Pump organ
The pump organ, reed organ, harmonium, or melodeon is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. More portable than pipe organs, free-reed organs were used in smaller churches and in private homes in the 19th century, but their volume and tonal range were limited, they had one or sometimes two manuals, with pedal-boards being rare. The finer pump organs had a wider range of tones, the cabinets of those intended for churches and affluent homes were excellent pieces of furniture. Several million free-reed organs and melodeons were made in the USA and Canada between the 1850s and the 1920s. During this time Estey Organ and Mason & Hamlin were popular manufacturers. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein, professor of physiology at Copenhagen, was credited with the first free-reed instrument made in the Western world, after winning the annual prize in 1780 from the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg; the harmonium's design derives from the earlier regal.
A harmonium-like instrument was exhibited by Gabriel-Joseph Grenié in 1810. He called it an orgue expressif, because his instrument was capable of greater expression, as well as of producing a crescendo and diminuendo. Alexandre Debain improved Grenié's instrument and gave it the name harmonium when he patented his version in 1840. There was concurrent development of similar instruments. A mechanic who had worked in the factory of Alexandre in Paris emigrated to the United States and conceived the idea of a suction bellows, instead of the ordinary bellows that forced the air outward through the reeds. Beginning in 1885, the firm of Mason & Hamlin, of Boston made their instruments with the suction bellows, this method of construction soon superseded all others in America. Harmoniums reached the height of their popularity in the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they were popular in small churches and chapels where a pipe organ would be too large or too expensive. Harmoniums weigh less than similar sized pianos and are not as damaged in transport, thus they were popular throughout the colonies of the European powers in this period not only because it was easier to ship the instrument out to where it was needed, but it was easier to transport overland in areas where good-quality roads and railways may have been non-existent.
An added attraction of the harmonium in tropical regions was that the instrument held its tune regardless of heat and humidity, unlike the piano. This "export" market was sufficiently lucrative for manufacturers to produce harmoniums with cases impregnated with chemicals to prevent woodworm and other damaging organisms found in the tropics. At the peak of the instruments' Western popularity around 1900, a wide variety of styles of harmoniums were being produced; these ranged from simple models with plain cases and only four or five stops, up to large instruments with ornate cases, up to a dozen stops and other mechanisms such as couplers. Expensive harmoniums were built to resemble pipe organs, with ranks of fake pipes attached to the top of the instrument. Small numbers of harmoniums were built with two manuals; some were built with pedal keyboards, which required the use of an assistant to run the bellows or, for some of the models, an electrical pump. These larger instruments were intended for home use, such as allowing organists to practise on an instrument on the scale of a pipe organ, but without the physical size or volume of such an instrument.
For missionaries, chaplains in the armed forces, travelling evangelists, the like, reed organs that folded up into a container the size of a large suitcase or small trunk were made. The invention of the electronic organ in the mid-1930s spelled the end of the harmonium's success in the West; the Hammond organ could imitate the tonal quality and range of a pipe organ whilst retaining the compact dimensions and cost-effectiveness of the harmonium as well as reducing maintenance needs and allowing a greater number of stops and other features. By this time, harmoniums had reached high levels of mechanical complexity, not only through the need to provide instruments with a greater tonal range, but due to patent laws, it was common for manufacturers to patent the action mechanism used on their instruments, thus requiring any new manufacturer to develop their own version. The last mass-producer of harmoniums in North America was the Estey company, which ceased manufacture in the mid-1950s; as the existing stock of instruments aged and spare parts became hard to find and more were either scrapped or sold.
It was not uncommon for harmoniums to be "modernised" by having electric blowers fitted very unsympathetically. The majority of Western harmoniums today are in the hands of enthusiasts, though the instrument remains popular in South Asia. Modern electronic keyboards can emulate the sound of
Goblet drum
The goblet drum is a single head membranophone with a goblet shaped body used in Egypt in parts of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe. The African djembe-wassolou is a goblet membranophone; this article focuses on the North-African goblet drum. The origin of the Egyptian Arabic term darabukka lies in the Arabic word "darab", they have been around for thousands of years, used in Ancient Egyptian cultures. Goblet drums were seen in Babylonia and Sumer, from as early as 1100 BCE. On Celebes, one large form serves as a temple instrument, set on the floor when performed, which could be a survival of the ancient use of the drum; the Eastern and North-African goblet drums are played under the arm or resting on the player's leg, with a much lighter touch and quite different strokes to hand drums such as the djembe, found in West Africa. There are two main types of goblet drums; the Egyptian style, Darabuka. The exposed edge allows closer access to the head so finger-snapping techniques can be done, but the hard edge discourages the rapid rolls possible with the Egyptian style.
