http://www.skeuomorphgames.com/mtravisano/
This is my new website. It has an in depth site about the Beatles, including a gallery of my drawings of the Beatles year by year from 1961 to 1969, and a database on who played what instrument on what song. There is a page with various things connecting to me called the mineself page, which I just did as a college project.
http://www.youtube.com/beatlesopera
This has some of the posts I did on youtoube
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30818635@N05
It also has my flickr account with some of my artwork. If you like my art, you can see more of it there.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Finally The Percussion section
And Finally the Percussion Section there are so many percussion instruments that I can't talk about them all but here are a sample
Tympani: The tympani is the only drum that can change pitch it is the loudest drum in the orchestra it is often used to suggest power but it can also be used in rock music
Cymbals:the Cymbals make noise when you smash them together in a drum set there are usually three or four different kinds producing different kinds of music. The finger cymbals(shown here) are very popular in India.
Snare Drum: The Snare drum make it's noise with a group of snares under the drum and like the trumpet used to be used to get the troops ready for battle is still often used in the militarily. It is not only used in the Orchestra but in Jazz and Rock bands
Bass Drum: The bass drum is a big percussion instrument that is usually used to created the bottom of a beat
Bongos: The Bongo drum is used in the orchestra as well as popular music and are often used to create a tropical or Spanish feel.
Maracas: The Maracas are used for similar purposes as the bongos and are very easy to play they are played around the world but originated in the middle east.
Xylophone The xylophone is noted for it's crisp melodic percussion sound Saint Sienz used it in the dance macabre and The Fossils to create the sound of clinking bones. It is often used to create an exotic feel in western music.
Vibraphone: The Vibraphone is the same as the xylophone except it is electric and the bars are made of metal. It is most often used in Jazz but it can be used in other forms of music as well.
Glockenspiel: The Glockenspiel which literally translated means "bells playing" it is often used to create a sense of magic. For example Papageno's magic bells in the Magic Flute if you've see that play.
Chimes are the instrument that sounds like bells chiming on Christmas or bells on a very old fashioned clock chiming away the hours.
To hear what the percusion section sounds like together click here
object width="425" height="344">
Tympani: The tympani is the only drum that can change pitch it is the loudest drum in the orchestra it is often used to suggest power but it can also be used in rock music
Cymbals:the Cymbals make noise when you smash them together in a drum set there are usually three or four different kinds producing different kinds of music. The finger cymbals(shown here) are very popular in India.
Snare Drum: The Snare drum make it's noise with a group of snares under the drum and like the trumpet used to be used to get the troops ready for battle is still often used in the militarily. It is not only used in the Orchestra but in Jazz and Rock bands
Bass Drum: The bass drum is a big percussion instrument that is usually used to created the bottom of a beat
Bongos: The Bongo drum is used in the orchestra as well as popular music and are often used to create a tropical or Spanish feel.
Maracas: The Maracas are used for similar purposes as the bongos and are very easy to play they are played around the world but originated in the middle east.
Xylophone The xylophone is noted for it's crisp melodic percussion sound Saint Sienz used it in the dance macabre and The Fossils to create the sound of clinking bones. It is often used to create an exotic feel in western music.
Vibraphone: The Vibraphone is the same as the xylophone except it is electric and the bars are made of metal. It is most often used in Jazz but it can be used in other forms of music as well.
Glockenspiel: The Glockenspiel which literally translated means "bells playing" it is often used to create a sense of magic. For example Papageno's magic bells in the Magic Flute if you've see that play.
Chimes are the instrument that sounds like bells chiming on Christmas or bells on a very old fashioned clock chiming away the hours.To hear what the percusion section sounds like together click here
object width="425" height="344">
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Lets Move on to The brass family these are louder than the strings or the Woodwinds and like the Woodwinds are all used in Marching bands
The Trumpet: Is the leader of the brass and is often used in jazz bands and Marching bands. It used to be use with the military getting troops ready for battle. It still is the main instrument in military bands. It can also be used in soul music and Latin American music and even in heavy Metal.
The Piccolo Trumpet: This instrument is smaller than the trumpet and actually was invented for performing Bach pieces because the valved trumpet didn't go as high as the regular trumpet
The French Horn: the Horn Is the most versatile member of the brass section unfortunately it is also the most difficult to play. It's tubing is so great in fact that if it was stretched out it would be 8 to 9 miles long. It evolved from the hunting horn, but got more sophisticated as time went on. And now actually it is two horns in one one for making high bright sounds and one for making deep rich sounds. In the Beatles opening song in Sargent Pepper what sounds like a full brass band is actually four French Horns
The Trombone: the slide trombone as it's name implies is the only brass instrument that doesn't use valves although there are a few valved trombones. Most trombone players have long arms because it takes long arms to get the slide all the way out. The trombone used to be used to announce the arrival of kings. Although it is the loudest instrument in the orchestra and is also frequently used in Jazz it can sound somber as well.
