Time sure does fly by fast. While I am more than aware that we are in the early stages of the 21st century, it was recently pointed out to me that music from the 1980s now fall into the oldies genre. Oldies!? How could the music from my youth possibly receive the same label as songs produced during the swing era, the British invasion, and the short-lived debacle known as disco? Upon further retrospection, I realize that anytime I hear a new wave classic or a hair-band ditty I get a sense of nostalgia, which is a tell-tale sign that a song is an oldie (but goodie).

Much of the music from the Reagan era has been dismissed as trite fluff, but I have a hard time subscribing to this notion. Sure, the substance and integrity of the songs pale in comparison to the brilliant storytelling presented by some of todays singer/songwriters, but back then it was all about fun, and thats what the songs delivered. It was all about dressing up in funky clothes and be-bopping to the lasted synth band or head bangin’ along with the crunching guitars of the hottest metal gods. Cyndi Lauper and Poison said this best with their Top 10 hits Girls Just Want To Have Fun and Nothin But a Good Time, respectively.

Some quality acts, like U2 and REM, are unjustly lumped together with the myriad of flash-in-the-pan performers that tasted success in the 80s. This decade may have been kind enough to open doors and expose their music to the masses, but their writing was way ahead of the times and proved to be a catalyst of their longevity in the spotlight. They shouldnt be uttered in the same breath as Twisted Sister, Roxette and Katrina and the Waves (whose banal Walking on Sunshine seems to be omnipresent on every 80s compilation to ever hit the record shelves.)

While most bands had a small window of opportunity afforded to them in the 80s, some actually used this time as a mere stepping stone and have flourished well into todays market and will most likely see their careers culminate with their tickets punched for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Acts like Madonna, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Bon Jovi, and the aforementioned U2 and REM will be enshrined into the hallowed halls in Cleveland, while such one-hit wonders like Kajagoogoo (Too Shy), Dexys Midnight Runners (Come On Eileen) and Toni Basil (Micky) will never enter the building unless they pay the admission price.

Many of the acts that rose to the pinnacle of popularity during the 80s, quickly fell from grace and either completely disappeared (only to appear later on one of the VH1 has-been shows) or struggled in subsequent years in their attempts to recapture a sliver of their former success. Def Leppard, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Cure, Huey Lewis and the News, The Human League, and Pat Benatar are still churning out new releases, but they are barely making a dent on the charts and surly arent hearing the cha-ching of the cash register that made them wealthy in years past.

Two singing stars have recently gone to extremes to promote new albums long after their moment in the sun had passed them by. Go-Gos frontwoman Belinda Carlisle posed in Playboy about the same time they released their comeback effort God Bless the Go-Gos. While the album was critically adored, fickle music fans didnt seem to care, regardless of the daring attempt to generate publicity. (I will admit that I am one of the few who bought both the CD and the magazine and loved them both!) Former teen sensation Tiffany (I Think Were Alone Now) followed the footsteps of Carlisle and was featured in a later issue of Playboy in an attempt to spark interest in her widely ignored The Color of Silence release. This ploy did not generate the desired results, so we were spared Debbie Gibson (oops, thats Deborah Gibson now) showin what shes got in the pages of some mens magazine.

Lately, 80s music has been used as a marketing ploy (sometimes to my chagrin). In the past five years, there have been two San Francisco-area radio stations that have changed formats, originally identifying themselves as 80s stations. It was a dream come true for me; a location on my dial dedicated to my favorite musical genre. I could not get enough of it, as I relished in hours upon hours of these new oldies, which were once just a special treat some stations programmed on extended holiday weekends. Then, after a few weeks of reeling in nostalgic suckers like me, the playlist began to shift (chagrin alert).

First they started playing more recent tunes by artists associated with the 80s. Songs from Madonna and U2 were intermingling with the fare I had gotten used to hearing. Then they slipped in a few hits from the late 90s, which was a red flag signifying that a big change was just around the corner. Eventually the 80s hits were mostly fazed out in favor of an Adult Top 40 format, which consists of your basic slow-tempo pop tunes from today with a smattering of the classics that got me listening to the station in the first place. If there are radio stations that devote themselves to other bygone eras, I dont see why there cant be a successful market on the airwaves for the 80s.

