LET THERE BE MUZIK

ଳ DRUMMERS Bang On

2010-04-25T20:24:00.004+08:00

Given a chance you could bang on anything that produces sound, empty biscuits container, pail, even empty bottles and inside the lift or on the steering wheels provided you have rhythm else..would be thrown out of the car..

An amazing street drummer.

Well-loved street performers Bang On! create captivating rhythms using anything from plastic bags and watering cans to a huge junk drum kit, combining music with amazing technique and showmanship.

Hip Hop Drummers

Ð Morin Khuur - Mongolian horse-head fiddle

2010-03-27T22:05:00.003+08:00

The Morin Khuur is a Mongolian bowed stringed instrument, horse-head fiddle, is probably the most important musical instrument in Mongolian ethnic group. It is known in Chinese as matouqin. It produces a sound which is poetically described as expansive and unrestrained, like a wild horse neighing, or like a breeze in the grasslands. It is the most important musical instrument of the Mongolian people, and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation.

Ci Bulag 齐宝力高 and the Horse-head Fiddle Orchestra at Chinese New Year Eve's CCTV Gala in early 1991.

The instrument consists of a trapezoid wooden-framed sound box to which two strings are attached. It is held nearly upright with the sound box in the musician's lap or between the musician's legs. The strings are made from hairs from horses' tails, strung parallel, and run over a wooden bridge on the body up a long neck to the two tuning pegs in the scroll, which is always carved into the form of a horse's head.

Mongolian Music in the Library of Congress, DC.

Mongolian Folk Rock Group

൯ IMAGINE ~ Singing with HANDS & FINGERS

2010-02-17T16:40:00.006+08:00

It's amazing these less fortunate people who are deaf and speech-impaired joining the singing team with Glee. By using sign language they "sang" 'Imagine'. At the end of the song to cheer them instead of clapping is by raising the hands in the sky and turning the hands. I was given an opportunity to attend a short program organised by YMCA in Brickfields on the basic sign language a couple of years back and I found out they are pretty cool people. Let there be muzik even though they cannot hear but they can sing with their heart, with a little help from hands and fingers.

Imagine there's no Heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living life for today

Imagine there's no countries

It's not hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

ള HARMONICA

2010-01-31T23:28:00.003+08:00

The Harmonica, also called harp, blues harp, french harp, and mouth organ. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes (reed chambers) or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate up and down creating sound. Each chamber has multiple, variable-tuned brass or bronze reeds which are secured at one end and loose on the other end, with the loose end vibrating and creating sound.

VJC Harmonica Band concert 2008 - Resonance X When You Believe (from "Prince of Egypt") Year Twos

This is one of the most cheapest musical instrument that most youngsters can afford when we were kids and some could have owned a few harmonicas. I think the brand is 'Butterfly' and it was made in China. Thanks to our old folks and neighbors for their 'expertise', said blowing and sucking the harmonica is unhygienic. Our next economical musical instrument is the bamboo flute which also shared the same death blow. Blowing the flute at night will attract unseen beings. Oh really?

Heng Ee Harmonica Band won ensemble champion with the song of Orpheus In The Underworld by Offenbach. Conductor: Cheetion

The basic parts of the harmonica are the comb, reed-plates and cover-plates. The comb is the term for the main body of the instrument which contains the air chambers that cover the reeds. The term comb originates from the similarities between simple harmonicas and a hair comb. Harmonica combs were traditionally made from wood, but now are usually made from plastic (ABS) or metal (including titanium for very high-end instruments). Some modern and experimental comb designs are complex in the way that they direct the air. [wikipedia]

This is a beginner HARMONICA LESSON for your "C" harmonica that offers you an exercise for practicing you single note technique. I hope this video helps you with your accuracy with single notes.

The Harmonitones (Bob Ferguson lead harmonica, Doug Fisher chord harmonica and Erine Beitler bass harmonica) play Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy in the early 1970's.

Let it be - A great song of The Beatles, was played by Igor Flach. This may be one of the best covered versions for playing harmonica. Let's enjoy his impromptu.

ള BAGPIPES

2010-01-02T21:37:00.011+08:00

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument consists of a bag as a constant reservoir for air, a chanter with a number of finger-holes, and usually a three drone pipes to be rested on the piper's left shoulder. The supply of air into the bag is by blowing into a blowpipe or blowstick. The modern blowpipes are fitted with a non-return valve thus saving the piper from using his tongue to cover the tip of the blowpipe while inhaling. I'm amazed that bagpipes do rock which I was not aware of until lately. Whoa they are awesome. Hey thanks to Mei Teng who brought up this point which I shared the same "I think of Scotland whenever I see bagpipes! Oh and not forgetting the kilts! [mei teng]"

Neil Hubbard has taught the Scottish Highland bagpipes to individuals and groups since the early 1990's. Hubbard also teaches individual bagpipe lessons at his home in Kirkland, Washington.

The Maui Celtic Bagpipes and Drums band presents: World Champion Bagpiper, Jack Lee, performing at the Makawao Union Church, march 18th 2006.

The bag is an airtight reservoir which can hold air and regulate its flow while the player breathes or pumps with a bellows, enabling the player to maintain continuous sound for some time. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials including Gore-Tex have become common.

Bagpipes, Drums, percussion & heavy guitar riffs: The PowerPipes rock the house!!! March 23rd `08, Spielraum Gaspoltshofen.

Comedian Johnny 'Bagpipes' Johnston, covers the THX logo, Star Wars theme, ACDC and more. Funny Stuff!

Dozens of types of bagpipes today are widely spread across Europe and the Middle East, as well as through much of the former British Empire. The name bagpipe has almost become synonymous with its best-known form, the Great Highland Bagpipe, overshadowing the great number and variety of traditional forms of bagpipe. For further information on other types of bagpipes and its history check it out with Wikipedia.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers on BBC TV's "When will I be famous?" with a rendition by Queen ~ 'We Will Rock You'.

Tune from Chris Armstrong "Dreams of a Child".

௫ TABLA

2009-12-20T22:23:00.003+08:00

The Tabla (Hindi: तबला, Bangla: তবলা, Nepali: तबला, is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum."

Playing technique involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds, reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). The heel of the hand is used to apply pressure or in a sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay.

The smaller drum, played with the dominant hand, is sometimes called dayan (lit. "right"; a.k.a. dāhina, siddha, chattū) but is correctly called the "tabla" representing the 'yin' (female) energy. It is made from a conical piece of mostly teak and rosewood hollowed out to approximately half of its total depth.

The larger drum, played with the other hand, is called bāyāñ (lit. "left"; a.k.a. dagga, duggī, dhāmā) representing the 'yang' (male) energy. The bāyāñ has a much deeper bass tone, much like its distant cousin, the kettle drum. [wikipedia]

She plays tabla with a lightning speed and full of zest.

௫ BEATBOXING

2009-12-14T21:55:00.007+08:00

Beatboxing is a natural 'noise' without the cables linking to machines where it's some sort of vocal percussion mimicking sound of drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds by what nature has given us, our mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and more. Beatboxing seems to be connected to the popularity of hip hop in the 1980s and has been an in-thing with the new generation albeit it has been in existence for quite a long time.

Vocal imitation of percussion sounds has existed for a very long time. One tradition is thought to have originated in India several thousand years ago: the tradition of bol, and the Chinese developed Kouji, a type of vocal performing arts. These had little or no relation with hip hop, however, and have no direct connection to modern Eastern Hip Hop. Some African traditions use performers' bodies (clapping, stomping) to make musical sounds to maintain a steady musical pace. They made sounds using their mouths by loudly breathing in and out, which is done in beatboxing today. An American style called eefing first emerged in rural Tennessee near the beginning of the 20th century. The term "beatboxing" is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes.

Recently, a 2009 beatboxing world championship took place where over 52 beatboxers and many female beatboxers competed for the title. The female British winner Bellatrix, and the male Swiss winner, ZeDe, are now the holders of the largest beatboxing title. Michael Jackson is also a well known beatboxer in songs like 'Cry' and 'Who is it', which throughout the songs he uses his natural voice to beatbox. [wikipedia]

2x UK beatbox champion, Beardyman chats to Ray Shah at oxygen 2008, and gives us a sample of what he does best!

Guess you have had great fun with your very first experience in beatboxing watching the 7 Steps video #4, hope you did not wet your monitor screen too much with your saliva eh! Good try!

௫ ANGKLUNG

2009-12-01T18:03:00.007+08:00

Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced. Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia but originated from Indonesia (used and played by the Sundanese since the ancient times).

