History of Percussion Instruments

By David Zed

It is generally agreed amongst anthropologists and archaeologists that other than the human voice, the first musical instruments known to mankind were percussion instruments. After the discovery of the voice as a means of creating sound for aesthetic purposes, percussion certainly followed shortly after. Sticks, hands, feet and rocks were struck in order to create a rhythm to accompany singers and evolved into percussion instruments closer to the types used today. Along with the technologies of simple tools for agriculture and hunting came the developments of more sophisticated drums, with logs being shaped with tools to produce louder sounds and smaller logs being cut into a set of drums which produced different tones.

Percussion instruments became much more sophisticated after most of mankind settled into agrarian communities and people found themselves with more time on their hands. Percussion instruments became part of religious beliefs, communication devices and tools for creative expression. By 1000 AD and in some cases far earlier, seed rattles and other instruments were used in Micronesia and Australia, djembes and kalimbas in Africa, maracas and drums in the Americas and gongs, chimes and even xylophones in Asia.

Several of the percussion instruments used in Western orchestral music came west from the Levant and the Balkans along with returning Crusaders in the 11th-13th centuries. These instruments became widely known in their own right and their designs influenced the work Western instrument makers.

Percussion instruments vary widely in their function within musical ensembles depending on their construction and size; they may produce a strictly percussive sound or have a tonal effect which can be a melodic element. Usually working alongside lower pitched brass and stringed instruments, percussion forms the rhythmic backbone of a composition in performance.

In popular music, a rhythm section of bass and percussion is a staple of the form. While the majority of classical orchestral music is written with the primary role being given to stringed instruments, woodwinds and brass, tympanis also play a part in many compositions, largely as an accent. The rules have changed a little and listeners will find percussion claiming its share of the spotlight in some modern orchestral works.

The 1700s and 1800s saw small percussion instruments such as cymbals and triangles coming into use in the orchestral setting, though again largely in a supporting role. It wasnt until later that percussion instruments were accorded a more equal footing with other instruments within the context of the orchestra.

Although not always the center of attention, percussion instruments are indispensible to almost every modern musical genre. Military and marching bands use percussion to provide the rhythm not only for the music being performed, but for the pace of marching soldiers. Jazz is in the minds of many synonymous with the sound of the ride cymbal, the brushed snare drum and the hi-hat " and its hard to imagine rock music in any style without percussion. From rhythm and blues to heavy metal, hip hop, country and other genres, percussion is the backbone of popular music.

Because of the mixture and wide assortments of percussive instruments, it is not unusual to find large musical gathering composed wholly of percussion. Rhythm, harmony and melody are all evident and alive in these musical factions, and in live performances they are quite a spectacle to see. - 18423

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Learn How To Play Bass Guitar Online: Adjust Your Music Studies To Your Life

By Kyle Chatman

Have you considered online bass guitar lessons? What usually gets people started with bass guitar is the desire to form a band, or to be a part of a band. Maybe you already know how to play guitar, and your friends play guitar too--but you all can't be the lead guitarist or the rhythm guitarist. Someone needs to play bass. Maybe that someone is you.

A bass guitar is heavy and cumbersome to carry around, because of all the supporting gadgets that come with it, not to mention the long cables that accompany all of the gadgets. Bass guitars are expensive to purchase, and also tough to learn. But these are indispensable in any pop or rock band. A bass guitar can indeed be the most prized possession of a devoted bassist.

Take a regular guitar (which is tuned from the thickest to the lowest string- E - A - D - G - B - E) and exclude the two thinnest strings at the bottom and what is left is basically a bass guitar with thinner strings. Bass playing is usually note-oriented and not chord-oriented. This means that single notes are hit more often in bass playing and this scheme is the essential element of bass playing, one should be familiar with the tunings and the notes in a regular guitar to be able to decently play the bass guitar.

Identify the parts of the bass guitar. There are typically four strings, and the components are very similar to a guitar. The thickest string is the E (the topmost), followed by A, D, and G, and are also referred to as 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. On the neck of the guitar forming a grid-like pattern with the strings are metal strips called frets that make the notes produced higher as it goes farther from you.

Now that you're aware of this relation, you'll need a place for a start. By that, I mean where to start when it comes to actually playing the bass guitar? Scales are a great place, not only because of the technique skills you gain, but really learning music while you're practicing bass.

Set the metronome for 60 beats per minute. Choose a scale (pentatonic minor is a good one to begin with) and play the scale all the way through TWICE using eighth notes. This means that you play 2 notes for every metronome beat.

Play the scale four times completely through using sixteenth notes. This means that you must play 4 notes for each metronome beat. Again, if 60 bpm is too fast, slow it down to a tempo at which you can play the exercise perfectly. We play this exercise four time through , not only to increase your speed, but also to build your endurance--your ability to play faster for longer periods of time.

