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November 14th, 2010

ELO Part II is a musical group formed in 1991 in the issue of breakup of the band Electric Light Orchestra. In 1988 Bev Bevan, the ELO drummer, suggested Jeff Lynne recording a new ELO album. Lynne refused and so Bev Bevan decided to continue the musical creative work of the band without him. Jeff Lynne did support this idea and thus he involved legal experts. The Legal agreement between both musicians developed into the following: Bevan formed a new group that was called Electric Light Orchestra Part Two. Bevan invited Louis Clark (ELO string conductor and co-arranger), Eric Troyer (keyboards and vocals), Neil Lockwood (vocals and guitar) and Peter Haycock (vocals and guitar) in his band.

In 1991 the new band released album “Electric Light Orchestra Part 2”. The band gave a live concert with The Moscow Symphony Orchestra during their first tour. It was a great success in the UK. The band sang about 2/3 of the songs that represented ELO hits. The live performance in Birmingham entered the album under the title “Performing ELO’s Greatest Hits Live Featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra”.

The band gave concerts in Germany and the UK in 1992. In 1993 Haycock and Lockwood quit the band. The same year the musicians were replaced by Phil Bates (guitarist and vocalist). In 1993 ELO Part Two undertook a world tour concerts in the USA and Eastern Europe included. In 1994 Electric Light Orchestra released the second studio album that was called “Moment of Truth”. The band continued their tours over the following years. A year later ELO Part 2 recorded a live album with orchestral backing in Australia. It was released as a double album One Night in Germany and in the USA as a single album One Night- Live in Australia. Bates played in the group until 1999. Then he was replaced by Parthenon Huxley. By that time the band reduced the rendering of their original material at concerts. Very often their performances included 90% ELO songs. Bev Bevan was not at all happy with such state of things, especially with the inability to score a great success in the US. In November 1999 Bev Bevan gave his last performance with ELO Part Two at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City.

As opposed to ELO, where Jeff Lynne (writer and producer) exercised creative control, ELO Part Two was distinguished as a band with more democracy as at different times the band members undertook songwriting and lead vocals. However Bev Bevan remained the leader of the group. In 2000 Bevan announced that ELO Part Two were disbanded. The other members of the band decided to continue its activity. Thus Gordon Townsend was invited and the band that was given a new name The Orchestra continued to give concerts up to 2009.

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Richard Tandy (born on the 26th of March, England, Birmingham) is an English musician. During his rich musical career, Richard Tandy played such instruments as piano, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, organ and bass. He is also famous as the keyboard player in Electric Light Orchestra. If one is to judge by the highest standards, Richard Tandy is the musician who plays a number of different instruments. The musical palette of his keyboards (piano, mellotron, clavinet, Mini Moog) represents a significant component in the band’s sound, especially on the following albums: A New World Record, Discovery, Time, and Out of the Blue. Tandy is also the old friend of Jeff Lynne- the ELO leader.

Richard Tandy went to Moseley School where he got acquainted with Bev Bevan, who later on became a famous drummer. On Bev Bevan’s invitation, Tandy played harpsichord during the recording of the first hit “Blackberry Way” of the band The Move. Afterwards he joined the band Electric Light Orchestra where he played till the breakup of the band. During ELO concerts, Richard Tandy often played the stereotyped 1970s progressive rock stack of keyboards. He also accompanied Jeff Lynne in his solo projects such as sound track for the film “Electric Dreams” (1984), the album “Armchair Theatre” (1990), and Dave Edmunds’ album “Information” produced by Jeff Lynne. Before becoming a member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra Richard Tandy played with the bands “The Uglys” and “Balls”. Immediately after the breakup of the band Electric Light Orchestra, Tandy created trio together with the drummer Dave Morgan and Martin Smith. These musicians had worked with Electric Light Orchestra in live performances.

In 2000-2001, Tandy participated in a short-term revival of the band ELO. It should be noted that a number of ELO album titles belong to Richard Tandy, Multi-Platinum album “Discovery” included.