Regardless of whether or not I can listen to 80s music on the radio 24/7, I will still embrace it for the great memories they bring back to me. I will accept the fact that I am no longer a carefree teen, but its also nice to regress back to my youth when I hear one of my favorites from the Me Generation. Anything that can invoke the special moments of my life is worth exploring on a regular basis. Maybe thats why I own more 80s hits collections on CD than one person should have.

About the Author: When not listening to music, Brian Kohlmeier is a co-founder of SwapThing.com, which changes the way people exchange goods and services through the Internet. SwapThing http://www.swapthing.com is a site focused on building a strong swap community online. The ShareThing http://www.swapthing.com/user/Nonprofit.jsp program helps non-profits get access to item & cash donations as well as volunteers and professional services. This article comes with reprint rights. You are free to reprint and distribute it, as you like. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes, that this resource text is included, and that the links above is intact.

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Good evening! Are you watching the election returns? I am and I can’t help thinking about all the music that has accompanied election campaigns and political campaigns of all kinds in the last few centuries. The first song that comes to mind for me is Happy Days Are Here Again. This well-known song became the theme song for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 inauguration – and was synonymous (with its upbeat tempo and cheerful lyrics) with the promised emergence from the Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal. There have been hundreds of other songs before and after this one, but on this important election night, I can’t help but consider how important music is in setting the tone and the mood of a particular candidate, a particular race, or even a particular political party. A friend in another state is running for Secretary of Education. Imagine how much better her campaign is for using School Days behind television ads rather than I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.

What is it that creates the strong feelings? The lyrics, obviously but also the tempo and the rhythms; a strong march-like rhythm with strong lyrics gets most people involved and makes the words more memorable. Think of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. That song has been sung for generations and will last for many, many more.

Music enhances and reinforces every human experience. Notice and be selective about what you include in your sonic environment. Music can heal and it can also wound. Give yourself the healthiest and most beautiful, uplifting music you can get.

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Taking guitar lessons is so much easier when you can see and hear examples of what you are learning. The going rate now for private guitar lessons is around $20-$25 per 1/2 hour or $40-50 per hour. Learning your guitar lessons from video is the fastest way to increase your guitar playing abilities. The beauty of computer-based guitar lessons is that the lesson can contain all forms of media, from text and pictures to tablature files to audio and video.

The main advantage of video based guitar lessons is being able to see how the instructor is actually playing the material. Another valid tip is when taking guitar lessons is to not over play. One problem with guitar lessons is that a lot of great instruction and nuances are soon forgotten. However, taking guitar lessons is very much like taking traditional guitar lessons at a music store. The soul purpose of taking guitar lessons is to help you become a better guitar player. Another big thing with guitar lessons is just making somebody feel comfortable enough to play. This can be accomplished with DVD’s.

Video guitar lessons are the most convenient, efficient, inexpensive method for learning guitar ever created. There are plenty of free guitar lessons if you are looking to learn the guitar, but you get what you pay for. Try to find interactive guitar lessons with tab and music playback. You may have looked into guitar lessons, but couldn’t find any instructors to fit your schedule. Specially commissioned video, audio and graphics integrated to provide enjoyable and effective guitar lessons is the way to go.

Believe me with this method you’ll learn to play guitar while saving hundreds of dollars in guitar lessons. Learn to play the guitar online using free guitar lessons and chord charts is not a bad way to go when you first start out. There are a number of guitar lessons online that are available now. A Search Engine for finding guitar lessons and other guitarist related resources is a good place to start.

You can begin playing right now by simply going through the free guitar lessons offered on Internet. There are blogs containing facts about guitars, famous guitar brands, guitar tabs, famous guitarists, guitar lessons and other useful guitar information. There are many guitar lessons online that help guitar enthusiasts to at least get some of the basic and intermediate know-how in guitar playing.

