Search results for: “what the heck is “

  • What the Heck Is a Shakuhachi?

    What the Heck Is a Shakuhachi?

    Like many historically significant Japanese things (Zen Buddhism, character writing, the kimono, temple architecture), the shakuhachi originated in China. And while, like the parenthetically aforementioned items on this list, the shakuhachi can claim Chinese origin, over the course of its history, it has diverged and evolved quite differently from its Chinese relative, the xiao. The shakuhachi is an…

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  • What the Heck Is a Bouzouki?

    What the Heck Is a Bouzouki?

    A few years ago when I was on tour more often, I used to stay at a friend’s place in Boston every time we rolled through. Across the street there lived a friendly, half-senile old Greek gentleman. He’d be so excited when we arrive — running out of his house offering shots of ouzo and…

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  • What the Heck Is a Guzheng?

    What the Heck Is a Guzheng?

    The guzheng (古筝) is one of my favorite instruments in the world. An ancient Chinese plucked-string instrument, today it’s featured prominently in both classical Chinese and modern international compositions. I think of the guzheng as a perfectly balanced mix between a harp and a zither. + Read more: Curious what the heck a theremin, shruti box, djembe, or glockenspiel…

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  • What the Heck Is a Shruti Box?

    What the Heck Is a Shruti Box?

    The shruti box’s warm, textural drone can be used as a backing track for soloing instrumentalists, accompaniment to throat singers, or as an iPhone app!

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  • What the Heck Is a Theremin?

    What the Heck Is a Theremin?

    The theremin is a musical instrument that is played without any contact by the performer. It was one of the first electronic instruments ever created, and later popularized by Robert Moog who designed a build-it-yourself kit version for mass consumption. It was invented and pattented in 1928 by Léon Theremin, a Russian whose actual name…

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  • Crash Course: Learn the Glockenspiel in 60 Seconds

    Crash Course: Learn the Glockenspiel in 60 Seconds

    We’ve all heard that word before — a blend of German-sounding “ocks” and “schps” that, at least for me, conjures up images of old cuckoo clocks or Alpine adventures. But for those who don’t know, a glockenspiel is actually a small metallic xylophone with tuned keys that produce a high-pitched set of percussive tones. The…

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  • Crash Course: Learn the Djembe in 60 Seconds

    Crash Course: Learn the Djembe in 60 Seconds

    The djembe is one of West Africa’s best known instruments. It is essentially a goblet-shaped drum carved from a single piece of African hardwood with a head made from rope-tightened animal hide.

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  • The Zeigarnik Effect — and What the Heck It Has to Do With Music

    The Zeigarnik Effect — and What the Heck It Has to Do With Music

    Learn what a behavioral pattern discovered in the 1920s can do to help you stick to your To-Do list and achieve your goals…

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  • Bill Clinton’s The Pres Blows and the Hilarious Response to a Legendary Record

    Bill Clinton’s The Pres Blows and the Hilarious Response to a Legendary Record

    + Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. In 1994, a mysteriously unauthorized 18-minute bootleg live recording of Bill Clinton playing the saxophone at a Prague jazz club ends up on a CD and gets…

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  • Philip Tagg’s Everyday Tonality

    Philip Tagg’s Everyday Tonality

    This article originally appeared on The Ethan Hein Blog. I complain a lot on my blog about the traditional teaching of music theory. Fortunately, a better alternative exists: Everyday Tonality by Philip Tagg. Don’t be put off by the DIY look of the website; the book is the single best explanation I know of for how harmony works across…

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  • How to Score an Epic Movie Trailer for Global Nuclear Armistice

    How to Score an Epic Movie Trailer for Global Nuclear Armistice

    We have so many questions that need answers… let’s start with the music. Here’s a breakdown of everything that’s going on in this misguided video mess.

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  • What Is ‘Subconscious Plagiarism?’ Just Ask George Harrison

    What Is ‘Subconscious Plagiarism?’ Just Ask George Harrison

    + Improve your songwriting with Soundfly! Explore our range of courses on emotional chord progressions, basic songwriting technique, songwriting for producers, and many more. Subscribe for unlimited access here. Late in the summer of 1976, as a matter of fact it was 42 years ago today, the man known as the “quiet Beatle” made quite a stir when he was…

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  • A Chord Sequence to Score an Imaginary Film Scene

    A Chord Sequence to Score an Imaginary Film Scene

    What if part of your practice as a musician, composer, or producer, was to score an imaginary film scene? How would you tackle that challenge?

