1.
Album
–
Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
2.
Kellie Pickler
–
Kellie Dawn Pickler is an American country music artist and a television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the season of American Idol. In 2006, she signed to 19 Recordings and BNA Records as a recording artist and her debut album, Small Town Girl, was released later that year and has sold over 900,000 copies. In 2012, Pickler was ranked as the 14th best American Idol alumna, in October 2012, she parted ways with her former record label and signed with Black River Entertainment. On May 21,2013, Pickler and her partner, Derek Hough, were declared the winners of the season of Dancing with the Stars. Pickler was born June 28,1986, at Stanly Memorial Hospital in Albemarle, North Carolina, to Cynthia Morton and Clyde Bo Raymond Pickler and her mother left when Kellie was two years old, then returned and took custody of her for two years. After this, the court returned Kellie to her grandparents when she was 12, Pickler says the major influences in her life are her grandfather, Clyde Raymond Pickler, Sr. a former electrician, and grandmother, Faye Pickler. Pickler graduated in 2004 from North Stanly High School in New London and she was a cheerleader and beauty queen. She sang On the Side of Angels by LeAnn Rimes at her school graduation. She worked as a waitress at a Sonic Drive-In franchise and, in 2005 and she participated in the Miss America circuit and won the Miss Stanly County pageant at age 17 and subsequently competed for Miss North Carolina 2004. The 19-year-old Pickler auditioned for American Idol in the fall of 2005 in Greensboro and she sang both Kelly Clarksons Since U Been Gone and Martina McBrides A Broken Wing. The judges sent her to Hollywood, Pickler advanced through the semi-final rounds in February. On March 9, she reached the Top 12, Pickler was among judge Simon Cowells favorites. He once predicted Pickler would be in the three, and said he preferred her over the previous seasons winner, Carrie Underwood. Recognized for her personality and Southern charm, Pickler gained attention on the show by saying that she had hardly ever performed before real audiences. She was compared to Jessica Simpson in a March 27 story in US Weekly magazine titled Kellie, The Next Jessica Simpson, due to her sweet Southern style, Pickler has stated several times that she was not heavily exposed to modern pop culture. After her elimination, she appeared in numerous shows promoting the TV show, on May 6,2006, she returned to Albemarle, North Carolina, for a parade and a reunion with her father. She received a key to the city from the mayor of Albemarle, the mayor also proclaimed the day as Kellie Pickler Day
3.
Ben Folds
–
Benjamin Scott Ben Folds is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. From 1995 to 2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the rock band Ben Folds Five. After the group disbanded, Folds performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Over the Hedge, Folds produced Amanda Palmers first solo album and was a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest The Sing-Off from 2009 to 2013. Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and he became interested in piano at age nine. His father, a carpenter, brought one home through a trade with a customer who was unable to pay. During this time, Folds listened to songs by Elton John and Billy Joel on AM radio, during his years at Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, Folds played in several bands as the pianist, bassist, or drummer. In the late 1980s, Folds and longtime friend Millard Powers formed the band Majosha, the group released several locally produced records. They played their first gig at Duke Universitys Battle of the Bands in 1988 and they played at bars and fraternity parties, and self-produced an EP called Party Night, Five Songs About Jesus, which they sold locally. The EP has four songs, none of which are about Jesus and they recorded Shut Up and Listen to Majosha in 1989. It contains, among other tracks, the four songs from Party Night and Emaline and Video, the song Get That Bug from Party Night was released as a dance mix in Japan. After Majosha broke up, Folds played drums in a band called Pots and Pans with Evan Olson and Britt Snuzz Uzzell, Olson and Uzzell formed Bus Stop with Folds brother, Chuck Folds, on bass, and Eddie Walker on drums. Folds eventually got a publishing deal with Nashville music executive Scott Siman who saw Folds open for musician Marc Silvey. He played drums for a stint in Power Bill, headed by Jody Spence, Millard Powers. Power Bill was later renamed The Semantics, Folds did not take a creative role in the band. He attracted interest from major labels and he ended up playing drums there as a session musician. In Nashville, I was running eight miles a day, hanging out with my friends, walking around eating chocolate-chip cookies and playing a lot of drums, I was never frustrated – even though I wasnt fulfilling my contract obligations. If you are failing in Nashville, at least your standard of living is nice, Nashville is a nice way to fail
4.
BNA Records
–
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA featured country music acts on its roster. The company derived its name from the IATA and ICAO airport codes for Nashville International Airport, the label was founded by Boomer Castleman, who sold it to BMG Music in 1993. The first act signed was The Remingtons, in August 2011, Sony Nashville announced a major corporate restructuring which included the merger of Columbia Nashville into BNA. The BNA name was retired in June 2012, with the last remaining artists moving to a newly re-established Columbia Nashville, arista Nashville Columbia Records Nashville RCA Records Nashville
5.