Choosing a guitar can be an extremely complicated task. Choosing a guitar based on price alone is not the best bet. There are many possibilities when comes to choosing a guitar, you will find that there are many options for guitar players when choosing a guitar.

Taking guitar lessons is so much easier when you can hear and see examples of what you are learning. In fact, a mix of online and offline guitar lessons is probably going to yield the best results for your guitar playing skills. DVD Guitar Lessons is most beneficial for beginner to intermediate guitarists although advanced guitarists may also find something new to consider. One of the major problems with private guitar lessons is that students go back the next week forgetting what they have been taught the previous week.

Taking guitar lessons is one of those things that everyone seems to give a shot at least once in their lives, so give it a try. Look for Guitar Lessons that provides all the tools you need to begin learning to play guitar right away. If you have ever wanted to play then getting guitar lessons is definitely something you should consider. Another big thing with guitar lessons is just making somebody feel comfortable enough to play.

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Purchasing a classical guitar can be a difficult task particularly if you are not yet an accomplished player. Here are some tips and hints on finding a good quality classical guitar whether it is in the hundred dollar range or the thousand dollar range.

If you are have ever gone into a well stocked guitar shop you have no doubt been confused by the selection of guitars. There are literally hundreds of shapes, sizes brands and types of guitars. And the price can range from a hundred dollars to several thousand. .If you are a beginner, judging the sound quality can be difficult to do because your ear is not yet highly trained. Here are some tips to help you make a good choice.

When in a guitar shop and looking at the guitars you should always ask a sales person to help you. This way you can take guitars down and play them. If you cannot play very well you should ask the sales clerk to play for you so you can get a feel for the sound of the different guitars. If the sales clerk doesnt play you should ask if there is someone working in the shop that does play. As a last resort you should even ask other customers in the store. Not listening to the different guitars is like shopping for a car but never test driving any of them. Guitars have very different feels and tones and you should listen to a lot of them to get a sense of what you like. Dont be bashful in this respect. Guitarists are usually a very gregarious bunch and a guitarist will almost always jump at the chance to play for someone else. If you dont yet play well and you cant find somebody to play for you I recommend you not purchase a guitar. You should come back another time when someone is available to play or you can bring a friend who knows how to play.

Check the size and shape of the guitar

Classical Guitars, of course, come in different sizes and shapes and you should sit with a wide variety of them to get a feeling for what is comfortable to you. Your body shape has an effect on this. If you are over six feet tall the smaller guitars might not be comfortable for you and the fret board may be uncomfortable for your hands. So even if you cant play music you should always hold and sit with the guitars to get a sense of how the different ones feel.

Check the mechanics and playability of the guitar

Here are several things you should do when considering the purchase of a classical guitar.

1. Play every note on every string all the way up and down. Listen for frets that dont play properly. They will give a rattling sound and if this occurs on any fret at all you should put the guitar aside and try another one. This is a sign of inferior quality. Every string should play cleanly on every single fret.

2. Check the action of the strings against the frets in terms of how much pressure is needed to play notes and chords. You should play bar chords all the way down the frets to insure good pressure. If it is too hard to press the strings in order to make a clear chord this could be a sign of an inferior guitar.

3. Play harmonics on the strings. This is an excellent test of the quality of the guitar. Playing harmonics is the technique of plucking the note with your right hand and only lightly touching the string with your left hand. Test the harmonics of all the strings on the 5th, 7th, 12th and 19th frets. If you do not know how to play harmonic notes ask the sales clerk to help you.

4. Examine and test the tuning pegs. Do they look clean and sharp? Wind and unwind them while watching and feeling for smooth turning motion.

5. Visually examine the whole guitar. Look it over very carefully from front to back and top to bottom. Are there any small cracks? Are the frets firmly installed into the fret board? Are there any cracks or glue exposed around the bridge?

