 An adaptation of "The Skye Boat Song" for Great Highland bagpipes played by the Clan Stewart Pipe Band. A drone on the dominant (B♭) is heard throughout. Problems playing this file? Seemedia help. |
Inmusic, adrone is aharmonic ormonophonic effect oraccompaniment where anote orchord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. A drone may also be any part of a musical instrument used to produce this effect; an archaic term for this isburden (bourdon orburdon)[1][2] such as a "drone [pipe] of abagpipe",[3][4] thepedal point in anorgan, or the lowestcourse of alute. Αburden is also part of a song that is repeated at the end of eachstanza, such as the chorus orrefrain.[5]
"Of all harmonic devices, it [a drone] is not only the simplest, but probably also the most fertile."[6]
A drone effect can be achieved through asustained sound or throughrepetition of a note. It most often establishes atonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. A drone can be instrumental, vocal or both. Drone (both instrumental and vocal) can be placed in different ranges of the polyphonic texture: in the lowest part, in the highest part, or in the middle. The drone is most often placed upon thetonic ordominant (play "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with a drone on thetonicⓘ, on thedominantⓘ, or onbothⓘ. Compare withchanging chordsⓘ.). A drone on the same pitch as a melodic note tends to both hide that note and to bring attention to it by increasing its importance.
A drone differs from apedal tone or point in degree or quality. A pedal point may be a form ofnonchord tone and thus required toresolve unlike a drone, or a pedal point may simply be considered a shorter drone, a drone being a longer pedal point.
The systematic use of drones originated in instrumental music ofancient Southwest Asia, and spread north and west toEurope and south toAfrica.[7] It is used inIndian music and is played with thetanpura (or tambura) and other Indian drone instruments like theottu, theektar, thedotara (or dotar;dutar inPersian Central Asia), thesurpeti, the surmandal (orswarmandal) and theshankh (conch shell). Most of the types of bagpipes that exist worldwide have up to three drones, making this one of the first instruments that comes to mind when speaking of drone music. In America, most forms of the African-influencedbanjo contain a drone string. Since the 1960s, the drone has become a prominent feature indrone music and other forms ofavant-garde music.
In vocal music drone is particularly widespread in traditional musical cultures, particularly in Europe, Polynesia and Melanesia. It is also present in some isolated regions of Asia (such as among pearl-divers in the Persian Gulf, some national minorities of South-West China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Afghanistan).[8][page needed]
TheMedieval classical period also features the concept of droning in music with instruments of its time, such as the organ, in which the organist holds either a key of amanual or pedal while playing ahomophonic theme on the other.
Drone is also the term for the part of amusical instrument intended to produce the drone effect's sustainedpitch, generally without the ongoing attention of the player. Different melodic Indian instruments (e.g. thesitar, thesarod, thesarangi and therudra veena) contain a drone. For example, the sitar features three or four resonating drone strings, and Indian notes (sargam) are practiced to a drone.Bagpipes (like theGreat Highland Bagpipe and theZampogna) feature a number of drone pipes, giving the instruments their characteristic sounds. Ahurdy-gurdy has one or more drone strings. The fifth string on a five-stringbanjo is a drone string with a separate tuning peg that places the end of the string fivefrets down the neck of the instrument; this string is usually tuned to the same note as that which the first string produces when played at the fifth fret. The bass strings of theSloveniandrone zither also freely resonate as a drone. The WelshCrwth also features two drone strings.
Composers ofWestern classical music occasionally used a drone (especially one on open fifths) to evoke a rustic or archaic atmosphere, perhaps echoing that of Scottish or otherearly orfolk music. Examples include the following:
The best-known drone piece in the concert repertory is the Prelude toWagner'sDas Rheingold (1854) wherein low horns and bass instruments sustain an E♭ throughout the entire movement.[10] The atmospheric ostinato effect that opens Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which inspired similar gestures in the opening of all the symphonies ofAnton Bruckner, represents a gesture derivative of drones.
One consideration for composers ofcommon practice keyboard music wasequal temperament. The adjustments lead to slightmistunings as heard against a sustained drone. Even so, drones have often been used to spotlightdissonance purposefully.
Modern concert musicians make frequent use of drones, often with just or other non-equal tempered tunings. Drones are a regular feature in the music of composers indebted to thechant tradition, such asArvo Pärt,Sofia Gubaidulina, andJohn Tavener. The single-tones that provided the impetus forminimalism through the music ofLa Monte Young and many of his students qualify as drones.David First, the bandCoil, the early experimental compilations ofJohn Cale (Sun Blindness Music,Dream Interpretation, andStainless Gamelan),Pauline Oliveros andStuart Dempster,Alvin Lucier (Music On A Long Thin Wire),Ellen Fullman,Lawrence Chandler andArnold Dreyblatt all make notable use of drones. The music ofItalian composerGiacinto Scelsi is essentially drone-based. Shorter drones or the general concept of a continuous element are often used by many other composers. Other composers whose music is entirely based on drones includeCharlemagne Palestine andPhill Niblock.The Immovable Do byPercy Grainger contains a sustained high C (heard in the upper woodwinds) that lasts for the entirety of the piece. Drone pieces also includeLoren Rush'sHard Music (1970)[11] andFolke Rabe'sWas?? (1968),[12] as well asRobert Erickson'sDown at Piraeus.[13] The avant-garde guitaristGlenn Branca also used drones extensively. French singerCamille uses a continuous B throughout her albumLe Fil.
Drones continue to be characteristic of folk music. Early songs byBob Dylan employ the effect with a retuned guitar in "Masters of War" and "Mr. Tambourine Man".[citation needed] The song "You Will Be My Ain True Love", written by Sting for the 2003 movieCold Mountain and performed by Alison Krauss and Sting, uses drone bass.[citation needed]
Drones are used widely in theblues and blues-derived genres.Jerry Lee Lewis featured drones in solos and fills.[14] Drones were virtually absent in originalrock and roll music,[citation needed] but gained popularity afterthe Beatles used drones in a few popular compositions (for example, "Blackbird" has a drone in the middle of a texture throughout the whole song, "Tomorrow Never Knows" makes use oftambura). They also used high drone for the dramatic effect in some sections of several of their compositions (like the last verses of "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby").[citation needed] Rock bandU2 uses drones in their compositions particularly widely.[citation needed] In theLed Zeppelin song "In The Light", akeyboard drone is used throughout the song, mostly in the intro.[citation needed]
American musicianRoy Ayers used this technique in most of his repertoire. Examples being[15]Everybody Loves the Sunshine (1976) and Searching (1976)) which have a high sustained synth string note through most of their duration.
Afrocentric acts influenced by Ayers likeacid jazz orneo soul tend to use this technique very often. compositions likeErykah Badu's "Otherside of the Game",Slum Village's "Untitled/Fantastic" orJamiroquai's "Everyday" (in a lower extent for that case) use a synthesized or acoustic high sustained string.Scott Walker - "It's Raining Today" from 1969's SCOTT 3 Uses a drone and this song was used in Tv. Shows as a hunting effect.
Drones are used by a number of music education programs for ear training and pitch awareness, as well as a way to improvise ensemble music.[16] Ashruti box is often used by vocalists in this style of musical training. Drones, owing to theiracoustic properties and following their longstanding use inritual and chant, can be useful in constructing aural structures outsidecommon practice expectations ofharmony and melody.[17][verification needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Burden".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
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