19 Recordings
–
19 Recordings Inc. is a New York-based record label owned by 19 Entertainment. Founded in London by British entrepreneur Simon Fuller in 1999 as the division of 19 Entertainment,19 Recordings is one of the top record imprints as compiled by Billboard in 2012. Today,19 Recordings has the rights to sign contestants of the television series Idols. Since 2005, it shifted its operations to the United States following CKX. From 1999-2000, EMI has distributed its recordings, from 2001–2004, releases by most of the artists signed to 19 Recordings were distributed by Bertelsmann Music Group. Following BMGs merger with Sony Music Entertainment to form Sony BMG, since 2011,19 Recordings partnered with Universal Music Group for distribution through Interscope Geffen A&M. Though previously signed acts with RCA Music Group will remain in place, Fuller, who had previously managed the careers of musicians Annie Lennox, Cathy Dennis, and Spice Girls in the 1990s, founded 19 Recordings as the music division of 19 Entertainment. The English pop group S Club 7, the act to be signed to 19 Recordings and Polydor Records. S Club 7 went on to sell over 14 million albums worldwide until their disbandment in 2003, after disbanding in 1990, the British duo Eurythmics reunited in 1999 and was signed to RCA Records and 19 Recordings, and released their final studio album Peace to commercial success. In 2001, Fuller created the competition series Pop Idol. Pop Idols first winner, Will Young was signed to 19 Recordings and RCA Records in 2002, youngs debut single, Anything Is Possible/Evergreen, became the best-selling single of the 2000s, won a BRIT Award and an Ivor Novello Award. Other Pop Idol contestants signed with 19 Recordings include Gareth Gates, Sam & Mark, Michelle McManus,19 Recordings has since retained the exclusive rights to sign contestants of all versions of Idols around the world and has released compilation albums related to Idols ever since. In 2003, two members of the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton, were signed to 19 Recordings, Beckham released her final single This Groove/Let Your Head Go and Bunton released her second album, Free Me, to commercial success. In 2002, American Idol, whose format was based on Pop Idol, other contestants from American Idol, such as Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, and Jordin Sparks, also followed suit with commercial success. Underwoods debut album Some Hearts, became 19 Recordingss best-selling release in the United States with sales of 7 million copies. Beginning in 2006,19 Recordings also began to sign artists who were unrelated to Idols, such as Annie Lennox, Amy Studt, Orianthi,19 Recordings co-released The Annie Lennox Collection with RCA Records to commercial success. Albums by Studt, Orianthi, and Sons of Sylvia were released to minimal success, as of February 20,2014,19 Recordings is suing Sony Music Entertainment claiming that Sony is robbing them in royalties. They are seeking $10 million in damages
6.
Record producer
–
A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
7.
Kellie Pickler (album)
–
Kellie Pickler is the self-titled second studio album by American country artist Kellie Pickler. The lead-off single, Dont You Know Youre Beautiful, was debuted at the 43rd Academy Of Country Music awards, the album was released via BNA Records/19 Recordings on September 30,2008. Since the albums release, three singles have charted, Best Days of Your Life at number 9, Didnt You Know How Much I Loved You at number 14. The Deluxe Edition features three bonus tracks if bought on a retailer, Anything But Me, Happy. The album debuted at nine on the U. S. Billboard 200 chart. The album has thus far spent 48 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold 440,000 copies as of December 22,2010 and it debuted at number one on the U. S. Top Country Albums chart, her second album to do so
8.
The Woman I Am (Kellie Pickler album)
–
The Woman I Am is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Kellie Pickler. It was released on November 11,2013 via Black River Entertainment, the album includes the singles Someone Somewhere Tonight, Little Bit Gypsy, and Closer to Nowhere. The Woman I Am was produced by Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten, Pickler co-wrote three of the albums twelve tracks, all of which she co-wrote with the help of husband and songwriter Kyle Jacobs. Someone Somewhere Tonight, a previously recorded by both Kenny Rogers and Pam Tillis, was released as the albums lead single on May 14,2013. After eight weeks, it reached a peak of number 49 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in July 2013, Little Bit Gypsy and Closer to Nowhere were released as the albums second and third singles, peaking at number 50 and number 59, respectively. The Woman I Am garnered critical acclaim from music critics, at USA Today, Brian Mansfield felt that Picklers albums are as much fun as hearing her talk. Stephen Thomas Erlewine at Allmusic claimed that this album was not one that makes a career, at Rolling Stone, Rob Tannenbaum alluded to how Pickler continues to vibrant drama from her crazy family. Glenn Gamboa for Newday highlighted that With The Woman I Am, at Music Is My Oxygen, Rob Burkhardt noted that her underrated status was poised to change because the album will put her in a position to come into her own. Furthermore, Burkhardt told that the release comes with the combination of old and new, spunk. At Country Weekly, Tammy Ragusa evoked that Kellie has made a natural evolution while managing to stay true to those things that are important to her on the release. Also, Ragusa claimed that with her commitment to the integrity of her music and sound, blake Boldt of Engine 145 noted how with this release Pickler affirms her status as an authentic personality and, more importantly, an intelligent picker of songs. At Roughstock, Matt Bjorke proclaimed that Kellies 12 tracks on The Woman I Am are some of the best music shes made. Jessi Alexander - background vocals Jimmy Carter - bass guitar J. T.19 in the Billboard 200, and No.4 in the Top Country Albums chart, with sales of 16,000
9.
Single (music)
–
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
10.