Green Green Grass of Home Angklung Cinta Nada in Viernheim Germany Deutschland

Malam Indonesia Juni 2007 di Frankfurt-Jerman. KJRI Frankfurt

Angklung had also been adopted by its Austronesian neighbours, in particularly Malaysia and the Philippines, where they are rather played as part of bamboo xylophone orchestras. They are generally played using a pentatonic scale similar to the Indonesian slendro, although in the Philippines, sets also come in the diatric and minor scales used to perform various Spanish-influenced folk music. In the early 20th century, the angklung was adopted in Thailand, where it is called angkalung (อังกะลุง) [wikipedia]

Whoa! Rihanna's 'Umbrella' man this is cool..

Indonesian Students with Angklung Performance in 17th Kyoto Foreign Students Music Festival 2005

മ GLASS ARMONICA

2009-11-24T20:26:00.001+08:00

The glass harmonica, with its many names like glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica (derived from "harmonia", the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction by rubbing the rims with the fingers whereby is another version of the glass harp invented by Benjamin Franklin after seeing water filled wine glasses played by Edmund Delaval in England in 1758.

Segment from the history channel on Benjamin Franklin's Glass Armonica.

William Zeitler plays 'Venus - the Sphere of Love' on the Glass Armonica in Hong Kong.

In Franklin's treadle operated version 37 bowls were mounted horizontally on an iron spindle. The whole spindle turned by means of a foot pedal. The sound was produced by touching the rims of the bowls with moistened fingers. Rims were painted different colors according to the pitch of the note. A's were dark blue, B's purple, C's red, D's orange, E's yellow, F's green, G's blue, and accidentals white. With the Franklin design it is possible to play ten glasses simultaneously if desired, a technique that is very difficult if not impossible to execute using upright goblets. Franklin also advocated the use of a small amount of powdered chalk on the fingers which helped produce a clear tone in the same way rosin is applied to the bows of string instruments. [wikipedia]

An excerpt from the famous Mozart "Adagio und Rondo" K.617 for Glassharmonica and Quartet, by Thomas Bloch (Glassharmonica) and the soloists of the Orchestre Pasdeloup, during a concert given in salle Gaveau, Paris.

Music by Wolfgang A. Mozart. Played by French artist Thomas Bloch, exhibiting the glass harmonica in the Paris Music Museum, Nov. 29, 2007.

Vera Meyer plays the Glass Armonica (aka Harmonica) in Harvard Square, Boston, July, 2005.

മ GLASS HARP WITH CLASS

2009-11-17T22:48:00.002+08:00

Many would have tried this before rubbing the rim of wine glass or beer mug in pubs or discos only to produce noise or sound but no music. How about making music with wine glass with class with Yesterday?

Wine glass is fine. Best effect is to wash your hands and fingers clean. Hold the glass firmly by the base with the other hand and rub your wet finger around the rim. Eventually you will surely get the glass to resonate. Robert Tiso plays first m. of symphony n°5, by L.V.Beethoven, with glass harp. Cool..

Picture is not that sharp but the music is awesome, fantastic..

Close Encounter of the 'Glass' Kind..

Glass Harpist Alexander Zoltan performs on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic.

Fantastic sound - Vienna street player performs the organ music with his water glasses.

Jamey Turner plays something familiar - 'The Moon Represents My Heart' by Teresa Teng - [yuèliang dàibiǎo wǒde xīn] "月亮代表我的心" and Beethoven's Ode to Joy on the "glass harp".

Amazing wine glass music by Jamey Turner. Jameyturner.com

Coming up next...Glass Armonica

മ WHISTLING

2009-11-11T09:28:00.009+08:00

Someone challenged me with this strange question "can you whistle while brushing your teeth at the same time?" Wow fantastic, but replied it's ridiculous cannot be possible and we took a bet saying no way he can do it. The deal is on and the demo is set. He calmly took out his dentures and whistled his way to the bank grinning from ear to ear.. Here are some of the music produced without musical instrument..they are simply awesome!

World Whistling Championship guess who is the champ?

Who says girls cannot whistle or not supposed to whistle? Not any more..Those days our old folks would not allow any whistling at night or when passing through jungles or rubber estates. Reasons? Will attract those unseen beings. What about girls who must not whistle in the olden days? Again old folks said no, reasons are the same "all of the above applies plus one strong statement, it's 'unlady like' for a girl to whistle". So up till to today there are quite a number of ladies who do not know how to whistle. What about the girls of the younger generation do you know how to whistle? Not allowed to whistle or just dislike whistling?

മ BANJO Part II - Homemade

2009-11-05T21:09:00.006+08:00

There are 5-String Bluegrass Banjo, 5-String Open Back Banjo, 6-String Banjo, 4-String Banjo etc etc just to name a few. Scholars have found that many of these instruments have names that are related to the modern word "banjo", such as "banjar", "banjil", "banza", "bangoe", "bangie", "banshaw. What about these names for a Banjo? Cookie tin, wine box, cigar box, brass pan? Let's go banjo-ing..

Cookie Tin Banjo

Darling have you seen the new cookies I bought last week?

Brass Pan Banjo

You wanna pancake with honey? Honey!

Gas Tin Banjo

Whoa high powered vroom banjo player, could beat the world record and be the fastest banjo player.

Cigar Box Banjo

Holy smoke! Message from the owner, "Chainduck" ~ "Total parts cost on this was about $50. A buddy of mine gave me the tuners...The pearl cost me $5 ebay. The head $12, Stove ring $4, The tailpiece was from my first plywood tenor banjo, I built in Jr. High...not a big success...LOL Various nuts and bolts..etc. make up the balance of the cost. The neck was made from scraps off an electric I build a few months earlier. Time to build...180 hours or more...LOL..lots of head scratching."

Oil Can Banjo

Yummy olive oil banjo, nice song.."God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

Cigar Box Banjo

Yeah hold it! I have posted the cigar box before, but this guy is real cool, teaches how to play the banjo so easy going, love to watch him play. Smooth like smoke on the water..

Wine Box Banjo

Yamseng Banjo! Made from a Franzia Chillable Red wine box. Its got a fretless rosewood fingerboard, a two-footed bridge, and a Yopp tuner built into the tail piece.

Salad Bowl Banjo

The owner found this salad bowl in an antique shop and has made two salad bowl banjos already. Can someone pass the mayonaise over please!

മ BANJO

2009-11-01T15:10:00.074+08:00

The Banjo is a stringed instrument which has its root in Africa. Africans transported to the Caribbean and Latin America were playing banjos in the early 17th and 18th centuries before America. Africans in the US were the predominant players of this instrument until the 1840s. Originally the banjos were made out of gourds and skins. The body, or "pot", normally consists of a circular rim (generally made of wood), a metal tone ring, and a tensioned head, similar to a drum head. Traditionally animal skin were used for the drum head, but synthetic materials have replace most of them today. The strings numbered between three and nine, with four- and five-string banjos being popular. In almost all of its forms, the banjo's playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, although there are many different playing styles. They can be played like strumming a guitar, bowed or plucked like a harp. Today, the banjo is commonly associated with country, folk and bluegrass music.

What is a gourd?

How Banjos are made..

Banjo lesson: Forward/Backward Roll, Alternating Thumb Roll..

Using fingerpicks and tuning..This great video teaches you how to use your fingerpicks. Special thanks to David from musicmoose.org for this wonderful tutorial .

Banjo crash course..

Country Guitar "Duelling Banjos" - By Paco Pascual. Haha this was the tune that got me interested in the sound of banjo when I was a kid and bingo so glad I found it..YeeHaw!

Master of the banjo Gerry O'Connor plays two reels: "The Bag of Spuds" and "The Copperplate". These tunes were recorded in Gerry's hometown of Nenagh in October 2004, just after the release of his CD, "No Place Like Home."

Florida Today Coverage and footage of the Guinness Event Worlds Fastest Banjo Player, Grammy Nominated Banjo Player Todd Taylor Sets New World Record.

Banjo Hall of Fame, Tim Allan, plays solo Tenor Banjo, The William Tell Overture is often known as.. "Hi-yo, Silver!", The Lone Ranger!

Steve Martin & Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown. I cannot help myself for not shaking my head while listening and watching..COOL!!!

Guinness World Record - 59 Banjoists Play Foggy Mountain Breakdown by the legendary Earl Scruggs. Are you able to spot the only one 'leftie' out of the 59 Banjoists?

Normal average Banjo price ranges from U$800 - U$3000 unless you want to make it on your own, possible???

Coming up next: Banjos made from cookie tin, cigar box, oil can, wine box etc? Huh!!!!

ø LEAF THE MUSIC ALONE

2009-10-26T21:31:00.003+08:00

Many would have tried this before leaving out musical instruments to make music with leaf by holding it on your lower lip. Some might have tried using hack's wrapping paper as well. Well let's get some up-close on leaf music for a change.

Whoa this guy Ricky from Taiping, Malaysia and name of the song "The Bund" 上海灘; pinyin: Shàng Hǎi tān; & "Bangawan Solo"

This guy is from India

Place ~ Trikut hills, Jharkhand, India.

