Ontario
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario.
Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario.
Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, funk, for most of their recording career the Clash consisted of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Nicky Topper Headon. Headon left the group in 1982, and internal friction led to Joness departure the following year, the group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986. The Clash achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their debut album, The Clash. Their third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979 and it was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade by Rolling Stone. In 1982 they reached new heights of success with the release of Combat Rock and their final album, Cut the Crap, was released in 1985. The Clashs politicised lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude had a influence on rock. They became widely referred to as The Only Band That Matters, originally a promotional slogan introduced by the record label.
In January 2003, shortly after the death of Joe Strummer, in 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the Clash number 28 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Before the Clashs founding, the future members were active in different parts of the London music scene. John Graham Mellor sang and played guitar in the pub rock act the 101ers. Mick Jones played guitar in protopunk band London SS, which rehearsed for much of 1975 without ever playing a live show and recording only a single demo. London SS was managed by Bernard Rhodes, an associate of impresario Malcolm McLaren and a friend of the members of the McLaren managed band. Jones and his bandmates became friendly with Sex Pistols Glen Matlock and Steve Jones, among those who auditioned for London SS without making the cut were Paul Simonon, who tried out as a vocalist, and drummer Terry Chimes. Nicky Headon drummed with the band for a week, after London SS broke up in early 1976, Rhodes continued as Joness manager. In February, Jones saw the Sex Pistols perform for the first time, You knew straight away that was it, and it was a new scene, new values—so different from what had happened before.
At the instigation of Rhodes, Jones contacted Simonon in March, soon Jones, Simonon on bass, Keith Levene on guitar and whoever we could find really to play the drums were rehearsing. Chimes was asked to audition for the new band and got the job, the band was still searching for a lead singer
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, popping, tapping, thumping, or picking with a plectrum, often known as a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to a guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is tuned the same as the double bass. The bass guitar is an instrument, as it is notated in bass clef an octave higher than it sounds to avoid excessive ledger lines. Like the electric guitar, the guitar has pickups and it is plugged into an amplifier and speaker on stage, or into a larger PA system using a DI unit. Since the 1960s, the guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music as the bass instrument in the rhythm section. While types of basslines vary widely from one style of music to another, many styles of music utilise the bass guitar, including rock, heavy metal, punk rock, reggae, blues, symphonic rock, and jazz. It is often a solo instrument in jazz, jazz fusion, funk, progressive rock and other rock, the adoption of a guitar form made the instrument easier to hold and transport than any of the existing stringed bass instruments.
The addition of frets enabled bassists to play in more easily than on acoustic or electric upright basses. Around 100 of these instruments were made during this period, around 1947, Tutmarcs son, began marketing a similar bass under the Serenader brand name, prominently advertised in the nationally distributed L. D. Heater Music Company wholesale jobber catalogue of 1948, the Tutmarc family inventions did not achieve market success. In the 1950s, Leo Fender, with the help of his employee George Fullerton and his Fender Precision Bass, which began production in October 1951, became a widely copied industry standard. This split pickup, introduced in 1957, appears to have been two mandolin pickups, the pole pieces and leads of the coils were reversed with respect to each other, producing a humbucking effect. Humbucking is a design that electrically cancels the effect of any AC hum, the Fender Bass was a revolutionary new instrument, which could be easily transported, and which was less prone to feedback when amplified than acoustic bass instruments.
Monk Montgomery was the first bass player to tour with the Fender bass guitar, roy Johnson, and Shifty Henry with Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, were other early Fender bass pioneers. Bill Black, playing with Elvis Presley, switched from bass to the Fender Precision Bass around 1957. The bass guitar was intended to appeal to guitarists as well as upright bass players, following Fenders lead, in 1953, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally. In 1959 these were followed by the more conventional-looking EB-0 Bass, the EB-0 was very similar to a Gibson SG in appearance
Gordon Lightfoot
He has been referred to as Canadas greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend. He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the No.3 hit Im the One. Lightfoots recordings made an impact on the music charts as well in the 1970s. Sundown a #1 hit, Carefree Highway which followed reaching #10, Rainy Day People at #25, some of Lightfoots albums have achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. Bob Dylan, a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and, in an often-quoted tribute, Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canadas highest civilian honour—in 2003, in November 1997, Lightfoot was awarded the Governor Generals Performing Arts Award, Canadas highest honour in the performing arts. On February 6,2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, in June that year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On June 6,2015, Lightfoot received a doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University. Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario, to Jessica and Gordon Lightfoot and his mother recognized Lightfoots musical talent early on and schooled him into a successful child performer. His first public performance was Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral in grade four, as a youth, he sang, under the direction of choirmaster Ray Williams, in the choir of Orillias St. Pauls United Church. According to Lightfoot, Williams taught him how to sing with emotion, Lightfoot was a boy soprano, he appeared periodically on local radio in the Orillia area, performed in local operettas and oratorios, and gained exposure through various Kiwanis music festivals. He was twelve when he made his first appearance at Massey Hall in Toronto, as a teenager, Lightfoot learned piano and taught himself to play drums and percussion. He held concerts in Muskoka, an area north of Orillia. In high school, at Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute, Lightfoot performed extensively and he was influenced during this time by 19th-century master American songwriter Stephen Foster.
