Power duo

Last updated

A Power duo is a two-piece rock band that follows a similar blues rock style to a traditional power trio, and whose primary lineup consists of a drummer and a guitarist (such as Two Gallants, The White Stripes, Winnebago Deal, The Like Young, The Black Keys, Local H, Japandroids, No Age, Wye Oak, The Dodos, Giant Drag, Blood Red Shoes, Jucifer, The Kills, and '68) or a drummer and a bassist (such as Om, godheadSilo, Death From Above 1979, Japanther, Lightning Bolt, Royal Blood and Twenty One Pilots). One Day As a Lion, Matt & Kim, and Mates of State are power duos featuring a keyboardist and a drummer without guitars or bass; Great Northern currently[ when? ] has a line-up consisting of a guitarist and keyboardist without bass or drums.

In the case of power duos that utilize only an electric guitar and drums, the lack of a bass guitar can be overcome in different ways: Jack White of The White Stripes and Joe Ziemba of The Like Young use octave dividers and pitch shifters, although most of these effects are monophonic and will not work on chords; The Black Keys often have a bassist when performing live; Scott Lucas of Local H installed one half of a split bass pickup under the lower strings of his guitar and running the signal from it to an octave pedal and a bass amplifier; guitarists Brian King of Japandroids and Randy Randall of No Age split the guitar signal between multiple guitar amps (generally one for clean and another for effects), and a bass amp; drummers Andy Stack of Wye Oak and Micah Calabrese of Giant Drag simultaneously play synthesizers to fill in the gap.

History

The Power duo band format rose to prominence in the late 90s early 00s with bands like The White Stripes, Death From Above 1979, The Black Keys and The Kills popularising the style.

T.Rex/Tyrannosaurus Rex, from resuming playing electric material in April 1969 until the recruitment of full time bassist Steve Currie in November 1970, frequently played live as a power duo using various combinations of electric guitar/bass (Ride A White Swan, Elemental Child, Do You Remember?) electric guitar/bongos (By The Light Of A Magical Moon, Jewel, Summertime Blues) and even keyboards/bongos (Organ Blues).

In the early 1980s, the Serbian and former Yugoslav post-punk and alternative rock band Disciplina Kičme, founded in 1981 by Dušan Kojić "Koja", featured a power duo lineup of bass guitar and drums on its early releases. The band relocated to London in the early 1990s, adding a female Black British vocalist Gofie Bebe to the power duo lineup, and changing the name to Disciplin A Kitschme.

Related Research Articles

Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, psychedelic rock, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a drummer, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that created a "hypnotic" and "danceable feel". Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.

Musical ensemble group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instruments, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Some 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 together 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 Jimi Hendrix Experience English-American psychedelic rock band

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an American-English rock band that formed in Westminster, London, in September 1966. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchell, and bassist Noel Redding comprised the group, which was active until June 1969. During this time, they released three studio albums and became one of the most popular acts in rock.

Power trio three-piece rock music group that lacks either a rhythm guitarist or keyboardist

A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out the second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are used in other rock music bands that are quartets and quintets. Larger rock bands use one or more additional rhythm section to fill out the sound with chords and harmony parts.

Comping is the chords, rhythms, and countermelodies that keyboard players, guitar players, or drummers use to support a jazz musician's improvised solo or melody lines. It is also the action of accompanying, and the left-hand part of a solo pianist.

Blues rock is a fusion genre combining elements of blues and rock. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock: electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes with keyboards and harmonica. From its beginnings in the early- to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal. Blues rock continues to be an influence in the 2010s, with performances and recordings by popular artists.

Rhythm section group of musicians within a music ensemble or band who provide the underlying rhythm, harmony and beat for the rest of the band

A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm section is often contrasted with the roles of other musicians in the band, such as the lead guitarist or lead vocals whose primary job is to carry the melody.