Tough (Kellie Pickler song)
–
Tough is a song written by Leslie Satcher, recorded by American country music artist Kellie Pickler. It was released on June 13,2011 as the single to her third studio album,100 Proof. Tough is a country song, featuring a neo-traditional production with fiddle, spoons. The songs female narrator expresses that while she is just a regular girl, in an interview with The Boot, Pickler raved about the song, Ive never been more excited about even just a single that were releasing to radio. I think its gonna be the best one that weve given radio and its got a little bluegrass, its got some fiddle, its got some steel and its got some spoons. Its got kind of a dirty hillbilly, but its still commercial enough, I think, the song received generally positive reviews from country music critics. Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the five stars. He also complimented the songs lyrics and the new musical direction Pickler was going with. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song four-and-a-half stars out of five and he complimented the songs production and Picklers bluesy, soulful delivery. Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a C rating, comparing it to Gretchen Wilsons Redneck Woman, the music video, directed by Roman White, premiered on CMT on September 28,2011. It shows a young Kellie Pickler playing with dolls on the living room floor when she witnesses her father being arrested, later, the girl is shown in her teens visiting the prison where she has a conversation with her distraught father. Throughout the video, Pickler is shown performing the song while slinking down a hallway as well as walking down the street, the video is based on the real life relationship Pickler had with her father growing up. Tough debuted at number 59 on the U. S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week dated June 18,2011, lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
11.
Country music
–
Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
12.
Billboard 200
–
The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists, often, a recording act will be remembered by its number ones, those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart is based mostly on sales of albums in the United States, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with an issue post-dated to the Saturday of the following week, the charts streaming schedule is also tracked from Friday to Thursday. Example, Friday January 1 – sales tracking week begins Thursday January 7 – sales tracking week ends Tuesday January 12 – new chart published, New product is released to the American market on Fridays. Digital downloads of albums are included in Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums that are not licensed for sale in the United States are not eligible to chart. As of the issue dated April 15,2017, the album on the Billboard 200 is More Life by Drake. Billboard began an album chart in 1945, initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. A biweekly, 15-position Best-Selling Popular Albums chart appeared in 1955, the position count varied anywhere from 10 to 30 albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte, the chart was renamed to Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956, and then to Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning on May 25,1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts Best-Selling Stereophonic LPs for stereo albums and Best-Selling Monophonic LPs for mono albums and these were renamed to Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts in 1960. In January 1961, they became Action Albums—Stereophonic and Action Albums—Monophonic, three months later, they became Top LPs—Stereo and Top LPs—Monaural. On August 17,1963 the stereo and mono charts were combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs, on April 1,1967, the chart was expanded to 175 positions, then finally to 200 positions on May 13,1967. In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles and these Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums, and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. In January 1961, the Action Charts became Action Albums—Monophonic, Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This list continued to be published until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963, in 1982, Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held 50 positions and was published on a bi-weekly basis, on May 25,1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
13.
Metacritic
–
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of media products, music albums, games, movies, TV shows, DVDs, and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged, Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source, a color of Green, Yellow or Red summarizes the critics recommendations and therefore the general appeal of the product to reviewers and, to a lesser extent, the public. It is regarded as the game industrys foremost review aggregator. Metacritics scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to the critics fame, stature, and volume of reviews. Metacritic was launched in July 1999 by Marc Doyle, his sister Julie Doyle Roberts, rotten Tomatoes was already compiling movie reviews, but Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz saw an opportunity to cover a broader range of media. They sold Metacritic to CNET in 2005, CNET and Metacritic are now owned by the CBS Corporation. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal wrote in September 2004, Mr. Doyle,36, is now a product manager at CNET. Speaking of video games, Doyle said, A site like ours helps people cut through. unobjective promotional language and he added that the review process was not taken as seriously when unconnected magazines and websites provided reviews in isolation. In August 2010, the appearance was revamped, reaction from users was overwhelmingly negative. Certain publications are given more significance because of their stature, games Editor Marc Doyle was interviewed by Keith Stuart of The Guardian to get a look behind the metascoring process. Stuart wrote, the phenomenon, namely Metacritic and GameRankings, have become an enormously important element of online games journalism over the past few years. The ranging of metascores is, Metacritic is regarded as the foremost online review site for the video game industry. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal has written that Metacritic influence the sales of games and he explains its influence as coming from the higher cost of buying video games than music or movie tickets. Many executives say that low scores can hurt the sales potential. He claimed that a number of businesses and financial analysts use Metacritic as an early indicator of a games potential sales and, by extension. In 2004, Jason Hall of Warner Bros. began including quality metrics in contracts with partners licensing its movies for games, if a product does not at least achieve a specific score, some deals require the publisher to pay higher royalties. In 2008, Microsoft began using Metacritic averages to de-list underperforming Xbox Live Arcade games and these are the top 10 individual games with the highest scores on the site as of 2 April 2017
14.
