Hello all!
I’ve decided to reformat the way I write these articles to cover more ground and expand the audience base. Thinking of these articles as episodes with certain segments (song of the week, music history, weekly challenge, ect.) should help diversify the content and make sure there is something in it for everyone. Thank you for the continued support. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how many of you all take the time to read these.
Song of the Week
In this section, I want to highlight a song that has caught my attention for a number of reasons and talk a little bit about why. This week I have to select Tigran Hamasyan’s ‘The Apple Orchard of Sghmosavank’, you can listen to it here.
Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian jazz pianist who has performed numerous times at the Berkley College of Music. His repertoire is extensive: 11 albums released since 2006. If you are familiar with his playing, it shouldn’t surprise you that he started playing the piano at the age of 3 and started music school by 6; he’s extremely talented.
‘The Apple Orchard of Sgmosavank’ was performed at Berkley in 2018 at the 9th Annual Middle Eastern Festival. The song features a wide array of instruments, some of which I had never heard of before. I want mention a few of them.
Laouto
This instrument is in the lute family, which is a broad category for instruments that have a deep curved back and strings that can either be plucked or bowed. However, the Laouto is unique compared to other lutes. For example, it has a longer neck than most other lutes and is strung with steel strings as opposed to nylon strings. This creates a brighter tone that has more attack (the percussive portion of the sound). The tuning, first to last, is C3C4, G3G4, D3D4 and A4A4 (the letter indicates what note it is tuned to and the number indicates what octave). The strings are positioned in a way where the string and its higher octave are grouped together close. For example the C3 and C4 strings are right next to each other so when the player strums that string, both strings are heard simultaneously. This doubling up of the strings, 8 in this case, creates more depth in the sound compared to just 4 strings.
Another fascinating thing about the Laouto are the removable frets. This allows the frets to either be completely removed or repositioned based of the music. It excites me to think of all the creative possibilities of the Laouto.
Kanun
The Kanun is a very intricate and ornate instrument with a history from many parts of the world including, east and western Africa, middle and eastern Asia and Greece. Watching someone play the Kanun is very impressive. A high attention to detail is necessary to play this complex instrument. It is typically played with fingerpicks, which creates a bright sound that has a timbre that makes me think of eastern Asia. The strings are tuned to a major scale, or solfege (Do Re Mi Fa Sol ect.), and grouped in threes, each tuned to the same note. This again creates a more layered sound and also increases the technique possibilities. For example, changing the angle the fingerpick hits the string will change how it is heard, as well as how many notes are played from the string groupings. A 180 degree angle strum on all 3 strings will produce a louder sound that has more attack than if just one string (of the grouping of 3) were struck at a 45 degree angle; producing a quieter and softer sound. Staccato can also be achieved by placing other fingers on string after it is plucked to create a stilted and more abrupt sound.
Interpreting Music as a Story
Now to the music of ‘The Apple Orchard of Sghmosavank.’ When thinking about songs in general, I find it very interesting to view the song as a storyline, containing setting, plot, characters, and conflict and resolution. By doing this, each part of the song is weighed against each other. Also, it’s worth mentioning that our perception of music is retroactive, which means that how we hear a note or chord is changed by the next note we hear, and then changed by the next one and so on. This phenomenon can also be applied on a larger scale, for example, song structures.
Since perception of music is completely subjective, and everyone hears music differently, I want to offer my interpretations merely as a stimulus for yours.
One way to compare and contrast parts in a song is by first identifying what instruments are being played and their dynamics, relating this back to my storyline analogy; each instrument can be thought of a character, then think about what the overarching mood of the part is, what emotions or ideas do you think the artist is trying to convey.
For example, during the intro in ‘The Apple Orchard of Sgmosavank’, the piano softly plays a melancholy sounding passage that to me makes me think of walking upon a monastery with feelings of sadness and sorrow, but in search of something. There is a hopeful air to the passage. Then about thirty seconds into the song, the violin enters, supporting the melody of the piano. Here, even more expression is being articulated in the melody; the weeping melody of violin bolsters the overarching melancholy mood of the intro. The title of this song also influences how one imagines the setting; Sgmosavank is an Armenian monastery, so visualizing an apple orchard next to a monastery while listening to the music is not only enjoyable, but it can also profoundly magnify the emotions articulated.
And by watching Tigran and the rest of the ensemble play, you can see just how profoundly the emotions of the music move them, which is really special. They are deeply moved by the music in which they are simultaneously creating.
I highly recommend listening to more of Tigran Hamasyan’s music; his music is so exciting and watching him perform is captivating.
Music Term of the Week
In this section, I want to choose a music term of the week and explain what it means and why it is important to know this term.
Giocoso
This is a term means that the piece of music is fun and joyful. An example of a song that is giocoso would be ‘The Wheels on the Bus’, most music for children is played giocoso, but also singing along drunkenly to Taylor Swift could qualify. So, now when you’re singing with your friends after a few drinks you can impress them by telling them they’re singing giocoso.
Personal Note
This week has been a productive one for me. Last Thursday, I released my newest song ‘Revenir’, huge thanks to all of you that listened. ‘Revenir’ was a song that I took in a different direction compared to some of my other songs. I used a wide array of midi tones to support the piano, as well as programing midi drums that have a hip hop beat feel. In the middle of the song, I have a violin and piano interlude that is heavy on the feels, this was a part was mostly improvised and felt contrasted very well with the beginning and end parts.
Revenir, is a French verb meaning ‘to come back’. I choose this for the title because this song came to me in a creative wave.
Weekly Challenge
Each week, I want to embark on a challenge that will broaden my appreciation of music and ask you all to join. This week, I want to completely change the way in which I write music. I want to first write a story, in which I identify characters, setting, plot, conflict and resolution and then do my best to translate that into a song. I think this will be an effective way to improve my song writing skills, while developing my own style. It should be interesting to determine what instruments correlate to what characters and how the dynamics of certain parts can articulate the different elements of a storyline.
Next week, I should hope to release that song and its story. I would love to hear what you all come up with, too.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this new format of newsletter is one you all prefer. Thank you for reading, please comment, share and subscribe if you wish.
See you next week,
Isaiah
About the Author
Isaiah Grip is a 21 year old multi-instrumentalist composer (guitar, piano, violin, and voice) out of Longmont, Colorado who records and studies music independently under the name Tetra Veda, as well as collaborating with Ghostwrite Inc, and playing guitar in the progressive metal band Cloud Temple. His personal repertoire can be found on Bandcamp and YouTube under the name Tetra Veda.
This is so interesting & I appreciate learning more about music. Thank you!