6. Tap on the front of the guitar (The sound board) in a variety of different spots. Does it have a rich echoing sound or are there spots where it sounds dead and limp? The internal structure of the classical guitar is very important for the sound and important for the longevity of it. Dull thud sounds could be an indicator of an inferior instrument.

7. Examine the details. Look at the purfling around the edge. This is the decorated pattern that goes around the full body where the soundboard or face meets the sides of the guitar. Is it accurately laid in? If this has variations and inconsistencies it is a good sign that the guitar is of inferior quality.

8. Dont hesitate to take a good look inside the guitar sound hole. You will see wooden braces in there. Do they look straight, accurate and well placed? If you see sloppy globs of dried glue around these braces it could be an indicator of inferior craftsmanship.

9. Remember that there are three distinct areas you must consider when purchasing a classical guitar: The Look, The Feel, and the Sound. If you keep all three of these things in mind and carefully examine the guitar in relation to these you will be able to choose an instrument that will bring you a lifetime of trouble free playing enjoyment.

A Classical Guitar is a purchase that can give you a lifetime of enjoyment and you should consider the purchase carefully. Even if you dont plan on playing every day you should buy an instrument that is of good quality so it will maintain its sound quality for a lifetime. And to do this you dont need to spend thousands of dollars you just need to know how to identify a well made guitar.

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Are you itching to be in the business of selling and manufacturing great music? Are you a musician who wants to help other talents get into the music industry? You can, if you learn how to start your own independent label. Of course, you can collaborate with major label producers but if starting your own independent label appeal to you, then you can but first you will need to learn the basic, and I can give some of them here.

First, let me tell you that to start your own independent label may not be easy, there are numerous aspects of the business that you will need to muster, such as the following:

• Finding talents
• If you are the talent, you must ensure your music are great. Do not settle for good thrive for great music.
• Market, network and manage your business.

If you think this is hard work, I can tell you, indeed it is. Nevertheless, if you are able to do all these then you can be successful in your business.

Please do not be discouraged, in fact to give you some boost to start your own independent label, let me tell you that independent label production is a $12 billion industry.

Now, you probably want to know more, of course you do, a share of the $12 billion could be a handsome amount especially for start up label producers like you.

However, before this happens you must meet some of the requirements to start your own independent label.

Basic requirement to start your independent label

• You should have the money to start your business. Let me tell you that banks may not gamble on you. If you can build your credibility, then, you may approach them when you are able to have a couple of releases already.
• Network with suppliers, you will need to be able to get good term so that you will be able to manage your resources.
• Look are the details including bookkeeping, negotiating, networking and dealing with talents, talent managers and even suppliers.
• Most of all, you will need to do marketing. This is to ensure you will be able to sell you labels and earn from it.

I call them basic but of course, this is the entirety of independent label producing.

Finally, music business is fun business, so to thrive in the industry you must love what you do and have fun as well.

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Purchasing a classical guitar can be a difficult task particularly if you are not yet an accomplished player. Here are some tips and hints on finding a good quality classical guitar whether it is in the hundred dollar range or the thousand dollar range.

If you are have ever gone into a well stocked guitar shop you have no doubt been confused by the selection of guitars. There are literally hundreds of shapes, sizes brands and types of guitars. And the price can range from a hundred dollars to several thousand. .If you are a beginner, judging the sound quality can be difficult to do because your ear is not yet highly trained. Here are some tips to help you make a good choice.

When in a guitar shop and looking at the guitars you should always ask a sales person to help you. This way you can take guitars down and play them. If you cannot play very well you should ask the sales clerk to play for you so you can get a feel for the sound of the different guitars. If the sales clerk doesnt play you should ask if there is someone working in the shop that does play. As a last resort you should even ask other customers in the store. Not listening to the different guitars is like shopping for a car but never test driving any of them. Guitars have very different feels and tones and you should listen to a lot of them to get a sense of what you like. Dont be bashful in this respect. Guitarists are usually a very gregarious bunch and a guitarist will almost always jump at the chance to play for someone else. If you dont yet play well and you cant find somebody to play for you I recommend you not purchase a guitar. You should come back another time when someone is available to play or you can bring a friend who knows how to play.