This man's name is Carlos Garcia, Mexico.

The Hmong village girl from Laos

Music Instrument: Leaf of Spathiphyllum, Player: "Leafman" from Japan.

Chi Mao is a tour guide in Sapa.

ø WADAIKO YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan

2009-10-22T22:44:00.015+08:00

Wadaiko Yamato 倭 is a Japanese musical group of taiko drummers, brain-child of Masa Ogawa formed in 1993. "Wadaiko" means Japanese drum and "Yamato" was the former name of the city, the present day Nara prefecture, the group's birthplace. It all started when the group played a piece called "Hyuga" composed by Masa Ogawa in a festival held at the Toichi Shrine in Kashihara-shi, Nara. Ever since then, the group has made over one thousand live performances to over one million people in more than 20 countries in across the globe. It was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1998 the group performed their international debut and was awarded the "Spirit of the Fringe" award. Subsequently a year later they headed for more performances on three international tours, covering South America, six countries in Europe, and Israel.

If you have subwoofers, turn them up max! Whoa! You gotta feel the vibration it's sensational..

Wadaiko Yamato performing at 2007 Universal Forum of Cultures in Monterrey, Mexico on Sep 28 and 29 2007.

ø RICHARD CLAYDERMAN

2009-10-21T00:00:00.005+08:00

Richard Clayderman (born Philippe Pagès on December 28 1953 Paris) is a French pianist started learning piano at a very tender age from his father who was a piano teacher. Recalling the early 80s practically one can hear his music in all corners of Taiwan, the whole island inundated with Claydermania.

At age twelve he was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire of Music where he won great acclaim in his later adolescent years. To make ends meet due to financial constraints he has to work two jobs; bank clerk in the day and an accompanist to contemporary bands at night.

And now the facts from Wikipedia..In 1976 he was invited by Olivier Toussaint a French record producer and his partner Paul de Senneville to record a gentle piano ballad. Paul de Senneville had composed this ballad as a tribute to his new born daughter “Adeline”. The 23 year old Philippe Pagès was auditioned along with 20 other pianists and got the job. "He was an interesting musician with a soft touch and good technique" says Toussaint. "And he looked good too." Philippe Pagès' name was changed to Richard Clayderman (he adopted his great-grandmother's last name to avoid mispronunciation of his real name outside France) and the single took off selling 22 million copies in 38 countries. It was called Ballade pour Adeline.

He has recorded over 1200 melodies and has created a new romantic style through a repertoire which combines his trademark originals with classics and pop standards. He has devoted much of his time to performing concerts and pleasing his fans going as far as playing 200 shows in 250 days. He has clocked up worldwide record sales of approximately 90 million at the last count and a remarkable 267 Gold and 70 Platinum discs to his credit. He is popular in Asia and is noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as being "“the most successful pianist in the world."

ø OCARINA - The Real Ones

2009-10-19T21:12:00.009+08:00

Having posted about making ocarina with veges and fruits now to expect the real stuff which definitely sounds better than any veges. Having a long history of more than 12,000 years obviously it's some great instrument. Funny I have never heard about this amazing wind flute instrument before in my entire life until now. It is another important instrument used in Chinese and Mesoamerican cultures not forgetting both the Mayans and Aztecs had produced versions of the ocarina.

Let's get more technical and let's see what Wikipedia has to say:

How an ocarina works:

1.Air enters through the windway

2.Air strikes the labium, producing sound

3.Air vibrates throughout the inside of the ocarina

4.Covering and uncovering holes lowers and raises the pitch

The ocarina, unlike other vessel flutes, has the unusual quality of not relying on the pipe length to produce a particular tone. Instead the tone is dependent on the ratio of the total surface area of opened holes to the total cubic volume enclosed by the instrument. This means that, unlike a flute or recorder, sound is created by resonance of the entire cavity and the placement of the holes on an ocarina is largely irrelevant — their size is the most important factor. Instruments that have toneholes close to the voicing/embouchure should be avoided, however, because this weakens tonal production since an ocarina is a Helmholtz resonator.

ø OCARINA made from 'A'sparagus to 'Z'ucchini

2009-10-16T22:25:00.011+08:00

The Ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument which comes in all kind of shapes and sizes but commonly ocarina is typically oval-shaped. There would be four to twelve finger holes and a mouth tube projecting out from the body. It is often ceramic, but many other materials, such as plastic, wood, glass and metal may also be used. What about vegetables then? No kidding! You can make ocarina using veges from 'A-sparagus' to 'Z-ucchini.'

Ogenkidesu! Nonamesan, sorry not able to find out this Japanese music teacher's name, he sure has all the talent and ability to make veges ocarina. Take my hat off for him.

Tools required ~ big and small drills, cosh with same diameter as big drill, sharp blade, chisel, round file, ruler, electric drill and lastly tuner, not forgetting of course a great pair of unshaky hands. Good luck!

It's a capsicum..

Of all the veges think the best sound comes from the broccoli and carrot.

ø The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas - Episode 5

2009-10-16T17:45:00.086+08:00

It took me quite awhile to decide participating in this 'wok-ing' contest. Wonder it smells fishy for a muzika blog to blend into foodie as it could be an utterly 'mis-steak'. However a peek into the webisodes altered my decision. Will let the foodie experts 'wok' the talk while I'll talk no wok. Furthermore it would be a big surprise to know that veges can make music besides being good as 'microphone' by Vanessa and Meng Meng in episode 6. Let there be music and you shall have music from 'A'spragus to 'Z'ucchini. I shall post about the veges music soon.

Very glad to have the opportunity and the generosity of foongpc to come out with this contest who is a crafty blogger himself, always keeping the viewers in suspense with his abrupt 'ending' so as to keep them hungry and craving for more. Must jointly thank foongpc and also QuaChee for sharing this series of webisodes on cooking made easy by BIG Bibik with the recommended recipes for cooking enthusiasts. As the saying goes 'the way to a person's heart is to 'wok' by the stomach'. Check this out and you would be amased how simple it would be to cook 'Sambal Bendeh' (Orkra Salad), commendable excellent acting by BIG Bibik and also the three little gorgeous and playful nyonyas for spicing up the webisodes. Eminently good storyline with a couple of hilarious 'whacking' and 'bashing' for mistakes committed by the ignorant little nyonyas. Whoa! I love the sound effects and graphics which added more sugar and spice into the peranakan cooking especially the part where the whole house was shaking with the throbbing sound of a sledge-hammer to amplify the pounding of chillis and belacan. Sugar is a must in nyonya cooking and guess you may agree with me BIG Bibik's 'little' bit of sugar weighs almost a 'kilogram' [chuckle]. No wonder the Nyonyas are so sweet and lovely. Kudos and congratulations to the whole webisodes team.

Would be looking forward for more new arrival of the webisodes and if you are interested to catch up on the whole series and the recipes click on bookmarQC .

Check this out in my next post on making music from vegetables A-Z.

ø PIANO STAIRS - TheFunTheory.com

2009-10-15T21:31:00.009+08:00

The most easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better is by way of music thus making it fun to do and the best alternate way to keep fit and stay healthy. Just look at the sudden change of percentage of people hopping onto the "piano" instead of using the escalator. Let there be music, people just wanna have be fun. ~ Place: Odenplan, Stockholm

ø ERHU

2009-10-14T23:11:00.012+08:00

The Erhu (Chinese: 二胡; pinyin: èrhú), also called nanhu (南胡, "southern fiddle"), and sometimes known in the West as the "Chinese violin" or "Chinese two-string fiddle," is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, introduced into China a thousand years ago.

Not debating on how the name came about as it is obvious (二, èr, two) refers to the two strings and some states that it comes from the second highest pitch. The second character (胡, hú) has a high possibility in relation to a member of the huqin family originated from a Mongolian tribe.

The shape of erhu is like a drum like usually hexagonal and 13cm in length which is covered with python snake skin at the front and the back is left open. It function as a music box amplifying the vibrations of the strings. The same material of ebony or sandalwood is used for the drum and the neck measuring about 81cm with two tuning pegs at the end of the stem. There is no frets or touching board, the player creates different pitches by touching the strings at various positions along the neck of the instrument.

The bow is 81 cm long arched with horse hair in the same way as the bow of violin and runs between the two strings which were usually silk or nylon but nowadays metal is getting popular. In another word, one cannot take off the bow from the instrument unless one of the two strings is taken off or broken. Professional players were using purpose made D and A steel erhu strings as standard. The cost of a set of erhu ranges from U$144 - U$800.

ø KALIMBA

2009-10-11T22:52:00.004+08:00

The Kalimba is a musical instrument invented in southern Africa some 3000 years ago. The name kalimba is a Bantu word which basically means "little music" and aka African thumb piano. Simply made from a wooden box and a few tines of flattened metal are plucked with the thumb or fingers, and the reed vibrations are amplified by a hollow box resonator or a sounding board.