The Euphonium: also called the Baritone Horn is smaller and higher than the tuba. It actually is easier to play than any other brass instrument. It also makes a lovely sound mellower than the tuba. The person who invented the saxophone Adolph Sax actually invented this instrument and many other sax horns
The Tuba: Tubby the Tuba unfortunately instead of Advocating the tuba which was it's original goal; just encourages the stereotype of playing only Oom Pah in the background. But it can actually be a very powerful instrument. In the hands of a good musician it can sound very light or very strong even both at once. It isn't even the biggest saxhorn the biggest is over ten feet tall The tuba is actually basically an over sized bugle and a valuable instrument to the orchestras.
To hear what all these brass instruments sound like together check out this video of the Canadian brass quintet playing Jazzed up Bach
The Trumpet: Is the leader of the brass and is often used in jazz bands and Marching bands. It used to be use with the military getting troops ready for battle. It still is the main instrument in military bands. It can also be used in soul music and Latin American music and even in heavy Metal.
The Piccolo Trumpet: This instrument is smaller than the trumpet and actually was invented for performing Bach pieces because the valved trumpet didn't go as high as the regular trumpet
The French Horn: the Horn Is the most versatile member of the brass section unfortunately it is also the most difficult to play. It's tubing is so great in fact that if it was stretched out it would be 8 to 9 miles long. It evolved from the hunting horn, but got more sophisticated as time went on. And now actually it is two horns in one one for making high bright sounds and one for making deep rich sounds. In the Beatles opening song in Sargent Pepper what sounds like a full brass band is actually four French Horns
The Trombone: the slide trombone as it's name implies is the only brass instrument that doesn't use valves although there are a few valved trombones. Most trombone players have long arms because it takes long arms to get the slide all the way out. The trombone used to be used to announce the arrival of kings. Although it is the loudest instrument in the orchestra and is also frequently used in Jazz it can sound somber as well.
The Euphonium: also called the Baritone Horn is smaller and higher than the tuba. It actually is easier to play than any other brass instrument. It also makes a lovely sound mellower than the tuba. The person who invented the saxophone Adolph Sax actually invented this instrument and many other sax horns
The Tuba: Tubby the Tuba unfortunately instead of Advocating the tuba which was it's original goal; just encourages the stereotype of playing only Oom Pah in the background. But it can actually be a very powerful instrument. In the hands of a good musician it can sound very light or very strong even both at once. It isn't even the biggest saxhorn the biggest is over ten feet tall The tuba is actually basically an over sized bugle and a valuable instrument to the orchestras.To hear what all these brass instruments sound like together check out this video of the Canadian brass quintet playing Jazzed up Bach
Intruments of the Orchestra The woodwind Family
The woodwind Family
Not all of the woodwind instruments are made of wood, in fact they all have metal keys but when the orchestra started in the eighteenth Century they were all wood.
Flute: The Flute is made of Metal not wood, but it has been made of wood glass and precious jewells. The flute unlike the other winds is not blown through a reed but through a hole in the side that produces the melody.
Piccolo : Is higher than the flute but basically the same shape. It has a shrill piercing sound and for this reason some musicians prefer to have theirs made out of wood so not to drown out the flute this one is a hybrid of wood and metal.
Oboe: The oboe is a double reed instrument which means it has two small pieces of wood that you blow on together. It is often used in moves to emulate pity and horror. It can produce a merry and bright sound too. In fact it is the instrument that the orchestra uses to tune up
English Horn: It is French not English and a low oboe not a horn so why the name? The horn part comes from the fact the people said it sounds like a distant hunting horn. The English part was all a misunderstanding. They meant to call it angled horn (cor Angle) because of it's distinctive curve but it sounded too much like the french word for English (cor Anglais)and the name stuck.
Clarinet: The Clarinet is single reeded which mens there is only one reed that can be tightened and loosened while playing. It i s a very beautiful and very versatile instrument that is very important in jazz as well as in classical. There are very few people in fact who do not like the sound of the clarinet the bass clarinet however is another matter entirely.
Actually until Mozart used it regularly in Symphonic Pieces it wasn't even in the Orchestra.
