Soul Music

Origin
1. developed out of black music
  1. black music early 1950´s
    1. American Gospel and R6B
    2. Performed by black musicians to black audience
  2. Ray Charles pioneered an popularized soul music
    1. combined gospel, R&B, Jazz
      1. secular and religious styles
        in both lyrical and instrumental content
      2. 1954 " I got a Woman"
    2. influenced by
      1. James Brown " Godfather of Soul"
      2. Little Richard (rock n roll)
2. materialized 1960´s
Musical Characteristics
1. from the 1960´s "pop-orientated" R&B
2. Soul & R&B share common instrumentation
  1. performing ensemble
    1. rhythm section
      1. drum kit
      2. bass (electronic or acoustic)
      3. piano (sometimes organ instead or additioned)
      4. guitar
    2. horn section
      1. saxophones
      2. trumpets
      3. trombones (occasionaly)
      4. differentiated from white rock music
        rock music --> guitar dominate
3. more elements
  1. 12 bar form
  2. call and response
  3. incessant repetition of notes, rhythms, phrases or verses
  4. a tightly integrated and complex blending of instruments,
Record Labels
1. Motown
  1. founded by Berry Gordy 1959
  2. played major role in promoting "black pride"
  3. accompanied the Civil Rights movement
    1. with song like Marvin Gaye´s "What´s going on"
  4. Musical Characteristics
    1. Large orchestrations
      1. strings sections
      2. horn section
      3. carefully arranged harmonies
      4. refined pop production techniques
    2. dense sound
    3. Call & Response
  5. Technical Characteristics
    1. many track featured two drumers
    2. employed limiting & equalization
    3. bass recorded "Di Box"
  6. Representative Artists
    1. Marvin Gaye
    2. The Supremes
    3. Smokey Robinson
    4. The Four Tops
  7. wanted to have just black staff
2. Atlantic
3. Stax
  1. dominated the 60´s
  2. mixed colour staff
  3. Musical Characteristics
    1. bluesy feel
    2. often powered by the classic Booker T & the MGs rhythm section
    3. gritty soul music style
      1. powerful horn section
      2. driving rhythm section
    4. vocals
      1. very expressive
      2. influenced heavily by Gospel
  4. Technical Characteristics
    1. vocals further back in the mix
    2. use of vibrant on horn parts in place of background vocals
    3. focus on the low end frequency spectrum
  5. Representative Artists
    1. Otis redding
    2. Wilson Pickett
    3. Isaac Hayes
    4. Booker T and the MGs
4. influenced by civil rights era

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	Created by bentelyallmusic over 9 years ago