The goblet drum may be played while held under one arm or by placing it sideways upon the lap while seated. Some drums are made with strap mounts so the drum may be slung over the shoulder, to facilitate playing while standing or dancing, it produces a resonant, low-sustain sound while played with the fingertips and palm. Some players move their fists out of the bell to alter the tone; some players place their hands on the surface of the drum to produce a muted sound. There are a variety of rhythms that form the basis of the folkloric and modern music and dance styles of the Middle East. There are three main sounds produced by the goblet drum; the first is called the "doom". It is the deeper bass sound produced by striking the head near the center with the length of the fingers and palm and taking off the hand for an open sound; the second is called the "tak" and is the higher-pitched sound produced by hitting near the edge of the head with the fingertips. A'tak' struck with the secondary hand is known as a "ka".
The third is the closed sound'pa', resting the hand on the head to not permit an open sound. Additionally, there are more complex techniques including snaps, slaps and rolls that are used to ornament the basic rhythm. Hand clapping and hitting the sides of the drum can be used in addition to drumhead sounds. Another technique used in Greece, Bulgaria and Egypt is to tap with the fingers of one hand and with a thin stick in the other. In Turkey the stick is called the çubuk, which stick; the Romani of most of the countries associated with the goblet drum use this technique. The first known Western classical composition to feature a goblet drum is the opera Les Troyens by the French composer Hector Berlioz, which calls for a tarbuka in the Dance of the Nubian Slaves in Act IV; the first compositions for goblet drum and orchestra were composed by Halim El-Dabh in the 1950s. Mısirli Ahmet Abdullah Hakawati Setrak Sarkissian Said El Artist Hossam Ramzy Rony Barrak Alberto ChristodoulouMiguel Crespo Amir Sofi Ashiko Djembe Duhulla Taarija Tonbak Toubeleki
Acoustic Classics
Acoustic Classics is the fifteenth solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Richard Thompson. It was released by Beeswing Records via Proper Records on 21 July 2014 in the UK and 22 July 2014 in the USA. Acoustic Classics is an album of acoustic versions of songs from Thompson's back catalogue, both as a solo artist and as part of the folk rock duo Richard & Linda Thompson. Thompson states that the album "was conceived to be something to sell at acoustic shows" as he did not have anything available, "representative of a solo show"; the album includes his first solo studio version of "Persuasion,", available in a live recording and a studio duet with son Teddy Thompson. Thompson wrote the song with Tim Finn of Crowded House & Split Enz. Finn had a minor hit with the song when released as a solo single in 1993; the song was included on Finn's solo album Before & After released in 1993. "From Galway to Graceland" is a song about an Irish woman, convinced she is married to Elvis Presley and travels to Graceland to kneel by his grave before being ejected at closing time.
The album was released on digital download. According to the album credits, Thompson plays Lowden guitars on Acoustic Classics. An article in Acoustic quotes George Lowden as stating that Thompson has played such a guitar since the early 80's and that he built a signature model for Thompson out of cedar wood, based on the Lowden F model guitar, with ziricote wood for the back and sides and no position markers on the fingerboard. On the Metacritic website, which aggregates reviews from critics and assigns a normalised rating out of 100, Acoustic Classics received a score of 76, based on 1 mixed and 9 positive reviews; the album was reviewed, with critics giving positive comments. Martin Chilton in The Daily Telegraph states that the album is "full of interesting guitar flourishes and rhythms which bring an imaginative touch to classics" and that "you will still find much to enjoy listening to a master re-touch some of his best works". John Paul of PopMatters writes that "Acoustic Classics serves as a fitting showcase for not only Thompson’s undeniable skills as a virtuoso guitarist, but as a phenomenal songwriter capable of deftly tapping into a wealth of human emotions".
He states that the album "plays like an hour-long live performance stripped of crowd noise, giving it an intimate immediacy that draws in the listener and makes them feel as though this were a command performance for one". The Financial Times critic David Honigmann feels differently, writing in his review that "this attempt to capture the spirit of Thompson’s celebrated acoustic concerts is unexpectedly bloodless". Timothy Monger of AllMusic states that "it's a true pleasure to hear effortless command of the instrument as well as his rich, commanding baritone in the warm, unplugged format" and feels Acoustic Classics is an essential album for Thompson fans and British folk fans in general"; the Guardian review by Neil Spencer is more conservative, writing that "most of these pieces are best heard in original form" but does concede that "Thompson brings the experience of his years to bear on 14 dazzlingly good songs, singing more intensely while playing more nimbly". American Songwriter's Hal Horowitz writes that "these updated versions bring a newfound fire and/or subtlety" and comments that you can "relish these terrific songs played and sung by a master still at the top of his game and wise enough to realize he can improve on the originals."