An Englishman by the name of Hugh Tracey, fell in love with African music and was instrumental in setting up a company called African Musical Instruments (AMI). AMI was responsible for exporting the first kalimba commercially out of Africa in the late 1950s. Tracey founded the The International Library of African Music (ILAM) in 1954, and become its director. ILAM publishes the African Music Society Journal.

A few artists, including Earth, Wind & Fire, Jo Mango, King Crimson and Laura Barrett, have also incorporated the kalimba into Western pop music styles.

Need more information about Kalimba kindly click HERE or Wikipedia

ø SAREGAMA : Organic-Electronic World Fusion

2009-10-09T13:04:00.013+08:00

SaReGaMa is a nick name picked by this composer who has an affinity to Indian classical music thus the name Sa, Re, Ga and Ma, the first 4 notes of Saptak or the series of seven notes in a musical scale. He created his music as a hobby which he truly enjoys the most and more than happy to give it away for free merely depending solely on donations. You are free to share, copy, distribute, transmit and remix his music but must adhere to his only condition that it must stay FREE and no profits should derived from it.

He defined his music as Organic-Electronic World Fusion using piano, guitar, flutes, didgeridoo, percussions, kalimba and jew's harp which are mostly homemade. An ironical part of his musical preferences is he has all ears for almost every music except Pop, Rock and Trance and admitted being funny that he began with Electronic music making Trance. For me I love any kind of music as long as timing and mood is in congruence.

Music stimulates the mind and can create wonders, this is good for relaxation and meditation. Click here for more elaborate instructions on listening to his kind of music.

ø Making Civic Noises

2009-10-02T22:05:00.005+08:00

What the swiiiiiiiiisshhh is going on? What are all these strange and funny noises, have they gone insane? Nope! This is a rehearsal for a TV commercial done in 2006. A selected choir of 34 men and 26 women comprising of sopranos, mezzo sopranos/altos, tenors, baritones and basses doing a rehearsal in a Catholic primary school. Definitely I am not promoting this commercial but was merely fascinated and intrigued by their very own natural ability to produce such a great masterpiece. Credit goes to the conductor and composer Steve Sidwell and The Weiden+Kennedy London Creative Team.

The sound for the ad was recorded in a studio, with the filming of the choir in the multi story car park done for the visual effect. It is really amazing that all the sounds were made naturally by human body. It's a challenging task for Steve Sidwell to synchronize a large mixed voice choirs and calls for a perfect concerted timing of vocal effects, whistling, chest thumps, teeth taps, beat-boxing and more to mimic the sounds of the car's engine, tyres grinding on road, sweeping windscreen wipers, rain on the roof top etc with superb accuracy.

ങ PIPA 琵琶

2009-09-26T18:47:00.019+08:00

The Pipa (Chinese: 琵琶; pinyin: pípá) is a four-stringed Chinese instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments (弹拨乐器/彈撥樂器). Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26. Although, like its smaller sibling, the Chinese liuqin, it may look like a lute, in fact, neither instruments have an actual neck, as the soundboard body spans the entire strings to the head of the instrument, making them actually a handheld zither. The pipa appeared in the Qin Dynasty and developed by the Han Dynasty. It is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for nearly two thousand years in China. Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa; these include the Japanese biwa, the Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà, and the Korean bipa. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer used. Attempts to revive the instrument have failed, although examples survive in museums.

The name "pípá" is made up of two Chinese syllables, "pí" (琵) and "pá" (琶). These are the two most common ways of playing this instrument. "Pí" is to push the fingers of the right hand from right to left, thus more than one finger can be used at a time striking multiple notes, and "pá" is to pull the thumb of the right hand from left to right, in the opposite direction. The strings were originally played using a large plectrum in the Tang Dynasty, then gradually replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. Since the revolutions in Chinese instrument making during the 20th century, the softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so false nails are now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to the fingertips with the player's choice of elastic tape.

A Tang Dynasty five-stringed pipa:

Prototypes of the pipa already existed in China in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC–206 BC). At that time, there were two types of pipa. One was straight-necked, with a round sound box constructed from lacquered Paulownia wood, and two faces mounted with leather. The other was believed to be inspired by the primitive forms of zheng, konghou, and zou. It also has a straight neck, a round sound box, and also four strings, along with twelve standards of notes. This model was later developed into the instrument known today as the ruan. The modern pipa is closer to the instrument which originated in Persia/Middle-East (where it was called barbat) and was introduced into China beginning in the late Jin Dynasty (265–420 A.D.).

By the Tang era, the pipa had become popular in the imperial court. It had a crooked neck, 4 or 5 silk strings, and 5 or 6 frets, and was played with a plectrum in a horizontal position. As the ages went by, the crooked neck was replaced by a straight one, the number of frets increased to between 14 or 16, and to 17, 24, 29, or 30 in the 20th century.

The pipa became a favourite in the Tang Dynasty, during which time Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). Many delicately carved pipas with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period. Masses of pipa-playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. [wikipedia]

ങ CRAZY FROG

2009-09-19T00:35:00.010+08:00

Crazy Frog, originally known as The Annoying Thing, is a computer animated character created by Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl while attempting to imitate the sound of a two-stroke moped engine.

The Crazy Frog spawned a worldwide hit single with a remix of "Axel F", which reached the number one spot in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and most of Europe. The subsequent album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits and second single "Popcorn" also enjoyed worldwide chart success, and a second album entitled Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits was released in 2006. The Crazy Frog has also spawned a range of merchandise and toys, and two video games.

In 1997, 17-year-old student Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself impersonating the noises produced by internal combustion engines. He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish television researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air. After it debuted on television, recordings of his performance began appearing on peer to peer file sharing networks and various websites under the filename "2TAKTARE.MP3" ("Tvåtaktare" is Swedish for "Two stroker"). The sound was adopted as the sound of a formula one car as early as 2001 in the form of "Deng Deng Form" and later "The Insanity Test" both of which were a static background of a Ferrari Formula One car accompanied by the sound. However the sound was later adopted as that of a motorcycle for its most well known format.

In late 2003, Malmedahl's fellow Swede Erik Wernquist encountered the sound effect and, not knowing about the previous incarnations of the sound, was inspired to create the 3D animation "The Annoying Thing" to accompany it. Erik used the LightWave 3D modeling application to produce the animation and posted it on his website. The animation was a popular attraction at Erik's website, but the sound was credited to "Anonymous". Eventually, word reached Daniel that his impressions had been used in a now well-known animation. He contacted Erik, apparently giving an impromptu performance to confirm his claims. Erik was convinced, and gave credit to Daniel for his creation. It was broadcast for the first time on two Belgian commercials for Ringtone Europe and Jamster België (now both merged into Jamba!) in mid-2004. They soon created Crazy Frog.

Riding on the popularity of these initial single releases, an album entitled Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits was released on July 25. It contained several Frog remixes of existing songs like "Pump Up the Jam" and the Pink Panther theme, as well as several original tracks such as "In the 80's" and "Dirty Frog". It reached #5 in the UK, #8 in Australia and topped the charts in New Zealand. Surprisingly the album performed much better in the US than the "Axel F" single, reaching #19.

A special Christmas edition of Crazy Hits with numerous holiday-themed bonus tracks was released in November, backed with a double A-side single release of "Jingle Bells/U Can't Touch This". The single peaked at #4 in Australia and #5 in the UK.

In May 2006 the Crazy Frog contributed two tracks to a British compilation album entitled Football Crazy released to coincide with the 2006 World Cup — "Ole Ole Ole (Do the Froggy Wave)" and "Na Na Na, Hey Hey". A second album entitled Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits was released in June 2006, continuing in the musical vein of the first release with Frog versions of songs such as "I Will Survive", "Ice Ice Baby", and "I'm Too Sexy". The second single release is "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)", again a World Cup-oriented track perhaps drawing inspiration from the earlier Football Crazy songs.

Third album, titled Everybody Dance Now is released on 13 July, 2009 and first single, a new version of Daddy DJ on August 2009. [wikipedia]

ങ 911::Heaven

2009-09-11T21:11:00.002+08:00

R.I.P.

ങ 09.09.09 999 ROSES

2009-09-09T21:09:00.004+08:00

ങ GAMELAN

2009-09-06T13:36:00.016+08:00

A Gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia typically from the islands of Bali or Java featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones xylophones drums and gongs bamboo flutes bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included. The term refers more to the set of instruments than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable.

The word "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamel" meaning to strike or hammer and the suffix "an" which makes the root a collective noun. Real hammers are not used to play these instruments as heavy iron hammers would break the delicate instruments. The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records and instead represents a native art form. The instruments developed into their current form during the Majapahit Empire. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing.

SMK Bukit Baru, Malacca Malaysia...Gamelan & Caklempong Competition 2009-Champions. Bravo!