His athletic and scholarly aptitude earned him entrance bursaries at McGill Universitys Schulich School of Music, Lightfoot moved to California in 1958, where he studied jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Hollywoods Westlake College of Music, which had many Canadian students. To support himself there, he sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged. He was influenced by the music of Pete Seeger, Bob Gibson and Sylvia Tyson. He rented a place in Los Angeles for a time, but was missing Toronto and he has lived in Canada since then, though he has done much work in the United States, all under an H-1B visa
Fugazi
Fugazi is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D. C. in 1987. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, Fugazi are noted for their DIY ethical stance, manner of business practice, and contempt towards the music industry. Fugazi have performed worldwide tours, produced six studio albums, a film. Fugazi has been on hiatus since 2003. After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, Ian MacKaye was active with a few short-lived groups, MacKaye decided he wanted a project that was like The Stooges with reggae, but was wary about forming another band after Embraces break up. MacKaye recalled, My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Joe Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Brendan Canty, but Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him.
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals, after his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a member, which he accepted. Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988, in June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara, and shortly afterwards embarked on an arduous tour of Europe. At the tours conclusion in December, the recorded songs for its intended debut album. However, the band was spent from touring and decided that the sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as Margin Walker the following year, both EPs were eventually combined into the 13 Songs release in late 1989. Upon the bands return from Europe, unsatisfied with singing, with Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye.
In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as Merchandise and Turnover, released on April 19,1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. By summer 1991, the album more than 300,000 copies. While major labels began to court Fugazi, the decided to stay with Dischord
The Replacements (band)
The Replacements were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979. Initially a punk band, they are considered pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of the guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bass guitarist Tommy Stinson, following several acclaimed albums, including Let It Be and Tim, Bob Stinson left the band in 1986, and Slim Dunlap joined as lead guitarist. Steve Foley replaced Mars in 1990, towards the end of the bands career, Westerberg exerted more control over the creative output. The group disbanded in 1991, with the members ultimately pursuing various projects, a reunion was announced on October 3,2012. The Replacements never had significant commercial success, except for Ill Be You, which hit No.1 on the Alt Rock Billboard listing, unlike many of their underground contemporaries, the Replacements played heart-on-the-sleeve rock songs that combined Westerbergs raw-throated adolescent howl with self-deprecating lyrics. The Replacements were a notoriously wayward live act often performing under the influence of alcohol, the Replacements history began in Minneapolis in 1978, when nineteen-year-old Bob Stinson gave his eleven-year-old brother Tommy Stinson a bass guitar to keep him off the streets.
That year Bob met Mars, a school dropout. With Mars playing guitar and switching to drums, the trio called themselves Dogbreath and began covering songs by Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, One day as Westerberg, a janitor in U. S. Senator David Durenbergers office, was walking home from work, he heard a band playing in the Stinsons house, after being impressed by the bands performance, Westerberg regularly listened in after work. Mars knew Westerberg and invited him over to jam, Westerberg was unaware Mars drummed in Dogbreath. Dogbreath auditioned several vocalists, including a hippie who read lyrics off a sheet, the band eventually found a vocalist however, Westerberg wanted to be the singer and took him aside one day to say, The band doesnt like you. The vocalist soon left and Westerberg replaced him, before Westerberg joined the band, Dogbreath often drank and took various drugs during rehearsals, playing songs as an afterthought. In contrast to the rest of the band, the relatively disciplined Westerberg appeared at rehearsals in neat clothes, after being banned from the venue for disorderly behavior, they changed the name to the Replacements.
