No more than four: A minimalist guide to popular music performance and production

Published

8-12-2022

Type of Work

Conference Presentation

Abstract

Rhymes are found in every aspect of life. From children’s songs to political slogans, rhymes have a powerful ability to be memorable, sometimes for decades. In musical circles, a career’s worth of wisdom can be distilled into one simple and memorable sentence or mantra.

Chubb (2018) defines mantras as: “…short, rhythmic statements that use positive and uplifting words to create a positive and uplifting mindset” (p. 9), while McGlone & Jessica Tofighbakhsh (2000), investigate the conditions needed for aphorisms to describe human behaviour accurately.

In this research, the authors aim to unpack the musical aphorism “no more than four” and the musical connections it prompts, by producing a recording project that involves four different arrangements of the same original composition recorded live in the studio by four different groups - 1) drums/bass/guitar/keys, 2) vocals, vocals, keyboard, guitar 3) bass, drums, guitar, vocals 4) bass, drums, keyboard, vocals.
Through an observation of the creative process within these four variations, the authors look to understand the connection the musicians make in the recording studio and the observable, accuracy, applicability and workability of this musical aphorism.
How can the number “4” be used to arrange music? How can a quartet utilize the number “4” as a musical theme? And what does “no more than four” mean in the context of music performance and recording?

Cited works:
Chubb, T. (2018). My Pocket Mantras: Powerful Words to Connect, Comfort, and Protect. Adams Media.

McGlone, M. S., & Tofighbakhsh, J. (2000). Birds of a Feather Flock Conjointly (?): Rhyme as Reason in Aphorisms. Psychological Science, 11(5), 424–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00282

Citation

Foran, S., Carroll, A., & Perry, V. (2022, December 8). No more than four: A minimalist guide to popular music performance and production [Conference presentation]. IASPM-ANZ 2022: Opening Up – Reconnecting, Remixing, Remastering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

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