title: United States Army Central

text: The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved for Third Army on 20 December 1922. It was redesignated for Third United States Army on 10 November 1960. The insignia was redesignated for US Army Central on 29 August 2006. (TIOH Drawing Number A-1-3)


title: United States Army Central

text: A silver color metal and enamel device 2 inches (5.08 cm) in diameter consisting of a design similar to the shoulder sleeve insignia.


title: United States Army Central

text: A gold color metal and enamel device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in height overall consisting of a blue disc with a red border, the blue area bearing throughout a white capital letter "A" (as depicted on the authorized shoulder sleeve insignia for US Army Central) in front of in base a gold stylized fleur-de-lis, the center petal of the fleur-de-lis extending behind and above the cross bar of the letter "A" and behind and below the red border and the tops of the two outer petals extending under, downward and over the red border and terminating at and conjoined with the feet of the letter "A" and the lower ends extending behind and below the red border which bears at top five gold five-pointed stars and the inscription "TERTIA SEMPER PRIMA" in gold letters, the word "TERTIA" in base and between the outer petals of the fleur-de-lis and the stars, the word "SEMPER" on the left and the word "PRIMA" on the right.


title: United States Army Central

text: The design is based on the authorized shoulder sleeve insignia of US Army Central (formerly United States Third Army). The fleur-de-lis in base alludes to the initial activation of the Headquarters, Third Army, at Ligny-en-Barrois, France, 15 November 1918. The five stars refer to the five campaigns Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe, World War II in which the Third United States Army participated. The motto reflects the Third Army's constant readiness.


