Musical instruments

Gibson vs Fender the top two biggest guitar brands in the world. A huge debate is which one is the best or better. I will be telling you about 1 model of each brand. The Fender “Stratocastor” and Gibson “Les Paul”. I have a 1980 Les Paul and a 2007 Startocastor; and use both quite often. Let's start off with the tone. The Gibson has more of a thick, creamy tone all around, it can also scream if you want it to. Fender can have multiple tones because of the more options on the pickup selector,…

For this semester’s Independent Study Project I decided to listen to the album Basta by Quilapayún. Quilapayún are a part of the Nueva Canción Chilena genre. The Quilapayún are considered a folk music group. They are from Chile. The album Basta consists of 12 songs. Those of which include A la mina no voy, La muralla, La gaviota, Bella ciao, Coplas de baguala, Cueca de Balmaceda, Por montañas y praderas, La carta, Carabina 30-30, Porqué los pobres no tienen, Patrón, and Basta ya. Before I…

This concert report will be on Esperanza Spalding Live at Austin City Limits. The venue mimics that of a outdoor auditorium by having a huge mural of downtown Austin behind stage, and if just seeing it for the first time from a video, one would think it was outdoors. The venue was pretty large, the size of a large auditorium, and the acoustics were good and there was little to no echoing.Though most of Spalding’s songs fall under the genre of jazz, she would rather not be called a jazz artist…

Hall in the Lee County campus of Florida Southwestern State college at 7:30pm. It is directed by Dr. Tom Smith and is accompanied by a large band which includes trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section. This concerto had a variety of musical pieces that displayed the talent and beauty of not only the music, but also the performers. The piece that stood out the most to me and I enjoyed the best was Impressions by Coltrane/Taylor. Published in 1961 at the height of the jazz era, it is…

The bass is one of the pioneer string instrument jazz musicians started to use around the 1890’s to provide a low-pitched bass line that would outline the chord sequences of any song. Before jazz, the bass was mostly known for its use in grand orchestras. The double bass arose in Germany during the late 1650’s. It was mostly used in Orchestras for classical music, creating a low pitched base for the violins and violas while harmonizing with the cellos. As time evolved, around 1890, the African…

1. The first piece of music I listened to for this assignment was Lohengrin, prelude to Act III composed by Wagner. The song was written for a scene for a wedding between a hero and heroine. The instruments in this song include a full orchestra and it is an orchestral piece. In my opinion, the song had a variety of feelings and sounds. For example, there is one part where it is mainly or entirely woodwinds. During this section, the music sounds very peaceful and light. After a while this…

decision was to learn how to play the cello. It all started when I had to choose a fine art to pursue in the 6th grade as a part of the mandatory curriculum. As I had prior experience with the piano, I thought that it was logical to choose an instrument as the learning process would be expedited since I already knew how to read sheet music. I settled on the cello as I enjoyed the beautiful, rich sound that it produced and at the time I desired to be unique and thought that no one played the…

Music is important in life, even if you don't understand it’s significance. In McCuller’s novel, the youngest significant characters, Mick Kelly, aspires to learn how to compose and perform music, unfortunately she is incapable because of her family’s financial situation. A deaf-mute, John Singer, rents a room in the top floor of Kelly’s house. During the holiday season, Singer invests in a radio that he puts in his room for his visitors to enjoy. Although he cannot hear sounds for himself, he…

Since it is a jazz orchestra, the genre being played for this specific concert and with this specific group was Jazz song. It also included many solo instrument pieces within the concert while the piano and drums kept the beat, with piano dynamics, by playing “background music”. This didn’t take away from the solos being played by specific instruments and band members but added to them to keep it exciting and appealing, as it would not be conveyed in the best way if it was just only the solo…

“I HATE it!” I shouted as I slammed the door violently. Baton raised. Freedom gone. The stick of ebony wood has more control than I do. I hated it. “Fast, forceful, driving, that’s how I want it. Now, let’s go. One, two, three, four!” the conductor instructed. I pressed my wiry fingers deep and hard against the ivory keys, feeling every hammer fiercely thumping against all three strings of every note; feeling my rage perfectly reflected on the hammers vigorously and promptly attacking the…