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  • The Peculiar Sonic Possibilities of a Strange Japanese Toy Instrument

    The Peculiar Sonic Possibilities of a Strange Japanese Toy Instrument

    What do you do when a bizarre, anthropomorphic plastic music note shows up at your door? See what kind of music you can make with it, duh.

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  • Radiohead, What IS That Note?

    Radiohead, What IS That Note?

    Identifying that eery tone in one of Radiohead’s most well-known songs off “Kid A” was not easy, but it was fun.

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  • A Chord Sequence to Score an Imaginary Film Scene

    A Chord Sequence to Score an Imaginary Film Scene

    What if part of your practice as a musician, composer, or producer, was to score an imaginary film scene? How would you tackle that challenge?

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  • …But Can You Entertain?

    …But Can You Entertain?

    Yes, you may be a technically proficient artist. You may even have a following. But if you’re not entertaining your audience, your live show will suffer.

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  • Chartmania!! I Broke Down Every Song That Reached the Billboard Top 5 in 2017

    Chartmania!! I Broke Down Every Song That Reached the Billboard Top 5 in 2017

    Alright songwriters and song-guzzlers alike, strap on your boots for a knowledge voyage with more divergent rectangles than the NYC skyline: that’s right, the top pop charters have now become 2017’s top pop graphed. The Top 40 song charters that is, but why 40? Well, besides this number’s significance in pop music as a result of…

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  • Hear a Never-Before-Seen 1986 Dexter Gordon Piece, Played by 8 Different Artists

    Hear a Never-Before-Seen 1986 Dexter Gordon Piece, Played by 8 Different Artists

    In November 2016, Peter Pillitteri, an aspiring composer and one of the students in Ian Davis’ popular Orchestration for Strings course, emailed us out of the blue to tell us this incredible story: “‘Round Midnight is a 1986 film by Bertrand Tavernier about a fictitious jazzman, Dale Turner, who was played by the great jazz saxophonist, Dexter Gordon.…

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  • We Analyzed Every Dang Song That Cracked the Billboard Top 5 in 2018

    We Analyzed Every Dang Song That Cracked the Billboard Top 5 in 2018

    Welcome back, pop music scholars, and Look Alive… because we did it again. That’s right — we sent an even Better Now, out-of-this-WRLD probe past all the FEFE’s and ZEZE’s that were Meant to Be in the Top 5 of 2018’s Billboard Hot 100 charts, and what we got back was a tally of data and stats…

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  • On This Day in 1971, Pink Floyd Received a Bill for Thousands of Dead Fish

    On This Day in 1971, Pink Floyd Received a Bill for Thousands of Dead Fish

    Today marks the anniversary of an outdoor concert to remember — one that proved deadly for thousands of pond-dwelling fish. Read to learn more.

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  • Antiquated Telephone Songs that Millennials Just Won’t Understand

    Antiquated Telephone Songs that Millennials Just Won’t Understand

    As a songwriter, you’re responsible for transmitting the world as you see and understand it to your listeners. Songs have this incredible power to distill moments in time, experienced or imagined by a single person, and communicate them to a global audience. So when technologies that have permeated popular culture move forward and change, those…

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  • Discovering the Radical Augusta Holmès: History’s Forgotten Composer

    Discovering the Radical Augusta Holmès: History’s Forgotten Composer

    Honoring the great 19th century French symphonic composer who still to this day, hasn’t gotten her fair share of acclaim.

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  • 4 Tips for Songwriters Looking for Artists to Record Their Songs

    4 Tips for Songwriters Looking for Artists to Record Their Songs

    + Improve your songwriting with Soundfly! Explore our range of courses on emotional chord progressions, basic songwriting technique, songwriting for producers, and many more. Subscribe for unlimited access here. The goal of many a songwriter is to find artists to sing our material. And there are few things more thrilling than when you hear your music come to life. The first…

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  • How to Find Co-Writers You Love Writing With

    How to Find Co-Writers You Love Writing With

    Take a journey with me. Imagine this all too familiar scenario: You’re sitting at a table, looking at the empty chair across from you. Your coffee’s piping hot. You take another swig to ensure that you are properly caffeinated before you meet your friend. Your friend. Can you call them a friend yet? Is that…

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Jlin: Rhythm, Variation, & Vulnerability