Nov 22 2011

DJent

Djent is softer heavy Metal music. It is basically progressive Death Metal. There have been many disputes between people who think that Djent should just be called progressive Death Metal. Others disagree and think that it should be called Djent, because they believe that this sound of Metal is different to progressive, and I would agree. I think that it has different aspects to progressive Death Metal, but others are entitled to their opinion.  It was rapidly discovered throughout the internet by an American band called Periphery that formed in 2005, specifically guitarist Misha Mansoor.

“The word “Djent” is onomatopoeia for a heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar chord. Typically, the word is used to refer to music that makes use of this sound, to the sound itself, or to the scene that revolves around it.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djent

The term Djent was first used by a band known as Meshuggah. Meshuggah and another band called SiKTh, along with Periphery were inspirational to other bands and soon came the craze that is Djent.

The recognition of Djent came along after the solo recordings of Misha Mansoor the lead guitarist for Periphery, with Periphery popularising this genre and  bringing Djent on the music radar for Metal fans.

Nov 22 2011

Singing relation with games

Singing games began with the PS2 but I’d like to discuss the current consoles PS3, Xbox360 and the Nintendo Wii from the music usage point of view.

I even created a timeline – covering years from 2007 to the 2010.

All the games I listed in my timeline are created by only 3 companies:

Konami:

  • Karaoke revolution – all of them  

Disney:

  • Disney sing it – all of them

Quick Silver:

  • Singstar – all of them

Plug in microphone controller, used with these games, is the crucial tool that allows player’s singing to be “seeing and taken in” by the console. This is used in a way of capturing the tone of the singer’s voice and showing a line within a level of the correct tune, or this could be lighting up the words and you sing out the words and it tells you if you hit it after the line sung.

These games are popular and are pretty much alike, but if you enjoy them keep playing them.


Nov 22 2011

What is Theatrical music?

Theatrical music can take many different varieties from Opera to Rock, musicals to pantomimes and much more.  Music in theatres can take us on an emotional rollercoaster of a ride through humor, anger, love, excitement and fear and inspire us to feel these mixture of emotions through one show.

A Little History

The history of musical theatre stems back to ancient Greece, where actors of that time incorporated music and dance in parts of their stage comedies or tragedies or to keep the crowds amused during the interval. It was Italy that brought us the start of musicals in the form of opera, which told us a story by singing and acting out the passages. Nowadays how musical performances and music acts have changed and grown more popular in theatres have proved to be a fantastic form of entertainment and inspiration.

It is almost a tradition nowadays to offer to theatre goers a mixed variety – liking for every taste, however bohemian or “screamy” it is. Take a look at various theatres throughout the UK – they all offer this mixture of “soprano” and “electric guitar” and, our beloved Grand Theatre in Swansea is no different in this approach. Since 1897 it has hosted many different musical shows. In my opinion this is the best theatre, that provides everything needed in entertainment.

If we look at Grand Theatre’s 2011 schedule ….

If you are interested in the shows above then click on this link to take you to The Swansea Grand Theatre 2011/2012 schedule brochure.

Nov 22 2011

Death Metal

Intro

Death Metal is an extreme sub-genre of  Heavy Metal. The sound consists of heavily distorted guitars, alternative picking, death growls and blast beating. Death Metal has very complicated song structures which often changes in tempo throughout the songs.

History

Death Metal emerged around the mid 1980′s with a band called Venom popularising this sub-genre and making it known. They inspired many bands with their album Welcome to Hell which was released in 1981.
Another group that inspired garage bands were Slayer, although they were supposedly a thrash metal band, their music was more violent and harsh compared to other thrash bands. Toward the late 1990′s many record company’s saw potential profit from Death Metal and signed up many bands. Most bands signed with record company’s based in Florida. That’s how the Florida Death Metal Scene started.

Death Metal spread to Sweden in the late 1980s, where loads of band formed, they include; Carnage, God Macabre, Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed. Following this early craze, out of the early 1990’s grew the “Gothenburg Scene” this was known as the capital of the Swedish Death Metal Scene.

These are some bands and links to their songs .

  • The Agonist
  • Amon Amarth
  • Arch Enemy
  • Armageddon
  • As I Lay Dying
  • At the Gates
  • Behemoth
  • The Black Dahlia Murder
  • Cannibal Corpse
  • Carcass
  • Carnage
  • Children of Bodom
  • Dark Tranquillity
  • Darkest Hour
  • Deadlock
  • Dethklok
Nov 21 2011

The Music

The types and styles of music played throughout Swansea’s venue’s, is just as varied and broad as the amount of venues that Swansea has.

Wind street and not to forget The Strand, plays host to bands mainly on a Sunday afternoon where the bands and duo’s play mainly covers from the likes of  Steve Harley and  soft rock from the seventies and early eighties. Swansea also has a lot of tribute bands performing songs from certain artists like ABBA, Tina Turner & Queen to name a few.

There are certain clubs like Sin City that specialize in Metalica and Indie Rock, they also host events like Battle of The Bands and various DJ events.

Jazz music is also a very popular in and around Swansea, I was introduced to this music when I worked in what was then known as Ellington’s, which was then above the Duke of York pub now known as The New York.

And of course you have the Universities, hosting student bands mainly playing self penned songs as a way of expressing themselves, maybe not too clear at times, as they tend to play a lot of grunge music. Gone are the day’s when they hosted the BIG GROUPS.(As mentioned in my 1st blog).

There are also venues that host a lot of comedy as well as music like Oceana which hosts Jongleurs Comedy Nights.