Joe Breen writing in The Irish Times writes that "there has always been a tension in Thompson’s writing...here it sounds starker in this solitary performance" and that "the “live” performance seems naked without applause". Colin Irwin writes in Mojo that these versions of the songs "are scarcely comparable to the original band versions...but there's a certain magic in hearing the classics in such intimate form". He summarises by stating that "the rugged, bluesy quality of Thompson's voice can be appreciated". All tracks written by Richard Thompson except “Persuasion” by Thompson and Tim Finn Richard Thompson - guitars and vocals
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings; the word piano is a shortened form of pianoforte, the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from gravicembalo col piano e forte and fortepiano. The Italian musical terms piano and forte indicate "soft" and "loud" in this context referring to the variations in volume produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the greater the velocity of a key press, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings, the louder the sound of the note produced and the stronger the attack; the name was created as a contrast to harpsichord, a musical instrument that doesn't allow variation in volume. The first fortepianos in the 1700s had smaller dynamic range.
An acoustic piano has a protective wooden case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings, which are strung under great tension on a heavy metal frame. Pressing one or more keys on the piano's keyboard causes a padded hammer to strike the strings; the hammer rebounds from the strings, the strings continue to vibrate at their resonant frequency. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies by more efficiently coupling the acoustic energy to the air; when the key is released, a damper stops the strings' vibration, ending the sound. Notes can be sustained when the keys are released by the fingers and thumbs, by the use of pedals at the base of the instrument; the sustain pedal enables pianists to play musical passages that would otherwise be impossible, such as sounding a 10-note chord in the lower register and while this chord is being continued with the sustain pedal, shifting both hands to the treble range to play a melody and arpeggios over the top of this sustained chord.
Unlike the pipe organ and harpsichord, two major keyboard instruments used before the piano, the piano allows gradations of volume and tone according to how forcefully a performer presses or strikes the keys. Most modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, 52 white keys for the notes of the C major scale and 36 shorter black keys, which are raised above the white keys, set further back on the keyboard; this means that the piano can play 88 different pitches, going from the deepest bass range to the highest treble. The black keys are for the "accidentals". More some pianos have additional keys. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass; the strings are sounded when keys are pressed or struck, silenced by dampers when the hands are lifted from the keyboard. Although an acoustic piano has strings, it is classified as a percussion instrument rather than as a stringed instrument, because the strings are struck rather than plucked. There are two main types of piano: the upright piano.
The grand piano is used for Classical solos, chamber music, art song, it is used in jazz and pop concerts. The upright piano, more compact, is the most popular type, as it is a better size for use in private homes for domestic music-making and practice. During the 1800s, influenced by the musical trends of the Romantic music era, innovations such as the cast iron frame and aliquot stringing gave grand pianos a more powerful sound, with a longer sustain and richer tone. In the nineteenth century, a family's piano played the same role that a radio or phonograph played in the twentieth century. During the nineteenth century, music publishers produced many musical works in arrangements for piano, so that music lovers could play and hear the popular pieces of the day in their home; the piano is employed in classical, jazz and popular music for solo and ensemble performances and for composing and rehearsals. Although the piano is heavy and thus not portable and is expensive, its musical versatility, the large number of musicians and amateurs trained in playing it, its wide availability in performance venues and rehearsal spaces have made it one of the Western world's most familiar musical instruments.
With technological advances, amplified electric pianos, electronic pianos, digital pianos have been developed. The electric piano became a popular instrument in the 1960s and 1970s genres of jazz fusion, funk music and rock music; the piano was founded on earlier technological innovations in keyboard instruments. Pipe organs have been used since Antiquity, as such, the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding pitches; the first string instruments with struck strings were the hammered dul
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have focused on CD and MP3 formats; the audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s. An album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places; the time frame for recording an album varies between a few hours to several years. This process requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live" when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes. Recordings, including live, may contain sound effects, voice adjustments, etc..
With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, lyrics or librettos; 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 short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums; when long-playing records were introduced, a collection of pieces on a single record was called an album. An album, in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees and other public notices were inscribed in black, it was from this that in medieval and modern times album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, sketches and the like are collected. Which in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item.