Dotdash
–
About. com is an American Internet-based network of content that publishes articles and videos about various subjects on its topic sites, of which there are nearly 1,000. It is operated by About, Inc, the website competes with other online resource sites and encyclopedias. By March 2014,61,428,000 unique visitors were registered by comScore for About. com, making it the 16th-most-visited online property during that month. As of August 2012, About. com is the property of IAC, owner of Ask. com and numerous other online brands, and its revenue is generated by advertising. Founded in 1996 as The Mining Company, the site was launched on April 21,1997 by Scott Kurnit, owner of General Internet, Bill Day, and a group of other entrepreneurs in New York City. The original goal was to maintain 1,800 topic areas, but after five years of operation, the company changed its name to About Inc. and the website address from miningco. com to about. com in May 1999. The company was acquired by Primedia, Inc. in 2000 through a deal valued at US$690 million, whereby Primedia swapped 45.2 million shares for About, at the time of the acquisition announcement, About Inc. Following the purchase, which was finalized in the first quarter of 2001, in February 2005, The New York Times Company announced it was buying About. com, a purchase that was completed in the first half of the year for US$410 million. Google and Yahoo were reportedly among the other bidders, following the Times Co. acquisition, Peter C. Horan was appointed as About Inc. s president and CEO, in March 2007, About. coms patronage was measured at 33.5 million unique visitors. On May 7,2007, About Inc. acquired ConsumerSearch. com, initially conceived of in January 2007, About. coms first fully owned foreign venture, the China-based Abang. com, debuted in December 2007. At the time of the launch, the company had a Japan-based online entity, Allabout. co. jp, the About Group generated US$102.7 million in 2007, which represented a 135-percent increase from the time of the Times Co. acquisition. Meyer stepped down from the executive role in March 2008 and was replaced by Cella Irvine. Martin Nisenholtz, SVP of digital operations, temporarily replaced Irvine following her departure in May 2011, in July 2011, Darline Jean was named CEO of the About Group, after the companys second-quarter revenues totaled US$27.8 million. Jean previously served as Abouts chief financial officer and her new appointment became effective on September 1,2011, a media report published in August 2012 indicated that Answers. com had reached a preliminary agreement to acquire About. com for US$270 million. However, on August 26, Barry Dillers IAC announced that it would acquire About. com instead for US$300 million in cash. A source for the TechCrunch publication later confirmed that Answers. coms offer was valued at US$270 million. In the corresponding press release, IAC explained that the acquisition will help bolster and accompany its existing properties, Jean fulfilled her role as chief executive during the transition period, while ownership was transferred to IAC, and then left About shortly after the sale was finalized
15.
AllMusic
–
AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
16.
Robert Christgau
–
Robert Thomas Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed Dean of American Rock Critics. One of the earliest professional rock critics, he spent 37 years as the music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and is a visiting arts teacher at New York University. Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, first published in his Consumer Guide columns during his tenure at The Village Voice from 1969 to 2006 and he has written three books based on those columns, along with two collections of essays. He continued writing capsule reviews in MSN Music, Cuepoint, Christgau was born in Greenwich Village and grew up in Queens, the son of a fireman. He has said he became a rock and roll fan when disc jockey Alan Freed moved to the city in 1954. After attending a school in New York City, he left New York for four years to attend Dartmouth College. While at college his musical interests turned to jazz, but he returned to rock after moving back to New York. Christgau has said that Miles Davis 1960 album Sketches of Spain initiated in him one phase of the disillusionment with jazz that resulted in my return to rock and he was deeply influenced by New Journalism writers such as Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe. My ambitions when I went into journalism were always, to an extent, literary, Christgau initially wrote short stories, before giving up fiction in 1964 to become a sportswriter, and later, a police reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger. He became a writer after a story he wrote about the death of a woman in New Jersey was published by New York magazine. He was asked to take over the dormant music column at Esquire, after Esquire discontinued the column, Christgau moved to The Village Voice in 1969, and he also worked as a college professor. In early 1972, he accepted a job as music critic for Newsday. Christgau returned to the Village Voice in 1974 as music editor and he remained there until August 2006, when he was fired shortly after the papers acquisition by New Times Media. Two months later, Christgau became an editor at Rolling Stone. Late in 2007, Christgau was fired by Rolling Stone, although he continued to work for the magazine for three months. Starting with the March 2008 issue, he joined Blender, where he was listed as senior critic for three issues and then contributing editor, Christgau had been a regular contributor to Blender before he joined Rolling Stone. He continued to write for Blender until the magazine ceased publication in March 2009, in 1987, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Folklore and Popular Culture to study the history of popular music
17.
Entertainment Weekly
–
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by Time Inc. that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Different from celebrity-focused publications like Us Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EW primarily concentrates on entertainment media news, however, unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which are aimed at industry insiders, EW targets a more general audience. The first issue was published on February 16,1990, the cover price was $1.95 The title word entertainment was not capitalized on the cover until mid-1992 and has remained so since. By 2003, the weekly circulation averaged 1.7 million copies per week. In March 2006, managing editor Rick Tetzeli oversaw an overhaul of EWs graphics, Entertainment Weekly follows a typical magazine format by featuring a letters to the editor and table of contents in the first few pages, while also featuring advertisements. While many advertisements are unrelated to the entertainment industry, the majority of ads are typically related to up-and-coming television and these beginning articles open the magazine and as a rule focus on current events in pop culture. First Look, subtitled An early peek at some of Hollywoods coolest projects, is a spread with behind-the-scenes or publicity stills of upcoming movies. The Hit List, written each week by critic Scott Brown, highlights ten major events, Typically, there will be some continuity to the commentaries. This column was written by Jim Mullen and featured twenty events each week. The Hollywood Insider is a section that reports breaking news in entertainment. It gives details, in the columns, on the most-current news in television, movie. The Style Report is a section devoted to celebrity style. Because its focus is on celebrity fashion or lifestyle, it is rich in nature. Recently, the converted to a new format, five pictures of celebrity fashions for the week. A spin-off section, Style Hunter, which finds reader-requested articles of clothing or accessories that have appeared in pop culture recently, appears frequently. The Monitor is a two-page spread devoted to events in celebrity lives with small paragraphs highlighting events such as weddings, illnesses, arrests, court appearances. Deaths of major celebrities are typically detailed in a one-half- or full-page obituary titled Legacy and this feature is nearly identical to sister publication Peoples Passages feature. Harris column focuses on analyzing current popular-culture events, and is generally the most serious of the columns, harris has written about the writers strike and the 2008 presidential election, among other topics
18.
