Drone (sound)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece.
The systematic use of drones originated in instrumental music of ancient Southwest Asia, and spread north and west to Europe and south to Africa.
It is also present in some isolated regions of Asia (like among Pearl-divers in the Persian Gulf, some national minorities of South-West China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Afghanistan).
Examples include the following: The best-known drone piece in the concert repertory is the Prelude to Wagner's Das Rheingold (1854) wherein low horns and bass instruments sustain an E♭ throughout the entire movement.
Drones are a regular feature in the music of composers indebted to the chant tradition, such as Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaidulina, and John Tavener.
The single-tones that provided the impetus for minimalism through the music of La Monte Young and many of his students qualify as drones.
David First, the band Coil, the early experimental compilations of John Cale (Sun Blindness Music, Dream Interpretation, and Stainless Gamelan), Pauline Oliveros and Stuart Dempster, Alvin Lucier (Music On A Long Thin Wire), Ellen Fullman, Lawrence Chandler and Arnold Dreyblatt all make notable use of drones.
Other composers whose music is entirely based on drones include Charlemagne Palestine and Phill Niblock.
The Immovable Do by Percy Grainger contains a sustained high C (heard in the upper woodwinds) that lasts for the entirety of the piece.
Early songs by Bob Dylan employ the effect with a retuned guitar in "Masters of War" and "Mr. Tambourine Man".
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").
compositions like Erykah Badu's "Otherside of the Game", Slum Village's "Untitled/Fantastic" or Jamiroquai's "Everyday" (in a lower extent for that case) use a synthesized or acoustic high sustained string.
Drones, owing to their acoustic properties and following their longstanding use in ritual and chant, can be useful in constructing aural structures outside common practice expectations of harmony and melody.