The band soon recorded a demo tape in Marss basement. Jesperson was the manager of Oar Folkjokeopus, a rock record store in Minneapolis. Westerberg originally handed in the tape to see if the band could perform at Jays Longhorn Bar and he eavesdropped as Jesperson put in the tape, only to run away as soon as the first song, Raised in the City, played. Jesperson played the song again and again, if Ive ever had a magic moment in my life, it was popping that tape in, said Jesperson
Drum kit
A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones most significantly cymbals but including the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2000s, some 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 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 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 revolve and it was the golden age of drum building for many famous drum companies, with Ludwig introducing
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 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 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 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, 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 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, 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
Arts & Crafts Productions
Arts & Crafts Productions is a music-focused media and artist services company that offers information as an independent record label, management firm and publisher worldwide. It has earned 21 Juno Awards, Arts & Crafts has been called one of Canadas most important record labels. In addition to BSS albums the labels first releases were by Stars, Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle and Valley of the Giants. A&C began its foray into the music business launching GalleryAC. com in 2005. They were one of the first labels to launch a digital download store, in 2009 Rolling Stone cited Remedios as a key insider reshaping the future of the music biz. Arts & Crafts Music controls or administers the rights to much of the music released by the Arts & Crafts label. On 14 January 2013, Arts & Crafts announced it would be holding the Field Trip Arts & Crafts Music Festival to commemorate their ten-year anniversary, signed on to headline are Arts & Crafts labelmates Broken Social Scene and Stars. Along with the celebration, Arts & Crafts will be releasing a rarities compilation titled, Arts & Crafts.
The compilation will be released as an album or four LPs. A second compilation album, Arts & Crafts, X, was released in May, the 2009 release of This Book Is Broken documented the rise of Toronto indie bands, focusing especially on Broken Social Scene and the Arts & Crafts roster. A design house, Arts & Crafts is well known for a consistent look and art are important to the company, and are taken as another medium of artistic expression that the label supports. A&C has been nominated for five JUNO Awards for Album Artwork of the year, in 2006 for Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene, in 2009 for Constantines, Kensington Heights. In 2014, Arts & Crafts designers Kotyk and Petra Cuschieri won another Recording Package of the Year Juno Award for Arts & Crafts, Arts & Crafts artists have won a total of 21 Juno Awards over fourteen years. The Polaris Music Prize is awarded annually to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, Arts & Crafts have had eight albums make the short list.
The Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards happen every March in Toronto as part of Canadian Music Week, Official website Official website Arts & Crafts Productions on Facebook
Backing vocalist
Backing vocalists are singers who provide vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. In some cases, a singer may sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalists entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a range of popular music, traditional music. Solo artists may employ professional backing vocalists in studio recording sessions as well as during concerts, in many rock and metal bands, the musicians doing backup vocals play instruments, such as guitar, electric bass, drums, or keyboards. In Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backup singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing, in some pop and hip-hop groups and in musical theater, the backup singers may be required to perform elaborately choreographed dance routines while they sing through headset microphones. The style of singing used by backup singers varies according to the type of song, in pop and country songs, backup vocalists may perform vocal harmony parts to support the lead vocalist.
In hardcore punk or rockabilly, other members who play instruments may sing or shout backup vocals during the chorus section of the songs. While some bands use performers whose sole on-stage role is performing backing vocals, two notable examples of band members who sang back-up are The Beach Boys and The Beatles. The Beach Boys were well known for their vocal harmonies, occasionally with all five members singing at once such as In My Room. All five members would sing lead, although most often Brian Wilson or Mike Love would sing lead with guitarists Carl Wilson and Al Jardine, examples of three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison include Nowhere Man, Day Tripper, and This Boy. Former guitarist John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers sang nearly all backing vocals often singing some parts without accompaniment from lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis, the bands bassist Flea occasionally filled in for additional vocals. Frusciante usually sang one song by himself during concerts, another example is No Frontiers by The Corrs, which is sung by Sharon and Caroline.
In the recording studio, some lead singers record their own backing vocals by overdubbing, one famous example is Freddie Mercury of Queen singing the first part of Bohemian Rhapsody himself by overdubbing. With the exception of a few songs on album, Dan Fogelberg, Eddie Rabbitt, David Bowie. Some bands, such as Hawthorne Heights and Finch have the backup singers do harsh vocals to highlight specific lyrics. Pop and R&B vocalists such as Diana Ross, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé Knowles, Faith Evans, DAngelo, when they perform live, they may have backing vocalists that impersonate their voices. Some bands use backing vocals in order to contrast with the singer who may be performing an unusual vocal technique. In rap music, a rapper who chants and rhymes to support the main artist is often referred to as hype man