14 November 2010

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“Twilight” is a song recorded and performed by the legendary band Electric Light Orchestra in 1981. The song being both the second track and single from the album Time was released in October 1981 in the United Kingdom. In the United States the song was released in November the same year. “Twilight” was recorded at the Musicland Studious in Munich. It is also worth mentioning that the frontman of Electric Light Orchestra Jeff Lynne was the writer as well as the producer of the song in question. “Twilight” follows the very first song from the Time album: “Prologue”.

It should be noted that the given song became very popular in Japan. “Twilight” was a great success among people interested in Japanese comics and animation (also called as Otaku). It served as the music theme (without receiving authorization) for the renowned opening animation to the Daicon IV sci-fi convention held in 1983. One year previously, the song in question was used for an advertisement created for the Toyota Celica XX (Supra). This time “Twilight” was used with authorization and credit.

In 2005, one resorted to the song “Twilight” again to esteem the DAICON IV opening. This was the animation that represented the opening for the serial Densha Otoku. The central character of these television series was an otaku (along with a number of periodic extras). In the issue, such uses of “Twilight” developed into the following: the song has become a hymn for otaku in its own way.

In addition, the given song was used as the final one in the film “The B Movie” (Burton Snowboards). The film that was released in 2009 depicts the Burton team snowboarding on a huge “B” formed of snow.

14 November 2010

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The Beatles is the most famous and influential rock-band that introduced great innovations into the world of music. The band synthesized the best of the early rock’n’roll, by creating an original and impressive style on its basis. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are one of the most expressive rock-vocalists and original rock- composers. The musicians being indefatigable experimenters used the newest technologies and multilayer arrangements in their studio recordings. The Beatles was the first British internationally recognized group that made rock’n’roll and international phenomenon.

The impressive and rich creative work of the band exerted profound influence on a great number of rock and pop bands. Therefore there a new term appeared known as “Beatlesque”. The term was used to describe the influence of The Beatles’ creation on musicians, rock or pop bands whose style of music and performance resembled the band in question. The article provides several examples of “Beatlesque” bands.

Badfinger

Badfinger being a Welsh rock and pop band was created in the 1960s. The band cooperated with the members of The Beatles and their producers. In the early 70’s the band Badfinger was considered to be followers of The Beatles in the stylistic plan. Paul McCartney patronized the band and later on the musician redeemed Badfinger from early breakup. Paul McCartney was also the producer of the main releases of the given band. Badfinger’s song “No Matter What” was Lennon-inspired.

Electric Light Orchestra

The Electric Light Orchestra resorted to the creative work of The Beatles as well. The British rock band created a tribute song “Beatles Forever” and it was intended to be included in the album “Secret Messages”. The song was recorded in 1983 however it did not enter the album.

At the instance of George Harrison, the ELO frontman Jeff Lynne became the co-producer of George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album. The musicians worked together on the Traveling Wilburys albums as well. Jeff Lynne was also the producer of the new songs written for the Beatles’ Anthology.

Julian Lennon

Julian Lennon is John Lennon’s son. His songs such as “Too Late for Goodbye”, “Valotte” and “Saltwater” are considered to be Beatlesque. In “I Don’t Wanna Know” music video Julian and his band are dressed up like the musicians of The Beatles.

The Monkees

The Monkees is am American pop-rock quartet that released songs and concertized from 1966 to 1971.

The members of the band were gathered together for the first time by NBC channel in 1965. The purpose of this meeting was the taking of series about the working days of the modern rock band. The film “A Hard Day’s Night” became a model for these series.

The Monkees initially formed with the purpose of participation in the TV serial, scored big successes in the other niche. The success of the series surpassed all expectations and then the members of the band began releasing a great number of hits, reproducing the superficial aspects of The Beatles music.