Not only do they need to know the right pattern to use and how to execute them in many different ways, but they also need to know how to practice with them. Regular practice with the proper set of fretboard patterns is a necessary component of becoming a seasoned player, time must be spent with practice, but it is important to know how to practice so that hours a day are not spent with insufficient result. - 18423

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Nine Great Movies Reviews and Movie Downloading Tips

By Aaryn Obruchev

For years now, the video store was the way to get movies. As technologies have advanced, downloading dvds from off movie download sites is becoming very common. Here are some examples of movies you can acquire through a movie download site.

Marianne and JuIiane: Profound, multilevel Ed, and memorable journal of the relation between 2 siblings, alike in some ways yet so extremely variant in others. Juliane Lampe is a feminist editor performing within the system; Marianne Sukowa is an extreme partisan alarmist. Cast includes Jutta Lampe, Barbara Sukowa, Rudiger Vogler, Doris Schade, and Franz Rudnick. (106 minutes, 1982)

Final Analysis: Isaac Barr is a psychologist who falls for one of his patient's sister, Heather. It turns out Heather is married to a mobster, who treats her poorly. She eventually kills her husband. Isaac now helps her with her defense. As time goes on Isaac starts to question just what is going on.

Frantic: Dr. Richard Walker and his wife Sondra are in Paris for the doctors medical conference. Then suddenly Sondra is gone. Then, in a foreign country getting no help, Dr. Walker frantically tries to track the kidnappers down.

Fanfan La Tulipe: An admirable satire of swashbuckling fables. Philipe is superlative as sword-wielding, love-thirsty 18th-century Frenchman joining Louis XV's army. Cast includes Gerard Philipe, Gina Lollobrigida, Noel Roquevert, Olivier Hussenot, Marcel Herrand, Sylvie Pelayo, and Genevieve Page. (99 minutes, 1952)

White Men Can't Jump: Sydney and Billy are street basketball hustles. On their first meeting Billy hustles and embarrasses Sydney at his local game. They soon join forces but Sydney runs a bigger con on Billy, throwing their biggest money game, to get his money back, and more. Finally they team up again to take on the greats in a big money street ball tournament.

Only Angels Have Wings: Youthful gal fantasies of supporting toy cadets in battle contrary to sinister Mouse Baron in this flat rewording of the classic tale. It is set to Tchaikovsky music. Slow paced low-spending limit excited characteristic, based on the E. T. A. Hoffmann reserve the Nutcracker and the Mouse Emperor; a Disney wannabe that easily isn't. Cast includes Cary Permit, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, Peter Boretski, and Phyllis Diller. (121 minutes, 1939)

Coming To America: Prince Akeem has come to Queens N.Y. from Africa. Back in Africa, a wife has been selected for him to marry. Instead the Prince comes to America to find the love of his life, and marry her instead.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Fun filled adventure-comedy-horror film with bad girl Marie Windsor making life miserable for Abbott and Costello. A live mummy spices things up.. Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marie Windsor, Dan Seymour, and Richard Deacon all star in this movie. (1955 Comedy)

Rogue Cop: Dynamic account of a crooked cop stuck between loyalty to his sibling and his gangster cohorts. Cast includes Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest, Anne Francis, Robert F. Simon, Robert Ellenstein, Alan Hale, Jr., and Vince Edwards. (92 minutes, 1954)

Try a search phrase something like "Mp4 Movie Downloads". Different phrases get different results. If the last one did not work try something else. Switch to "Buy Music Downloads" and see if you find what you are looking for. - 18423

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People can now download their favorite TV programs from the web. Movie Screen Rental Movie downloads may become the number one way to get movies in the future. "Movie Delivery Service" is one of the best search terms for movie downloading tools.

Films To Watch Online Legally

By Gibson Cernovice

In the past you had to go to a store if you wanted to rent or buy a movie. Instead of buying or renting the dvd, people now can choose a movie download instead. You can get virtually any movie you want with a good movie download site. Here are some examples.

Deep Rising: Captain-for-employ Williams finds himself in over his head while his present customers are a scummy lot led by heavily equipped Studi. They assault a luxury liner, clueless that the transport has been under siege by some kind of dreadful sea beings. Cast includes Treat Williams, Frank Janssen, Anthony Heald, Wes Studi, Djimon Hounsou, and Derrick O'Connor. (106 minutes, 1988)

Presumed Innocent: D.A. Rusty Sabich has been accused of murder. His former lover, and co worker in the D.A.'s Office, has been murdered, and the evidence points toward him. He now must figure out just whom the murderer really is to prove his innocence.