Check the size and shape of the guitar

Classical Guitars, of course, come in different sizes and shapes and you should sit with a wide variety of them to get a feeling for what is comfortable to you. Your body shape has an effect on this. If you are over six feet tall the smaller guitars might not be comfortable for you and the fret board may be uncomfortable for your hands. So even if you cant play music you should always hold and sit with the guitars to get a sense of how the different ones feel.

Check the mechanics and playability of the guitar

Here are several things you should do when considering the purchase of a classical guitar.

1. Play every note on every string all the way up and down. Listen for frets that dont play properly. They will give a rattling sound and if this occurs on any fret at all you should put the guitar aside and try another one. This is a sign of inferior quality. Every string should play cleanly on every single fret.

2. Check the action of the strings against the frets in terms of how much pressure is needed to play notes and chords. You should play bar chords all the way down the frets to insure good pressure. If it is too hard to press the strings in order to make a clear chord this could be a sign of an inferior guitar.

3. Play harmonics on the strings. This is an excellent test of the quality of the guitar. Playing harmonics is the technique of plucking the note with your right hand and only lightly touching the string with your left hand. Test the harmonics of all the strings on the 5th, 7th, 12th and 19th frets. If you do not know how to play harmonic notes ask the sales clerk to help you.

4. Examine and test the tuning pegs. Do they look clean and sharp? Wind and unwind them while watching and feeling for smooth turning motion.

5. Visually examine the whole guitar. Look it over very carefully from front to back and top to bottom. Are there any small cracks? Are the frets firmly installed into the fret board? Are there any cracks or glue exposed around the bridge?

6. Tap on the front of the guitar (The sound board) in a variety of different spots. Does it have a rich echoing sound or are there spots where it sounds dead and limp? The internal structure of the classical guitar is very important for the sound and important for the longevity of it. Dull thud sounds could be an indicator of an inferior instrument.

7. Examine the details. Look at the purfling around the edge. This is the decorated pattern that goes around the full body where the soundboard or face meets the sides of the guitar. Is it accurately laid in? If this has variations and inconsistencies it is a good sign that the guitar is of inferior quality.

8. Dont hesitate to take a good look inside the guitar sound hole. You will see wooden braces in there. Do they look straight, accurate and well placed? If you see sloppy globs of dried glue around these braces it could be an indicator of inferior craftsmanship.

9. Remember that there are three distinct areas you must consider when purchasing a classical guitar: The Look, The Feel, and the Sound. If you keep all three of these things in mind and carefully examine the guitar in relation to these you will be able to choose an instrument that will bring you a lifetime of trouble free playing enjoyment.

A Classical Guitar is a purchase that can give you a lifetime of enjoyment and you should consider the purchase carefully. Even if you dont plan on playing every day you should buy an instrument that is of good quality so it will maintain its sound quality for a lifetime. And to do this you dont need to spend thousands of dollars you just need to know how to identify a well made guitar.

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Blues is probably the purest American music ever produced and along with its jazz counterpart is the only true American music form. Its roots lie in the work songs of West African slaves in the South. When they toiled hard in the fields of South plantation owners, these slaves built a call and response method of singing, thus lending rhythm to the drudgery of their lives. These came to be called field hollers and became the basis of all blues music to follow. After the Civil War ended, the blacks could either work as field labor or become traveling minstrels. So quite a few ended up being the latter performing at all-nighters, fish-frys and juke joints, relying on their stamina and mental repertoire of many blues songs.

Powerful Blues Music Is Officially Born

While the lyrics of blues songs seem soulful and sad, the music itself is quite powerful and emotive filled with rhythm and celebrating the life of black Americans. What makes this kind of music appealing is its reflection of their daily lives, talking about sex, drinking, poverty, love lost, hard labor anything they experienced.