Being at the peak of their fame, The Monkees sold about 35 million records. In 1967 Micky Dolenz wrote a new song “Randy Scouse Git”. The song was about partying with The Beatles band in London. The Beatles were described as “the four kings of EMI sitting stately on the floor”. Later the song “Randy Scouse Git” was retitled “Alternate Title”.

Oasis

Oasis considered themselves to be strongly influenced by The Beatles. The band covered a great number of songs previously recorded by Beatles. Noel Gallagher also cooperated in a number of Beatles songs.

The band was first called “Rain” like the song of the same name recorded by The Beatles. The decision to rename the band Oasis belonged to Liam. This happened after the band gave a concert in The Swindon Oasis.

The music video for the song “Supersonic” was shot on the roof of a house. In due time The Beatles also shot the Music video for “Let it Be” on a roof. It should be noted that the name of the song “Wonderwall” is also the name of one of the albums recorded by George Harrison. The introduction to the “Don’t lool Back in Anger” was borrowed from the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. The end of “She’s Electric” song is the copy of the other song by The Beatles “With a Little Help from my Friends”. During live performances Oasis sing parts from “Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles at the end of the song “Whatever”.

14 November 2010

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If you are looking for software for beat production, then you should pay attention to the software that will be described below. No matter whether you want to make either hot rap or hip hop beats, you will find these beat making software absolutely amazing. You will be pleasantly amazed how easy it is to make professional beats by the means of these wonderful and descent software. It can be used even by beginners.
DUBturbo is wonderful software for beat production. It is one of the best options for any beginner. DUBturbo is also distinguished by improved user interface. The given beat making software is user friendly and it contains a variety of instrumental samples. Moreover, DUBturbo has step-by-step instructions that will be very helpful by making the very first beats. DUBturbo operates with personal computers and Mac.  It allows you to make beats like the professionals do.
Rob Papen – Predator and Predator FX – this beat making software will be perfect for you if you are going to make sounds original. It is also good for tweaking sounds out. Rob Papen’s Predator represents a “phat sounding” soft-synth. The software contains the following preset banks: Breakbeat, DnB banks, HipHop, diverse trance styles, jump, etc. PredatorFX also includes filters, various effects, modulations as well as a vocoder as an FX plug-in.
FL Studio – Fruity Loops Review. FL Studio allows you to add a whole group of FX and VSTi’s that are not included in the normal software. Moreover there is no need to spend much money to start off. You can purchase various versions at different prices. If you are in school you can purchase the FL Studio Student Version for just about $50. FL Studio contains the soft synths/VSTi’s that are considered to be very powerful. In addition they are easy to tweak.
18 September 2010

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Progressive rock is a style of rock music characterized by the complexity of musical forms and creative enrichment of rock through the dialogue with other style of musical arts such as avant-garde, jazz, folk music, etc.
The progressive rock came into existence at the end of 60-s in England. It enjoyed wide popularity at the beginning of 70s in Europe, Quebec and the USA. In 1980s the progressive rock passed through a severe crisis in its ideas and popularity. It has been since developing with varied success. Nowadays there are many subgenres of progressive rock such as Canterbury, Math-rock, symphonic rock, progressive metal, zeuhl.
It is not so easy to define the belonging of a band to the style of progressive rock. For instance, the songs and music of such bands as Camel, Genesis, King Crimson, Supertramp, Yes, sounded a little bit different. However a great number of bands considered that they played namely progressive rock. It is worth mentioning that the notion “progressive rock” was used in the early 70s to emphasize the newness of bands. Later it became the name of the specific musical style by approbation of critics and worshippers.
Here are some of the bands who played progressive rock.
Camel is a British rock band that was founded in 1971. The band chose the music style of art-rock. The main peculiarity of Camel is distinguished by the melodiousness of compositions and the predominance of the instruments over parts (voice). The band made a valuable contribution to the development of progressive rock thanks to the uniqueness of its sounding, melodies and composition of songs.
Genesis is a British rock band founded in 1967. Initially the band belonged to the movement of progressive rock. Genesis earned Grammy awards, sold about 150 million of albums throughout the world and entered the top 30 of all times due to this achievement. The most famous members of this band are Peter Brian Gabriel and Philip David Charles Collins who made successful solo careers. On the 15th March 2010, Genesis was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Yes is a British rock band of progressive rock style. The band was founded in 1968 in London. Yes has been existing for more than 40 years and up till now the band has a huge number of fans  in the whole world. The music played by the band Yes is characterized by sharp dynamical contrasts, the highest mastery of performance of all members of the band and broadened duration of compositions. Yes is considered one of the most ambitious progressive rock bands. The band often plays symphonic and some other musical structures, mixes various styles and includes various innovations in their songs. In the issue the band creates music full of brilliant ideas.
Satellite is Polish progressive rock band. The band was founded in 2000 by Wojtek Szadkowski (drummer), Sarhan Kubeisi (guitar), Robert Amirian (vocalist), Krzysiek Palczewski (keyboards). Their first album A Street Between Sunrise And Sunset appeared in March 2003. Their next album Evening Games was released in two years. The album peaked at #8 at the top 100 best selling records in Poland.
18 September 2010

