The Instrument: The Sounds of Music

     Instrumentation is everywhere, and through this blog, I attempt to extend this metaphor of the instrument to places where it takes on a whole new level of meaning. There are political instruments, educational instruments, artistic instruments, and even corporate instruments, such as the instrumentation of advertisement that I tackled last time. I plan on unpacking as many of these hidden instruments as I can, since I believe that viewing the world as a function of a million instruments sheds light on important motifs such as hidden intention, artistic expression, and role. However, as of right now, I think it would be incredibly beneficial to dig deep into the true core of the metaphor of the instrument. Specifically, I want to look at instrumentation in the most common sense, the instrumentation of music. After all, the primary use of the word "instrument" is in a musical sense, and when a person is thinking of an instrument, he or she would imagine a piano or a guitar and not a piece of advertisement or a political campaign. This definition of the instrument as a musical tool is the foundation for my extended metaphor. So, why don't we see what makes this metaphor tick?

      Starting with the basics, instruments create music. Quite simply, every song is a combination of sounds from a variety of instruments. However, creating music isn't as simple as compiling sounds on top of each other haphazardly. There are many intricacies to music that distinguish good songs from mediocre ones. An example of one such intricacy is role. In other words, what purposes do instruments serve in a song? What components are necessary for a dynamic and cohesive sound?

Bone Bass And Drums - Debra Hurd

      There are two primary roles that a musician must fill when playing playing or composing a tune: rhythm and melody. Now, I hope to avoid doing music injustice by oversimplifying the endless possibilities of sound and musical purpose by lumping everything into two categories, but I do believe that rhythm and melody are the fundamental roles of music, the roles that encompass most instrumental sounds. The rhythm section, illustrated by the painting above, usually consists of instruments that work with a lower range of notes, such as the drum set, the bass guitar, and the baritone saxophone. The purpose of these instruments and their sounds in regards to rhythm is to set a pace that the rest of the band can follow with ease, and to drive this pace forward relentlessly. Being a bassist myself, I am all too familiar with this instrumental role of music. The rhythm section is the map of the song. The bass and drums provide the tempo, the time signature, and the key of the song, the guidelines necessary for the rest of the band to create a full and dynamic sound. 

      Here is an example of the rhythm section at work through the hands of legendary funk bassist Victor Wooten. In this clip, Wooten utilizes the slapping-technique, a technique that literally requires the musician to slap the strings in a very coordinated way, in order to achieve that tight popping sound that you hear in the video. This slap style jam gets at what the rhythm section is all about, a tight foundation that digs out the groove that the rest of the instruments can slide into. Now, in this video, Victor Wooten skillfully forays into the boundaries of the melody, as it is clear that in a jam with only a bass guitar and a drums, a strictly rhythmic approach would be incredibly dull and boring. Imagine a house with a foundation and structure but with no furniture and decoration, no color and vivacity. This house is the rhythm without a melody. The melody is the detail, the flair that fleshes out the song. When it comes to creating a balanced sound, the melody is just as vital as the rhythm for the simple reason that nobody wants that lame house with no decoration.

      Ultimately, it is important to recognize the roles that instruments have to play in musicianship because they shed light on how musical expression is achieved. The ideal product of musicianship, a beautifully crafted song, can only be created when instruments are used thoughtfully. The mere presence and use of the instrument isn't enough. Each sound needs to be carefully designed to play their role perfectly, whether it be to drive the song forward or to create the detailed audial complexities that are just really pleasing to hear. Now when I extend the metaphor of the instrument to other worldly aspects, we will have a deeper metaphorical understanding of what the instrument should be accomplishing. Not every instrument will be the "rhythm" or the "melody", but there is an intrinsic purpose to each instrument that, when carried out successfully, drives the "musician" towards their goal. That is instrumentation at its finest.