1.
Harry Potter
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Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a wizard, Harry Potter. Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, on 26 June 1997, the series has now been translated into multiple languages including French, Irish, Spanish, German and Swedish to name a few. They have attracted a wide audience as well as younger readers. The series has also had its share of criticism, including concern about the dark tone as the series progressed, as well as the often gruesome. As of May 2013, the books have more than 500 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history. The series was published in English by two major publishers, Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. The original seven books were adapted into a film series by Warner Bros. Pictures, which has become the second highest-grossing film series of all time as of August 2015, in 2016, the total value of the Harry Potter franchise was estimated at $25 billion, making Harry Potter one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. A series of genres, including fantasy, drama, coming of age and the British school story. According to Rowling, the theme is death. Other major themes in the series include prejudice, corruption, Rowling updates the series with new information and insight, and a pentalogy of spin-off films premiering in November 2016, among many other developments. Most recently, themed attractions, collectively known as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, have built at several Universal Parks & Resorts amusement parks around the world. The wizarding world exists parallel to the Muggle world, albeit hidden and his magical ability is inborn and children with such abilities are invited to attend exclusive magic schools that teach the necessary skills to succeed in the wizarding world. Harry becomes a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, each novel chronicles one year in Harrys life during the period from 1991 to 1998. The books also contain many flashbacks, which are experienced by Harry viewing the memories of other characters in a device called a Pensieve. The environment Rowling created is intimately connected to reality, the full background to this event and Harry Potters past is revealed gradually through the series. After the introductory chapter, the book leaps forward to a time shortly before Harry Potters eleventh birthday, Harrys first contact with the wizarding world is through a half-giant, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts
2.
Geek rock
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Geek rock is a musical subgenre derived from alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister-genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre nintendocore and related to other branches of music such as hip hops nerdcore. Geek rock is characterised by use of both electronic instruments and more atypical musical instruments, such as accordions or ukuleles. Lyrically, the genre is generally characterised by subject matter that covers such as geek media pop culture, academia, technology. In essence, they’re love songs directed to whatever we’re really passionate about, irony, self-deprecation and humour are major elements. The first band to describe themselves as geek rock is believed to be Nerf Herder, the success of They Might Be Giants 1990 album Flood may have begun making geek culture and geek rock more mainstream. Billboard has referred to They Might Be Giants as Nerd-Rock Kings, similarly, Weird Al Yankovic has been called the king of nerd rock. The label proto-geek rock covers both similar musicians performing before the term was established and those that were adopted by geek culture but were not strictly part of it themselves, Alex DiBlasi contends that Frank Zappa is the archetypical geek rocker and antecedent of geek rock. Earlier filk music was based around fans performing at science fiction conventions, geek rock, however, is not necessarily connected to conventions in the same way and, while often still connected to fandom, is more adjacent to the fan community than an out-growth of it. Geek rock musicians are professional rather than amateur and band members need not be fans themselves. For example, Chicago Doctor Who-based band Time Crash was started by Doctor Who fan Ronen Kohn but the bands drummer and this was made possible by equipment becoming more affordable and the growth of the internet. She is on record as thinking, while watching his performance, this isnt punk rock, the sketch was the first in their The Nerds series following the same nerd characters. Geek rock, and related genres, have large enough to support music festivals such as Rock Comic Con. Some subgenres and derivative forms of rock are focused around specific parts of geek culture. Others are based on subgenres of rock music, nerd punk is a fusion of nerd music and punk rock. It shares the characteristics of rock with the fast-paced songs, hard-edged melodies. Bands include Thundering Asteroids. and 3d6, twi-rock developed from Twilight fandom with bands such as the Bella Cullen Project. While initially successful, and entering into a rivalry with wizard rock, Time Lord rock was developed by British band Chameleon Circuit in 2008
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Guitar
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The guitar is a musical instrument classified as a fretted string instrument with anywhere from four to 18 strings, usually having six. The sound is projected either acoustically, using a wooden or plastic and wood box, or through electrical amplifier. It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers, the guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. There are three types of modern acoustic guitar, the classical guitar, the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of a guitar is produced by the strings vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar. The term finger-picking can also refer to a tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass. The acoustic bass guitar is an instrument that is one octave below a regular guitar. Early amplified guitars employed a body, but a solid wood body was eventually found more suitable during the 1960s and 1970s. As with acoustic guitars, there are a number of types of guitars, including hollowbody guitars, archtop guitars and solid-body guitars. The electric guitar has had a influence on popular culture. The guitar is used in a variety of musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as an instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock, soul. The term is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. The modern word guitar, and its antecedents, has applied to a wide variety of chordophones since classical times. Many influences are cited as antecedents to the modern guitar, at least two instruments called guitars were in use in Spain by 1200, the guitarra latina and the so-called guitarra morisca. The guitarra morisca had a back, wide fingerboard. The guitarra Latina had a sound hole and a narrower neck. By the 14th century the qualifiers moresca or morisca and latina had been dropped, and it had six courses, lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist
5.