Majke

Majke ("mothers") are a cult Croatian rock band. Founded in 1984 in Vinkovci, Majke were one of the many bands to appear in a town that had a particularly vibrant rock and alternative scene. The band started playing under the influence of bands like: MC5, Flamin' Groovies, Steppenwolf, The Stooges, New York Dolls and many others.

Olve Eikemo Norwegian musician

Olve Eikemo, better known by his stage name Abbath Doom Occulta or simply Abbath, is a Norwegian musician best known as a founding member of the black metal band Immortal. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with Old Funeral alongside future Immortal member Demonaz. While working with Old Funeral, he also joined Demonaz's band Amputation which later became Immortal. He also plays bass in Demonaz's eponymous project.

The Human Instinct are a New Zealand blues rock band that has been active since the late 1960s. The band currently consists of Maurice Greer, Phil Pritchard (guitar), Joel Haines (guitar) and Tony Baird (bass). The band has had more than 25 members and has changed lineups several times since its formation under the leadership of Maurice Greer.

{{Infobox musical artist | name = Wild T & the Spirit | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Canada | genre = Blues rock | years_active = 1990–present | label = | associated_acts = | website = www.wildt.ca

The Leaving Trains were an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. The Leaving Trains were founded in 1980 by Falling James Moreland, a frontman who became known for his chaotic performances and penchant for cross-dressing. Falling James had previously been a member of punk rock bands the Mongrels and the Downers before assembling the group with guitarist Manfred Hofer, bassist Tom Hofer, keyboardist Sylvia Juncosa and drummer Hillary Laddin. They played locally for three years before releasing their first album, Well Down Blue Highway, in 1984.

Oli Brown British blues guitarist

Oli Brown is a British blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums and one live album.

Glossary of jazz and popular music

This is a list of jazz and popular music terms that are likely to be encountered in printed popular music songbooks, fake books and vocal scores, big band scores, jazz, and rock concert reviews, and album liner notes. This glossary includes terms for musical instruments, playing or singing techniques, amplifiers, effects units, sound reinforcement equipment, and recording gear and techniques which are widely used in jazz and popular music. Most of the terms are in English, but in some cases, terms from other languages are encountered.

Amund Maarud Norwegian musician and composer

Amund Maarud is a Norwegian blues/rock musician and composer, known as a solo artist and as frontman of rock bands The Grand (2005-2010) and the duo «Morudes» with his brother, the drummer Henrik Maarud.

Keyboard amplifier

A keyboard amplifier is a powered electronic amplifier and loudspeaker in a wooden speaker cabinet used for amplification of electronic keyboard instruments. Keyboard amplifiers are distinct from other types of amplification systems such as guitar amplifiers due to the particular challenges associated with making keyboards sound louder on stage; namely, to provide solid low-frequency sound reproduction for the deep basslines which keyboards can play and crisp high-frequency sound for the high-register notes. Another difference between keyboard amplifiers and guitar/bass amplifiers is that keyboard amps are usually designed with a relatively flat frequency response and low distortion. In contrast, many guitar and bass amp designers purposely make their amplifiers modify the frequency response, typically to "roll off" very high frequencies, and most rock and blues guitar amps, and since the 1980s and 1990s, even many bass amps are designed to add distortion or overdrive to the instrument tone.

Heavy metal bass heavy metal instrument and associated playing style

Heavy metal bass is the use of the bass guitar in the rock music genres of heavy metal and hard rock. The bassist is part of the rhythm section in a heavy metal band, along with the drummer, rhythm guitarist and, in some bands, a keyboard player. The prominent role of the bass is key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and distorted electric guitar is a central element of metal. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". The bass plays a "... more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock."

Band (rock and pop) musical ensemble which performs music

A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble which performs rock music, pop music or a related genre. The four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. Before the development of the electronic keyboard, the configuration was typically two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Another common formation is a vocalist who does not play an instrument, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer. Instrumentally, these bands can be considered as trios.

For the Australian band, see The Blackeyed Susans.