Townsquare Media
–
Townsquare Media is an American media company based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The company started in radio and expanded digital media toward the end of the 2000s. As of 2016, Townsquare was the third-largest AM–FM operator in the country, Townsquare Media was established as Regent Communications by Terry Jacobs in 1994. Jacobs was formerly the CEO of Jacor Communications, a broadcasting company which he created in 1979. Bill Stakelin later shared chief status in the company with Jacobs, Stakelin and Jacobs resurrected the Regent name to replace JS, with approval by Jacor. Jacobs left the company in 2005, on October 27,2008, Regent Broadcasting joined Radiolicious and began streaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Regent is the first major group to contract for all of its streaming stations to be available through the Radiolicious application. The filing plan made Oaktree Capital Management the majority owner of Regent after the bankruptcy, after the privatization, the company was renamed Townsquare Media. Gap Broadcasting Group, another radio group owned by Oaktree, was merged into Townsquare, in December 2010, the company began to expand its digital media operations, overhauling its stations websites and launching a new country music news website known as Taste of Country. Townsquare acquired a number of stations from Double O Radio in August 2011, on August 24,2012, Townsquare reached a deal to acquire the MOG Music Network, an advertising network for music blogs. The network was part of MOG, a music service that had previously reached a deal to be acquired by Beats Electronics. In June 2013, Townsquare announced it would acquire a number of music-related blogs from AOL, including The Boombox, The Boot, the deal came following the abrupt shutdown of AOLs Music division in April 2013. On August 29,2013, it was announced that Cumulus would purchase Dial Global, Cumulus paid $260 million for this service, a portion of which was used to pay off Dials debt before it was folded into Cumulus. The second sent 15 more stations in Dubuque, IA and Poughkeepsie, NY, Peak, which like Dial Global and Townsquare has a large investment held by Oaktree, also had its Boise cluster folded into Townsquare. Due to market overlaps, three of Townsquares newly acquired stations were placed in a divestiture trust, the acquisition of the Cumulus stations closed on November 14,2013. On June 24,2014, Townsquare Media filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, on July 24,2014, Townsquare Media became a public company with an initial offering price of $11 a share. In September 2014, Townsquare Media acquired XXL, King, Townsquare then ceased print publication of XXL. In August 2015, Townsquare Media acquired North American Midway Entertainment of Farmland, Indiana, on August 17,2016, The Madison Square Garden Company acquired a 12% stake in Townsquare Media
19.
Rolling Stone
–
Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
20.
Nash Country Weekly
–
Nash Country Weekly was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016, the magazine was established in 1994. It focused on country music stars and events, and regularly featured exclusive interviews with recording artists, Country Weekly also cosponsored the CMT/TNN Country Weekly Music Awards, at the time the only nationally televised country music awards show that allowed fans to vote for the winners. In February 2009, Country Weekly reverted to a weekly magazine, the magazine also dropped subscriptions at that point, and changed its logo. The magazine was renamed Nash Country Weekly in June 2015, as a means of co-branding with Nash FM, Nash Country Weekly closed its print publication in April 2016
21.
American Idol
–
It began airing on Fox on June 11,2002, and ended on April 7,2016. It started off as an addition to the Idols format based on the British series Pop Idol, the concept of the series involves discovering recording stars from unsigned singing talents, with the winner determined by the viewers in America through telephones, Internet, and SMS text voting. American Idol employed a panel of judges who critiqued the contestants performances, the original judges were record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, pop singer and choreographer Paula Abdul and music executive and manager Simon Cowell. The judging panel for the final consisted of country singer Keith Urban, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. The first season was hosted by radio personality Ryan Seacrest and comedian Brian Dunkleman, the success of American Idol has been described as unparalleled in broadcasting history. The series was said by a rival TV executive to be the most impactful show in the history of television. It became a springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. The series concluded after 15 seasons, American Idol was based on the British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller, which was in turn inspired by the New Zealand television singing competition Popstars. Television producer Nigel Lythgoe saw a version in Australia and helped bring it over to Britain, Fuller was inspired by the idea from Popstars of employing a panel of judges to select singers in audition. He then added elements, such as telephone voting by the viewing public. The show debuted in Britain in 2001 with Lythgoe as showrunner—the executive producer and production leader—and Simon Cowell as one of the judges, it was quite successful with the viewing public. In 2001, Fuller, Cowell, and TV producer Simon Jones attempted to sell the Pop Idol format to the United States, but the idea was initially met with poor responses from the Fox television network. However, Rupert Murdoch, head of Foxs parent company, was persuaded to buy the series by his daughter, Elisabeth. The show was renamed American Idol, The Search for a Superstar, Cowell was initially offered the job as showrunner but later turned down the offer, Lythgoe then took over that position. Much to Cowells surprise, it one of the biggest shows of the summer. The show grew into a phenomenon largely due to its personal engagement of the contestants, thereby prompting viewers to vote, by 2004, it had become the most-watched show on U. S. television, a position it then held for seven consecutive seasons. However, after a few years of declining ratings, the network announced that the fifteenth season would be its last. A fourth judge, radio DJ Stryker, was originally chosen, the show decided to continue with the three judges format until season eight
22.
