Here is a little piano piece, or rather a piece for three pianos.

I submitted this to a music library requesting “hypnotic minimalist instrumentals a la Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, etc., (…) tracks must have a mezmerizing and soothing quality similar to the works of the referenced composers. Repetitive melodic motives and compelling dynamics could provide the right kind of foundation. Small ensemble pieces that can provide the perfect dreamy element to a scene/s, without over powering the dialogue is what they are after”. This one was actually in my drawer and I hope it will be useful to somebody.

Not exactly sure what this is – somewhat retroish urban, rnb – frame it yourself
Also listen to the melodic twists from 2:20 onwards.

In this piece there is a small greeting to a spectular, now defunct jazz musician and composer. Can you tell which musician and which song?

Jabal Sayings:

Unlike most other pop genres, a large number of songs in the RnB genre are not built upon the verse-chorus(-bridge) pattern. Listen to Ciara: Gimmie Dat or Mariah Carey: We Belong Together and try to divide it in sections. The songs are built on the same chord pattern throughout. Hooklines do appear and there is quite a lot of variation in the arrangement from one four bar group to the next, yet despite that it is difficult to determine exactly where one section ends and another begins. You could just as well claim that the whole song is one section.

This may be heritage from rhythm&blues in the past. Not sure whether my memory serves me well but at least I recall having heard more songs by Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker that were groove-oriented rather than sticking to the blues format. More likely though, it may have seeped in from Rap where a groove/beat based structure is much more convenient than a verse-chorus structure imposing limits on the rapper’s ability to improvise.

I claim that the lack of conventional verse and chorus is a major factor defining the genre. Yes, I am aware that this aspect is seen in other genres as well, e.g. some of the electronica genres, and it extends from RnB into Hip Hop and Rap as well.

It is interesting that songs a genre with such a big audience seem to be built like this. Maybe it is related to how the music is used. Please come forward with any opinions on this.

Arabic music meets Western pop in various ways:

Ghubar:

Any comments about how and where these two musical traditions merge will be greatly appreciated!
By the way, supporting Ian Shepherd’s Dynamic Range Day initiative, I produced this with not less than 12 dB of dynamic range (applause)…

Where Pat Metheny and Nachtmystium Overlap – NYTimes.com.

Observations: Music to the (ringing) ears: New therapy targets tinnitus.