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Podcast Safe Music
Podcasting is the new thing in broadcasting nowadays. Practically anyone can create his own podcast and make himself known to the world. Perhaps the best thing about podcasting is that it is meant to be free. In addition to that, podcasts transcend the boundaries of traditional broadcasting. You may be from the US but anyone with access to the internet can listen to your podcast. A person may be in Timbuktu and yet have access to your podcast.
Music is inherent to the success of any podcast. It adds spice and flavor to an otherwise bland broadcast. That is why a large pool of resources has been developed by people in the podcasting community. Beginners and veterans a like search for the perfect background music or filler sounds for every podcast they make. So how do you go about looking for that spice?
Despite the freedom provided by podcasting, there are some issues you must address before jumping into the bandwagon and creating your own podcast. Copyright and intellectual property rights have been a main concern in all aspects of broadcasting for some time now and podcasting is not exempt from that. As a result, the term podsafe has come into existence. What exactly is podsafe? This term encompasses any material that may be used for podcasts without violating any copyright or license. A special thing about podsafe material is that the very same material might require some sort of license in other media but totally safe for podcasting. Due to the open community nature of podcasting, many songs, music, and other type of materials are allowed to be used for free exclusively for podcasts. While you might have to acquire the permission of the copyright holder for other broadcasting media, with podsafe material, you can use it freely in podcasts.
Some specific kinds of work are inherently podsafe. Works that fall under the public domain or some works with Creative Commons licenses can be used in podcasts without any issues. They are meant to be used, and used freely.
There are some entities on the web that license music especially for podcasts. Their podcast safe music is generally available to anyone for downloading and for use in free broadcasts over the internet. The only restriction they have is for the user to duly acknowledge the source. Anyone may also post music on their sites as long as the piece of work is totally original.
Some sites make their music available for no fee at all. On the other hand there are sites which promote artists particularly independent ones and charge a small fee for downloading their songs. Notably, these sites also offer labeled artists and are supposed to split the downloading fees with them.
The important thing to bear in mind when looking for podcast safe music is that most of the groups offering materials make them available to the general public for free. The caveat is that your podcast must not be used for commercial purposes. If that is the case, then you will have no problems finding the right track for your podcast.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 Boasts A Music Player App
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 features a Music Player app in addition to both a music download, and a track recognition application allowing you to constantly enjoy and add more music to your handset as you go. The phone also features an impressive 3 inch touch display with simple touch parameters for control.
The device has a 3.2 megapixel camera which allows you to chapter special moments as photos, or by recording videos, which can both then be shared with friends via the integrated social networks Facebook or Twitter. You can also take advantage of the handsets Send To Web option, which enables you to send photos and videos direct to a personal blog or website too. Photos and videos can also be enjoyed on the handset 3 inch capacitive touch screen with HVGA resolution, and you have microSD card expandable memory, meaning there is always room for endless multimedia to be made.
The Xperia X8 has an Assisted GPS receiver, which allows it to provide useful location based services, such as Geotagging for photos and videos. When you create a photo or video image, the location from which you took it is recorded as file data, which can be helpful, particularly when uploading to certain sharing websites or desktop applications. Additionally, the GPS provisions allow for maps and directions to be provided by the preinstalled Google Maps; while the WisePilot application (also preloaded), offers full turn by turn navigation by foot or car.
The phone has great connectivity with a USB connector offering USB support and syncing, along with USB mass storage which allows you to upload multiple files instantly to a PC, allowing you to then reuse the freed memory on the handset itself. There is also Bluetooth for close range wireless file sharing, as well as audio sharing with the A2DP profile which allows you to connect the phone to a stereo headset, or stereo system for wireless audio. Alternatively, there is also a standard 3.5mm AV connector for headphones present. This is all needed for the Music Player app which offers playlists and other easy features to help you find and enjoy your music, in addition to the integrated FM radio with RDS support.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 has a compact design featuring a small, yet highly capable 3 inch touch screen with touch control and onscreen keyboards for text input. The phone features an impressive array of entertainment features, alongside useful GPS services and a 3.2 megapixel camera afro video recording and photo capture.
Zulu Musical Instruments, Essential To Develop Musical Traditions In Africa
African music is the music of Africans who live in a large region of 50 nations, each with a special culture, history and language, South of Sahara. Zulu musical instruments are part of this multilingual culture. African music has some distinct characteristics: the use of repetition is one of them. Another important characteristic is the polyphony; this is the combination of different musical parts played simultaneously.
The history is marked by the awesome military strategies of the Zulu King Shaka. The King’s and his warriors’ campaign of expansion is well known in world history. Zulu rich traditional culture includes songs, dances and colorful rituals, Zulu musical instruments are spectacular and original. A variety of Zulu musical instruments are well known, s well as the traditional Mine dance; Zulus have longtime used their music as a cry for freedom.
African music is really rich in modes of expression: drum ensembles are using Zulu musical instruments from the percussion family. Each drummer uses special methods to produce sounds to distinguish his drum from the others. Iron bells are very popular Zulu musical instruments; they are used to produce a repeated sound to help the drummers to play at the correct time.
Zulu musical instruments, rare and very special
The akadinda is a king of xylophone; two groups of African musicians are playing simultaneously. The first group is playing repeatedly the same pattern; the second group plays to fill in the missing sounds. Groups of Zulu musicians play also using flutes, trumpets or xylophones. Each player plays a single note in a strange rotation with the other players. The result is a polyphonic piece, characteristic to African music.
Musical practices of South African people were observed from many years; Zulu musical instruments are obsolete. Venda mbila is an old Zulu musical instrument; it is not used anymore. Reed flutes, contrary, are still very popular. The influence of foreign cultures and civilizations causes many of old Zulu musical instruments to become obsolete.
Musical instruments such as tsonga a horn, ingungu a friction drum, nkoka a drum, pedi a flute, venda musical bow and stick, deze and demba thumb piano and resonatos, umfece ankle rattles are almost obsolete.
To preserve this awesome heritage of Zulu musical instruments, the necessary information was entered into a database; each Zulu musical instrument was digitally photographed to preserve all information about it.
How To Improve Your Sight-reading (organ, Piano And Keyboard)
As an organist, I have been working in club land in the North of England for the past 30 years or so and one of the crucial qualifications in this environment is the ability to sight read music on demand.
When I say music this can be anything from a beer matt to a ripped piece of paper repaired with selotape and stained with beer.
To be fair most of the music is written by professionals and is nice to read but not always easy.
As a club organist, you do not get a band call. In fact, you are lucky to get five minutes to scan through between 10 and 15 pieces of music. Some written in different keys, and every organist will tell you they hate it when they get the dreaded 6 sharps or 6 flats or even 7 sharp keys in a piece of music that just happens to contain a solo especially written for you.
So how do you improve your sight-reading? Well I asked my music teacher this very question as I embarked on my club land career. His answer was to practice sight-reading. He went on to tell me that session musicians practice by picking up any music book start playing on page one and continue until they have finished the book.
Does it work? Yes it does. Try it for yourself, pick up any piece of music you can find, preferably one that you are not that familiar with, then start to play, but do not stop. If you make a mistake it does not matter, you are not practising how to play this piece of music you are practising sight-reading this piece of music.
If you really want to test yourself. Get yourself an audience. I practice my sight-reading every week in front of a 200 plus audience. Its surprising how your concentration improves.