The Web Cushion » Making Music

Drums Might Be Made with Carved Pictures of Folks

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:30:03 +0000

When one visits an Indian reservation pueblo or town, you can highly likely hear the pretty melodic tones of an Indian drum. Custom plays a robust part in Local Songs and culture. The instrument that produces the strongest sound is the Indian drum. The kind of Indian drums varies. Drums might be made with carved pictures of folks.

Or, other Indian clans may select animal designs to grace their Indian drums. Drums are designed by hand and are particular to each drum maker. Many folks of a spread of ethnic backgrounds use Indian drums in drumming groups and as country home dcor. And, in several locations and areas of the country, Indians drummers have companies, offering their Local hand drums and hand crafts. If you don’t live close to Indian reservations, locating a real drum isn’t as easy, but can be attained simply on the internet. Indian drums are come in several styles and sizes from little hand drums to huge ceremonial drums. Most drums could be played with the hand or by employing a drum beater or tom tom like. For rites and drum circles pow wow drums are most desired for their deep low tones. Good conference drums also have a base to hod the drum during use. Some of the nicest Northwest Indian drums and most unique drums are made with cedar for a rich red and blond colour.

Source: One Direction

Top Singles Banned by the BBC

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:52:05 +0000

The Brit Broadcasting Establishment sometimes called the BBC is a public broadcasting establishment. it permits itself to prohibit materials that stray from certain standards of politeness. In the years, many singles that were seen as too explicit, foul or bear the capability for offending the UK public were excluded from BBC airplay.

Here you can bone up about a few of them. In 1977, when Britain was celebrating the Queens Festival, the Sex Pistols had released their 2nd single titled God Save the Queen. The single includes arguable words that rhyme the nation’s anthem title with nazi regime.

Additionally, the record cover displayed an image of the Queen with a safety pin stuck in her nose.

The single was discovered to offensive to be air played by the BBC, but it didn’t deter it from reaching number 2 on the BBC official singles chart. Moi Non And, interpreted : I adore you.. Me neither, was the 1st ever number one hit to get banned by the BBC. The BBC ban and The Vatican denounce, didn’t stop Je TAime .. Moi Non And from being a top selling single in Britain and around the world. In October seven, 1969, the single reached number one in the BBC official singles chart. At the exact same time, it had reached number 69 at the US singles chart. Je TAime .. Moi Non And was a major influence on another BBC banned single, Donna Summers disco forerunner from 1976 titled Like to Love You Baby. After counting twenty-three was faking orgasms performed by Summer in Like to Love You Baby, the UK Broadcasting Co. banned the tune. But it didn’t prevent it from changing into a huge hit. Like to Love You Baby reached number 4 on the United Kingdom single charts but topped to number 2 on the Poster advertisement pop chart. Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood is among the most debatable singles as well as commercially successful singles in history. The BBC didn’t only ban the track it also didn’t stop BBC Radio one DJ Mike Read to openly show his feelings of disgust from the single’s explicit words. In 1984, Relax stayed in the United Kingdom singles charts for 42 weeks. By the end of 1984, embarrassed Auntie Beeb took away the ban.

Source: One Direction

Tasty Tunes in Houston

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:06:02 +0000

Houston has amazing night life! Between the plethora of hang outs that feature awesome food and happy hour cocktails, this town has it all. The options are virtually limitless with restaurants that are also night life hangouts, Latin cafes, and steak houses. Fresh beats are delivered nightly by great DJs and marvelous dance floors. These late night haunts offer the perfect set up including music and late night eats for your perfect after-hours venture.

Some of the bars that have live music along with food include 18th street pier bar and grill, 5115 restaurant at Sac’s fifth avenue, Agora, Alamo draft house cinema west oaks, Antonia’s cucina Italiana, Bacchus at the Elysium, Bistro Calais continental cuisine, the breakfast club, and the broken spoke café central market to mention a few.

The upside of some of these places is that they are some of the best places for dancing in the night, and some of them have the longest happy hour in Houston. Aspiring singers can test their courage by indulging in some karaoke fun. These are also great places for newer bands to break into the public scene. Navis Pack & Ship provides shipping services in the Houston, Texas area, we can pack and ship anything – no matter the size – to anywhere in the world.

Does Reading Make Music?

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:01:17 +0000

When you read music you are deciphering the printed page and transferring the information to the keyboard. You might say that you are decoding what the composer or arranger put on the page . The symbols put on the paper by the composer are the only means he or she has to convey his/her musical ideas to the performer, hence to the listener.

But! Is decoding a page of printed music and transferring those symbols to sound really making music?

Not necessarily. That is only one step. We might say that reading the notes with our eyes and playing them with our fingers is putting the mechanics to work. If we stop studying the piece as soon as we are fairly fluent in playing the notes we have read, we may be good keyboard mechanics, but we may not be considered “musicians.”

No doubt you have listened to a pianist and come away saying, “That performance really carried me away.” On the other hand you have also probably heard much so-called “music” that left you coldthat did nothing for you. Perhaps one reason we enjoy listening to “ear” players is the fact that they are listening to what they play and are not distracted by the printed page.

“Ear” players MUST listen to themselves or they would have no idea of what comes next. The music is really speaking to them. Always remember that until music speaks to the player it cannot communicate anything to the listener.

What has all this got to do with reading music? You ask:”Is it wrong to try to learn to read? Since I can’t play by ear, should I just forget about learning to play?”

The first question will take a bit of detail to take us from the printed page to good listening. Don’t forget that the performer must be a good listener, if not the most critical of all listeners. If, as you perform, you become so engrossed in the printed notes, their pitch, their time, the touch, the dynamicsthat you forget that all those things must fit together as a whole to make a good tone story, then you are a note reader, not a musician. But you must learn to read fluently if you can’t play by ear.

There are comparatively few people who can play from memory or by ear everything that is on the page, fully and accurately. But, you don’t hear them falter and fumble over the spots that are rough because they have learned how to “fake,” how to cover their mistakes so the average listener is not aware of their bloopers.

So go aheadlearn to be a good reader. Not just a good letter reader, be a phrase-wise reader. Be aware of everything printed on the page, but read between the lines. Like a good actor, put yourself in the role and project your feelings to your listeners . Don’t let your development stop with just reading pitch and time. Include those little nuances: the delicate shadings of volume, the elasticity of tempo�the phrases that punctuate your musical story. Those are the things that make music from the printed page.

Now you know your answer. It is not wrong to learn to read fluently. Reading, as well as good technique, is a vital part of a musician’s craft. And the more automatic your reading and technique become, the easier it will be to learn new music. That, of course, is the one big advantage the fluent reader has over the ear playerthe player who reads can learn new music he or she has never heard.

Perhaps your second question is also answered. Of course, you can enjoy music even if you have to dig out every note phrase by phrase. A few hints may help you decide how to choose your music and how to go about learning it. First:

Choose music that is well within your present level of playing so you won’t have to work forever on once piece.

Don’t worry about challenging yourself.

Don’t dub yourself lazy just because you play easy pieces. Who cares what grade level your music is? Just play the melody so beautifully that everyone wants to hum along.

Keep the beat moving smoothly and with the proper accent so everyone will want to tap their toes.

Put in enough subtle changes of volume to make the phrases speak.

Deviate from the established beat just enough to enhance the natural flow of rhythm to make the music come alive.

Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Songwriter and Performer. His Web Site, Play Piano Like a PRO, offers Proven Tips, Tool, and Strategies (that anyone can learn) to Play Rock, Pop, Blues and Smooth Jazz Piano.
http://www.mrronsmusic.com/playpiano.htm