James T. Slater
–
James Slater is a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter based in Nashville. He has written hit songs of American popular music. James Thomas Slater was born in Durham, North Carolina and his father is a psychiatrist who plays the mandolin, and his mother is a native Spanish speaker. He was raised in the Panama Canal Zone in Central America and is of Bolivian descent, after high school, Slater attended and graduated from the University of Miami School of Music. After a brief move to Los Angeles, he moved again to Zurich, Switzerland where he lived for six years and enjoyed touring, recording, and writing music. During this time, he wrote “Don’t Break My Heart, ” for Belgian super group Vaya Con Dios, signed a contract with BMG Switzerland. Upon his arrival, he signed with Byron Gallimore’s Song Garden/State One publishing company but has made the move to EMI Music Publishing. McBrides recording of “In My Daughter’s Eyes” has become a contemporary standard, the song was also nominated for a Grammy for best vocal performance. James recently was nominated for the song of the year Grammy for Jamey Johnsons The High Cost of Living. He has also penned Rascal Flatts single, Unstoppable which was used as a theme for the winter Olympics in Vancouver and has written American Idol Kellie Picklers single, Falling In Love Again. James song Maggie Creek Road is featured on Reba McEntires 2009 album Keep On Loving You which debuted at number 1 on the pop, Slater was featured in CMT’s in Season 1 of “Gone Country” where he co-wrote the winning song “The Way That I Want You”
23.
ITunes
–
ITunes is a media player, media library, online radio broadcaster, and mobile device management application developed by Apple Inc. It is used to play, download, and organize digital downloads of music and video on personal computers running the macOS, the iTunes Store is also available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Application software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch can be downloaded from the App Store. ITunes 12.5 is the most recent major version of iTunes, available for Mac OS X v10.9.5 or later and Windows 7 or later, it was released on September 13,2016. ITunes 12.2 added Apple Music to the application, along with the Beats 1 radio station, soundJam MP, developed by Bill Kincaid and released by Casady & Greene in 1998, was renamed iTunes when Apple purchased it in 2000. Jeff Robbin, Kincaid, and Dave Heller moved to Apple as part of the acquisition and they simplified SoundJams user interface, added the ability to burn CDs, and removed its recording feature and skin support. On January 9,2001, iTunes 1.0 was released at Macworld San Francisco, originally a Mac OS 9-only application, iTunes began to support Mac OS X when version 2.0 was released nine months later, which also added support for the original iPod. Version 3 dropped Mac OS9 support but added smart playlists, in April 2003, version 4.0 introduced the iTunes Store, in October, version 4.1 added support for Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Introduced at Macworld 2005 with the new iPod Shuffle, Version 4.7, Version 7.0 introduced gapless playback and Cover Flow in September 2006. In March 2007, iTunes 7.1 added support for Windows Vista, iTunes lacked support for 64-bit versions of Windows until the 7.6 update on January 16,2008. ITunes is supported under any 64-bit version of Windows Vista, although the iTunes executable is still 32-bit, the 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported by Apple, but a workaround has been devised for both operating systems. Version 8.0 added Genius playlists, grid view, iTunes 9 added Homeshare, enabling automatic updating of purchased items across other computers on the same subnet and offers a new iTunes Store UI. Genius Mixes were added, as well as improved app synchronization abilities and it also adds iTunes LPs to the store, which provides additional media with an album. Apple added iTunes Extras as well to the store, which adds content usually reserved for films on DVD, both iTunes LPs and Extras use web-standards HTML, JavaScript and CSS. iTunes acts as a front end for Apples QuickTime media framework. Officially, it is required in order to manage the data of an iPod, iPhone, or iPad. In addition, users are able to add PDF files to their library, the PDFs can be synchronized with and read on several devices except the regular iPod. iTunes 8.0 saw the removal of several options in the Preferences window. For example, iTunes once gave users the option to display arrows beside the selected songs title, artist, album and these arrows are no longer removable, except through the direct editing of a preferences file. ITunes keeps track of songs by creating a library, allowing users to access
24.
