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Posts Tagged ‘music’

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll know that the most popular mp3 player in the world by far is Apple’s iPod. It comes in all sorts of editions, including the Mini, the Nano, and the Shuffle &ndash and every single one is a best-seller.

What you might not have realised, though, is that Apple isn’t at all the only game in town when it comes to mp3 players. In fact, they’re quite a recent entrant into the market. Companies like iRiver and Creative have been around a lot longer, and their players are usually worth considering too, as they can often be cheaper than the equivalent iPod or have more features.

When you’re comparing the prices of mp3 players, the one feature you should look at more than any other is capacity. Don’t lose sight of the fact that a 40GB mp3 player can store twice as much as a 20GB one.

However, there other features to look for. Even though everyone calls them mp3 players, mp3s are not the only format you might want your player to be able to play &ndash if you want to use it with Microsoft’s Media Player, for example, you’ll need a player that is also capable of playing wma (Windows Media Audio) format files. If you want to buy music from the iTunes Music Store, you need a player that can play aac (Apple) format files.

Another issue is battery life. Almost all mp3 players are now powered by mains chargers rather than by changing the battery, but battery life varies wildly, from as little as 2 hours up to as high as 10. Make sure you don’t get saddled with a player that won’t work for a long time if you want to use it for extended periods away from a power outlet.

Of course, the most important feature to many people will always be how their mp3 player looks when they’re using and wearing it. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but don’t be fooled into buying a turkey just because it has a pretty design

The nylon string acoustic guitar has a softer, mellower sound than the steel string guitar. Strangely, modern audiences can still be spellbound by the depth of feeling of a nylon string guitar. It’s entirely up to you which one you choose to play. I could cite a list of artists who used either nylon or steel string for this or that record, and make a wild guess or two at why the artists made the choices they did, but the bottom line is that if you want a deep, quiet sound that doesn’t compete with your singing, the nylon string guitar is the way to go.

When you go out to buy a guitar, go past the general music store and on to your local guitar dealer if you have one. That way you will have a guitar expert guiding you and not some dufus who only plays two-and-a-half chords. Don’t let the guy in the store automatically steer you to the top-of-the-range guitars, and equally don’t succumb to your inner cheapskate. Pick a guitar that you like the look, sound and feel of, then come down in price range if you really need to.

To get some idea of the range you could be looking at, the Alvarez Masterworks Series MC90 Classical Guitar, a more pricey instrument, has solid rosewood back and sides, western cedar top with precision scalloped bracing, mosaic rosette and gold tuning pegs with tortoise buttons and sells for over $600. The Alvarez Regent, a beginner’s model, is about $150. Of course there are many grades of price and quality in between.

The kinds of music that the nylon string guitar was designed for are classical and flamenco music. Classical guitar music is classical music composed for other instruments but arranged for the guitar, and classical style pieces composed especially for the guitar or other stringed instruments. There is a wide repertoire of music composed in the medieval or renaissance eras for the vihuela or mandolin and arranged for the guitar which can be extremely enjoyable and satisfying to play. Flamenco music is a folk music of Spain, and is usually comparatively technically advanced simply due to flamenco being a “flashy” kind of music. If you are interested in exploring either of these kinds of music I suggest you go to YouTube and check out the classical or flamenco guitar videos. John Williams (the British guitarist, not the Starwars guy) and Julian Bream are two obvious starting points for classical guitar. Paco De Lucia, Paco Pena and Sabicas will open your heart to flamenco.

We can’t finish without mentioning the nylon string guitar-driven folk music boom of the 1960’s which has given us a lot of great music which can be easily picked up by beginner guitarists. The music of Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Joan Baez or The Kingston Trio still holds some interest for modern guitarists.

So that is an overview of the world of the nylon string guitar. I hope you have found something to spark your interest.

It’s not official but Madonna may be bringing her phenomenally successful CD, Confessions on a Dance Floor, live to a venue near you. To date, Confessions has sold nearly 1.29 million copies in the United States alone. It continues to top sales charts in the UK, and Madonna was recently recognized as the female artist with the most number one hits in the UK. It seems almost certain that Madonna’s fan base will soon be pleading for her to finalize preparations for a Confessions tour. How do we know Madonna may be preparing for a tour? While not coming out and making it official, she has made some statements that hint at the possibility.

In a recent interview, Madonna spoke about some performances she has booked for the near future. She will be performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 30, 2006. She said, “I am especially excited about playing Coachella before I start my own tour.” In some interviews Madonna even talked about her vision for her next tour, some ideas she has for its visual presentation on the stage and what the Confessions on a Dance Floor show will represent for her.

Madonna’s plans for her tour aren’t specifically connected to Confessions, but when she says things such as, “I want them (the audience) to feel like they’re inside a disco ball,” it’s hard to imagine that her vision doesn’t involve Confessions. Other statements like, “I want a sound system in surround and the dancers personalities to come out” indicates that a tour for Confessions is highly likely. So what is all this excitement about?