Bass Clarinet The Bass clarinet is a lower version of a Clarinet it sounds very sinister at the bottom of its range and is often used for suspense in horror moves. Though it can be used simply to sound dreamy and mellow.
Bassoon: The bassoon ,or Fagotto in German, which means a bundle of sticks, is an apt description of this instrument. which is awkward to play. It is often used to play comedy parts because of it's comical playful sound; like in the sorcerers apprentice. if you've seen Disney's fantasia you'll reconise that sound as the broom starts to come alive. But in it's high range when played slowly it has an eerie sound If you know fantasia you'll also have seen the Rite of spring with dinosaurs and heard that eerie instrument that opens the cartoon it is a bassoon .
contra bassoon this is the deepest double reed going even lower than the bassoon or bass clarinet it is usually used only for the bas line and usually only in orchestras with at least two bassoons.
Saxophone: Though usually not considered part of the orchesta, the saxaphone is an important instrument too. It is often used in Jazz Blues and rock. It is as loud as the brass, as versatile as the strings, and as Bright as the woodwinds. That was exactly what Adolph Sax the inventor wanted. It is comes in Soprano(the highest), Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Bass the lowest). However the Baritone can get very low and the alto can get very high, so the soprano is pretty rare, and the Bass is extremely rare( it isn't even shown here).
To hear the woodwind instruments play together in an orchestra here is the first half of Ravel's bolero
Actually the second half is way cooler
Not all of the woodwind instruments are made of wood, in fact they all have metal keys but when the orchestra started in the eighteenth Century they were all wood.
Flute: The Flute is made of Metal not wood, but it has been made of wood glass and precious jewells. The flute unlike the other winds is not blown through a reed but through a hole in the side that produces the melody.
Piccolo : Is higher than the flute but basically the same shape. It has a shrill piercing sound and for this reason some musicians prefer to have theirs made out of wood so not to drown out the flute this one is a hybrid of wood and metal.
Oboe: The oboe is a double reed instrument which means it has two small pieces of wood that you blow on together. It is often used in moves to emulate pity and horror. It can produce a merry and bright sound too. In fact it is the instrument that the orchestra uses to tune up
English Horn: It is French not English and a low oboe not a horn so why the name? The horn part comes from the fact the people said it sounds like a distant hunting horn. The English part was all a misunderstanding. They meant to call it angled horn (cor Angle) because of it's distinctive curve but it sounded too much like the french word for English (cor Anglais)and the name stuck.
Clarinet: The Clarinet is single reeded which mens there is only one reed that can be tightened and loosened while playing. It i s a very beautiful and very versatile instrument that is very important in jazz as well as in classical. There are very few people in fact who do not like the sound of the clarinet the bass clarinet however is another matter entirely.Actually until Mozart used it regularly in Symphonic Pieces it wasn't even in the Orchestra.
Bass Clarinet The Bass clarinet is a lower version of a Clarinet it sounds very sinister at the bottom of its range and is often used for suspense in horror moves. Though it can be used simply to sound dreamy and mellow.
Bassoon: The bassoon ,or Fagotto in German, which means a bundle of sticks, is an apt description of this instrument. which is awkward to play. It is often used to play comedy parts because of it's comical playful sound; like in the sorcerers apprentice. if you've seen Disney's fantasia you'll reconise that sound as the broom starts to come alive. But in it's high range when played slowly it has an eerie sound If you know fantasia you'll also have seen the Rite of spring with dinosaurs and heard that eerie instrument that opens the cartoon it is a bassoon .
contra bassoon this is the deepest double reed going even lower than the bassoon or bass clarinet it is usually used only for the bas line and usually only in orchestras with at least two bassoons.
Saxophone: Though usually not considered part of the orchesta, the saxaphone is an important instrument too. It is often used in Jazz Blues and rock. It is as loud as the brass, as versatile as the strings, and as Bright as the woodwinds. That was exactly what Adolph Sax the inventor wanted. It is comes in Soprano(the highest), Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Bass the lowest). However the Baritone can get very low and the alto can get very high, so the soprano is pretty rare, and the Bass is extremely rare( it isn't even shown here).To hear the woodwind instruments play together in an orchestra here is the first half of Ravel's bolero
Actually the second half is way cooler
Instruments of the Orchestra The String Section
The Orchestra is divided into Four Sections the Strings, The Woodwinds, the Brass, and the Percussion. Today we will talk about the Strings, the string instruments vary vastly in size but all have the same shape.