Richard Bennett (guitarist)
–
Richard Bennett is an American guitarist and record producer. As a touring sideman, he performed with Neil Diamond for seventeen years, as a session musician, he has worked with Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand, Rodney Crowell, and Vince Gill. He has produced albums for Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Bennett began his career playing clubs in Phoenix, Arizona, in the late 1960s, until he was discovered by Al Casey, which took him to Los Angeles and a lengthy career as a studio musician. He played on a few tracks on Neil Diamonds 1971 album Stones, Moods was his first full album with him and he also co-wrote with Diamond, including the up-tempo Forever in Blue Jeans from the 1978 album You Dont Bring Me Flowers, which reached the Top 20. On 1975s Let Your Love Flow by The Bellamy Brothers, Bennett plays lead guitars and it also features in a UK Barclays Bank commercial. The song was written by Larry Williams, a member of Neil Diamonds road crew, with a modified lineup the musicians went to the studio in early 2004 to record The Notorious Cherry Bombs, their first album as a band. May his cracking guitar playing find a place in life as it has in mine. Bennetts electric guitar intro to Emmylou Harris Heaven Only Knows was the first sound heard on the 2004 season-opening episode of The Sopranos, Bennett contributes electric sitar to the 2007 album American Standard by Thelonious Moog. Bennetts brother is Jon Bermuda Schwartz, drummer for Weird Al Yankovic since 1980, themes from a Rainy Decade Code Red Cloud Nine Valley of the Sun For the Newly Blue Contrary Cocktail Official website Media related to Richard Bennett at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Acoustic guitar
–
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces sound acoustically—by transmitting the vibration of the strings to the air—as opposed to relying on electronic amplification. The sound waves from the strings of an acoustic guitar resonate through the guitars body and this typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings. The main source of sound in a guitar is the string. The string vibrates at a frequency and also creates many harmonics at various different frequencies. The frequencies produced can depend on string length, mass, gitterns, a small plucked guitar were the first small guitar-like instruments created during the Middle Ages with a round back like that of a lute. Modern guitar shaped instruments were not seen until the Renaissance era where the body, the earliest string instruments that related to the guitar and its structure where broadly known as the vihuelas within Spanish musical culture. Vihuelas where string instruments that were seen in the 16th century during the Renaissance. Later, Spanish writers distinguished these instruments into 2 categories of vihuelas, the vihuela de arco was an instrument that mimicked the violin, and the vihuela de penola was played with a plectrum or by hand. When it was played by hand it was known as the vihuela de mano, vihuela de mano shared extreme similarities with the Renaissance guitar as it used hand movement at the sound hole or sound chamber of the instrument to create music. The real production of guitars kicked off in France where the popularity, the production became so large that early famous creators such as Gaspard Duyffooprucgars instruments were being sold as copies by other guitar makers in Lyon. Benoist Lejeune, a maker, offered and sold guitar copies of Duyffoprucgars instruments and was later imprisoned for using his mark and work. During this time, the production was increasing tremendously but it was not until Robert and Claude Denis appeared overproducing the early Renaissance guitar in Paris, as father and son, Robert and Claude produced hundreds of guitars that increased the popularity of the instrument greatly. Because of them and the great many guitar inventors of this time, by 1790 only six-course vihuela guitars were being created and had become the main type and model of guitar used in Spain. Most of the older 5-course guitars where still in use but were also being modified to a six-coursed acoustical guitar, by the 19th century, coursed strings where evolved into 6 single-stringed instruments much like that of the guitar today. It had evolved into the modern look except for size, retaining a smaller frame, the acoustic guitars soundboard, or top, also has a strong effect on the loudness of the guitar. No amplification actually occurs in this process, because no energy is added to increase the loudness of the sound. All the energy is provided by the plucking of the string, but without a soundboard, the string would just cut through the air without actually moving it much. The soundboard increases the surface of the area in a process called mechanical impedance matching
26.
Chad Cromwell
–
Chad Cromwell is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is possibly best known for his work with Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Cromwell was born on June 14,1957, in Paducah, Kentucky. When he was three years old he moved with his parents and siblings to Memphis, Tennessee in 1960, in 1970, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up there. He currently lives there with his wife and children and he started playing drums at the age of eight, wearing headphones as he played along to records in an upstairs room of his parents home. By the age of twelve he was playing in bands in the local neighborhood. Cromwell started recording and touring with Joe Walsh in 1986, appearing on two albums, Got Any Gum. and Ordinary Average Guy, in 1987, Cromwell began a collaboration with songwriter Neil Young. The initial sessions became Neil Young & The Bluenotes, since then he has recorded and toured with Young on several occasions, and appears on albums such as Freedom, Prairie Wind Living with War and Chrome Dreams II. He has also appeared in Heart of Gold, a documentary capturing the debut of Neil Youngs album and this was filmed at the Ryman auditorium and directed by Jonathan Demme. Cromwell is also known for his contributions to Mark Knopflers solo albums Golden Heart, Sailing to Philadelphia, The Ragpickers Dream and he was also part of Knopflers band during the tours of his first solo albums. Cromwell toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 2006, in the mid 2000s, Cromwell formed the band Fortunate Sons along with Michael Rhodes, Gary Nicholson, Kenny Greenberg, and Reese Wynans. They released an album in 2004. He is also a member of the touring band, Big Al Anderson and The Balls. In 2012, he appeared on The Beach Boys studio album entitled Thats Why God Made the Radio, in 2013, he was featured on Bonnie Tylers album, Rocks and Honey. In 2014, he provided drums on Drake Bells third studio album, Chad Cromwell, Autobiographical Notes Chad Cromwell, Legends Rock TV Show Chad Cromwell, Discography on Discogs. com
27.