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“We Will Rock You” is a song performed by the English band Queen. The song was written by Brian May and it was included in the album “News of the World”.   The song was released as a single only in several countries; however soon it advanced in wide popularity in the whole world. The song “We Will Rock You” was always accompanied with the other song “We Are the Champions” from the same album.

The song in question is famous for its unusual percussion. The rhythmic beat is performed in the form of stamping and clapping. Such rhythmic accompaniment lasts till the end of the song. The song is also considered unique due to the presence of a single musical instrument such as electric guitar. Brian May plays electric guitar after the third verse during the second repetition of the phrase “We will, we will rock you”.
“Heart of the Sunrise” is a song performed by the British progressive rock band Yes. The song was included in their forth album Fragile. “Heart of the Sunrise” became the fourth most-performed song by the band. But it was played about three hundred times less than the other song “I’ve Seen All Good People”. Nevertheless the song “Heart of the Sunrise” enjoyed wide popularity.
As regards the meaning of the given song, according to the words of Anderson, the song describes the state of being lost in the city. However during the Big Generator tour, Anderson offers another version of the meaning of the song. This time Anderson states that the song narrates about the power and energy of the uprise. Soon he declares that the song is about the power of love.
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” – is a single performed by The Rolling Stones. The song was released in 1965. Its authors are Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  Rolling Stone ranked it #2 in the list of the Greatest Songs of all Time. The VH1 channel placed the song at #1 in the analogous rating. In May 1965 the song “Satisfaction” was released as a single for the first time in the USA. In July the song entered the American version of the album “Out of Our Heads”. Due to this single The Rolling Stones took the first place in Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.  In Great Britain the song was released in August 1965. Thanks to the single «(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, the band The Rolling Stones was placed in the top of the British hit parades for the fourth time.
“Whole Lotta Love” is the most famous song from the second album of the British rock band Led Zeppelin «Led Zeppelin II».  The distinctive feature of the song represents the presence of an electric musical instrument tereminvox and guitar riff that was played by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in unison.Led Zeppelin played this song at almost all concerts during their career up to 1980. Little by little the song “Whole Lotta Love” became longer due to various tunes from other songs. “Whole Lotta Love” along with “Stairway to Heaven” is considered one of the most famous songs played by the band Led Zeppelin.
18 September 2010

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An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble. It represents a group of musicians who use various music instruments to play music in common. As opposed to the chamber ensemble, in orchestra some of its musicians form groups that play in unison. An orchestra includes sections of brass, string, woodwind as well as percussion instruments. The development of the orchestra was observed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the next century it underwent little changes in composition.