In Javanese mythology the gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru in Saka era 167 (c. AD 230) the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountains in Medangkamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages he invented two other Gongs thus forming the original gamelan set.

'Misi Nggak Mungkin' by Djaduk Ferianto & Trie Utami, Groovy I'm lovin' it.. Syabas!

The varieties are generally grouped geographically with the principal division between the styles favored by the Balinese Javanese and Sundanese peoples. Sundanese gamelan is often associated with Gamelan Degunga Sundanese musical ensemble that utilises a subset of modified gamelan instruments with a particular mode of pelog scale. Balinese gamelan is often associated with the virtuosity and rapid changes of tempo and dynamics of Gamelan gong kebyarits best-known style. Other popular Balinese styles include Gamelan and kecak also known as the "monkey chant." Javanese gamelan was largely dominated by the courts of the 19th century central Javanese ruler seach with its own style but overall is known for a slower more meditative style than that of Bali.

Outside of the main core on Java and Bali gamelans have spread through migration and cultural interest new styles sometimes resulting as well. Malay gamelans are designed in ways that are similar to the Javanese gamelan except they lack most of the elaborating instruments and are tuned in a near-equidistant slendro often using a western Bb or C as a tuning basis. Javanese emigrants to Suriname play gamelan in a style close to that found in Central Javanese villages. Gamelan is also related to the Filipino kulintang ensemble. There is also a wide variety of gamelan in the West including both traditional and experimental ensembles.

The gamelan has been appreciated by several western composers of classical music most famously Claude Debussy who heard a Javanese gamelan play at the Paris Exposition of 1889 (World's Fair). (The gamelan Debussy heard was in the slendro scale and was played by Central Javanese musicians). Despite his enthusiasm direct citations of gamelan scales melodies rhythms or ensemble textures have not been located in any of Debussy's own compositions. However the equal-tempered whole tone scale appears in his music of this time and afterward and a Javanese gamelan-like heterophonic texture is emulated on occasion particularly in "Pagodes" from Estampes (solo piano 1903) in which the great gong's cyclic punctuation is symbolized by a prominent perfect fifth. [wikipedia]

ങ YOSHIDA KYODAI (BROTHERS)

2009-09-04T21:58:00.006+08:00

The Yoshida Kyōdai (吉田兄弟) are Japanese musicians and have released several albums under the Domo Records internationally as the Yoshida Brothers. Ryōichirō Yoshida (吉田良一郎 , born 26 July 1977) and Ken'ichi Yoshida (吉田健一 , born 16 December 1979) were born in Noboribetsu in Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan. The two brothers have played the shamisen from a very young age. They both began to study and play the shamisen from five years of age under Koka Adachi, learning the Minyō-shamisen style; from about 1989 they studied the Tsugaru-jamisen style under Takashi Sasaki.

They are a pair of brothers and performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 1999 in Japan as a duo playing the shamisen. Their first album sold over 100,000 copies and made them minor celebrities in Japan, a fact that surprised the Yoshida Brothers themselves. They have since attracted an international audience.

The commercials for the Nintendo's Wii video game console that began airing in North America in November 2006 feature the Yoshida Brothers song, "Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)

Their music has been a fusion of the rapid and percussive Tsugaru-jamisen style along with Western and other regional musical influences. In addition to performing songs that are only on the shamisen, they also use modern instruments such as drums and synthesizers. [wikipedia]

൯ TWELVE GIRLS BAND

2009-08-28T23:14:00.016+08:00

Twelve Girls Band (traditional Chinese: 女子十二樂坊; simplified Chinese: 女子十二乐坊; pinyin: Nǚzǐ shí'èr Yùefǎng, sometimes abbreviated to 女樂 or 女乐) is a music women artists group who started with twelve members but later become thirteen, that use traditional Chinese instruments to play both traditional Chinese and Western songs. Formed on June 18, 2001, the women were selected by audition from more than 4,000 contestants. Each woman is classically-trained, and the band members come from various conservatories in the People's Republic of China (PRC), including the China Academy of Music, the Chinese National Orchestra, and the Central Conservatory of Music.

Chinese numerology gave Wang Xiao-Jing the idea for the Twelve Girls Band. When the Xiao-Jing decided he wanted to create a woman ensemble, he knew it needed 12 members. Per Chinese mythology it is the twelve jinchai (12 hairpins) representing womanhood. The twelve women that Xiao-Jing assembled were experienced musicians from the People's Republic of China's orchestras, played traditional Chinese instruments, and all were in their twenties. For the new project, the women were inspired by the art of the Yue Fang, the ensembles who played in the Tang Dynasty courts during the years A.D. 618 to 907.

The group debuted their modern compositions on ancient instruments in China and Japan during the Northern summer of 2003. Word of mouth spread, show after show were sold-out, and in Japan their debut album topped the charts for 30 weeks. Their self-titled debut was released in North America in August 2004 with cover versions of Coldplay's "Clocks" and Enya's "Only Time" included, and a massive television advertising campaign announcing the group's arrival.

Among the instruments used by the women: erhu (Chinese fiddle), pipa (pear-shaped lute), guzheng (zither), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), dizi (transverse flute), and xiao (vertical flute). Occasionally, the duxianqin (single-stringed zither) and hulusi (three-piped gourd flute) are employed.

They took 1500 years of legacy and traditional Chinese music and weave into contemporaries of pop, jazz and classical.

In July 2003, Beautiful Energy, their first album in Japan, reached the top of the J-pop chart. They won Japan Gold Disc Award in 2004.

The Twelve Girls Band toured in the United States in 2004 Miracles tour and again in 2005. In July 7, 2007 the Twelve Girls Band performed at the Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai.

Bao Zhong/pipa; Bin Qu Liao/dizi,hulusi,xiao; Jian Nam Zhou/gu zheng; Jin Jiang/erhu; Jing Jing Ma/yangqin; Kun Zhang/pipa; Shuang Zhang/pipa; Song Mei Yang/yangqin; Ting Sun/erhu; Yan Yin/erhu; Ying Lei/erhu,duxiangqin; Yuan Sun/dizi,hulusi,xiao;

Whoa! I was completely blown away, fantastic..awesome

൯ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, Fur Elise|Moonlight Sonata|Symphony 9|Symphony 5|Bagatelle, Opus 33 #5|Sesta Sinfonia - la "Pastorale"|

2009-08-24T23:21:00.022+08:00

Ludwig van Beethoven (English pronunciation: /ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪtoʊvɨn) (16 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical musicand remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time. Born in Bonn which was then capital of the Electorate of Cologne in present-day Germany he moved to Vienna in his early twenties and settled there studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist.

Around 1796 Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitusa "ringing" in his ears that made it hard for him to perceive and appreciate music he also avoided conversation. The cause of Beethoven's deafness is unknown but it has variously been attributed to syphilis lead poisoning typhusauto-immune disorder (such as systemic lupus erythematosus) and even his habit of immersing his head in cold water to stay awake. The oldest explanation from the autopsy of the time is that he had a "distended inner ear" which developed lesions over time.

Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (November 25 1895 – May 23 1991) was a world-renowned German pianist and composer.

Beethoven is acknowledged as one of the giants of classical music occasionally he is referred to as one of the "three Bs" (along with Bach and Brahms) who epitomize that tradition. He was also a pivotal figure in the transition from 18th century musical classicism to 19th century romanticism and his influence on subsequent generations of composers was profound. Beethoven's compositional career is usually divided into Early Middle and Late periods. In this scheme his early period is taken to last until about 1802 the middle period from about 1803 to about 1814 and the late period from about 1815.

Herbert von Karajan (5 April 1908 - 16 July 1989) was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor.

In his Early period Beethoven's work was strongly influenced by his predecessors Haydn and Mozart but he also explored new directions and gradually expanded the scope and ambition of his work. Some important pieces from the Early period are the first and second symphonies the set of six string quartets Opus 18 the first two piano concertos and the first dozen or so piano sonatas including the famous Pathétique sonata Op. 13.

His Middle (Heroic) period began shortly after Beethoven's personal crisis brought on by his recognition of encroaching deafness. It is noted for large-scale works that express heroism and struggle. Middle-period works include six symphonies (Nos. 3–8)the last three piano concertos the Triple Concerto and violin concerto five string quartets (Nos. 7–11) several piano sonatas (including the Moonlight Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas) the Kreutzer violin sonata and Beethoven's only opera Fidelio.

Beethoven's Late period began around 1815. Works from this period are characterized by their intellectual depth their formal innovations and their intense highly personal expression. The String Quartet Op. 131 has seven linked movements and the Ninth Symphony adds choral forces to the orchestra in the last movement. Other compositions from this period include the Missa Solemn is the last five string quartets (including the massive Große Fuge) and the last five piano sonatas.

