BlogCadre - music

Blackbird performed by 9 year old Sungha Jung

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:30:14 -0600

The video really speaks for itself, but I'll only comment that this version of Blackbird communicates the themes of hope, optimism, and determination in an altogether different way than the original. To a nine year old, perhaps the world is less broken and in need of mending as it is unformed and in need of imagining.

First Digital Computer Music Recording from 1951

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:05:50 -0500

Historians have found the earliest digital computer music recording, which was made in 1951 by the BBC for a musical performance in a children's radio show.

The recording captures one of the earliest computers to use short term random access memory playing God Save the King, Baa Baa Black Sheep and a short piece of Glenn Miller's In The Mood.

The Ferranti Mark 1 computer was built by UK electrical engineering firm Ferranti in collaboration with Manchester University, UK. It was the world's first commercial computer, and nine were sold between 1951 and 1957.

Link to article.
Link to mp3 file of recording
[via MeFi]

Cassette From My Ex

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:21:02 -0500

If you are old enough to remember the days before CDs then you probably have a few mixed tapes tucked away in a box some where. Cassette From My Ex is a site where you can share your stories behind those mixed tapes and even share the soundtracks. Link [via]

Do you have a mixed tape story?

Manu Delago playing hang drum solo

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:40:22 -0500

Here is a video of musician Manu Delago playing a solo on the hang drum, which is a steel drum created in Switzerland.

Video of Manu Delago playing the hang drum. Wikipedia entry on hang drums. Manu Delago's official website

The Elephant Song and other great kids' songs

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:47:23 -0500

I was so psyched to see The Elephant Song posted on Neatorama today. Zach and I found that video over a year ago and it's one of his favorites to watch. It never dawned on me to post it on BlogCadre -- It's a really cute song that should be shared.

Inspired by Neatorama's Elephant Song post, I'm going to share a few other videos that Zach and I stumbled upon a while back. The following songs were put together for the Big Green Rabbit Show (Rocky Mountain PBS show).

The Dinosaurs Song
The Rhino Song
The Iguana Song
The Green Anaconda Song

Kid plays Tetris theme with two guitars, simultaneously

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:29:37 -0500

Watch Zack Kim play the Tetris theme song with two guitars, simultaneously. Link.

Other Zack Kim videos: Zelda, Super Mario, Simpsons

Reznor offers a variety of options for new NIN album: Ghosts

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:30:45 -0600

After the release of Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, a.k.a. Halo 25, the remixed version of Year Zero, Trent Reznor of NIN is officially free of the Interscope label. His next album, Ghosts I-IV, a.k.a. Halo 26 comes with a variety of free download and purchase options in multiple digital and physical formats, many exclusive to the Nine Inch Nails website:

http://ghosts.nin.com

Sleevefaces

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:52:03 -0600

Sleeveface is "the art of one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of the body or bodies with record sleeves causing an illusion." Here is a gallery of a variety of sleevefaces. Have a sleeveface of your own? Share it with BlogCadre! [via MeFi]

Robot guitar tunes itself

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:21:24 -0600

Tuning an instrument can sometimes be a pain, but Gibson Guitar has come up with the world's first robot guitar, Les Paul Robot Guitar, that keeps itself in tune.

"It will not make you a better guitar player but it will allow the average player to access some very sophisticated tunings," Gibson Guitar Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz told Reuters on Tuesday.

The six nonstandard preset tunings were used on hits ranging from "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones and Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" to Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" and Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game."

Gibson says the robot guitar is aimed at amateurs who have a hard time keeping their guitars in tune, as well as professionals who now use technicians during concerts to keep about 100 guitars tuned to different keys.

Only 4,000 limited edition guitars will be available worldwide on December 7. Price ta? $2,500.

Gracenote Music Maps

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:25:29 -0600

With Gracenote's Music Maps you can find out who is listening to what and where throughout the world.

I zoomed in on Minnesota and "J.K. Rowling" came up in the "Current Top 10 Artists". Unless they are referring to books on tape, since when did she start her own rock band?

Radiohead "15 Step" conspiracy: pay more, get more?

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:52:06 -0500

A couple guys at work both purchased Radiohead's new album, which was sold on the "honor system" / "pay what you think it's worth" approach. One of them purchased the album for $5 and the other for $6.

The weird thing is, one of the tracks on the $6 download has a brief bit of extra audio on the "15 Step" track. Check out the video. The difference occurs at about the 3:30 mark, and the $6 version clearly has a 10 second snippet from another song at the end.

Is this a glitch, or is Radiohead giving incremental bonus music based on what you payed?

Luciano Pavarotti Dies at 71

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:48:25 -0500

As all of you have probably already heard, Luciano Pavarotti died after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71. (TIME article)

I thought I would post a video clip in honor of Pavarotti. In this video he is singing, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful songs ever to be written. Pavarotti singing Schubert's Ave Maria.

Audio Anime: Kanye West + Akira + Daft Punk

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:01:30 -0500

Over at meshly, Jason writes:

I was pretty impressed with Kanye West's new music video which retells the anime classic, Akira, to the audio backdrop of Daft Punk's "Stronger." Kanye plays the part of Tetsuo, the emotionally unstable youth who is struggling to manage an increasing power that is out of his control.

The mashup works extremely well, though I would have loved to see Tetsuo's signature uncontrolled mutations instead of popular music's obligatory uncontrolled hot dancing woman.

Link to video.

Previously:
Daft Hands - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Music manualist plays Iron Maiden

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:55:57 -0500

Over at meshly, the writes:

A sub-culture of a sub-culture of a sub-culture. "musical manualist" + heavy metal + 80s = The Least Likely Thing I've Ever Seen In My Life."

A manualist squeezes along to Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" -- Link.

Broccoli Ocarina

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:39:50 -0500

A Japanese man made an ocarina out of broccoli. The video is in Japanese so you'll miss out on some commentary, but he does play 'Angels We Have Heard On High' on the ocarina, which is pretty amazing given that it's a big head of broccoli.

Previously:
a cardboard box upright bass