Bass guitar
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The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, slapping, popping, strumming, 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, pop, punk rock, country, reggae, gospel, blues, symphonic rock, and jazz. It is often a solo instrument in jazz, jazz fusion, Latin, 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, Bud, 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, however, 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
6.
Drum kit
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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
7.
Keyboard instrument
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A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various keyboards, including synthesizers. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, today, the term keyboard often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Another important use of the keyboard is in historical musicology. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the piano were in competition. Hence in a phrase like Mozart excelled as a player the word keyboard is usefully noncommittal. The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis, a type of pipe organ, the keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from the reference in a Latin poem by Claudian, who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu. Intent, that is “let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty roarings with a light touch”, from its invention until the fourteenth century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, almost every keyboard until the fifteenth century had seven naturals to each octave. The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century—the clavichord probably being earlier, the harpsichord and clavichord were both common until widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary, because a pianist could vary the volume of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The pianos full name is gravicèmbalo con piano e forte meaning harpsichord with soft and loud but can be shortened to piano-forte, which means soft-loud in Italian. In its current form, the piano is a product of the late 19th century, in fact, the modern piano is significantly different from even the 19th-century pianos used by Liszt, Chopin, and Brahms. See Piano history and musical performance, keyboard instruments were further developed in the early twentieth century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century and this was a very important contribution to the keyboards history. Much effort has gone into creating an instrument that sounds like the piano but lacks its size, the electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while useful instruments in their own right, did not convincingly reproduce the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period, more recent electronic keyboard designs strive to emulate the sound of specific make and model pianos using digital samples and computer models. Concerns celebrated keyboard players and the various instruments used over the centuries
8.
Singing
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Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist, Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists, Singers may perform as soloists, or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged or improvised and it may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual, as part of music education, or as a profession. Excellence in singing requires time, dedication, instruction, and regular practice, if practice is done on a regular basis then the sounds can become more clear and strong. Professional singers usually build their careers around one specific genre, such as classical or rock. They typically take voice training provided by teachers or vocal coaches throughout their careers. Though these four mechanisms function independently, they are coordinated in the establishment of a vocal technique and are made to interact upon one another. During passive breathing, air is inhaled with the diaphragm while exhalation occurs without any effort, exhalation may be aided by the abdominal, internal intercostal and lower pelvis/pelvic muscles. Inhalation is aided by use of external intercostals, scalenes and sternocleidomastoid muscles, the pitch is altered with the vocal cords. With the lips closed, this is called humming, humans have vocal folds which can loosen, tighten, or change their thickness, and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures. The shape of the chest and neck, the position of the tongue, any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced. Sound also resonates within different parts of the body and an individuals size, Singers can also learn to project sound in certain ways so that it resonates better within their vocal tract. This is known as vocal resonation, another major influence on vocal sound and production is the function of the larynx which people can manipulate in different ways to produce different sounds. These different kinds of function are described as different kinds of vocal registers. The primary method for singers to accomplish this is through the use of the Singers Formant and it has also been shown that a more powerful voice may be achieved with a fatter and fluid-like vocal fold mucosa. The more pliable the mucosa, the more efficient the transfer of energy from the airflow to the vocal folds, Vocal registration refers to the system of vocal registers within the voice. A register in the voice is a series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds
9.
