Music Roars

1. Agung: The agung is a set of two wide-rimmed gongs suspended vertically. This is used by the Maranao, Maguindanao, and Tausug tribes of the Philippines.

2. Babendil is a single Philippine gong with narrow-rim used by the Maguindanao kulintang, Tausug, the Samal and the Yakan tribe.

3. Dabakan is a single-headed drum used by Philippine tribes of Maguindanao.

4. Gandingan consists of large hanging gongs, four in number, used by Philippine tribes of Maguindanao.

5. Gandingan a kayo, which means wooden gandingan, is a Philippine xylophone. It is wooden version of gandingan.

6. Kagul is a bamboo scraper gong from Philippines which has a jagged edge on one side and it is played with two beaters. While one scarps the jagged edge while the other makes a beat. It is used by the Banuwaen and Maguindanaon tribes to scare birds and guard their rice paddies. The Bukidnon tribe uses it for dancing on social occasions.

7. Kendang is a drum which has two heads. It is used among Tausug, Balinese, and Maranao tribe of Philippines. Good kendang is made from the wood of coconut, jackfruit, or cempedak. Buffalo hide is used for the soft side known as bam. Goatskin is used for superior side know as chang.

8. Kubing is a type of Philippines Jew’s harp made from bamboo used by Maguindanaon, Maranao, Tingguian, Tagbanua, Toraja and Munanese tribes. It is used to communicate between family members.

9. The nose flute, also known as pitung ilong or kalaleng in Philippines, is used by Bontok people. It is played using extreme forward edge of left or right nostril.

With the use of materials that are available at home, various musical instruments can be assembled. Old pots and pans along with old wooden spoons can be used as drum and stick. By stringing three to four bells together onto a large pipe cleaner makes a wrist bells.

A gong can be made from old pie tin, a metal table knife, a hammer and nail along with string. Xylophone can be made from glass pop bottles by just filling these bottles and a knife or spoon acting as a mallet. A hummer can be made from empty cardboard toilet paper, wax paper and a rubber band.

Walnut can be used for making walnut whistle and walnut bowl and coconut can be used for making banjo. Tambourine can be made with the use of two paper plates, hole punch, string, stapler or glue, jingle bells and crayons. Drum can be made with the use of empty oatmeal box with cover, pen, yarn, two pencils, construction papers, two spools and crayons.

Chimes can be made using ruler or stick, nail polish, washers, mixing spoon and string. Make guitar using empty shoe box, ruler or stick, rubber bands. Make horn using paper towel roll, rubber band, waxed paper and pen.

Triple wooden gong can be easily made by stinging three wooden pieces and using hammer to generate sound. Tiny wooden whistle can be made by just using hollow tiny wood piece and making a hole on it. Brass phone can be made by simply twisting a hollow brass pipe and making few holes on it.

The common way to group musical instruments is by Western orchestra that includes: strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. But this method does not include numerous non-orchestral instruments. The categories that include all the musical instruments are:

1. Chordophones: In a chordophone, sound is generated by vibrating strings. The main groups can be divided based on relationship between the strings and the resonator. They are

Zithers, e.g. a piano, hammered dulcimer, plucked harpsichord, Appalachian dulcimer
Lutes, e.g. guitar, banjo, violin, fiddle
Lyres, e.g. classical Greek lyre
Harps e.g. orchestral harp, Irish harp
Musical bow

2. Aerophones: The sound is generated by vibrating air inside the instrument. Aerophones are divided based on what causes the air to begin vibrating. They are:

Whistles, e.g. recorders, police whistles
Blowhole, e.g. panpipes, fife
Reed, e.g. saxophone, oboe, bagpipes, harmonica, accordion
Cup mouthpiece, e.g. bugle, conch shell

3. Membranophones: The sound starts with vibration of a stretched membrane or skin. Membranophones are divided as per shape of the resonating body of the instrument. They are

Tubular drums, goblet
Kettledrums or vessel drums –round bottoms.
Frame drums, e.g. Tamborines
Friction drums
Mirlitons, e.g. Kazoos

4. Idiophones: Sound is generated by vibration of the instrument itself. Idiophones are divided based on what is done to cause the vibrations.

Percussion e.g. bells, steel drums.
Shaken idiophones, e.g. maracas, eggs, jingle bells
Concussion, e.g. castanets, spoons, claves
Friction
Scraped e.g. guiro, washboard.
Stamping
Plucked e.g. Jew’s harp, mbira or thumb piano

5. Electrophones: Instruments that produce sound using electricity. E.g. Theremins, synthesizers, electric organ.

History of musical instruments can be dated back to mythological times and ancient times, though there are no much records of it. The first musical instruments to be used by man were stampers, rattles and numerous drums. Since then, musical instruments have evolved in shapes and sizes and their use have widened over the period of time.

Various categories are:

1. Wind instruments: E.g. trumpets, clarinets, flutes and bagpipes. These instruments create music via column of air that makes the instrument vibrate when air is blown by mouth.
2. String instruments: E.g. guitar or mandolin. Sound is generated by vibration created by plucking of the strings.
3. Electronic instruments: E.g. drums, guitar, keyboard. Music is produces by electronic means.
4. Keyboard instruments: E.g. Organs and pianos. Music is produced by use of keyboard.