Drum kit
–
A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones most significantly cymbals but also including the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2000s, some also include electronic instruments and both hybrid and entirely electronic kits are used. If some or all of them are replaced by electronic drums, the drum kit is usually played while seated on a drum stool or throne. The drum kit differs from instruments that can be used to produce pitched melodies or chords, even though drums are often placed musically alongside others that do, such as the piano or guitar. The drum kit is part of the rhythm section used in many types of popular and traditional music styles ranging from rock and pop to blues. Other standard instruments used in the section include the electric bass, electric guitar. Many drummers extend their kits from this pattern, adding more drums, more cymbals. Some performers, such as some rockabilly drummers, use small kits that omit elements from the basic setup, some drum kit players may have other roles in the band, such as providing backup vocals, or less commonly, lead vocals. Thus, in an early 1800s orchestra piece, if the called for bass drum, triangle and cymbals. In the 1840s, percussionists began to experiment with foot pedals as a way to them to play more than one instrument. In the 1860s, percussionists started combining multiple drums into a set, the bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, and other percussion instruments were all played using hand-held drum sticks. Double-drumming was developed to one person to play the bass and snare with sticks. With this approach, the drum was usually played on beats one. This resulted in a swing and dance feel. The drum set was referred to as a trap set. By the 1870s, drummers were using an overhang pedal, most drummers in the 1870s preferred to do double drumming without any pedal to play multiple drums, rather than use an overhang pedal. Companies patented their pedal systems such as Dee Dee Chandler of New Orleans 1904–05, liberating the hands for the first time, this evolution saw the bass drum played with the foot of a standing percussionist. The bass drum became the central piece around which every other percussion instrument would later revolve and it was the golden age of drum building for many famous drum companies, with Ludwig introducing
28.
Percussion
–
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater, struck, scraped or rubbed by hand, or struck against another similar instrument. The percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments, the percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and tambourine. However, the section can also contain non-percussive instruments, such as whistles and sirens, percussive techniques can also be applied to the human body, as in body percussion. On the other hand, keyboard instruments, such as the celesta, are not normally part of the percussion section, Percussion instruments may play not only rhythm, but also melody and harmony. Percussion is commonly referred to as the backbone or the heartbeat of an ensemble, often working in close collaboration with bass instruments. In jazz and other popular ensembles, the pianist, bassist, drummer. Most classical pieces written for full orchestra since the time of Haydn and Mozart are orchestrated to place emphasis on the strings, woodwinds, however, often at least one pair of timpani is included, though they rarely play continuously. Rather, they serve to provide additional accents when needed, in the 18th and 19th centuries, other percussion instruments have been used, again generally sparingly. The use of percussion instruments became more frequent in the 20th century classical music, in almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word swing is spoken. Because of the diversity of instruments, it is not uncommon to find large musical ensembles composed entirely of percussion. Rhythm, melody, and harmony are all represented in these ensembles, music for pitched percussion instruments can be notated on a staff with the same treble and bass clefs used by many non-percussive instruments. Music for percussive instruments without a pitch can be notated with a specialist rhythm or percussion-clef. The word percussion has evolved from Latin terms, percussio, as a noun in contemporary English it is described in Wiktionary as the collision of two bodies to produce a sound. Hornbostel–Sachs has no high-level section for percussion, Most percussion instruments are classified as idiophones and membranophones.1 Concussion idiophones or clappers, played in pairs and beaten against each other, such as zills and clapsticks. 111.2 Percussion idiophones, includes many percussion instruments played with the hand or by a mallet, such as the hang, gongs and the xylophone. 21 Struck drums, includes most types of drum, such as the timpani, snare drum, (Included in most drum sets or 412. Stringed instruments played with such as the hammered dulcimer
29.
Fiddle
–
Fiddle is another name for the bowed string musical instrument more often called a violin. It is also a term for the instrument used by players in all genres. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, refers to various styles of music, Fiddle is also a common term among musicians who play folk music on the violin. The fiddle is part of traditional styles of music which are aural traditions. There are few distinctions between violins and fiddles, though more primitively constructed and smaller violins are more likely to be considered fiddles. In order to produce a tone, compared to the deeper tones of gut or synthetic core strings. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to produce rhythms focused on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and it is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers have classical training. The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira, lira spread widely westward to Europe, in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. During the Renaissance the gambas were important and elegant instruments, they eventually lost ground to the viola da braccio family. The etymology of fiddle is uncertain, the Germanic fiddle may derive from the same early Romance word as does violin, the name seems however to be related to Icelandic Fiðla and also Old English fiðele. A native Germanic ancestor of fiddle may even be the ancestor of the early Romance form of violin, historically, fiddle also referred to a predecessor of todays violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, another family of instruments that contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards. Violins, on the hand, are commonly grouped in sections. The difference was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music, historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance music, while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness that fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat, in situations that required greater volume, a fiddler could push their instrument harder than could a violinist. In the very late 20th century, a few artists have attempted a reconstruction of the Scottish tradition of violin and big fiddle. Notable recorded examples include Iain Fraser and Christine Hanson, Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hansons Bonnie Lasses and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas Fire and Grace. In Hungary, a three stringed viola variant with a bridge, called the kontra or háromhúros brácsa makes up part of a traditional rhythm section in Hungarian folk music
[3]