Confessions, the fourteenth album/CD created by Madonna, is a mix of anything you want it to be. It’s about power and empowerment and love and its costs. In this re-invention of Madonna herself and the disco-era, she has come back with possibly the best work she has ever done. There are blogs and message boards full of comments on Confessions. “I never even liked this woman and I have to say, this is real good stuff,” one person noted. Other comments include, “Only Madonna could bring back disco and dance with the popularity it had in the 1970’s.”

It has been suggested that not only will she tour but that she will focus, as she has in the past, on dance. Wherever Madonna goes many others follow. She wants people to “get out of their seats” in response to the music. She wants them to “have a good time straight through and non-stop.” Considering that one song on the CD is a hit single and she co-wrote and co-produced Confessions with Stuart Price, (Madonna’s musical director on her 2002 Drowned World Tour and last summer’s Reinvention Tour) one may assume that Confessions on a Dance Floor will be a visually extraordinary concert.

Madonna, of course, didn’t do this all by herself. The genius forces of musicality that worked with her on Confessions will no doubt help her make the tour just as successful as the CD. Assistance from artisans such as Bloosdhy and Avant (Grammy winners), the producer of Madonna’s last two albums– Mirwais Ahmadzai, and co-writer Henrik Jonback will bring the live version of Confessions to the stage.

Madonna’s part in producing this album comes from her fascination with post modernism and technology. In talking about the making of Confessions on a Dance Floor she said, “I’m trying to find the soulfulness in technology and playing with that. I would prefer to not have back-up singers. I would rather take my own voice and layer it and change it and put effects on it so it sounds like a lot of different tones and timbres.”

Madonna fans know that this artist loves her craft. She is excited about her music and passionate about bringing it to the stage. If you haven’t heard the entire CD yet, you are in for a treat. This is the kind of CD that requires you either find a place to relax and just listen or occupy a space where you can start moving. There is no typical break between the songs. This music will make even those that don’t dance get up and move their feet. The Mistress of Visual Artistry herself is the only one who can bring Confessions on a Dance Floor to life on stage. Throughout the world of music, it is rumored that this tour could start as soon as August or September 2006. Start getting in line for tickets!

If you are like any number of video game enthusiasts, you might have already purchased the Sony PSP to play your video games on the go. The PSP has proven to be extremely popular in the teenage crowd as well as younger adults. There are many reasons behind this, and one big one besides the gaming aspect of the PSP. The popularity of the PSP has risen because of its abilities to play videos.

With over four hundred movies currently available on UMD, Sony’s mini CDs they introduced with the PSP, you’ll want to get that popcorn started and settle in for movie night. So, how do you play movies on the PSP? If you will be using an UMD, follow these simple instructions:

• Get your PSP and UMD handy

• For UMD playing, open your PSP by sliding the latch

• Insert the UMD with label facing the back of the system

• Slide UMD down the tracks until it clicks into place

• Close PSP and enjoy!

If you will be transferring movies or videos from your computer, follow these instructions:

• Get your PSP, Memory Stick Duo, USB A to mini B cable ready

• Find your movie or video on your computer and format to MP4 file type, if it’s not already an MP4

• Locate the movie(s) on your computer, open the directory

• Attach your PSP to your computer using an empty USB port and the cable

• Insert Memory Stick Duo into PSP by opening the slot on the left side of the PSP, put in the memory stick completely then close the slot door

• Turn on power on the PSP

• In the Cross Media bar, select the Setting menu then select USB Connection

• Transfer the movie(s) to the MP_ROOT100MNV01 directory on the memory stick either by dragging and dropping the movie from your hard drive or by copying/pasting the movie

• Find that popcorn and enjoy your movie!

Most people are not comfortable performing in front people. When I say of performing, such as an instrument, or singing, or acting, I mean more than just knowing how to do well at your chosen craft, I mean doing it well and in front of people. It’s the “in front of people” part that gets us every time. How many of us sing like a bird in the shower but then when people are watching we can’t carry a note. Here are three steps to start you on the road to comfort (never complete) when called on to shine.

1. Don’t neglect to practice. Whether you sing or play an instrument practice is the key to being relaxed. The more familiar you are with what you are performing, the less anxiety you will have about messing up.

2. Don’t back up. Piano teaches pass this on all the time. If you mess up in the middle, or any place in your piece, don’t back up and repeat the offending passage. Keep going. Chances are your audience didn’t even notice.

3. Try not to be critical of your technical skill. Focus more on your overall performance. How does it sound as a whole? If you’re a pianist and you worry during your piece about your fingering then you’re ignoring the song and how it sounds. Worry about technicalities when you practice. Which should be often.

With time playing in front of and for other people will come much easier. You’ll be a natural. So use every opportunity to show your stuff!