Among the first documented blues is W C Handys Memphis Blues in 1909. The music grew in popularity and when the 78-RPM phonograph came in the late 1920s Paramount, Aristocrat and other record labels recorded some of the famous country blues artists. Around 1941-1943, field recordings of blues men were made in their surroundings by famous blues folklorist Alan Lomax. This is significant because thats how the white folks got introduced to the blues. Budding artists got exposure to some national record labels.

Blues Travels North

The blacks migrated North during the Great Depression along the route of the Illinois Central Railroad toward Chicago, bringing with them blues music. With huge crowds gathering to enjoy this, performers like Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf switched to electric guitars and also included drum sets to their bands. This became even more powerful than the original blues. There was a lull until the late 1950s when The Kingston Trio recorded the chart topper, Tom Dooley, and gave birth to the folk revival in 1958. The Newport Folk Festival then brought back folk and blues music to the white American people till 1966.

What followed later was a merging of blues with rock forming the rock blues bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Some artists faithful to the form were The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, Led Zeppelin.

Types of Blues Music

There are four types of blues music. The Deltas blues is said to be the original being played by the black men from the Mississippi delta region, using the piano or harmonica. The style was a call and response lyrical framing. Then we have the Chicago Blues, which used electric amplification of voice using mics, drum sets and electric guitars. The Texas Blues are similar to the Chicago blues. In the early 1960s originated the Blues-rock, which was directly influenced by the Delta and Chicago blues.

by

Werner Wichmann – http://www.electricguitarz.com

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For startup musicians, email is a gift of God. When I first started managing bands a number of years ago, I spent hours licking stamps and sending out postcards for upcoming gigs, spending over $100 on people that never showed up to my bands’ gigs. We didn’t even make that much at the gig, and we were blowing money left and right.

Don’t get me wrong. For a band that sticks around, $100 for one fan is worth it, in my opinion, because that fan will be tell friends, buy CDs, and more, but there is a cheaper alternative. Start your own band ezine.

If you don’t already have one, I strongly urge you to head over to eGroups.com and setup your own newsletter. If you haven’t already, start collecting addresses today. Don’t use this as an excuse not to pick up snail mail, mind you. In the next few weeks we’ll talk about how to get the most out of your email and snail mail addresses.

GETTING YOUR LIST STARTED

1. Send Invites to all of your friends, ASK them if they want would like to get your fan news.
2. Specify how often you intend to mail out your ezine (weekly, twice monthly, monthly).
3. Provide info your fans would consider interesting (tidbits about the band, bands you like, favorite recipes).
4. Provide an easy way automatically unsubscribe.
5. Add a Subscribe to My Newsletter link on your homepage.

VERY IMPORTANT DON’TS

DON’T auto-subscribe people from other mailing lists, even if they May like you. (This includes the Media)

BETTER: E-mail them. Include their name in the message, and ASK if they would be interested in subscribing.

DON’T send out an email before Every gig. Especially if you start getting a lot, you will only end up allienating fans. Stick to the schedule.

DON’T make your newsletter filled to the brim in formality.It’s got to breathe. People want newsletters that are personal, so talk to ‘em.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

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As an amateur songwriter, who struggles with a computer far from powerful enough to run the necessary software to record vocals of good quality, I have looked for good solutions.

And I’ve found a few.

In a short while you will hear songs that are totally computer made – including the vocals. Yamaha made the technology, and licensed it to various companies. Vocaloid is the name – remember it if you like music!

I have had the pleasure of testing Leon, the Virtual Soul Vocalist, from www.zero-g.co.uk. The complexity hid behind the seemingly simplistic interface is astonishing. I hardly had to look at the manual at all while exploring – quite atypical for music software.

You draw your vocals using the mouse, and then add lyrics on top. Then, add harmonics, vibrato, attack etc. as you want, tweak the phonemes (your words are automatically converted, and you can edit them as you wish using the reference guide in the manual) and go. Record the vocals as WAV and import them into your favourite sequencer to add music, or use the program as a VST plugin.