Beethoven was bedridden for most of his remaining months and many friends came to visit. He died on 26 March 1827 during a thunderstorm. His friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner who was present at the time claimed that there was a peal of thunder at the moment of death. An autopsy revealed significant liver damage which may have been due to heavy alcohol consumption. [wikipedia]

Friedrich Gulda - (16 May 1930 - 27 Jan 2000) was an Austrian pianist who performed in both classical and jazz fields, nicknamed "terrorist pianist" because of his unorthodox practice..he's kinda cute..

൯ VOCA PEOPLE

2009-08-23T22:42:00.003+08:00

The Voca People is a new international vocal theater performance that combines amazing vocal sounds and an acapella singing with the art of modern beat-box which imitates the sounds of drums, trumpets, guitars and other instruments and musical effects without using any musical instrument on stage, performed in a humoristic way and with audience participation.

The Voca People is an ensemble of 8 talented musician-actors; 3 female singers that bring the very best female sounds (alt, mezzo, soprano) and 3 male singers (bass, baritone, tenor. In addition there are 2 beat box artists that create extraordinary human beat box sounds and are considered to be the best performers in their field. Artistic Director: Lior Kalfo, Music Director: Shai Fishman, Producers: Revital & Lior Kalfo. Performers: Eyal Cohen, Oded Goldstein, Liraz Rahmin, Adi Cesare, Adi Kozlovsky, Naama Levi, Boaz Ben David, Inon Ben David

This innovative performance is one of the only acts in the world that combines singers and beat box performers to bring an entire orchestra without any musical instruments.This unique comical and theatrical framework and the mega mixes they bring to the stage - distinguish them from other vocal groups.

൯ STOMP

2009-08-22T17:37:00.004+08:00

STOMP, a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, was created in Brighton, U.K., in the summer of 1991. It was the result of a 10 year collaboration between its creators, Steve McNicholas and Luke Creswell. They first worked together in 1981, as members of the street band Pookiesnackenburger and the theatre group, Cliff Hanger.

In the summer of 1991, Luke and Steve produced, financed and directed the original STOMP, previewing at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre and premiering at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, where it became the Guardian’s “Critic’s Choice” and won the Daily Express’ “Best of the Fringe” award. Originally a seven-piece (with Luke, Theseus Gerard, Fraser Morrison, Carl Smith, Nick Dwyer, David Olrod and Sarah Eddy) STOMP grew to be an eight person outfit with the addition of Fiona Wilkes in the fall of ‘91.

Between 1991 and 1994, the original cast of STOMP played to capacity audiences around the world from Hong Kong to Barcelona, from Dublin to Sydney. The touring culminated in a sell-out season at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre in January 1994, where STOMP received an Olivier nomination for Best Entertainment Award and won Best Choreography Award in a West End show.

STOMP began its run at the Orpheum Theatre in New York in February 1994 and quickly went on to win an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award for Most Unique Theatre Experience. STOMP also created the “Mr. Frears’ Ears” series of short films created for Nickelodeon. “Brooms,” a 15-minute short film based on the opening routine, was nominated for an Academy Award. This STOMP-oriented film was also selected for screening at Robert Redford’s Sundance Festival and for competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Luke and Steve began production of their IMAX movie Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey, in Brazil during Carnival 2000 and completed it in the summer of 2002. Pulse takes the IMAX audience on a spectacular global journey, featuring performances from Kodo, Timbalada and Eva Yerbabuena. It was released to critical acclaim in the fall of 2002 and won 2 major awards at La Geode's film festival in Paris the following year. In 2004 it received the ultimate Imax Award for Best Film at the GSTA in Montreal. Pulse is still playing in IMAX theatres worldwide.

In September 2002, STOMP finally entered London’s West End at the Vaudeville Theatre, and later that year STOMP performed as part of the Royal Variety Show for the second time. STOMP is now in its fifth year in London. In 2003, a unique Dolby Digital trailer featuring STOMP performances debuted in cinemas across the globe and the following year an Emmy nominated sequence was created for ABC Sports coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships.

In 2004, in celebration of ten years of STOMP in New York, 2nd Avenue at 8th Street was renamed Stomp Avenue. In 2007, STOMP OUT LOUD opened in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino with an expanded cast and performed inside a new $28 million theater specifically created for the production. [wikipedia]

൯ ENNIO MARCHETTO

2009-08-19T22:54:00.009+08:00

Ennio Marchetto (born 20 February 1960 in Venice) is an Italian comedic live entertainer whose performances feature quick-change artistry, impersonations and his trademark bi-dimensional paper costumes. In his one hour show he goes through 50 costume changes, often in front of the audience without hiding behind drapes or screens and without any assistance by stage hands.

His costumes are created from cardboard and paper, often folding from one character into another character. In 18 years, Ennio has performed in over 70 countries for more than a million people. His show has received numerous awards and international critical acclaim. He has around 350 characters in his repertoire. His characters are often celebrities, but also include other cultural icons and works of art. His first international engagement was during the 1989 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where his show became a cult hit. His show has travelled all over the world ever since and has been part of major television productions worldwide.

Awards

1987: Golden Lion, Venice Entertainment Festival

1988: Zanzara d'Oro, "Best New Comedian" category, Bologna

1994: nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment

1995: "Best Show", Cannes Performance d'Acteur

1996: FAD Sebastià Gasch Award, Barcelona

1999: nominated for Drama Desk Award for a "Unique Theatrical Experience", New York

1999: Back Stage West Garland Award, "Best Costume Design" category, Los Angeles

2008: nominated for the IRNE Award, "Best solo performance at a large theatre" category, Boston [wikipedia]

He is truly amazing, versatile & talented! Thanks to Steven Lee.

൯ MAKSIM MRVICA, Flight Of The Bumble Bee|Exodus|Amazonic|Hana's Eyes|Wonderland|Claudine|Olympic Dream|Cubana Cubana|

2009-08-18T21:47:00.011+08:00

Maksim Mrvica (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈmaksim ˈmr.ʋitsa] born May 03, 1975) is a popular pianist from Croatia. In 2003 Maksim released one of his first albums The Piano Player. Mrvica took up piano lessons from the age of nine from Marija Sekso and gave his first public performance in the same year. Just three years later he gave his first concert performance of Haydn’s Piano Concerto in C major. When war broke out in 1991 both Mrvica and his professor were determined that this would not disrupt his music studies. In spite of the war and surrounding turbulence Mrvica entered in and won his first major competition in Zagreb in 1993.

Mrvica went on to study at the Music Academy in Zagreb where he spent five years under Professor Vladimir Krpanwho himself was a pupil of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He then spent a year at the Franz Liszt Conservatoire in Budapest and during this year he won first prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition. In 2000 he moved to Paris to study with Igor Lazko and gained first prize in the Pontoise Piano Competition in 2001.

When he returned to Croatia he found himself to be the focus of intense media interest and he made frequent television appearances as well as giving a great number of interviews. He soon found himself recording his first CD Gesturesan album of contemporary Croatian piano pieces. Gestures became one of the fastest-selling classical recordings to be released in Croatia and Mrvica was even invited to officiate the Porin award ceremony an honour not usually granted to a classical artist.

Soon after this launch Mrvica was spotted by the musician author and manager Tonči Huljić who composed several tracks for the crossover string quartet Bond and it was Tonči who put Mrvica in touch with British impresario Mel Bush. Mel had by chance been looking for a new pianist for some time and he recognised Maksim's potential to appeal to a wide range of audiences. EMI Classics was also interested in Mrvica and soon a new album was underway. This album was The Piano Player which gave a new spin to compositions by Handel and Chopin. Since its release in 2003 it has been very successful particularly in Asia where it has achieved Gold status in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. Platinum in Taiwan and Croatia and Double Platinum in Hong Kong. It was also in the number 1 slot in the HMV international pop chart in Hong Kong for twelve consecutive weeks.

Mrvica has performed in a couple of international beauty pageants and MTV awards. His image and charisma also attracted the interest of global brands such as American Express who sponsored him in Singapore and automobile giants Chevrolet and BMW for whom he performed at their respective Colombian and Malaysian car launches.

There is a Chinese lyrical version added to the non-lyrical song of Maksim Mrvica's "Claudine". This musical piece was sung and written by singer Edmond Leung from Hong Kong. According to Boxup.com Edmond was so captivated by Maksim's performance of "Claudine" that he asked Maksim's permission to do a lyrical version in Cantonese. Soon after in 2004 their collaboration produced the bitter sweet ballad called "Xin Wang Ai" ("Trust in Love"). [wikipedia]

൯ KITARO

2009-08-18T00:08:00.010+08:00

Takahashi Masanori (高橋正則), better known as Kitarō (喜多郎), is a Grammy award-winning Japanese musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Inspired by the R&B music of Otis Redding, Kitaro taught himself how to play guitar. While attending Toyohashi Commercial High School, he started the "Albatross" band with his friends, performing at parties and in clubs. "I started out playing the guitar but then changed to the keyboards. Before one of our gigs, the drummer was injured. I had no experience at all on the drums, but I had to learn it because I was the leader of the band, and we had to do the gig…Later, the bassist had injuries, so I had to learn how to play the bass. [These accidents are] the main reasons why I can play all these instruments; I had a crash course in how to play them. It was a hard time for me, but a very good experience.”

