Monday, Nov. 30th – Music in Puerto Rico
The Third Puerto Rican Song Performance
I hear 5 layers t this song: lead singer, chorus, maracas, guitar, drums. The drum keeps the beat, almost the backbone of the song. The guitar adds a Spanish touch with discordance pulse. The drums have an African influence within in their style, and the instrumentation, with long solos, also reminds me of African music. The drumming solo that introduces the song is still another way the drums connect with African music. The maracas keep a connection, almost filling in “empty space” for a smooth sound between the guitar and drums. The drums stay within the same pace throughout the song, while the guitar changes its speed, alway fast, sometimes faster. The guitar stands out within the song. The maracas are also have a fast pace, but are consistent throughout the song. The maracas are consistent with African shakers as well. The timbres of the layers are bright in color and sound; although the words are foreign to me the paired dancers and tune of the song remind me of a couples song. The chorus seems to share a call and response with the lead singer even though I do not understand what they are saying. I do not think there is any call and response within the instrumentation.
The harmony has the guitar as a front instrument, but the drum is what you hear first which you hear throughout the song as the ever-present, steadying effect of the music. However the maracas have the harmony of the music that keeps the drum and guitar from harshly clashing. The guitar and the lead singer stand as forefront players within the song. Their dynamics change loudness throughout, but are always louder than the other pieces of the music. The drums and chorus, and maracas too, are softer in loudness, more subtle. The chorus has a certain repetitive chanting that reminds the listener of African roots within the music. The articulation of the song is very clear in both vocalists and instrumentation. The timbre of the song, in general, is red to me…bright and vibrant. The dancers were wearing red and it stuck with me, which is further associated with the red (i.e. love) of the couples and the couples song.
The meter of this Puerto Rican song is a little confusing because it seems as the drum is a quadruple beat while the inclusion of all the parts seems to be a triple beat. This may give the discordance of the song, but also the richness of its combinations. The tempo of this song is fast in instrumentation and singers; every few seconds the pattern repeats itself. When the lead vocalist and the guitar that introduce swing into the song. The drum and maracas have a syncopation of a repeating pattern. The motives behind the timing of the song give the song a quick dance beat and a rhythm for paired dancing. The dancing in pace and the jumping of the dancers within the video remind me of African dance moves.
The lead vocalist is in the tenor range, while I think the chorus basically stays in the baritone range. The phrasing of both lead and chorus singers are fast with many notes sung within one breath. The contour of most of the song is very circular, but there are points that veer off slightly only to return to the circle. Once again this circular contour supports the dancing motives behind the music. It really gives way to the circular hip motions of the dancers.