Music of the United States
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The music of the United States reflects the countrys multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by West African, Irish, Scottish, the United States has the worlds largest music market with a total retail value of 4,898.3 million dollars in 2014, and its music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some forms of American popular music have gained a global audience. Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is known as the United States. Beginning in the 17th century, immigrants from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, African slaves brought musical traditions, and each subsequent wave of immigrants contributed to a melting pot. Much of modern music can trace its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues. The African American basis for popular music used elements derived from European, there are also strong African roots in the music tradition of the original white settlers, such as country and bluegrass. Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn, Modern day music is heavily influenced by previous and present African-American music genres. Some distinct aspects of American music, like the format, are derived from African techniques. Throughout the later part of American history, and into modern times, the Civil War, and the period following it, saw a general flowering of American art, literature and music. Amateur musical ensembles of this era can be seen as the birth of American popular music, Music author David Ewen describes these early amateur bands as combining the depth and drama of the classics with undemanding technique, eschewing complexity in favor of direct expression. If it was music, the words would be in English. In a way, it was part of the awakening of America that happened after the Civil War, a time in which American painters, writers. Music intertwines with aspects of American social and cultural identity, including through social class, race and ethnicity, geography, religion, language, gender, the relationship between music and race is perhaps the most potent determiner of musical meaning in the United States. The development of an African American musical identity, out of disparate sources from Africa, little documentation exists of colonial-era African American music, when styles, songs, and instruments from across West Africa commingled in the melting pot of slavery. In contrast, country music derives from both African and European, as well as Native American and Hawaiian, traditions and yet has long been perceived as a form of white music. Country music is also intertwined with identity, and is specifically rural in origin and function, other genres, like R&B. For much of American history, music-making has been a feminized activity, in the 19th century, amateur piano and singing were considered proper for middle- and upper-class women
10.
DIY ethic
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DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks without the aid of a paid expert. Literally meaning do it yourself, the DIY ethic promotes the idea that anyone is capable of performing a variety of rather than relying on paid specialists. The DIY ethic requires that the adherent seeks out the required to complete a given task. The term can refer to a variety of disciplines, including home improvement, rather than belittling or showing disdain for those who engage in manual labor or skilled crafts, DIY champions the average individual seeking such knowledge and expertise. In the punk subculture, the DIY ethic is tied to punk ideology and it espouses the rejection of consumer culture, using existing systems or existing processes that would foster dependence on established societal structures. According to the aesthetic, one can express oneself and produce moving. Arguably the earliest example of this attitude was the music scene of the 1970s. Since many venues tend to shy away from experimental music, houses. Riot Grrrl, associated with feminism, also adopted the core values of the DIY punk ethic by leveraging creative ways of communication through zines. Adherents of the DIY punk ethic can also work collectively, for example, punk impresario David Fergusons CD Presents was a DIY concert production, recording studio, and record label network. The German punk band Mono für Alle, perfected the mass production of the self-made DIY album. Their album included a wooden cover and sold over 6000 units from their website. The DIY punk ethic also applies to simple living, such as. Sewing, repairing, or modifying clothing rather than buying new clothes, reclaiming recyclable products by dumpster diving. Some educators also engage in DIY teaching techniques, sometimes referred to as Edupunk, DIY music has its origins in the mid 1970s punk rock scene. It developed as a way to circumnavigate the mainstream music industry, in 2014, speaking about the 80s and 90s, Steve Albini told of the difficulties of getting record and played on the radio, saying So these independent bands had to be resourceful. They’d built their own infrastructure of independent clubs, promoters, fanzines, DIY music bands do everything themselves or with independent collaborators, from album production to marketing and communication. This choice primarily reflects a need to emphasize its independence in relation to big record labels, advances in technology and lowering costs have progressively made it easier for bands to be independent