After graduating, Kitaro moved to Tokyo to experience and become a part of the music scene, and it was there that he discovered the synthesizer. His first synthesizer was analog, and recalls he “just loved the analog sound that it made compared to today's digital sound”. His parents were first opposed to the idea of their son having a musical career. Indeed, in an effort to manoeuvre him towards their vision, they made arrangements for him to take a job at a local company. In return, he left home without telling them. He supported himself by taking on several part time jobs such as cooking or civil service work, meanwhile composing songs at night.

In the early 1970s, he changed completely to keyboards. He joined the band "Far East Family Band" and toured with them around the world. In Europe, he met the German synthesizer musician and former Tangerine Dream member Klaus Schulze. Schulze produced two albums for the band and gave Kitaro some tips for the use of synthesizers. In 1976 he left the band and travelled through Asia (China, Laos, Thailand, India).

Back in Japan, Kitaro started his solo career in 1977. The first two albums Ten Kai and From the Full Moon Story became cult favorites of fans of the nascent New Age movement. He performed his first symphonic concert at the 'Small Hall' of the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Shinjuku, Tokyo. During this concert Kitaro used a synthesizer to recreate the sounds of 40 different instruments, a world's first. But it was his famous soundtrack for the NHK series "Silk Road" that brought him international attention. [wikipedia]

൯ TAKE ME TO YOUR HEART

2009-08-16T21:12:00.023+08:00

Wow! Wow! Wow! Superb job by Jammers 02! Love this version of "Take Me To Your Heart", you have got the Hindi, Korean and English version, all three in one. The Hindi version was sung by Shaan and the Korean version by Shin Hyesung (Shinhwa, YEAH~!). Lastly the English part sung by Michael Learns To Rock aka MLTR.

Although MLTR are credited for the song, the melody is actually from an old Chinese song called "Kiss Goodbye" by Jacky Cheung. Million thanks to [jammers02] for putting this together so neatly.

Standing on a mountain high

Looking at the moon through a clear blue sky

I should go and see some friends

But they don't really comprehend

Don't need too much talking without saying anything

All I need is someone who makes me wanna sing

Take me to your heart take me to your soul

Give me your hand before I'm old

Show me what love is - haven't got a clue

Show me that wonders can be true

They say nothing lasts forever

We're only here today

Love is now or never

Bring me far away

Take me to your heart take me to your soul

Give me your hand and hold me

Show me what love is - be my guiding star

It's easy take me to your heart (repeat)

In case you are curious to know who is that gorgeous lady featured in the video, she is Crystal Liu Yi Fei, a star actress and singer from China.

൯ COOKIN' NANTA

2009-08-15T14:36:00.008+08:00

‘Nanta,’ which literally means random drum-beats is a non verbal performance based on the rhythms of samullori (traditional Korean percussions) that is uniquely Korean. The typical Samullori musical percussions have been replaced with diverse drums improvised from kitchen utensils. Going back and forth from cooking to pounding out their rhythmic cadences, from cheerful banter to playful animosity, the kitchen crew creates visual humor and aural fun that entices the audience to participate. As they complete the best dishes of the day, the performance culminates in a feast that is shared with the audience to highlight and celebrate the communal bond found in a traditional Samulnori performance. The show is designated as one of the ‘Top Ten Things to See in Seoul’ by the Korea Tourism Organization.

Nanta made its international debut in 1999 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received an award for best performance. Since then it has been staged in the U.K., Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Australia. With plenty of support from successful oversea performances in February 2004 Nanta finally opened a long term performance in Broadway New York being the first in Asia.

൯ PAUL MAURIAT, Love Is Blue|Toccata|Penelope|El Bimbo|Romeo&Juliet|

2009-08-13T20:04:00.007+08:00

Paul Mauriat (Marseille, 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006 in Perpignan) was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue," which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968. Other recordings for which he is known include "El Bimbo," "Toccata" and "Penelope."

Mauriat grew up in Marseilles and began leading his own band during the Second World War. In the 1950s he became musical director to at least two well-known French singers, Charles Aznavour and Maurice Chevalier, touring with them respectively.

Relative to his peers, Paul Mauriat has one of the largest recording catalogs, featuring more than 1,000 titles just from his Polygram era (1965-1993). He was awarded with the Grand Prix from the French recording industry, a MIDEN trophy, and in 1997 won the prestigious distinction of "Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres" from the French Ministry of Culture. He has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and held 28 tours in Japan from 1973 to 1998.

In the early-mid 1980s, Paul Mauriat appeared in several Japanese coffee and wine TV commercials, which featured music from his orchestra. A line of saxophones are named for Paul Mauriat, known as P. Mauriat Saxophones. Paul Mauriat died on November 3, 2006 at the age of 81. [wikipedia]

൯ SITAR

2009-08-11T21:35:00.015+08:00

Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর) (born 7 April 1920), often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian classical musician and composer who plays the sitar. He was described as "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by Ken Hunt of Allmusic. Shankar was born in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, Delhi, from 1949 to 1956. Shankar was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists, in 1962, and became a fellow of the academy in 1975. He was awarded the three highest national civil honors of India: Padma Bhushan in 1967, Padma Vibhushan in 1981, and Bharat Ratna in 1999. Shankar received the music award of the UNESCO International Music Council in 1975, three Grammy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was awarded honorary degrees from universities in India and the United States. Shankar received the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992, and the Polar Music Prize in 1998.

Thokchom Prasanna Singh initiated his Sitar studies at the age of 11 under (Late) Prof. L. Mangi Singh (Lucknow Gharana / Traditional School), under the Head of Sitar Department of Manipur State Government Music College, Imphal, India. Prasanna was awarded the Manipur State Fellowship for 5 years for further study and research in the traditional sitar style of Bishnupur Gharanas under world renouned Sitar Maestro, Pandit Manilal Nag of Calcutta. From 1984 to 1993 Prasanna was a professor for Sitar at the Minipur State Government Music College in Imphal. He had performed on All India Radio, Indian TV and All India Music conferences. In 1996 Prasanna moved to New York and continues as a performer and instructor.

Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan (born 14 October, 1955) is a Sitar player of Hindustani Classical Music. He carries on a legacy of sitar playing that goes back seven generations in his family. He is one of India’s more celebrated younger musicians, prized especially for the vocalistic phrasing of his raga improvisations. He is privileged with both belonging to an illustrious musical family, and for achieving success in not only preserving the tradition but in pushing its boundaries to even greater heights of aesthetic beauty. He belongs to the famous Etawah Gharana and belongs to the seventh generation of this musical lineage. His family has produced the many of the most revered and influential instrumentalists in Hindusthani Classical Music including the likes of Ustad Sahabdad Khan, Ustad Imdad Khan (his great grandfather), Ustad Enayat Khan , Ustad Wahid Khan (his grandfather) and Ustad Vilayat Khan.

Anoushka Shankar (Hindi: अनुष्का शंकर), born June 9, 1981) is a sitar player and composer in the United States. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Rajan, a bank employee. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy Award winner Norah Jones. Shankar was born in London and divided her childhood between London and Delhi. As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas, California and attended San Dieguito Academy. A 1999 honors graduate, Shankar decided to pursue a career in music rather than attend college. [wikipedia]

Prasanna Leads this group in a medley of Beatles covers. FULL VERSION. www.prasanna-sitar.com

The Beatles were instrumental in introducing Sitar music to the West way back in the 60s and the late George Harrison was the only Beatle who was eager and interested in Sitar music.

A cute advertisement by Channel V reminding of us we all possess the full potential to be rock stars.. Sorry if I have missed out any of your favorite Sitar player as there are far too many. This compilation if mainly based on the availibility from YouTube at the time of posting, hope viewers can understand. Namaste.

൯ BLUE MAN GROUP

2009-08-09T15:38:00.005+08:00

Blue Man Group is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight Show, Scrubs, FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, and Arrested Development; and a children's museum exhibit ("Making Waves"). All of the organization's appearances star a trio of performers called Blue Men.

