Nov 22 2007

Music Gear for Concerts

A concert is a live performance of music before an audience. This kind of performance may be performed either by a single musician, referred as recital or by a musical ensemble like an orchestra or a musical band. Concerts are held in different types of settings or venues like pubs, nightclubs, concert halls, and large multipurpose buildings and sometimes in sports stadium. For a musician concert is that platform where the person is exposed to public. Not only this, concerts are sometimes organized for the sake of charity, where the money collected goes to some causes of benefit.

But this same concert can go very elaborate and expensive if any musical group expects large audiences. In order to make the atmosphere more exciting they add some special entertainment devices like stage lights that changes according to the beat of the music, large video screens that show some per recorded video etc. These things to some extent can be considered as concert music gear.

In concert music one of the important music gears is the drum kit, which is arranged in such a way that makes convenient for one drummer to play it comfortably. The component of a drum kit varies according to the genre of music, personal preferences, financial resources and transportation options of the drummer. The individual instruments of every drum kit are struck with the help of hands, sticks, brushes and mallets. One interesting fact about drum is that it is one of the oldest instruments of the world whose basic design has remained unchanged for nearly thousands of years.

Synthesizer, a kind of electronic musical instrument that has the capability of producing or manipulating audio tones like musical notes through the process of audio signaling. It resembles some of the old traditional musical instruments like piano or an organ because it comes with a keyboard. Analog, digital and software are the three major kinds of synthesizer. In addition to this there are certain synthesizers that is built up using these three combinations popularly knows as hybrid synthesizers.

Violin, a popular musical gear, preferred single performing musicians during concerts tune a bowed string instrument with four strings in perfect fifths. Viola and cello also belong to this family. The player of the violin is known as violinist or fiddler. This musical gear is also used in the various genre of music like classical, jazz, Indian classical music and folk music.

Another popular and well-known concert music gear is piano played by the means of a keyboard. The word piano derived the name from Italian language. There are three types of piano namely grand, upright, and modern. Pianos are generally made of hardwood, maple and beech etc.

Guitar is instrument that comes generally with six strings but four, seven, eight, ten and twelve strings guitars are also found. Guitars can be divided into two broad categories namely acoustic and electric. An acoustic is that one that is not dependent on any external device rather uses a soundboard fixed on the front part of the body of the guitar. While electric guitar have solid, semi hollow bodies and produce little sound without amplification. This kind of guitar is used widely in jazz, blues, and rock and roll.

Other than these there are many other concert musical gears that are extensively used.

About the Author: Victor Epand is an expert consultant for music gear, speakers, and microphones. You can find the best marketplace for music gear, speakers, and microphones at these 3 sites: music gear, guitar, synthesizers, speakers, and microphone.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Nov 21 2007

5 Piece Drum Kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as a cowbell, wood block, chimes or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer. The 5 piece drum kit represents one of the best available drum sets for the beginners.

Different manufacturers include different components in a 5 piece drum kit. Some manufacturer would suggest that a full sized 5 piece drum kit will include cymbals, bass drum pedal, throne, double-braced hardware, drum key. Whereas, other manufacturers would like to include Bass drum, Snare drum, Floor tom, Hi-Hat, Crash cymbal, and Ride cymbal in a 5 piece drum kit.

Most entry-level drum kits are made of basswood, poplar, or Philippine mahogany, which is cheaper wood that does not produce a high quality sound. It is perfect for a young teenager just starting out. Higher-end drums use more expensive wood such as birch or maple, which produce a rich, more resonant tone.

A brief history

Drums were the original musical instrument, dating back to at least 6000 B.C. Rhythm and melody are the two primary features in any piece of music, and drums function as a purely rhythmical medium unlike any other instrument. The modern drum set did not exist until the 19th century, with the addition of pedals to allow a percussionist to manipulate cymbals or drums with his feet.

Different components of a 5 piece drum kit

Though a variety of combinations are available in a 5 piece drum kit in the market, we would be discussing a standardized drum kit which normally includes a bass drum, a snare drum, a tom drum, a hi hat, a crash cymbal and a ride cymbal.

Bass drum
A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. There are three general classifications of bass drums: the concert bass drum, the kick drum, and the pitched bass drum.

Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of cords stretched across the bottom head.

Floor Tom
A floor tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. They can also be fixed to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp.

Hi hat
Hi hat is a core element in the drum set because it is used as the primary time keeper. It is actually a pair of cymbals mounted on a specialized stand. A hi-hat is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in jazz, rock and roll, and other forms of contemporary popular music.

Crash cymbal
Crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp crashing sound and is used mainly for occasional accents. They can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick.

Ride cymbal
A ride cymbal is a type of cymbal that is a standard part of most drum kits. Its function is to maintain a rhythm, rather than to provide accents. The main ride cymbal is normally the largest cymbal in a drum kit.

About the Author: Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, and synthesizers. You can find the best marketplace for guitars, drums, and synthesizers at these 3 sites: guitars, bass guitar gears , drums, drum sets,5 piece drum kits, and synthesizers, keyboards.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Nov 16 2007

Custom Made Drum Sets

Is there actually any need to customise your drum set when you can get a ready made one? After all what is the use of custom made drum sets? First let us see what composes a drum kit? Also called drum set or trap set, a drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and some more percussion instruments, if needed. Cowbell wood block, chimes or tambourines can form the repertoire of a drum set of a single drummer.

The hardware of either ready made drum kits or a custom made one consists of drum stands, hoops, tension rods, drum pedals, cymbal stands, snare stands and more. A stand is provided for the hi-hat also, if the drummer likes to keep it that way. Here comes the utility of personalised drum sets.

The individual instruments that the drummer uses in his drum kit depends on the variety he holds in his hands including brushes, sticks and mallets. In this context, the bass drum and the hi hat cymbal differ a bit as they use foot operated pedals.

Custom made drum sets are opted for not only to satisfy personal preferences but also to make a style statement. The components of a drum kit are determined by the music styles. The playing style and the music style vary with theme, subject and the drummer.

The bass drums and the snare drums are the primary instruments that are used in most forms of rock music. In rock these are used to generate a drum beat. Where as, if we consider the jazz music, the drumbeat is created from the use of hi hat cymbals and the ride cymbal. Brushed snare drum and hi hats are also used in the above scenario.

Apart from musical styles and personal preference, the drummer has to keep some factors in mind. He has to have some good financial resource or his desire of making a good drum kit would get hampered.

Another factor for consideration is the availability of transportation options for the drummer. For playing and performance needs the drummer has to travel long to reach the destination. If he has a big collection in his drum set, then he might face transporting difficulty. So he, again, has to consider his financial resource to know exactly the constraints he can face if he goes on increasing his collection.

In the hardware part, as mentioned earlier, there are cymbals, tom-tom stands and hi hat stands. It is considered to be part of the base drum kit and the drummers like these two to be included in their customised drum sets as well.

Bass drum pedals, drum thrones i.e. seats or stool to sit, are the breakable part, as referred in the drum parlance. These items are usually customized as they are likely to go through a lot of adjustments and replacements. Drumheads and cymbals are most likely to get the customization effect. These tweaking are considered an essential part of the custom made drum sets.

About the Author: Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, and synthesizers. You can find the best marketplace for guitars, drums, and synthesizers at these 3 sites: guitars, drum sets, drum hardware, and synthesizers, keyboards.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com