In the early nineteenth century "album" was used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Schumann's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. When 78rpm records came out, the popular 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, about 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of the seventeen-minute Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, it ran for 8m 59s. Deutsche Grammophon had produced an album for its complete recording of the opera Carmen in 1908. German record company Odeon released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky in 1909 on 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package; this practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records.
These albums came in both 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album; the 12-inch LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, it was adopted by the record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from minor refinements and the important addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums.
The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as Compact audio cassette, compact disc, MiniDisc, digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. While an album may contain as many or as few tracks as required, in the United States, The Recording Academy's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In the United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" i
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle. She is the mother of singers Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright from her marriage to American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, which ended in divorce. Born in Montreal, Quebec, to Irish pianist Francis McGarrigle and French Canadian mother Gabrielle Latrémouille, the three McGarrigle sisters grew up in the village of Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, north of Montreal, their family was a musical one on both sides gathering around the piano and singing, allowing Kate and her sisters to absorb influences as varied as Gershwin, French Canadian folk songs, Stephen Foster, composer-singers such as Wade Hemsworth, Edith Piaf. The sisters were formally introduced to music by taking piano lessons from the village nuns. In the 1960s Kate and Anna established themselves in Montreal's burgeoning folk scene while they attended school. From 1963 to 1967, they teamed up with Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon to form the folk group, the Mountain City Four.
Anna, 14 months older than Kate, studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in Montreal. It was at this time. Although she sang in English, according to Juan Rodriguez and Anna "put Québécois folk music...on the global music map in 1980 with Complainte pour Ste. Cathérine, Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse and 2003's La vache qui pleure."The McGarrigle sisters' life has been chronicled in Dane Lanken's Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Songs and Stories. Place Kate-McGarrigle was inaugurated on August 2013 in Montreal's Outremont borough, it contains a sculpture by Robert Wilson in the form of a double chair. McGarrigle - a Montreal native - lived nearby before her death, her son, says he discussed with Kate the offer of his childhood friend, Lorca Cohen, for Rufus to sire her child. He says that Kate encouraged him to accept Cohen's offer, that he regrets she didn't live long enough to see his daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen's birth. Kate and Anna's 1976 self-titled debut album was chosen by Melody Maker as Best Record of the Year.
Their albums Matapedia and The McGarrigle Hour won Juno Awards. In 1999 Kate and Anna received Women of Originality awards. In 1993 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2006 Kate and Anna McGarrigle were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards. McGarrigle was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and established the Kate McGarrigle Fund at the McGill University Health Centre, which she set up in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle and cartilage, she died of clear-cell sarcoma on January 2010, aged 63 at her home in Montreal, Quebec. Her sister Anna wrote on their website: "Sadly our sweet Kate had to leave us last night, she departed in a haze of love surrounded by family and good friends. She is irreplaceable and we are broken-hearted. Til we meet again dear sister."She made her last public appearance, with Rufus and Martha Wainwright, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, just six weeks before her death.
The show raised $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund. On June 12, 2010, the Meltdown Festival staged a tribute concert in her honour, organised by Richard Thompson; the concert included performances by her daughter Martha Wainwright, son Rufus Wainwright, sister Anna McGarrigle, ex-husband Loudon Wainwright III, Neil Tennant, Nick Cave, Emmylou Harris and Linda Thompson, longtime friends and musical collaborators Chaim Tannenbaum and Joel Zifkin. Her close friend Emmylou Harris wrote the song "Darlin' Kate" in her memory, which appears on her album Hard Bargain. On May 12 and 13, 2011, at New York City's Town Hall, a "Celebration of Kate McGarrigle" was held. Among the participating artists honoring her at these concerts were Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Lisa Hannigan, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty, Jimmy Fallon, Krystle Warren, Justin Vivian Bond, Teddy Thompson, Jenni Muldaur writer Michael Ondaatje and longtime friends and McGarrigle sidemen Chaim Tannenbaum and Joel Zifkin.
The celebration was filmed by Lian Lunson. Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You: A Concert for Kate McGarrigle was released in June 2013. Kate & Anna McGarrigle Dancer with Bruised Knees Pronto Monto Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse Love Over and Over Heartbeats Accelerating Matapédia The McGarrigle Hour La vache qui pleure The McGarrigle Christmas Hour ODDiTTiES Tell My Sister Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle on IMDb Obituary in the Guardian Vanity Fair Tribute Article Kate McGarrigle at Find a Grave
_album_cover.jpg)
[17]