It is worth mentioning that there are two kinds of an orchestra: a chamber orchestra (nearly fifty players) and “symphony orchestra” or “philharmonic orchestra” (nearly 100 players). These distinctions in number of musicians are not reflected in either the instrumental composition or the orientation of the orchestra. However the given modifiers can help people to distinguish between two ensembles that are found in the same city (for example, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra).
A symphonic orchestra plays symphonies and suites, symphonic poems and fantasias. Sometimes it accompanies an action in a film, takes part in the performance of operas and oratorios and competes with the soloists during instrumental concerts.
A symphonic orchestra includes a great number of various instruments. There several main sections depending on the played instruments: stringed and bow, wind and percussion instruments. Sometimes an orchestra includes such instruments as a harp, piano and an organ.
In a symphonic orchestra, the players must sit in a strict order. Nowadays there are several variants where the players should sit depending on the will of a conductor and the peculiarities of a musical composition. However there is one strict rule concerning the arrangement of instruments in sections: all the copper wind instruments (French horns, trumpets, tubas and trombones) are arranged near each other, all the wooden instruments (flutes, clarinets, oboes and bassoons) are arranged together and the stringed bow instruments (violins, violas, cellos and contrabasses) are grouped together.
An orchestra contains many stringed instruments. For example, the number of first violins ranges from ten to eighteen, and of the second violins from eight to sixteen. The number of violas makes up from six to fourteen. The thing is that the sound of the stringed instruments is the weakest. Therefore to equalize the difference of sounding of music, an orchestra needs a big stringed section of instruments.  It should be noted that the stringed instruments are situated closer to the conductor and the audience than the other instruments.
The number of wind instruments varies from two to three. There also may be an additional wind instrument such as English horn, piccolo, contrabassoon, etc.
The percussion section of instruments does not have a regular composition. This section may include only those instruments that enter the score of the playing music. As regards a kettledrum, it is considered the regular instrument of each concert.
18 September 2010

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Sonoma Wireworks Riffworks T4 & Standard: this software does not require expert knowledge. If you still have questions concerning the operating of the software for music creation, you may address the company’s facebook page. Helpful forums will be always at your disposal. The principle of Sonoma Wireworks Riffworks T4 & Standard’s operating is the following: the software interfaces via ASIO plug-ins to a user’s MAC/PC. The software in question allows you to use any instrument that interfaces digitally via ASIO sound cards or USB plug-ins.

Riffworks is really very easy to use. Its interface that has many functions is very helpful and enjoyable for creating any form of music. During the process of music creation you can choose between various progressions within one drum style. Thus you can add more rolls, cymbal hits or kicks. You also can mix different styles of playing such as pop, metal, rock, funk and many others. Riffworks has the following functions: ATTAQ, TEMPEST, SUPERTANKER, STAMINA, NOEQUAL.
3E Soft Entertainment Moderal Jukebox1.02: this software represents a windows audio player. You get a free play mode for unbounded selection. Thus you are allowed to play a file, a folder or all the albums of you favorite singers. It also arranges the files on a hard disk as albums self-actingly. All the albums are shown graphically. The software gives you the possibility to create your own playlists.
Cakewalk FL Studio: Cakewalk FL Studio “Fruityloops” Edition Music Creation & Editing Software is easy using software. Its simplicity is explained by the fact that you can create a new song within a couple of hours. The software disposes of various instruments that help you to change the sound. Therefore the software is one of the best options for both beginners and advanced song writers. Recording great tracks is so easy and interesting with Cakewalk FL Studio “Fruityloops”.

SoundForge 10 is a new version of the powerful audio processor which includes a set of various utility programs that are designed for sound work. This software allows you to process audio files effectively, edit samples, record sounds, add various effects to your sound recording, code audio data, convert audio files from one format to another, etc. Usually SoundForge10 is used by sound men or producers at many sound recording studios. However thanks to the well designed and thought out interface, the software can be used by ordinary users.

22 July 2010

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It is not an easy task to choose a synthesizer, as nowadays customers are offered a great number of these instruments of various types and of course of different prices. The article provides the basic criteria that you should be guided by, in order to make a right decision. These criteria are:

·The purpose of the synth’s usage. You should decide on its usage and the style of music you are going to play.