Whichever way you look at it, Swansea is as good as Cardiff, Manchester and London as regards to live entertainment be it bands, dj’s or even comedy.

Nov 21 2011

Games Instrumental Usage


Date release Game Name

Guitar

Drums

Microphone

Turntable

2009

 Band Hero

X

X

X

x

2009

 DJ Hero

 

 

 

x

2010

 DJ Hero 2

 

 

 

x

2005

 Guitar hero

X

 

 

 

2006

 Guitar Hero 2

X

 

 

 

2007

 Guitar Hero 3 Legends Of Rock

X

 

 

 

2009

 Guitar Hero 5

X

X

X

 

2009

 Guitar Hero Metallica

X

X

X

 

2009

 Guitar Hero Smash Hits

X

X

X

 

2008

 Guitar Hero World Tour

X

X

X

 

2008

 Guitar Hero Aerosmith

X

X

X

 

2010

 Guitar Hero Van Halen

X

X

X

 

2010

 Guitar Hero Warriors Of Rock

X

X

X

 

2010

 Green Day: Rock Band

X

X

X

 

2008

 Lego Rock Band

X

X

X

 

2008

 Rock Band

X

X

X

 

2009

 Rock Band 2

X

X

X

 

2010

 Rock Band 3

X

X

X

 

2008

 Rock Band AC/DC

X

X

X

 

2010

 Rock Of The Dead

x

X

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The games above were made by people who liked music.

The company devoted their time for the people to make a game with instruments. This was seen as a great and fun way to listen to music and play the music.

The company, who started the instrumental games was a company called Red octane. They created the first Guitar Hero; it was a great success this promoted the company to produce a second Guitar Hero.

While guitar hero was getting so much attention the company Activison saw a potential gap in the market; they had better software skills and could make the game more consistent and better quality than the Red Octane. This is when they joined the company Red Octane and they both worked to make the next Guitar Hero the game was called Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock. It sky rocketed up and was named the best music related game.

But the attention was on the instrument guitar. EA and Harmonix saw an opening so they took it. The two companies set to create a game, which you could play the drums and sing. They came up with the software and made it. They called the new game Rock Band; this blew the roof off in the sale chart even more than Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock. Rock Band came out on the year 2008 May, one year after Guitar 3. While this happened, Red Arcane gave up the game Guitar Hero to Activision, but before that they released Guitar Hero World Tour in November 2008.

With Rock Band up in the charts, when year 2009 hit, Activison came up with Band Hero, the game that, in some ways, is similar to the Rock Band. But this game did not reach the quality level of the Rock Band; nonetheless, Guitar Hero was leading to a bigger successes with bringing out Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero Smash Hits.

Although, it seemed Activison was the only company who lead the music instrument genre; but their opposition brought out Rock Band 2 and, after that, Lego Rock Band, which made this opposition stronger. Both companies had made a game over a band – Activision had Metallica and Harmonix had Rock Band AC/DC – but Activison added drums and microphone to their the Guitar Hero World Tour and to the following games. Activision expanded even more by making a different category, which no one has tried such approach – where player could mix existing music with his or her own – this was named DJ Hero and it attracted more players.

In 2010, the companies Harmonix and Activison went on a fierce battle to own the industry: while Activision pulled up Guitar Hero van Halen and Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock games; DJ Hero 2 and Harmonix came out with Rock Band 3, Rock Band Green Day.

And the battle still rocks among the “Heroes”…

Nov 21 2011

Introduction to Music in Swansea Theatres

Once upon a time, back in 1900-1926, Swansea town once was one of the best known locations in Wales for music & entertainment AND still is to this day.  Entertainment centre with the respect for charity – as even back then many singers, dancers, comics and other entertainers would play venues and theatres in Swansea for charity.

Prima Pavilion

Situated in the High street of Swansea, The Palace Theatre is one of the oldest Swansea theatres. It was originally built as a music hall in 1888 and named ‘The Pavilion’. Surviving during the Second WW, it was the first place in Wales to show silent movies. Amazingly, it remained undamaged through the war. Throughout its life, it hosted many famous entertainers, such as Charlie Chaplin, Morecambe & Wise,  Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ken Dodd.

25 Extraordinary

According to the History page of this theatre’ website, nowadays, modernized Volcano Theatre, situated in High street, Swansea, “has been making extraordinary theatre, and presenting it all over the world, for around 25 years”. You just have to visit it to meet artists producing and performing more modern and unique plays and music shows.

Vibrant Pink

Also, with the sparkling brand new hot pink ‘Evening Post Theatre’, emerged from an old derelict building, ‘designed to inject new life into Swansea’s High Street‘, where up until Christmas you can catch the touring  musical performance of  ‘The Cappuccino Girls’. This theatre is certainly very different, with a classy cocktail bar where the audience are encouraged to participate in the actual show itself.

Swansea’s Famous Theatre

Based in the heart of Swansea, our most popular and famous -  ‘The Grand Theatre’. It was opened in 1897. I call it Swansea’s famous theatre because such an extensive list of household and Hollywood names, such as actors Catherine Zeta Jones, Sir Richard Burton, singer Bonnie Tyler plus numerous other talents of music and literature have performed here. This theatre stages various different shows of entertainment throughout the year.

But that is not all. Other music & entertainment venues in Swansea, such as  The Brangwyn Hall, The Patti Pavilion, Taliesin and The Dylan Thomas Theatre, offer a vast range of musical performances, festivals and events including Opera, classical music, orchestras, tribute acts, musicians, musicals, pantomimes and plays.