Different musical instruments used during different periods are:

1. Ancient: Ancient musical instruments relate to civilizations such as India, China, Roman, Persia, Greece, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The instruments used were Barbat, Robab, Santour and tabla from Persia, guqin, strings, bamboo flute, percussion from China, harp from Egypt, tabla, khole, tanpura, harmonium, sarod and sitar from India.

2 Medieval: Flute, pan flute, lute, gitten, mandora, dulcimers, Jew’s harp and trombone.

3. Baroque: Baroque guitar, lute, Viol, Baroque trumpet, harpsichord, Baroque violin and Oboe da caccia.

4. 1763–1846- Bass viol, Treble recorder, Archlute, Pedal harp, Baryton, Mandore, mandolin, violin, Oboe, Buffo harpsichord, French horn, Spinet, Octave spinet, The Glass Virginal, English guitar, Hardanger fiddle, The Theewes Claviorgan, The Queen Elizabeth Virginal and spinet.

5. Contemporary instruments: Violas, violins, bows, mandolins, cellos and
Double basses.

Ipod Touch- the dream phone for many youngsters is a unique handset by Apple. It comes loaded with multiple exciting features like latest technology enabled games, rocking music, internet, movies and many more. This high-end phone is available at the cost of $229 which might seem slightly unaffordable for few people. But have you ever imagines of getting a brand new Free Ipod Touch for free? Opportunities like this can be availed if you keep a watch on the latest offers. At Freeipodtouch.net you will find the three easy steps to grab this phone for free. If you feel that this is impossible and it is a scam then you have to stop there.

This is an offer where the advertisement benefits cover the cost of the give away mobile set. In fact by now they have given away thousands of handsets which are as flawless as the one you buy from the stores. If you are still confused or hesitant to believe the legitimacy of the offer, you can go through the testimonials written by those who have already availed it. So just help them out with your email and postal address and get the phone delivered within a short period of time.

So you have just bought your first IPod and you are wondering how to download music videos to it. The ability to download and play music videos has been one of the most popular features that has made the IPod a success worldwide. Read ahead and I will show you just how this is done.

One of the major downers when it come to playing videos in the IPod is that it only supports MP4 while most of the videos and movies out there are in the avi or WMV format. You can get past this obstacle by converting the videos to MP4 before importing them to ITunes. There are a lot of programs out there that you can use to do the conversion. If you don’t have any with you, you can easily download a freeware or shareware converter from the internet. All you have to do is search for it in google or MSN.

Once the files have been converted to the required format, all that requires is for you to connect your IPod and transfer the files that have been imported to iTunes. Of course, you will have to remember to import the correct format to iTunes prior to the transfer.

Now that the you know the “how”, it is time for you to learn the “where”. Most people get their stuff from iTunes, while paying a heavy price, but if you are smarter, there are lots of other places that allow you free and unlimited downloads. Finding the right places will depend on how diligently your search is for them. I have listed out a few good sites and I have provided the links to those sites at the end of this article.

If you do your own research you will soon find out websites that offers millions of IPod files like music, movies and music videos all free. All you have to worry about is the spyware that some of these sites may contain. If you go by my list, at the end of the article, you won’t to worry about even that. So if you want to get some downloads that are totally free and safe all you have do is follow the links that I have provided.

Even though you may want to pick the sites with care, its not a big deal to find music or music videos for your IPod. And once you have those files, putting them in the IPod is child’s play.

It seems that everyone wants to own an iphone these days. The popularity of iphones has something to do with the fact that you can have all your music and movies in one place The iphone also allows you to browse the net. Now how cool is that!?!.

The latest version of the iphone has been made affordable for more people and its fan base has increased due to this. So, once you have your iphone, how will you transfer the music from your music CD or your PC to the iphone?

Basically, you have two options to transfer the music to your iphone and this is generally true for almost all entertainment system from Apple. You can either use the music that you already have with you or you can download the music to your iphone directly from the internet.. It is easier to get the music from your CDs because this activity can be done without having an internet connection.

If you have decent ripping softwares, use it to rip the music from your CD and store it in your PC. Once this has been accomplished, you can use the itunes software to transfer the music from your PC to the iphone. This is a simple process and will get done in a jiffy. If you don’t have the ripping software with you, don’t worry you can find one easily on the internet. Just use google to find out a shareware or freeware ripping software and install it in your computer. And you will be all set. Most modern rippers are very fast and you will not lose much time transferring the music to your iphone.

It is a little more difficult, if you are doing it for the first time, to download it from the internet. The most popular method is to use the itunes software to download the music directly from Apple’s website. You need to have a good internet connection for this and you will also have to pay for the downloads. This can become quiet expensive for most people if you are a music addict. The advantage is that you can sync the software with your system, be it an iphone or an ipod, and they will be updated whenever you download new music.

The alternate and ,quiet frankly, the cheaper method is to register yourselves at one of the newly emerging sites and register for a membership, that allows you a life time of music downloads, for an initial fee of something like $50. This is much cheaper and offers you the best value for money.

