Musical ensembles are groups of instruments that usually play together.
Each kind of music chooses the instruments that fit better with the sound it looks for. They choose them because of two reasons. The first one is their timbre, the second one is the role that those instruments are going to play in the particular style of music in which they are going to be used.
Rock and roll Band
The Rock band is probably the most familiar ensemble for us. So, it is the first one that we are going to see here
A typical rock (or pop rock) band uses basically four instruments beside the voice: two guitars, an electric bass and a set of drums.
The Rolling Stones.Satisfaction
Regarding timbre
Rock music looks for instruments with a percussive feeling. Therefore, drums are going to be very important. The other three instruments have percussive envelopes that are very good for a kind of music where rhythm is so important.
Electric guitars have the advantage that can change their timbre adding effects to the electric signal. You can watch an example in this video:
Sound effects with anelectric guitar
This kind of effects allow us to change the sound of the instrument depending on how hard the sound you are looking for is. Hard rock music uses more distortion in the guitars and its drums are going to sound stronger.
Melodic rock bands prefer the softer sound of the acoustic guitars. You can see the difference in sound between two versions of the same song. The first one is an acoustic version and the second is an electric one.
La fuga “Buscando en la basura” Electric versión
La fuga, “Buscando en la basura” Acoustic version
Piano Is an instrument that has been used a lot in this music because its percussive sound allows it to fit into styles where rhythm is very important, like Boogie woogie or Rock & Roll.
Boogie Woogie
Regarding function
Each one of these instruments plays a different role in this music.
a) The main melodie:
The role of the main melodie is played either by the voice or by the "melodic guitar".
One of the
guitars plays the role of the melodic guitar. It is going to do the main
melodies when they are not done by the voice. The musician has to be very
skilled because playing this guitar is the most difficult thing to do in a rock
band. Guitar solos are remarkable here. They have their origin in blues music
improvisations.You can see that above, in the acoustic video of "La Fuga". One of the guitars plays only chords, while the other one also plays melodies.
b) Chords and harmony:
The other guitar is the rhythmic guitar. Its role is to play chords rhythmically. They do the harmonic accompaniment. In this video you can see how a rhythmic guitar works accompanying the main melody of the voice.
Taylor Momsen: Make me Wanna die
c) The bass line:
The electric bass strengthens the harmonies playing a bass line. This is a countermelody in the low register that contrasts with the sharper main melody.
d) Highlighting rhythms:
The drums create a rhythmic fabric that is very important in this music. The harder the style the louder the drums.
This is a version of the former video with the full band. Look at how the sound changes with the addiction of the bass reinforcing the lower notes and also with the drums.
The Pretty reckless: Make me Wanna die
The keyboards can play any role, and therefore replace the function of any of the other instruments (except the drums).
Jerry Lee Lewis’s band didn’t have guitars because the piano played the role of both of them.
Jerry Lee: Whole lotta Shaking
Baroque
chamber music ensembles
We will see these ensembles after the rock band because although their instruments have entirely different sonorities, they will play a very similar musical role.
Regarding timbre:
Baroque music uses instruments that are good to play melodies, with soft soundsand non-percussive envelopes. Violins, flutes, oboes and all those instruments that we usually associate with classical music in general.
Regarding function:
In relation to the function of the instruments chosen by this music, it uses instruments that are able to play very similar roles to those of the rock and roll. With the exception of the drums. Percussion instruments are going to be used very rarely in this music because the melodic element is much more important than the rhythmic one.
a) The main melody:
Main melodies are played by instruments with melodic capabilities. Most frequently violins. Flutes and oboes are also very common.
b) Chords and harmony:
The set of chords and bass played together was called basso continuo in this period. The harmonic accompaniment with chords is normally done with a harpsichord. An instrument similar to the guitar or the lute can also be used.
c) The bass line:
The countermelody in the lower register, that is played with the electric bass in rock music, is played in this case, by an instrument like the cello although others like the bassoon can also be used.
In the next example the tune beggins with the melody of the violin and the countermelody of the cello. Later in time the chords of the harpsichord are added.
Sonata for violín and continuous Corelli
In the next video you can see the bass line played with a bassoon. And the main melody played with a recorder.
Symphonic
Orchestra
It is the biggest and more complex musical ensemble. It is the one that offers the most possibilities too. It was developed, in the way we know it today, during the classical period.
