Bass drum

Unoccupied stage occupied with only percussion instruments inside of Ford Hall. A sea of people continues to fill the vacant chairs surrounding me inside of this vast auditorium to hear the Ithaca College percussion ensemble. The audience gives the impression that this hall is being filled by music major’s and families just eager to support their loved ones spilling out with joy. I was so surprised that there were so many young audience members that were not music majors that had just come to…

rock and roll is influenced by old blues styles while hard rock incorporates elements of British blues or electric blues. This style of blues is played with modern instruments like electric guitars, drums, keyboards, and electric bass. Most bands started with the power trio which is guitar, bass, and drums. Harder and distorted sounds, heavier guitar riffs, pompous drumming and louder vocals were added to rock and roll by British rock bands, such as The…

The Dave Brubeck Quartet, comprised of Brubeck on the piano, Paul Desmond on the alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on the bass, and Joe Morello on the drums, released the album Time Out in 1959 (Time Out). Even on the first listen, one can see how revolutionary this work would soon become. Opening with “Blue Rondo A La Turk,” Brubeck’s Quartet immediately presents a rhythmic, swingin’ tune featuring 9/8 time. “Kathy’s Waltz” explores polyrhythm and “Take Five,” arguably the band’s “titular” work…

that it envelopes the listener 's mind and body, making them dance to the beat and sing along with the lyrics. Pop rock music is an integration of modern music with elements from other genres such as the use of electric guitars and drums. It usually involves the use of drums, guitar, piano, vocals and a synthesizer. Pop rock is one of the best genres of music to listen to in the 20th generation because of the powerfully distinct elements it contains. Two young and relatively known pop rock bands…

a cultural movement whose mission is to share and promote their cultural heritage by performing Ecuadorian music through the Bomba genre from El Valle del Chota. El Chota is the motherland of the musical rhythm characterized by the percussion Bomba drum, which is handmade by the descendants of the African slaves that are brought to Ecuador. Bomba is a kind of music that involves a small guitar known as the requinto, the guiro and the male and female voices. Bomba can go from a mid tempo to a…

The University Jazz Combos concert did not focus on formality the way I originally believed it would. Instead of walking into a concert hall to see the performers dressed in black, already set up, and just finishing tuning there was a shocking amount of color, styles of dress, and a flurry of movement. My experience from the last concert lead me to believe that a recital would be just as formal and put together as a symphony performance. In fact, the entire atmosphere of the recital hall was…

On November 11th, I saw “The Little Mermaid” at St. Ignatius College Prep. The musical was composed by Alan Menken and directed by Kevin Bellie. There was an array of songs however, I chose to review the pieces “Part of Your World,” “She’s in Love,” “Her Voice,” “Under the Sea,” and “Kiss the Girl.” Although there was no live pit orchestra however, I was thoroughly impressed by the musicianship and creative liberties the cast took on the songs. The first solo, “Part of Your World,” was…

A Musical Guide to Music Making Music is something everyone should learn to do. It is a thing that has been done over the millennia. Before digital audio workshops or DAWs one would have spent several months working on a piece and would need an absurd amount of musical training, but now you need only minimal music theory to become a rockstar. There are many ways to go about this and in my opinion they are all the right ways, but this is my way of making rockin’ jams. Bob is an average joe who…

Growing up, my life revolved around music. My mother, a waitress and my father a bassist. I pretty much grew up in restaurants and bars, listening to my dad play songs Keith Richards wrote 30 years ago. Living in a house with more vinyls than square feet, I learned to love every genre of music. My parents went to every live concert they could go to; Aerosmith, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, you name it my parents were in the crowd. When I was ten my mom told me about this great guitar…

Coined as ‘hot’ music, jazz grew out of the colorful city of New Orleans and reached widespread popularity in the 1920’s (Gioioa 30). The African American community was largely responsible for the creation of jazz music, however influences can be seen from many different ethnic groups and communities. A combination of the blues, ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley songs can be heard when listening to jazz and its improvisational style set it apart from preexisting genres. Creole of Color Brass Bands…