·The sum of money you are going to spend on the instrument.

If you scheme to play synthesizer from time to time just for pleasure, you will need a definite set of requirements.

Synthesizers are divided into sampling and synthesizing ones. The synthesizing instruments synthesize the sound from a built-in generator. As for the sampling synths, they work on the basis of reproduction of sound samples which are recorded into the built-in samplers of an instrument. The menu of such synthesizer allows you to change the sounding and the tone of samples as well as to add various effects.

Depending on the technology that is usually used for a synthesizer’s operating, there are analog, digital, analog-digital and hybrid synths. The principle of a synth’s “hybridity” can be explained in the following way: the sound is worked up after the digital part. Thereafter it is reproduced in an analog section. Such scheme of sounding allows you to create interesting and original sounds.

If you a beginner musician, you should give preference to a synthesizer which has as many different sound options as possible. The thing is that as you improve your skills, you will be in need of different set of requirements towards your synthesizer. For instance, if you begin to play one-voice analog synth, in future you will become interested in polyphonic features of your instrument, to reproduce several sounds simultaneously.

Taking into consideration the synthesizer keyboard, this instrument can have different number of keys. Usually most synths have 61 keys (5 octaves), but others can have up to 88 keys. A keyboard with 49 keys will be very good for playing synthesizer at home or at a studio. 88 key instrument represents a larger version, which is considered to be an electro piano. People, who can play piano, must seem comfortable when playing this kind of synth. To reproduce the majority of compositions, 61 and 71 key instruments will be very appropriate for these needs.

To choose just the right option for you, determine where the synth will be used, as these instruments are designed whether for home or professional usage. Home synths are equipped with built-in loudspeakers. They are not characterized by outstanding functions and features. However home synthesizers will be very good for playing piano parts at home. Usually these synths have an easy interface, specially designed for amateurs.

In contrast to home synths, professional synthesizers do not have built-in loudspeakers. They have a very qualitative keyboard. After buying a professional synth, you will need more time to study the manual instruction. It is also a good idea to purchase a copy of a keyboard’s manual to review it at home. Thus this step will help you to make a final decision. It is also worth mentioning that a professional instrument means a great number of functions which require much knowledge and experience. In addition, you will have to spend a greater sum of money on it.

22 July 2010

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The Staple Singers were gospel, soul and R&B singing band from the US. The article provides some information about famous songs “Brand New Day”, “If you are ready” and “Respect Yourself” performed by this music group.

Brand New Day” is a The Staple Singers’ song written by Al Kooper for the 1970 film Hal Ashby The Landlord.
Kooper decided to write this song during his stay at the Chateau Marmont Hotel which is situated in Hollywood, California. “Brand New Day” tells about the sociological changes that took place in America at those times. The song seemed to be proper for the film The Landlord.
Another song “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)” was included in the album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself which was released in 1973. “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)” was #9 in US Chart and # 34 in UK Chart. The song’s writers are: Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton and Homer Banks. At that time they were songwriters for Stax Records based in Memphis, Tennessee. It should be noted that Otis Redding is among many soul singers who recorded at Stax Records. The history of this song runs as follows: the songwriters were going to take lunch at the Four Way Grill. So Jackson said to his colleagues: “If you’re ready, come go with me.” This phrase inspired the Stax songwriters and thus they began immediately working on a new song based on this phrase. The next day by lunch time the new song “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)” was finished.

Respect yourself” was also released on the album “Be Altitude: Respect Yourself”. The song became a great hit. The songwriters are Luther Ingram (Stax Records singer) and Mack Rice (Stax songwriter). “Respect yourself” is based on the phrase: “Black folk need to respect themselves”, said by Luther Ingram to his colleague. It reached #12 position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song was #2 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart. “Respect yourself” is one of the most famous songs performed by The Staple Singers.

20 July 2010