On their site, Zero-G describes Leon: LEON is a virtual male soul vocalist modelled on a real professional singer, and when he is installed into your PC he will literally allow you to create singing of superb quality and realism. LEON will sing ANY words you ask him to in English – literally anything – be they beautiful lyrics or comical trivialities, Monteverdi madrigals or manic chants. You can create vocal tracks of soulful singing in any lyrics you want. You just type in lyrics, and synthesize. Then add expression to taste. LEON is under your total control, and the really mind-blowing thing is – he can truly sound like a professional singing voice. With very little practice the results you get from LEON will completely fool your friends – they will believe they are listening to a real singer performing. The question you will hear will always be "WHO is that?", and not "What is that?".

I quite agree. Leon is astonishing. You need a powerful PC to run the Vocaloid programs. My 1 Mhz AMD Athlon with 512 Mb RAM had problems. (Windows XP, Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz , 1 GB of RAM or more is recommended).

But still – I was able to use the program – and the night I received my copy, I didn’t get to bed until 4 am…

You can find a distributor for the Zero-G range at www.zero-g.co.uk. The retail price for both Leon and Lola is $329.95/£199.95/€289. More info on the technology can be found at www.vocaloid.com and a link to raving reviews in various magazines and newspapers (among them one from the New York Times titled Could I Get That Song in Elvis, Please?) are linked to from both sites.

I am now about to enter the vocals for one of my songs using Leon. Gotta go. Drop by http://www.haakon.nu to listen to the results!

Essential software for songwriters: Band in a Box is the perfect companion to these plugins. Enter your chords, select the style (from hardrock to soft ballads and classic Mozart) and generate your music.

Read more at www.bandinabox.com and buy it for $88 ($249 for the MegaPAK with a multitude of styles). BiaB 2006 also allows you to record vocals and to harmonize them – in addition to a great variety of other features. If you wish, you can have BiaB 2005 create your whole song.

Haakon Rian Ueland is a former columnist of the Mensa International Journal, where this article was first published. smartsoftware.org is dedicated to content (ringtones, themes, backgrounds, 3gp videos) for various Cellphones and to his column. You can contact him at hueland (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Hawaiian Music has been developed over the years as a kind of melting pot of sounds from around the world. As such much of the Hawaiian Music that we associate with the islands is composed of a few basic native Hawaiian elements with other cultural influences woven into it.

Contemporary Hawaiian Music often contains one or several of the following; a Ukulele, a guitar, double-bass, steel guitar, slack-key guitar, falsetto or high pitched singing, chanting, and native instruments such as the Pahu or a shark-skin covered drum, and the hanu ihu or the nose flute. Many of the listed items came to Hawaii with Merchants and Missionaries, even the falsetto singing style was learned from missionaries who first taught Hawaiians how to sing the hymnals. Chanting is traditionally used in Hawaiian music. Most of the introduced musical instruments have been adapted by the Hawaiians.

Slack-Key guitar is a tuning technique developed on the islands that leaves one or more of the strings on a guitar slackened. This can allow for longer bass notes that continue while the other strings are being plucked. It is an entirely unique method for playing the guitar. The steel guitar was actually invented by a Hawaiian and the Ukulele is a modified form of an instrument that was brought over by the Portuguese.

Much Hawaiian Music has a wide range of flavors too. You will find Hawaiian Music with a Jazzy influence or rock, blues, country and even reggae and the Hapa-Haole sounds often found in Don Hos Greatest Hits Album or the song Blue Hawaii. Some other albums thought to be solidly Hawaiian Music are Hapa-Hapa, Ke Alaula, and Guava Jam.

The truth is that Hawaiian Music may best be described as whatever sounds and stylings that remind one of the Islands. So if you want to listen to Elvis’s Blue Hawaii at your Luau go ahead.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Luau Party Supplies, decorations, favors, paper goods, centerpieces and scene setters. Plus, free party games, printable activities, coloring pages, word find to help complete your event.

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