The Crush: Ludicrous thriller in reference to a thick-witted, twenty-something reporter Elwes who becomes the target of a pretty, compulsive fourteen-year-old Lolita Silverstone. An entirely unessential Lethal Magnetism That rocks the cradle. Cast includes Cary Elwes, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Rubin, Amber Benson, Kurtwood Smith, and Gwyneth Walsh. (89 minutes, 1993)

Across the Universe: A young English boy comes to the US to find his father. On his search he finds, and falls in love with an American girl. Set in post Vietnam War US, this movie is really a vehicle to play a multitude of Beatles music. Julie Taymor. Evan Rachel Wood. Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy. T. V. Carpio, Spencer Litf, Lisa Hogg, Bill Irwin, James Urbaniak, Dylan Baker, Joe Cocker, Bono, Salma Hayek, and Eddie Izzard all make appearances. (2007 Romance)

First Knight: This movie tells the story of the love, and betrayal that King Arthur had to endure. The true love of his life, Guinevere, and Lancelot, a daring Knight he comes to love and trust like a brother, fell in love when Lancelot saved her from an ambush as she was traveling to marry King Arthur. This indiscretion will bring unbearable heartache to all involved.

Miami Vice: Miami investigators Crockett and Tubbs are back from the fashionable 1980s Television succession, although this time their search for a cruel medication lord takes them to Medial and South America and Crockett chases an implausible relation with the medication king's seductive business companion. Wonderful-cool automobiles, boats, and jets keep this fantasy rendition of cops-and-robbers very exciting. Cast includes Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Gong Li, Naomi Harris, Justin Theroux, Barry Shabaka Henley, Luis Tosar, and John Ortiz. (134 minutes, 2006)

Abandon: A detective with a troubled past is asked to look into the disappearance of a college student. However, while doing so he finds himself allured to the missing scholar's lover. Gloomy mystery movie with supernatural components that. Don't quite work. Stephen Gaghan directs this film. (2002 Drama)

Payback: Porter and Val, two thieves pull of a nice job. Val double-crosses Porter by taking his money, and his girl. Then he then shoots him, and leaves him for dead. Porter isn't dead, and now it's time for payback.

Chinese Box: Gloomy tirade set in the very last 6 months of Awesome Britain's rule over Hong Kong, with the smell of change in the air as China disposes to take over. Iron plays a dulled reporter whose own life is at a crossroads. Li is not well showcased in her first English-language film, as a lady "with a past" whom Irons cherishes however can't have. Cast includes Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui, and Ruben Blades. (100 minutes, 1997)

Remember, be creative and use phrases like "Watch DVDs Online". If that phrase gets you nowhere, try another phrase. Try "Free Downloads Movies" next. - 18423

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Streaming video is a form of a movie download. Downloads Dvd Burning Build your DVD collection form movie downloads that you then burn onto DVDs. Get you fill of movies through movie downloads.

Enjoy Your Cell Phone Ringback Tones

By Matt Brodderick

Ringback tones - this is the new cellphone customization craze of the 2000's. If you're a cellphone user, there is little chance that you haven't already heard of them. What I'd like to do is give you a couple of ideas about how you can have fun with ringback tones on your cell.

First thing, I have to tell you that my favorite customization is not even the music clips. I love to find fun audio clips for adding to my cellphone. Anyone can hear the latest pop song, in fact they are probably sick of it by now and it's the last thing they want to suffer through while waiting for me to answer my phone. I may as well put on elevator music.

Probably the best ones that I've heard recently are replays of the classic comedy monologues. I know these days that these clips are probably quite foreign to new generations, but adding a clip like "who's on first" is just a really fun thing, when you know you can make your friends or relatives smile for a few minutes every time they call you.

The more common choice for ringback tones is still music though. This is understandable, since your caller won't really feel like they are missing out on anything if you pick up and the song is cut off. Songs are entertainment, and can be really fun depending on the song you choose, but in the end it is just a cool dead air filler that gives your cell phone a bit of your own personality and identity.

For those people who are pretty particular about the type of music that they listen to, or would have any interest in being associated with, ringback tones are still a really fun option for you to add to your phone. The music selections vary between different cellphone providers, but I have found that there is at least some selection for just about any musical style that I have been able to think of. If you are looking for new releases, you'll have no trouble finding anything on the charts. For the more obscure genres, your selection will be limited, but you should still be able to find something fun to identify your style.

To get the ringback tones installed on your phone, you need to go through either a call-in interface, or use the carrier's website to select and purchase the ringback tone you want on your phone. Yes, I did say 'purchase', because unfortunately you can't control your own clips, and therefore you can't get free ringback tones. The clips are stored on the wireless company's server, so you must go through their setup program to select and program them for your phone. Regardless of that fact, it's just one more fun thing that I can do with my cell phone, so I can guarantee that I will continue to set up ringback tones on my cell phone. - 18423

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Look for the latest news about ring back tones by visiting this ringback tone website.