For this week I chose to listen to an hour’s worth of songs
by musician Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird’s music emphasizes a great deal on various
violin techniques. One thing I noticed is that Andrew Bird will use the violin
much like a musician would use a guitar in recordings. Many songs, such as
“The Happy Birthday Song” and “Skin Is, My” consist of the melody being created
by a pizzicato violin early into the song. Usually, Bird will then loop the main
melody, and over-dub it with more pizzicato playing or classic violin playing
with a bow. The best examples would be in the songs “Anonanimal” and “Desperation
Breeds”. The end result is a very complex, but soothing harmonization of
multiple violin tracks.
In some songs however, violin will only be present in the
back of the recording creating harmony until either a chorus or an instrumental
break down occurs, such as in the song “Souverian”. Bird’s pizzicato playing is
present throughout every song, almost as a percussive instrument plucking the
rhythm. In addition, Bird will strum the violin throughout the song, as one
would do with a guitar, such as in the song “Orpheo Looks Back”. Andrew Bird is
also known for whistling in his songs along with the same notes as the violin,
which can be heard throughout the song “A Nervous Tick Of Motion of The Head To
The Left”. No matter which technique he uses, violin is the main focus in every
song I have listened to by him. Andrew Bird is a very clever and creative
musician of our time and I respect the ways in which he uses the violin throughout his
songs.
-Lou Fatato
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