A few weeks ago, the orchestra for Broadway’s West Side Story was gutted. In a cost-cutting measure, five violinists were told to clean out their lockers and their parts were replaced by a synthesizer piped in from another room. Overnight abercrombie , Leonard Bernstein’s lush score, extensively measured a masterpiece of American performing arts, went partly mechanical, manipulated by an engineer whose job is to trick audiences into thinking they are hearing the real thing. In interviews, Steven Sondheim has sadly suggested that musicals including his own tend to date rather rapidly. PCPA Theaterfest’s extremely moving new production of West Side Story, which opens its three-week run in Solvang Friday night, July 30, indicates he may be wrong about that. This reworking of Romeo and Juliet, set on the streets of New York City in the 1950s, was created by composer ..Read more

Classes that involve piano for beginners would include an introduction to reading and understanding the keys, chords and how to read musical notes. The piano is unlike any other instrument and sounds wonderful as stand alone music or as part of a group. The intense sound of a piano is one that captivates audiences with power or soothes them with serenity.
Budding musicians always find it exciting to explore the world of piano for beginners. Whether this is their first venture playing the piano or being used as a reminder of forgotten skills, piano for beginners is a terrific way to develop or improve skills.
The most popular place to find a piano for beginners class would be a local high school or college university music department. Occasionally, instructors will offer piano tutoring to non-students. Students, on the other hand, will have a variety of choices within the music curriculum. Otherwise, a quick visit to a local specialty music store may provide leads on ..Read more

The Mediterranean was often considered and seen as a single cultural area, but this is far from the truth. Because it spans through three very different regions, southern Europe, North Africa and the western parts of Asia, the music of these parts is very various, rich and unique. This diversity is what it makes it so special, how it manages to coexist, learning about the others and ignoring them. For example, the music of the Eastern Mediterranean was categorized according to political borders, ethnicity, the languages of the singers, due to the rise of nationalism. But despite many local variations, this region was specific for being importantly marked by the common heritage of Hellenism, Byzantium and Islam. The question is, of course, what to Mediterranean countries have in common? They have six thousand years of history together, during which they came into close contact and conflicts with one another, encountering each others art. An example of this mixes can be seen in ..Read more

With the fast pacing improvement of the technology today, you can do almost everything and there are instances that you can do it through the help of the Internet. For example, you can produce your own music, instrumentals as well as beats online. That is very convenient especially you don’t have to be on a recording studio and have expensive equipments just to create a single music, beat and instrumental. With the internet, you don’t have to spend hundreds or even thousands or dollars just to fulfill your dream of producing music.
For an instance you want produce rap beats online just like the famous rappers in the world today, will you go to their music studios and then use their equipments? It is a hassle if you do that when you can produce your own rap beats. With online help like Sonic Producer’s software program, you can be just like them with just inputting what the program wants from you.
Why choose Sonic Producer? For the simple reason, this ..Read more

Lots of us have our favourite bands and artists. New downloading technology means that we can access music in a much quicker and easier way so there really is nothing stopping us from listening to the music that we like. For most of us, buying or downloading music is where the interest ends but others find they really like an artist or a band and may by a book on them or pay money to go and see them perform. These are all normal things for a fan to do but others don’t stop here. The more hardcore fans want to know everything they possibly can about their idols as a way of feeling bridging the gap between the celebrity and themselves.
These ‘hardcore’ fans are the main basis for the music memorabilia industry. They are the sort of people who don’t just want to see their favourite band or artist in concert but they want instruments used by them, set lists and any piece of memorabilia that they can get their hands on. They feel like if they own a guitar used by their ..Read more

Buying a used guitar has many perks besides costing less. Used guitars have had a chance to age, the wood has dried out and the instruments sound has matured.
In this article I’m going to be talking about buying a used acoustic guitar, but many of these points are the same for a used electric guitar. After reading this you should be able to go into any used instrument shop and pick out the gems from the racks.
1 – How’s it Look?
While looks aren’t everything it’s important that you like it. Also you’ll want to spot any serious nicks, dings or cracks (See #5 below).
2 – How’s it Sound?
Keep in mind the strings on this used guitar are likely quite old, so they’re not going to chime out like a brand new set will. It could be worth buying a set to put on the instrument if you’re really keen on buying it but just aren’t sure if it’s the old strings causing the sound to be a bit below par ..Read more