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Indie Folk Music

Indi

Indie Folk music genre arose in the 1990s it was influenced by folk music scenes of the 1950s,60s, and early 70s. It was also influenced by country music and indie rock music of that time era.

Bob Dylan

Indie Folk Music Artists

He is an musician, singer-songwriter, artist and writer from America.

Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards and harmonica.

 

His 50 year recording career explored many of the traditions in American song from folk and country to English, Scottish and Irish Folk Music.

 

Elliot Smith

 Smith used many different instruments including the guitar, piano, clarinet bass guitar, drums and harmonica but his primary instrument was the guitar.

 

Smith had a distinctive vocal style and he used a technique called multi tracking to create vocal layers, textures and harmonies.

Of Monsters and Men

Of Monsters and Men is a six person band from Iceland. This band formed in 2010.

 

One of their albums reached the top 10 albums charts in several different countries , that album was called 'My head is an animal'.

 

They have performed at many different festivals such as Glastonbury and Coachella, Latitude, T in the park and Iceland Airwaves.

Gabrielle Aplin

Gabrielle Aplin wad born on the 10th October 1992 and she is an English indie folk singer. She comes from Sutton Benger, Wiltshire.

 

Gabrielle became famous after she gained a following online after publishing acoustic song covers by bands such as Paramore and You Me at Six on YouTube.

 

She had an album called 'English Rain' that peaked at number 2 in the UK charts.

Codes and Conventions of Indie Folk Music Videos

Typical Instruments from Indie Folk Music Videos:

  • Acoustic Guitar

  • Banjos

  • Piano

  • Violin

  • Double Bass

Typical Costume/Appearance from Indie Folk Music Videos:

Some indie folk artists where formal clothes, waist coats, shirts and trousers and dresses.

They also dress to match their setting/mood of the video, obviously if they are in a cold setting they will wear clothes to keep them warm and vice versa for a hot setting.

Male indie folk artists usually have beards or scruffy looking hairstyles.

Setting for indie folk music videos:

  • Outside and with nature

  • A desert area

  • Fields and forests

Lighting in indie folk music videos:

There is a lot of natural light in the music videos, normally if the music video is inside the natural light will be from the windows.

If the video is outdoors it is usually daytime and even if its night the lighting is usually high key. Sunsets are also popular in indie folk music videos.

Lighting in indie folk music videos:

There is usually a colour theme that runs throughout the music video. The colours are often natural like green and brown and some sepia tones are also used. Some indie folk music videos are black and white. The colour scheme often represents the mood of the music video.

Camera shots in indie folk music videos:

  • There are lots of close up shots of the lead singer and the singer is usually singing directly into the camera.Also when they are looking at the camera they are normally in the centre of the shot.

  •  There are often alot of long shots in indie folk music videos this is normally to show the full length of the artist and their costume and to show the background of the video to see how it links in with the song.

Camera Movement in indie folk music videos:

 

Hand held cameras are used alot in indie folk music they are mostly used in the performance side of the video so that the audience feels like a part of the crowd.

Editing in indie folk music videos:

  • Soemtimes there are cuts that match the beat of the song.

  • Filters are used to soemtimes give the video a vintage look or a sepia tone.

  • Also speed is edited to normally change the speed to slow motion.

Here are some indie folk music videos:

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