Hocket
Encyclopedia
In music
, hocket is the rhythmic linear
technique using the alternation of notes, pitches
, or chord
s. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody
is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.
In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal music of the 13th and early 14th centuries. It was a predominant characteristic of music of the Notre Dame school
, during the ars antiqua
, in which it was found in sacred vocal music. In the 14th century, the device was most often found in secular vocal music.
The term originated in reference to medieval French motet
s, but the technique remains in common use in contemporary music (Louis Andriessen
's Hoketus
), popular music
(funk
, stereo panning, the work of Robert Fripp
and Adrian Belew
in King Crimson
), Indonesian
gamelan music (interlocking patterns shared between two instruments
—called imbal
in Java and Kotekan
in Bali
), Andean
siku (panpipe)
music (two pipe sets sharing the full number of pitches between them), handbell
music (tunes being distributed between two or more players), and many African cultures such as the Ba-Benzélé (featured on Herbie Hancock
's "Watermelon Man", see Pygmy music
), Mbuti
, Basarwa (Khoisan), the Gumuz tribe from the Blue Nile Province (Sudan), and Gogo (Tanzania). It is also evident in drum and bugle corps drumline music, colloquially known as "split parts" or simply "splits".
The group Dirty Projectors
uses hocketing as a very prominent element of their music, both with instruments as well as vocals. The composer Dave Longstreth has expressed his interest in the medieval origins of the technique.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, hocket is the rhythmic linear
Linear
In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
technique using the alternation of notes, pitches
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
, or chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.
In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal music of the 13th and early 14th centuries. It was a predominant characteristic of music of the Notre Dame school
Notre Dame school
The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1160 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony....
, during the ars antiqua
Ars antiqua
Ars antiqua, also called ars veterum or ars vetus, refers to the music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310, covering the period of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the subsequent years which saw the early development of the motet...
, in which it was found in sacred vocal music. In the 14th century, the device was most often found in secular vocal music.
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, but the technique remains in common use in contemporary music (Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
's Hoketus
Hoketus
Hoketus was an amplified musical ensemble founded by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen in the Netherlands in 1976. The group was originally formed to perform Louis Andriessen's minimal composition Hoketus, but remained together and began to perform music composed for the group by other composers...
), popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
(funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, stereo panning, the work of Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
and Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
in King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
), Indonesian
Music of Indonesia
The music of Indonesia demonstrates its cultural diversity, the local musical creativity, as well as subsequent foreign musical influences that shaped contemporary music scenes of Indonesia. Nearly thousands of Indonesian islands having its own cultural and artistic history and character. This...
gamelan music (interlocking patterns shared between two instruments
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
—called imbal
Imbal
Imbal or imbalan is a technique used in Javanese gamelan. It refers to a rapid alternation of a melodic line between instruments, in a way similar to hocket in medieval music or kotekan in Balinese gamelan....
in Java and Kotekan
Kotekan
Kotekan is a style of playing fast interlocking parts in most varieties of Balinese Gamelan music, including Gamelan gong kebyar, Gamelan angklung, Gamelan jegog and others. In kotekan there are two independent parts called polos and sangsih, each of which fills in the gaps of the other to form a...
in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
), Andean
Andean music
Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...
siku (panpipe)
Siku (panpipe)
The Siku , is a traditional Andean panpipe. This instrument is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as the Sikuri. It is traditionally found all across the Andes but is more typically associated with music from the Kollasuyo, or Aymara speaking regions around Lake Titicaca...
music (two pipe sets sharing the full number of pitches between them), handbell
Handbell
A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle — traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic — and moves the wrist to make the hinged clapper inside the bell strike...
music (tunes being distributed between two or more players), and many African cultures such as the Ba-Benzélé (featured on Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
's "Watermelon Man", see Pygmy music
Pygmy music
The Pygmies are a broad group of people who live in Central Africa, especially in the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Music is an important part of Pygmy life, and casual performances take place during many of the day's events...
), Mbuti
Mbuti
Mbuti or Bambuti are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages belong to the Central Sudanic and also to Bantu languages.-Overview:...
, Basarwa (Khoisan), the Gumuz tribe from the Blue Nile Province (Sudan), and Gogo (Tanzania). It is also evident in drum and bugle corps drumline music, colloquially known as "split parts" or simply "splits".
The group Dirty Projectors
Dirty Projectors
The Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...
uses hocketing as a very prominent element of their music, both with instruments as well as vocals. The composer Dave Longstreth has expressed his interest in the medieval origins of the technique.
Etymology
The term comes from the French word 'hoquet' (in Old French also 'hocquet') meaning a shock, sudden interruption, hitch, hiccup.See also
- KecakKecakKecak is a form of Balinese dance and music drama, originated in the 1930s Bali and is performed primarily by men, although a few women's kecak groups exist as of 2006....
, Balinese performance piece also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant. - KlangfarbenmelodieKlangfarbenmelodieKlangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves distributing a musical line or melody to several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color and texture to the melodic line...