music

List

Pyrophonia: Music on Fire

"Flaming" and "on fire" are words used all the time for musicians who are "burning it up," or playing with talent and fervor. The phrases are usually not meant to be taken literally. But the universal human fascination with fire and music is sometimes combined into instruments that are literally on fire. And they come in all shapes and sizes, like these ten. Warning: these projects are dangerous, and should be left to professionals. 1. Flamebone or... READ ON

Article

Max Roach Hits Some Drums

Surely you're familiar with Max Roach, the fantastic jazz drummer. Oh, you're not? BEHOLD: Hi-Hat Using just two sticks and a hi-hat, Roach demonstrates the versatility of his craft. Keep your eyes peeled for the section near the end, when he turns a stick around and uses the reverse end. Snare with Brushes There's a lot you can do with "just" a snare drum. If you don't believe me, ask Violent Femmes. Here, Roach plays with brushes -- allowing some extra expression over plain old... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: Daniel Johnston, Beautiful Singer of Broken Dreams

Daniel Johnston is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and visual artist...who happens to suffer from crippling bipolar disorder. His songs are generally sweet, vulnerable, and at least a little weird. As Johnston has aged, his delivery has become increasingly warbly, though his youthful spirit shines through: the man radiates a wonderful mixture of joy and grief. There's a quality to his work that's disarming in the extreme -- assuming you're along for the ride. Among my friends, Daniel... READ ON

Article

The Real Musicians Behind Fictional Bands

Many Hollywood actors wish they were rock stars. Most of the time, there's a reason they were cast in movies, not signed to recording contracts. Even so, there are plenty of movies and shows that feature bands. Since these bands are generally made up of people who are not actually musicians, someone needs to write the songs. Flavorwire has a great collection of nine bands from assorted television shows and movies, paired with information on who actually wrote the songs you see on screen. The one above,... READ ON

Article

A Mathemusician Explains How Sound Works

Self-proclaimed "recreational mathemusician" Vi Hart has posted an excellent short film explaining the science and mathematics of sound, frequency, and pitch. Basically Hart shows us how the chromatic scale was originally measured, how musical instruments work, and how we hear sound. It's playful and smart -- exactly what you need to watch right now if you have even the vaguest geeky interest in music, math, or sound. Sample lines (shown as speech bubbles on a map, when describing how some cultures... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: "Billie Jean" Twelve Ways

When I came across an amazing* acoustic cover of Michael Jackon's "Billie Jean" performed by Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden and Audioslave), I thought it would be fun to locate a dozen versions. "Billie Jean" was released as a single on January 2, 1983 -- hard to believe that it and the whole Thriller album will turn 30 next year. (Fun fact: the first cassette I ever owned was Thriller, and I got it sometime in 1983.) The Wikipedia page on this song is well worth a read -- the video for "Billie Jean"... READ ON

Article

48 Movie Line Rhymes

The above video contains scenes from 48 movies. It's one of the coolest mashups I've ever seen, period. From the Vimeo page: Inspired by lifelong obsessions with beats, rhymes and feature films, Jordan Laws delivers an ingenious mega-mix of classic movie lines. But this isn't some slapped-together highlight reel. Laws produced an original beat, scoured movie scripts for memorable lines that fit his masterful puzzle and matched up these segments line-by-line, rhyme-by-rhyme. The result is an... READ ON

Article

Cookie Monster vs. Tom Waits

In this clip, the Tom Waits song "God's Away On Business" is expertly combined with clips of Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. The effect is absurd and wonderful, as this really does seem a bit like a Sesame Street song (except for, uh, portions of the subject matter). Enjoy: Weirdly, this is not without precedent. In 2002, singer Ryan Adams improvised several songs as himself, Tom Waits, and then Cookie Monster while at a performance in Portland's Roseland Theater. This is audio only (with a... READ ON

Article

The Late Movies: Muppets Singing Classic Songs

For your viewing pleasure, here are fourteen great Muppets performances -- some involving the original artists! Danny Boy The three least articulate Muppets share their brilliant, touching interpretation of "Danny Boy." While My Guitar Gently Weeps Floyd performs a touching cover, alone on the fire... READ ON

Article

Rare Shel Silverstein Videos

Did you know that Shel Silverstein wrote "A Boy Named Sue," the song made famous by Johnny Cash? In this clip, the pair perform a brief, bizarre duet of "Sue" on The Johnny Cash Show, then Silverstein takes the stage solo to perform his song "Daddy, What If." The Giving Tree If that's not enough Shel for you, enjoy this 1973 animation of The Giving Tree, featuring a scratchily-recorded Silverstein narrating: For more on Silverstein: Shel Silverstein’s Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit... READ ON