Category Archives for "Music"
- in Music , Production by Bobby Owsinski
Are Your Lyrics Metal-Enough? This Study Shows What Words To Use And Which To Avoid
This is something that I posted about 5 years ago, but it’s still fascinating because of the thought and actual data behind it. It’s some research put together by Iain Barr, who’s actually a data scientist and obviously a metal-head. You can’t help but be impressed with the depth of his study, which is in […]
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What The Greatest Guitar Solos Of All Time Have In Common
If you’ve ever wondered what makes a great solo, Total Guitar has broken it down nicely by analyzing what it thinks are the 50 greatest guitar solos of all time. Not surprisingly, the solos range from a time period from 1958 (“Johnny B Goode”) to 1997 (“Floods”), as nothing recently has cracked the list. You […]
Continue reading- in Music , Uncategorized by Bobby Owsinski
Happy July 4th With The US Marine Band And “Stars And Stripes Forever”
Happy July 4th to all my American friends. To my readers from other parts of the world, nothing signifies this holiday celebrating the birth of our nation like the John Philips Sousa march “Stars And Stripes Forever.” It caps off our holiday festivities amid great fanfare and fireworks, especially when played well. No one plays […]
Continue reading- in Book Excerpt , Music by Bobby Owsinski
Studio Musician 101: Your Ears, Chops, And Feel
Studio musicians are known for their musicality, which consists of their ears, chops, and feel, as well as their judgment. Session players have enough experience to know what to play and when to play it. They know how to best interact with the artist, other musicians, the engineer, and the producer to make the session […]
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You’ve Probably Never Heard A Tambourine Solo Like This Before
Most rock and pop musicians takes a percussion instrument like a tambourine for granted, thinking that it just provides something to do when you’re not actually playing your instrument. In the hands of percussion artist, the tambourine comes to life though, as this video with percussionist Gabriela Jiménez clearly shows. Using the skin, frame and metal […]
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If You Get Goosebumps From Music, Your Brain Is Different
I think if you’re part of the music business in any way, one of the reasons is that music excites you. In some cases it excites you so much that it gives you goosebumps while listening. Believe it or not, that doesn’t happen to everybody, and according to a recent Harvard study, it means that […]
Continue reading- in Music , Production by Bobby Owsinski
The First Computer Music Was Created In A Garden Shed
Believe it or not, electronic music started in the 1920s, gained steam in the 40s, took off in the 50s, and has become a part of our everyday lives today. We think nothing of having a computer generate music today, especially as artificial intelligence makes great strides, but the first time that music was created […]
Continue reading- in Media , Music by Bobby Owsinski
The Evolution Of Home Audio Over 162 Years
It’s been quite a journey for home audio, as it has been at the forefront of technology for an unbelievable 162 years. We may think it all started with Edison’s cylinder recorder/player, but in fact Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville beat him by 20 years, inventing the Phonautograph in 1857, transcribing sound waves onto smoke-blackened paper […]
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Science Discovers Where Your Musical Taste Comes From
We all have music that we love, and it seems like the older we get, the less likely we are to love what’s current. That’s because we tend to listen to less music by the time we hit our late 20s, but researchers think they’ve found the real real reason and time when our musical […]
Continue reading- in Book Excerpt , Music by Bobby Owsinski
The Difference Between Your Stage Presentation And The Big Concert You Just Went To
Many artists at varying levels of success put little thought into their stage presentation, and it shows. It’s a rare performer that can captivate an audience by his or her performance alone, and most audiences, even on a club level, expect to be entertained on multiple levels these days. In the following excerpt from my How […]
Continue reading- in Music , Uncategorized by Bobby Owsinski
Happy July 4th With The US Marine Band And “Stars And Stripes Forever”
Happy July 4th to all my American friends. To my readers from other parts of the world, nothing signifies this holiday celebrating the birth of our nation like the John Philips Sousa march “Stars And Stripes Forever.” It caps off our holiday festivities amid great fanfare and fireworks, especially when played well. No one plays […]
Continue reading- in Music by Bobby Owsinski
Do You Know About Gospel Chops?
Gospel music has had a huge influence on American popular music, although the average consumer might not be aware of it. The music of such music giants as B.B. King, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston, just to name a few, have been anchored by their roots in the church. For musicians not directly connected to that rich history, […]
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When American Guitars Were Outlawed In England
Considering the giant influence that British music had on America in the 1960s and 70s, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when American instruments were banned by the British government. This forced English musicians to use a wide range of other Euro-based guitars and somewhat explains why many of our guitar heros […]
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A New Way To Visualize Rhythm
If you’re not a drummer or percussionist, thinking about a rhythm, especially a complex one, can easily result in your brain boiling over while trying to understand it. This TED-Ed video by John Varney provides a new way of looking at different rhythms that makes the pursuit much easier and enjoyable. In standard notation, rhythm […]
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Why Does The Oboe Tune The Orchestra?
Back in the days before inexpensive guitar tuners, the players in the band would look to the keyboard player to give them the tuning notes they needed. Wow, that seems like the time before the wheel was invented or fire was discovered looking back on it now. You can now buy a great tuner for […]
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