Musical fountain

The first piece performed by the American Symphony Orchestra was “Alleluia” by Randall Thompson. “Alleluia” was performed by a cappella chorus and lasted approximately 6 minutes with no instruments involved. There was a large chorus dressed in black; the men had on bow ties and suits. The Chorus sung perfectly and in sync together with the conductor’s moves. As the conductor would make his gestures the chorus would follow and move their heads with the tone of their voices. The chorus increased…

I sit in the balcony of the performing arts center, watching the stage intently as soft lights glint off of violins, flutes, and kettle drums. As the orchestra plays a swelling concert ‘A’, signaling the show will begin momentarily, my chest rises up in unison. People across the auditorium let out thunderous applause as the conductor strides onto his podium. The auditorium falls silent except for the sound of those hurrying to clear their throats and cough. The conductor raises his arms, baton…

Alternative R&B PBR -Pabst Blue Ribbon, Music is shared all around the world for everyone to listen to and enjoy. Many different genres such as Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, Rock, R&B, etc. Every song is different in its own way, but one genre really sticks out to me and that's Alternative R&B. Alternative R&B also goes by many other names such as PBR&B, R-Neg-B, and indie R&B. Alternative R&B definitely takes R&B and gives it a twist. This genre often focuses…

In comparison to how early percussion was performed and how musicians of the percussive arts are viewed upon today is almost an opposite perspective. In the medieval era of music, percussionists and parts were most definitely not used as much as which the other instruments were written for. The use of percussion back in this era were only written if the composer felt the percussion parts were a necessity for a piece, and if they were included in a piece, the parts were normally improvised. With…

I participated in the festival each year after that. My junior high band director and private lesson teacher, Kim Sanderson, continued my musical training from here and encouraged my growth as not just a musician, but as a person. As a result of my solo score in sixth grade, I was able to play in my first honor band, which gathered junior high students from around the county. I went on to receive…

The Great Lyre from Ur The Great Lyre with Bull’s Head is the oldest stringed instrument found by an archeologist Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. This valuable historical relic is now well-preserved in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The lyre was created between c. 2600 BCE and c. 2500 BCE during the Sumerian Period. It was discovered in a royal tomb from an ancient Mesopotamian city named Ur and its contemporary location is Muqaiyir, Iraq. The lyre looks…

As the conductor raised his baton, I hastily positioned myself to get ready; planting my bow in its place, I silently tapped the opening chords on my fingerboard as I eyed the conductor for the starting cue. His face glared at us with immense intensity as he pounded the tempo on his chest, and with a wave of his hand, the bombastic fanfare of the trumpets marked the beginning of the concert. Tapping my foot against the wooden floor, I followed the progression of the conductor’s energetic…

The piano, also called the pianoforte,was created by harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Christofori in 1709. There are a few instruments created before the piano with similarities. The first similar instrument was the zither. It was made in Africa and Southeast Asia. The zither was a stringed instrument that was found around 3,000 B.C. during the Bronze Age. The zither line included: the ground zither, the bar zither, and the board zither. These instruments were all plucked. It was used by…

Considering the era that they were producing this album, they used a significant amount of technologies in each song. In this song, 2 synthesisers; VCS3 (voltage controlled studio 3), and Synthi AKS, which came out just a year before this album was recorded, are being one of the key components in this song. Both synthesisers are produced by EMS (Electric Music Stuidio) based on London, formed in 1969. VCS3 which was their first commercial synthesiser, main features are 3 controllable…

The instrumental musicians seem to be following Billie Holiday in the song, “Love Me or Leave Me.” She contributes a strong vocal presence while the trumpet, alto saxophone, and piano compliment her voice. The trumpet and the alto saxophone lead off the song and Billie Holiday joins in powerfully at 00:17. Her voice seems to dominate at times, particularly towards the end of each chorus. During most of Holiday’s verse, the trumpet and alto saxophone are not as clearly noticeable as they are…