port cities in the 16th century. By the late 19th century, kroncong reached popular music status throughout the Indonesian archipelago.
Martin Swan is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, record producer, recording engineer and instrument designer.
Perdida is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released through Rhino on February 7, 2020. It is the band's second album with Jeff Gutt as lead singer and is "an acoustic record largely recorded on vintage instruments." The first single "Fare Thee Well" was released on December 2, 2019.