I hope that you have gained the know-how to fill you iphone with your favorite music. It really is not a difficult procedure and once you are acquainted with the initial steps, you can easily do it on your own.

If you are a music addict and, like me, if you enjoy instrumental music in particular, then your house will definitely to be filled with all kinds of musical instruments. With all these instrument around you can even try your hand at composing a few notes.

Based on the mechanism by which they generate sound, Musical instruments can broadly be classified into string, wind, percussion and keyboard instruments. There are many sub divisions with in these four. Some of the popular examples of string instruments are guitars, violins, ukuleles and cellos. Pipes, sax, clarinet and flute basically illustrate the wind category. Percussion instruments include drums, bongos, cymbals and bells. And last but not least, pianos, harpsichords, organs and accordions fall under the keyboard instrument category. A staggering 1000 musical instruments are available across the world today.

If you are interested in music and want to seriously learn it, there is no better way than to choose an instrument and to master it through constant practices. You will have to join a music class and diligently follow the curriculum laid out there. If you are not particular about the instrument, then a keyboard will be a perfect choice because an electronic keyboard can produce sounds ranging from guitar tunes to drum beats.

On the other hand if you are looking to set up a band with your friends, then you will need different types of musical instruments. Usually bands choose a couple of string instruments in the lead accompanied by percussion. There might be also a wind instrument present.

A variety of DJ equipments are also available on the market nowadays, which provide creative sound mixing options for the wannabe DJs as well as for the experienced disc jockeys.

You can go online and find good offers for musical instruments. You may want to search through a few sites and compare the prices and delivery details before actually making the purchase online. Some of these online store offer discounts if you buy their package deals. Since these packages often contain all the instruments necessary for a band, this may be a good option for you. There are also a variety of good DJ equipments available in the market suiting both the beginners and the professionals.

But the best instruments in the market will cost you a great deal, ranging from $100 to $10000 depending on the manufacturer. A good Yamaha or Roland electronic keyboard can set you back by as much as 2500 bucks. For most beginners, buying a second hand instrument is a more affordable choice. You can migrate to a better instrument when you have acquired some proficiency with an instrument and when you are sure that you will continue to play the same instrument. Most people switch instruments in the middle so, buying an expensive instrument in the beginning is not a good idea.

You can also make home made musical instruments using common household items. The simplest of them to make are percussion instruments. You can easily make shakers, jingle bracelets, drums or tambourines. Comb harmonicas or kazoos are also popular among children doing a project on homemade musical instruments. These projects can keep your child creatively employed and who knows, some day he might become a great musician.

A music contract is a budding artist’s greatest dream. Even though it is essential to get the agreement in writing before you agree to it, many performers don’t pay due diligence and get things going with just an oral agreement. This is to be avoided at all costs as this may lead to people taking undue advantage of you in the future. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and many new artists and bands find it difficult to get something in writing. Don’t be discouraged, keep at it and you can land your own lucrative music contract. Without it you may end up losing your music to the sharks out there.

When you sign your first music contract, make sure that you have read through the fine print so that there aren’t any unpleasant clauses in it. It is important for you to protect yourselves and your band from the malicious agents out there. If you don’t have the music contract in writing, you may end up losing the copyrights of your hit numbers. This could prove financially and emotionally devastating for you. So what you need to do is, have it put it down in writing that you will continue to hold the copyrights for your music. This way, you get your royalties and the company still makes a lot of money on you.

The key word here is the legal term “contracts”. If you want to challenge an agreement in court, you need to have it written down for the court to even consider your plea. No court will accept the statement unless written down and signed by the authorized official. When you have a written agreement, the clauses are much more easily understood and it is much easier for you to get justice. So don’t let the music agents and the companies take advantage of you by not agreeing to a proper music contract because if the contract is proper the business relation would be fruitful to both parties.

1. Bajo sexto: It means sixth bass. It has 12-strings in 6 double courses and is used in norteño music of northeastern Mexico. In music of south Texas it is known as “conjunto,” “Tex-Mex,” or “música mexicana-tejana”.

2. Cajon: It is also called cajón de tapeo and is a wood box drum that is played by slapping one face or two faces using a stick and a hand or sometimes using both hands. It follows 3/4 y 6/8 time signatures.

3. The guitarrón: It means large guitar and is a very large Mexican acoustic bass with 6-string. It is played in mariachi bands.

4. The jarana: It is a stringed instrument shaped like a guitar. It comes from southern region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. It has eight strings in 5 courses that are arranged in two single outer strings with 3 courses between. The strings are made of nylon, but in the past they were made of gut. The jarana can give great effect when used in combination with other instruments such as the ‘arpa jarocha’ or Veracruz folk harp, the ‘guitarra de son’.

5. Vihuela: It is combination of two different guitar-like string instruments. One is vihuela which is historic dating back to 16th century that has 12 paired strings and the other is modern Mexican vihuela from 20th century Mexico that has five strings.

6. The pandero octagonal: It is one kind of tamborine that is played more in Veracruz, Mexico. It is octagonally-shaped and is ringed with eight jangling metal disks and with an animal skin stretched over one side.