The Blue Man can be considered a type of homologue, a creature approximating a real male human being. The strongest and most obvious Blue Man characteristic is his static appearance, namely, the ear-less, bright blue head and face, and nondescript, utilitarian clothing. In action, the Blue Man does not speak and his face is usually expressionless, although suggestions of curiosity, surprise, wonder, chagrin, etc. are sometimes visible. The Blue Man does not communicate through speech or broad body language or gestures; rather, he communicates through intense eye contact and simple gestures. He acts impulsively and primarily as a group of three, "checking in" with the other two when making decisions and before moving to their next action. The Blue Man's outwardly apparent motivations are often presented in mild caricature in order to make a humorous and/or ironic point to the audience. Additionally, the Blue Man is inscrutably motivated to drum. They even have their own hand gesture, called the "Blue Man Salute", which is made by raising both arms in the air. These characteristics provide a character free of stereotypes or race and allow all members of the audience to identify with them equally.

Meryl Vladimer, the Artistic Director of The CLUB, saw their work and commissioned Blue Man Group to create a full-length show. The resulting piece, Tubes, took off after Vladimer persuaded New York Times theater critic Stephen Holden to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, resulting in a performance at Lincoln Center titled "Serious Fun", and eventually an Obie Award and aLucille Lortel Award, which led producers to take the show to off-Broadway. Tubes opened in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater in New York City.

Blue Man Group won a special citation in the 1990-1991 Village Voice Obie Awards, and a special award in the 1992 Lucille Lortel Awards, which are for excellence in off Broadway theatre.

It was decided that cast members would stay in character at all times while in makeup, meaning after shows they would still not speak to audience members, and the only "autograph" they would sign would be a smudge of blue paint. When shown a "new" piece of technology, such as a cell phone or even an old pair of binoculars, they will simply stare at it in wonder. [wikipedia]

൯ STEELPANS

2009-08-08T11:34:00.001+08:00

Steelpans (also known as steeldrums or pans, and sometimes collectively with musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating from Trinidad. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.

The pan is a pitched percussion instrument, tuned chromatically (although some toy or novelty steelpans are tuned diatonically), made from a 55 gallon drum of the type that stores oil. In fact, drum refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the steel drum is correctly called a steelpan or pan as it falls into the idiophone family of instruments, and is not technically regarded as a drum or membranophone..

The origin of pan has been the subject of theses in the USA; the University of The West Indies also conducts research into the history of the instrument. Although there has been past debate to determine whether Trinidadians or Antiguans were the originators of this instrument, the history of pan has been well documented by authors including Stephen Stuempfle and Shannon Dudley and has been conclusively shown to have grown out of Trinidad and Tobago's early 20th century carnival percussion groups known as Tamboo Bamboo. Pan is the National Instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.

The steel pan evolved out of earlier musical practices of Trinidad. Drumming was used as a form of communication among the enslaved Africans and was subsequently outlawed by the British colonial government in 1883. African slaves also performed during Mardi Gras celebrations, joining the French that had brought the tradition to the island. The two most important influences were the drumming traditions of both Africa and India. The instrument's invention was therefore a specific cultural response to the conditions present on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

For many years now there have been attempts to use the steel pan in various contexts other than those with which it is stereotypically associated. The first known use of steelband in a theatrical performance (outside of Trinidad and Tobago) was in Harold Arlen's 1954 Broadway musical "The House Of Flowers" where Enid Mosier's "Trinidad Steel Band" performed in several of the numbers. British composer Daphne Oram was the first composer to electronically manipulate the sound of the steelpan after recording a band (probably Russell Henderson's Steelband) in 1960.

The first use of pan in a commercial pop record was by The Hollies in 1967 with "Carrie Anne" An international festival, the World Steelband Music Festival, has been held intermittently in Trinidad since 1964, where steelbands perform in a concert-style ambiance a test piece (sometimes specially composed, or a selected calypso) a piece of choice (very often a "classic" or European Art-music work) and calypso of choice. During Carnival celebrations in Trinidad, the largest steelband contest in the world Panorama takes place.

Among the best known Trinidadian solo performers on steel pan are Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, Ray Holman, Earl Rodney, Rudy "Two Lef" Smith, Ken "Professor" Philmore and Anise Hadeed. Liam Teague has worked to integrate the steelpan with conventional "classical" instruments in transcriptions and specially commissioned works. Many pannists have found that their instrument is particularly suited to use in jazz; in Britain Russell Henderson and Sterling Betancourt have utilised pan in a jazz context since the 1950s. Andy Narell is America's best known jazz pannist, along with Othello Molineaux. Ellie Mannette and Rudolph Charles are well known pan makers, along with Neville Jules and Dudley Dixon. [wikipedia]

So amazing they even make full use of used oil drums. Love to watch them in groups playing than solo. They are completely immersed with the rhythm and flowing freely as if in a trance. Cool..

൯ JAPANESE CLASSICAL 'ROCK'

2009-08-04T18:03:00.002+08:00

You would straight away recognise the intro of Smoke On The Water without any difficulty. Very Cool indeed. If you wanna watch the original Deep Purple in action, click HERE.

Sorry do not know a word of Japanese just that I like the style and hoping the lyric is OK as per the direct translation of the original song and nothing of those abusive or unpleasant words. (feel free to drop a line for those who knows Japanese, thank you).

The 'Queen' meeting the 'Emperor..'

Presenting the Yoshida Brothers..Beauti-phewww music! Ichiban!!!! I love it. More of Yoshida Brothers.

൯ RADETZKY MARCH Op.228

2009-08-02T00:08:00.002+08:00

Radetzky March, Op. 228 is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, and became quite a popular march among soldiers. When it was first played, in front of Austrian officers in attendance, they promptly clapped and stomped their feet when they heard the chorus. This tradition is carried over today when the march is played in classical music venues in Vienna, among members of the audience who are familiar with the tradition. It is almost always played as the last piece of music at the Neujahrskonzert, the Vienna New Year Concert. [wikipedia]

When the East meets West - The China Central Chinese Orchestra, Conductor: Chen Xie Yang, seems to me most of the conductors do have a hilarious look, full of action and expression especially for this particular piece of classical music. Thanks Nicky Beh for sharing in Facebook.

All the while I thought music Conductors are the serious kind of person with all those frowning and scowling appearance, oops guess I was very wrong..

The Conductor, Daniel Barenboim is kinda cute. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1942 to parents of Jewish Russian descent. At a tender age of five he started piano lessons with his mother, together with his father as his only other teacher. In August 1950, he gave his first official concert in Buenos Aires when he was seven years old.

൯ SOUNDS OF NATURE - RAIN n' THUNDER

2009-08-01T18:28:00.003+08:00

Whoa I'm loving it, love to stare out of my room window looking at droplets and hearing them hitting at the window pane.

Natural sounds of rain and thunder done naturally by clicking of fingers, clapping of the hands and stumping of the feet. Of course with a little bit of help from the lights effect. Thanks Cindy Liao for the video.

How about "singing and dancing in the rain?"..

*LET THERE BE MUZIK*

ଳ DRUMMERS Bang On

Ð Morin Khuur - Mongolian horse-head fiddle

൯ IMAGINE ~ Singing with HANDS & FINGERS

ള HARMONICA

ള BAGPIPES

௫ TABLA

௫ BEATBOXING

௫ ANGKLUNG

മ GLASS ARMONICA

മ GLASS HARP WITH CLASS

മ WHISTLING

മ BANJO Part II - Homemade

മ BANJO

ø LEAF THE MUSIC ALONE

ø WADAIKO YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan

ø RICHARD CLAYDERMAN

ø OCARINA - The Real Ones

ø OCARINA made from 'A'sparagus to 'Z'ucchini

ø The BIG Bibik & The Little Nyonyas - Episode 5

ø PIANO STAIRS - TheFunTheory.com

ø ERHU

ø KALIMBA

ø SAREGAMA : Organic-Electronic World Fusion

ø Making Civic Noises

ങ PIPA 琵琶

ങ CRAZY FROG

ങ 911::Heaven

ങ 09.09.09 999 ROSES

ങ GAMELAN

ങ YOSHIDA KYODAI (BROTHERS)

൯ TWELVE GIRLS BAND

൯ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, Fur Elise|Moonlight Sonata|Symphony 9|Symphony 5|Bagatelle, Opus 33 #5|Sesta Sinfonia - la "Pastorale"|

൯ VOCA PEOPLE

൯ STOMP

൯ ENNIO MARCHETTO

൯ MAKSIM MRVICA, Flight Of The Bumble Bee|Exodus|Amazonic|Hana's Eyes|Wonderland|Claudine|Olympic Dream|Cubana Cubana|

൯ KITARO

൯ TAKE ME TO YOUR HEART

൯ COOKIN' NANTA

൯ PAUL MAURIAT, Love Is Blue|Toccata|Penelope|El Bimbo|Romeo&Juliet|

൯ SITAR

൯ BLUE MAN GROUP

൯ STEELPANS

൯ JAPANESE CLASSICAL 'ROCK'

൯ RADETZKY MARCH Op.228

൯ SOUNDS OF NATURE - RAIN n' THUNDER

LET THERE BE MUZIK