The piano: the Pianoforte or piano for short Is the most versatile instrument in the entire orchestra. It can actually play in virtually any form of music even rap. It gets it's name because it can play both soft (piano) and loud (forte). There are electric versions that can synthesize almost any sound. It has 88 keys, the white keys play notes on the scale, and the black keys play The flats (lower) and the sharps (higher). It is not in every orchestra but is often used in concertos, which are for the orchestra plus another instrument. There are two kinds of piano upright and Grand. This is a small grand piano called a baby grand.
The Violin: The Violin is the lead Instrument in the orchestra even though it is the smallest of the strings. It is the only instrument divide into two section, First and second violins. In fact the leader of the orchestra called the concert master is usually the first violinist. The second violins are usually considered a lesser instrument but without them there would be no such thing as a string quartet, The violin the same instrument as a fiddle.
The Viola: Q When is a violin not a violin?
A When It's a viola
The viola can be easily confused with the violin but should not be ignored because it is actually a very appealing instrument once you get to know it. The viola is Bigger and lower and produces a mellower sound. It is usually an accompanying instrument, but some people (Mozart in particular) take a fancy to the viola. He wrote a concerto for a violin and viola as equals either as two lovers two friends or a parent and child.
The Cello: The Cello or Violoncello for long, the Cello is a good deal bigger than the violin and viola but smaller than the bass. It is a also a very beautiful instrument. In the eighteenth century it was supported on the legs but now it is supported buy a rod that goes below the instrument called an end pin. It used to be used mainly for providing a Bass line for the Orchestra, but it is equally at home taking the lead in solos. A few examles are like the the Swan the Tarantella and Don quixote . When Two violins a viola and a cello play together it's called a string quartet.
The Double Bass The double bass is the biggest of the stringed instruments and has sloping shoulders. It is not a very powerful instrument on it's own, but you'd notice a difference without it. The bass when plucked also can be used for jazz Reggie and even rock. In fact the electric bass has it's roots in the string bass. Incidentally the string quartet does not use a bass.
This video of the Trout quintet shows what these instruments sound like when played together
The piano: the Pianoforte or piano for short Is the most versatile instrument in the entire orchestra. It can actually play in virtually any form of music even rap. It gets it's name because it can play both soft (piano) and loud (forte). There are electric versions that can synthesize almost any sound. It has 88 keys, the white keys play notes on the scale, and the black keys play The flats (lower) and the sharps (higher). It is not in every orchestra but is often used in concertos, which are for the orchestra plus another instrument. There are two kinds of piano upright and Grand. This is a small grand piano called a baby grand.
The Violin: The Violin is the lead Instrument in the orchestra even though it is the smallest of the strings. It is the only instrument divide into two section, First and second violins. In fact the leader of the orchestra called the concert master is usually the first violinist. The second violins are usually considered a lesser instrument but without them there would be no such thing as a string quartet, The violin the same instrument as a fiddle.
The Viola: Q When is a violin not a violin?A When It's a viola
The viola can be easily confused with the violin but should not be ignored because it is actually a very appealing instrument once you get to know it. The viola is Bigger and lower and produces a mellower sound. It is usually an accompanying instrument, but some people (Mozart in particular) take a fancy to the viola. He wrote a concerto for a violin and viola as equals either as two lovers two friends or a parent and child.
The Cello: The Cello or Violoncello for long, the Cello is a good deal bigger than the violin and viola but smaller than the bass. It is a also a very beautiful instrument. In the eighteenth century it was supported on the legs but now it is supported buy a rod that goes below the instrument called an end pin. It used to be used mainly for providing a Bass line for the Orchestra, but it is equally at home taking the lead in solos. A few examles are like the the Swan the Tarantella and Don quixote . When Two violins a viola and a cello play together it's called a string quartet.
The Double Bass The double bass is the biggest of the stringed instruments and has sloping shoulders. It is not a very powerful instrument on it's own, but you'd notice a difference without it. The bass when plucked also can be used for jazz Reggie and even rock. In fact the electric bass has it's roots in the string bass. Incidentally the string quartet does not use a bass.This video of the Trout quintet shows what these instruments sound like when played together
Monday, November 24, 2008
Muppets Sgt Pepper!
This is an image I found of a Muppets version of Sgt Pepper I hope you like it. I am a big Beatles and a Moppets Fan
Hit movies that started out as Flops
It is interesting that not all hit movies were hits initially here is a list of a few hit movies that initially were flops to show that even the best critics get it wrong sometimes.
Duck soup 1933
Princess Bride 1987
Citizen Kane 1941
It's a Wonderful Life 1946
Labyrinth 1986
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975
Duck soup 1933
Princess Bride 1987
Citizen Kane 1941
It's a Wonderful Life 1946
Labyrinth 1986
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975
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