Ashish's Blog

Sunday, February 2, 2014

3 Unique & Interesting Musical Instruments

Listening to a song, ever wondered which instrument was used for the arrangement. Amazing instruments, great music and innovation, what else do we need then. As a painter expresses his/her feelings through the painting with a feeling of vibrancy and depth of it in the canvas, musicians do the same by expressing their emotions in the form of music they play.

Music is not merely playing an instrument. One should realize that its a feeling that passes through the ear and energizes the mind and heart, before it is expressed in any human form of emotion. There are different varieties of instruments that help us do it, and to the amazement some of them are really unique and interesting. Let's have a look at some of these instruments.

Hang

This unique instrument was developed by Felix Rohner and Sabina Scharer in 2000, it is 52 cm in diameter and has a height of 24 cm. The musical instrument is an outcome of the result of many years of research on the steel pan and other instruments and is still going through continuous development.

It is a hand played instrument with a pleasing and unique sound. The developer PANArt Hang Manufacturing Ltd no longer offers this instrument and has replaced it by a new instrument developed on the basis of Hang called Gubal. Lets have a look at the video of an artist playing Hang.

Well, I believe you guys liked the sound as well as the playing. Sad to say that the company has replaced it with Gubal from start of 2014. Hope Gubal will be in more demand and popular than the Hang.

Theremin

Theremin originally known as etherphone is an early electronic musical instrument developed by Russian inventor Leon Theremin. It is a very unique instrument, there is no physical contact between the instrument player (Thereminist) and the instrument. It produces sound by generating electromagnetic fields around two antenna, where the straight vertical antenna controls the pitch and the horizontal curved antennae controls the volume.

Thereminist's precise hand movement is a key in controlling the pitch and the volume for the performance. Since the release of the film Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey in 1994, more people know about it resulting in the growth of its use in the contemporary music scene.

With no complicated chords and fingerings, the instrument might looks easy to play, but many musicians who have tried it felt that it was one of the hardest instrument to play, as it is creating music in air with precise hand movement which is not easy to master.

Stylophone

Technology is advancing day by day and almost all of us are aware of the popular stylus. Its a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision when using touchscreens. Now, what is unique about stylophone? must be a question in your mind. It is a miniature analog stylus operated keyboard developed by Brian Jarvis in 1967.

It consists of small metal keyboard, which produces sound when the circuit is completed by touching it with the stylus pen. However it can also be operated without the stylus. Lets have a look at one of the interesting video made by Cuckoo playing the Stylophone.

If you like the music, you can listen to more of his work at his youtube channel Its very interesting how he plays the instrument.

Innovation has led to development of new and progressive musical instruments and we are yet to see more of them. If you have some more instruments in mind, please share it in the comments as I would love to know about them.

Keep exploring, Keep Playing.

4 Pianists to Listen To

Piano is one great instrument that provides melody of life. “Pianos, unlike people, sing when you give them your every growl. They know how to dive into the pit of your stomach and harmonize with your roars when you’ve split yourself open. And when they see you, guts shining, brain pulsing, heart right there exposed in a rhythm that beats need need, need need, need need, pianos do not run. And so she plays.”

A single listing of pianists in all genres would be impractical, given the multitude of musicians noted for their performances on the instrument. But If you are wondering which pianist should you listen to, here are some of the pianist who are master in what they do.

Vangelis ( 29 March, 1943)

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, popularly known as Vangelis is a Greek composer cum pianist, who began composing at the age of 4. Although a composer, I would consider him as a Pianist as I love to see him playing piano. He was a person who refused to take a traditional piano lesson, and through out his career did not have a good grasp on reading and writing notations. But we can see how his music has inspired other to take piano playing seriously.

Whenever, we talk about Vangelis, the song that is anonymous to his name is score for the movie Chariots of Fire based on 1924 Summer Olympics. The music choice which was supposedly unorthodox as most of the movie of that period had orchestral scores, whereas his music was heavy and modern.

The other song that is one of the favorite in my playlist for Vangelis, is score from 1492: Conquest of Paradise, which was based on Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World. The song itself gives you the feeling of achievement. His music is gorgeous and unique.

Richard Clayderman (28 Dec, 1953)

More than 1300 recorded melodies in his name, Richard Clayderman is a French Pianist who has given a new meaning to the word "Romance" in piano playing is certainly one pianist to listen to. He is noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as being "the most successful pianist in the world". He is notably popular for instrumental renditions of popular music, movie soundtrack and easy listening arrangements of popular classical music.

Although there are many popular songs for him, some of the songs that is a must in my playlist are:

Yiruma (15 Feb, 1978)

A South Korean pianist whose playing style is popular among the new generation listeners, started playing piano from the age of 5. His style of playing is normally categorized into "New Age Classical" or "Contemporary Classical" as his music is even popular among the listeners who are not that familiar with the classical music. Yiruma's music is considered as soothing and peaceful, as it takes you to a different world of imagination. I am sure that you will also feel the same once you hear him.

Some of the songs that is a must listen in my playlist for Yiruma are:

Maksim Mrvica (3 May, 1975)

Maksim Mrvica, a Croatian born pianist started playing from the age of 9. Maksim Mrvica knew he wanted to play the piano when he was just eight. He caught a glimpse of the instrument at his best friend Alexander’s house. That was in 1984 and although 22 years later he is one of the most famous contemporary pianists in the world. His playing is categorized as a new age classical form of music, which is a very popular.

Some of the songs which is a must listen in my playlist of Maksim Mrvica are:

To the amazement of some, the list doesn't include some great legends like Beethoven, Mozart & Liszt. They are some of the legends who can never be included in the list. They are the gods of music.