In an orchestra each one of the different families of the instruments are represented, although bowed string instruments are much more important than the rest. This is because those instruments are very good at playing melodies. A big orchestra can have more than 100 musicians inside.
The problem of handling a musical ensemble that big is that it needs a lot of organization. To do that, the instruments of the same families are grouped together and located in fixed places. Because of that the composers can work with them thinking about some few groups instead of about many individual instruments. The number of instruments in an orchestra can change, but the number of groups is always the same.
The position of
each group of instruments in an orchestra in always like this:
The conductor is the other key element to organize the orchestra. The role of the conductor is essecial in the rehersals. There he/she prepares the parts of the different instruments and organized how they shoul put together. During the concerts he supervises thet evytting goes as planned.
The best-known musical genre for this kind of ensemble is the symphony:
Beethoven 5th symphony 1st movement
The orchestra is the most prestigious musical ensemble since its first apparition at the beginning of classicism. Because of its expressive capabilities it is very used in film music today.
In the following video you can see the director and composer John Williams working with an orchestra and a choir to record the music for the Star Wars film “The Phantom menace”.
The Phantom Menace session recording
Harry Potter´s Hedwigs Theme Concert version
Many video games also look for the kind of epic sound that only an orchestra can give.
The Legend of Zelda Recording session
Mario Bross recording session. The is a huge variety in the use of different orquestal styles to fit into the different settings of the game.
Chamber
music ensembles
Chamber music is classical music for small groups of instruments. In theory composers can write for whatever instruments they want, but along time some ensembles have had special success and have been used by most classical composers. We are going to see some of them:
● Trio: It is formed by violin, cello and piano.
Franz Shubert Trio Op. 100 2nd movement
● String quartet: It is formed by two violins, viola and cello
Haydn Quartet “Emperor” 2nd movment
● Piano quintet: It is formed by a string quarter and a piano.
Shuman Quintet for piano
Wind Band
It is an
ensemble with all the wind and percussion instruments of the orchestra, but
none of the rest. It has a very good sound when paying outdoors and the
musicians can play while walking. It is used in all kinds of parades and
celebrations either civil, religious or military. Not so long ago, every
council had its wind band. In many cities and villages in Cantabria we can
still see the bandstands where they used to play.
Bandstand in “Plaza Mayor” Torrelavega
In this video you can see some marching bands parading to celebrate some fertivity in Valencia, where there is a strong tradition of Wind Band music.
Today the army still keeps wind bands, and many religious “cofradías” that play in religious parades called “procesiones”.
And here you can see a brasilian Army marchinng band parading on the streets:
In some European countries the workers of the factories used to form wind bands. They competed with other factories and played the band in parades and demonstrations. It was part of their working-class pride.
Danny boy from the film “Brassed Off”
In the USA they like marching bands so much that they have one in almost every high school.
Dakota High school marching band
When a wind band is formed only by brasswind instruments it is called a fanfare.
Fanfare for the common man. Aaron Copland
Jazz Band
Jazz is an Afro-American style of music that was born in the south of the USA. Wind band music is one of the most important influences on its sound to the point that for many, Jazz was born as an adaptation of the sound of wind band music to the musical ideas and the rhythmic feeling of the Afro-American music.
Is because of that origin that wind instruments (trumpets, trombones, saxos…) are so important in jazz music.
Jazz music also uses other instruments like pianos, guitars or banjos to play harmonies or drums to highlight rhythms.
There are many different possibilities for jazz bands. This one example of a band in the way they were in the early period of this music style.
Folk music band
Folk is a music style that despite its current decline was once very popular in Cantabria and other places of the north of Spain. This kind of music was born in Ireland and Scotland and consists of traditional melodies played with traditional instruments but modernized by an accompaniment both rhythmic and harmonic played with one or two plucked string instruments.
The string instruments that play the chords are the acoustic guitar in the first place and the bouzouki that is also frequently played.
Playing with the “wrong” ensemble
What happens if you play any kind of music with the wrong ensemble?
This is the original version of “Hit the road Jack” Bay Ray Charles, played with a jazz band
Listen to the same song played with an ensemble of middle eastern instruments.
This is “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Played with the original rock band
And now you have the same song played with a bluegrass ensemble
And with two cellos
