Piano Class Very Unsatisfactory July 31, 2008
Posted by admin in : Headphone , add a commentI’ll never forget a piano course I took when I was attending the Community College of Philadelphia. It was a “class” piano course where about 20-25 people were seated around keyboards. Each keyboard had headphones and we were supplied with a standard piano textbook.
The course lasted 4 months or so and I learned how to play triads with both hands. I also learned how to read treble and bass clefs.
I can’t say that I was thrilled with this course. In fact, I remember thinking how boring it was. And dry. Why couldn’t we learn something that would allow creativity in?
I guess most “teachers” don’t think you can be creative in music until you spend about 2 years learning what they consider to be the basics. This is all nonsense and only serves to mystify music and make it inaccessible to the masses.
I can only say that during the 16 weeks or so of attending this class, I learned that I didn’t really want to play the piano. Why? Because I wasn’t having fun! And fun is the impetus for further exploration. It seems like common sense to me. Yet this idea of actually enjoying the process of making music eludes music teachers at the college level.
Ironically, elementary school teachers know that their students MUST HAVE FUN first or they won’t be interested in learning more. Children spend their time in musical activities that inspire imagination and create a sense of joy. How interesting that this same educational technique is not employed for the grown ups among us.
Of course I’m not saying that adults should spend their time skipping and hopping on musical notes to learn them. What I am saying is that it’s important that joy and love of music be placed before theory and discipline.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!
Tags: music, piano, piano class, piano lessons, piano music3 ways to MP3 your home July 30, 2008
Posted by admin in : Headphone , add a comment1. Wired or wireless hi-fi connection
MP3’s are no longer just ‘on-the-move’ thing. There are now ways to play music stored on your computer through your existing hi-fi. The simplest way is via an analogue connection - using a 3.5mm - jack-to-phono cable.
This can be done either straight from your MP3 player’s headphone socket to your amp, or by connecting the internal soundcard in your PC to your hi-fi. But there’s no reason to settle for an analogue connection: a digital hook-up to your home cinema receiver or amp is much more exciting. All you need is an optical or electrical link from soundcard to receiver. Or you could go wireless
Let’s look at Apple’s solution: you need a wi-fi-enabled computer, which may require a card or adaptor of some sort. The AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi card is a good one at
Tags: AirPort Extreme Wi Fi card, hi fi, mp3, MP3 player, sonos, wi fi, windows media centerA Look at the iRiver MP3 Player July 29, 2008
Posted by admin in : Headphone , add a commentIriver introduced their first product, the iMP-100, a portable CD player capable of decoding MP3 data files on CDs, on November, 2000. In the number one global market, iriver was quickly displaced by the introduction of Apple’s iPod. Founded in Seoul, capital of South Korea, iriver makes portable digital audio players, including USB mass storage, multiple codecs, FM tuners, recording capabilities, and upgradeable firmware. Microsoft helped test and market its latest product, the Clix, while specifying upgrades to its graphics engine and chips. Irivers initially dropped UMS support for several of their flash memory based players, in favor of Microsofts’s MTP. The company later released an official “iriver firmware updater” that allowed the users to switch between the MTP and UMS interfaces.
Iriver has developed four models for the portable multimedia player, the audio and video market. They are capable of playing several digital video formats, in addition to playing audio and displaying still images, with two models. The G10 is in progress right now, and will play digital music, video, and games. Its hard drives will be available in a 4GB or 8GB, while its size is less than half of Sony’s PSP.
There are several MP3 companies that are interested in designing and developing MP3 players, and are capable of supporting a user’s entire music library, while others look to create a player that rivals the number one positioned MP3 player - the iPod. After this, a third type of manufacturer arrives, one that looks to create a usable and durable product. This is where the iriver MP3 player enters the picture. The iriver has three basic systems for people looking for a basic digital music player. The iriver T30 series comes in 512MB (120 songs) and 1GB (250 songs) formats with a 24 hour battery life. Both support subscription services, have a voice recorder, and can record directly from a source without using a PC. The T10 has a color display and an unbelievable 45 hour battery life, with the most useful tool on any MP3 player, the FM tuner and recorder.
In an even more dedicated effort to appeal to the athletic, “sporty” type, iRiver designed a MP3 player that the user can take to the pool! An MP3 player with a water-proof cover that retails at $99.99 that is just as compact and easy to use as the regular version. The system has a sleek design and, believe it or not, waterproof headphones that make swimming and enjoying your favorite tunes possible! But some complaints about the iRiver product stem from the lack of data storage and the unfriendly format. When trying to delete a single song it sometime deletes an entire folder or the entire collection altogether.
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