title: United States Army Central

text: The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for Third United States Army on 10 October 1968. It was redesignated for US Army Central with the description updated and symbolism revised on 29 August 2006.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Voodoo is the second studio album by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo, released on January 25, 2000, through Virgin Records. D'Angelo recorded the album during 1998 and 1999 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, with an extensive line-up of musicians associated with the Soulquarians musical collective. Produced primarily by the singer, "Voodoo" features a loose, groove-based funk sound and serves as a departure from the more conventional song structure of his debut album, "Brown Sugar" (1995). Its lyrics explore themes of spirituality, love, sexuality, maturation, and fatherhood.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Following heavy promotion and public anticipation, the album was met with commercial and critical success. It debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 320,000 copies in its first week, and spent 33 weeks on the chart. It was promoted with five singles, including the hit single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", whose music video garnered D'Angelo mainstream attention and controversy. Upon its release, "Voodoo" received general acclaim from music critics and earned D'Angelo several accolades. It was named one of the year's best albums by numerous publications.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo promoted "Voodoo" with an international supporting tour in late 2000. While successful early on, the tour became plagued by concert cancellations and D'Angelo's personal frustrations surrounding his sexualized public image from the album's marketing. "Voodoo" has since been regarded by music writers as a creative milestone of the neo soul genre during its apex and has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the United States, being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Following the success of his debut album "Brown Sugar" (1995), D'Angelo went into a four and a half year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. His debut album presented a musical fusion of traditional soul and R&B influences with hip hop vocal and production elements, serving as fundamental elements for the neo soul sound. With its single-oriented success, "Brown Sugar" earned considerable sales success and defied the contemporary, producer-driven sound of the time, while earning popularity among mature R&B audiences and the growing hip hop generation. Prior to its release, neo soul itself was undefined by a major artist or musical work, and was developing during the early 1990s through the work of artists such as Tony! Toni! Toné!, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, and Omar. The album also earned D'Angelo recognition for producing a commercial breakthrough for the genre and giving notice to other neo soul artists, including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: After spending two years on tour promoting "Brown Sugar", D'Angelo found himself stuck with writer's block. On the setback, D'Angelo later stated "The thing about writer's block is that you want to write so fucking bad, [but] the songs don't come out that way. They come from life. So you've got to live to write." During this time, he generally released cover versions and remakes, including a cover-collaboration with Erykah Badu of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet song "Your Precious Love" for the soundtrack to "High School High" (1996). D'Angelo also covered Prince's "She's Always in My Hair" for the "Scream 2" soundtrack (1997), as well as the Ohio Players' "Heaven Must Be Like This" for the "Down in the Delta" soundtrack (1998). He also appeared on a duet, "Nothing Even Matters", with Lauryn Hill for her debut solo album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (1998). He also spent the time lifting weights, smoking marijuana, and making music.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In 1998, he was inspired to write music again after the birth of his first child, Michael, with fellow R&B singer and then-girlfriend Angie Stone. He also traveled back to the South, spending time in South Carolina and in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, while reconnecting himself with the African-American musical history that had originally inspired him. Shortly after his son's birth and the release of his first live album "Live at the Jazz Cafe" (1998) through EMI Records, he began preparation for the recording of songs for "Voodoo". In several interviews after its release, he cited his son's birth as an inspirational source and creative muse for him. A dedication to his son Michael and daughter Imani was included in the album's liner notes, which were co-written by D'Angelo and writer/musician Saul Williams. In a press video accompanying the release of "Voodoo", D'Angelo suggested that he was attempting to create a new sound for him that was in transition: "My inspiration was just to go farther. To get to that next level. To push it even further. To work against the floss and the grain and to get even deeper into the sound that I'm hearing ... and the thing is, I'm just looking at "Voodoo" as just the beginning. I'm still developing and growing and still listening to that sound I hear inside my head ... So this is the first step".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In a February 1999 interview with music journalist Touré, D'Angelo discussed the album and elaborated on the events that had preceded its release, explaining how he had no initial plan for a follow-up. He also discussed his attempt to focus on his original inspiration to produce music, stating "The sound and feel of my music are going to be affected by what motivates me to do it". On his visit to South Carolina, D'Angelo stated that he "went through this runnel, through gospel, blues, and a lot of old soul, old James Brown, early, early Sly and the Family Stone, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix", and "I learned a lot about music, myself, and where I want to go musically". In the same interview, he cited the deaths of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. as having a great effect on him during the period. In another interview with Touré, D'Angelo said that he had lost his enthusiasm after "Brown Sugar"s reception and "was gettin' jaded, lookin' at what go on in the business". On his purpose for returning, D'Angelo stated "I had to reiterate why I was doin' that in the first place, and the reason was the love for the music". Dissatisfied with the direction of R&B and soul upon making the album, D'Angelo later explained to "Jet" that "the term R&B doesn't mean what it used to mean. R&B is pop, that's the new word for R&B." He also found contemporary R&B to be "a joke", adding that "the funny thing about it is that the people making this shit are dead serious about the stuff they're making. It's sad—they've turned black music into a club thing." In the liner notes for "Voodoo", Saul Williams examined the album's concept and echoes D'Angelo's dissatisfaction with the mainstream direction of contemporary R&B/soul and hip hop, noting a lack of artistic integrity in the two music genres. In an interview for "Ebony", D'Angelo said of his role and influences for "Voodoo":


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Beginning in 1996, "Voodoo" evolved from nearly four years of sessions and featured an extensive roster of R&B, hip hop, and jazz musicians and recording technicians. Drummer and producer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots was D'Angelo's "co-pilot" during the session. He and his crew studied bootleg videotapes of classic R&B artists such as Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix, along with reruns of "Soul Train", at Electric Lady Studios, the Manhattan-based recording studio built by Jimi Hendrix. After watching a tape, they played a certain artist's album or catalog, jam, and recorded for inspiration. Touré of "Rolling Stone" observed, "One night they played Prince's "Parade" until they flowed into a new groove that became 'Africa'". On several occasions, D'Angelo listened to Sly & the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On" (1971), which had an influential production. The crew recorded numerous hours of unreleased, original material, as well as covers of their influencers' material. Collectively referred to by D'Angelo as "yoda", these influencers included soul artist Al Green, funk artist George Clinton, and Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: During the initial recording sessions, D'Angelo also worked with personal trainer Mark Jenkins, who was hired to help him get into shape. As Questlove recounted, "Money was definitely overweight by '96, so they got him a drill sergeant physical trainer Mark Jenkins. This guy didn't take no shit. I cannot see D running in Central Park, but he did [...] Push-ups, weight room, sparring every day for three hours. He wouldn't take no shit."


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Following the birth of his son, D'Angelo composed the album's first song "Send It On" in 1998 at a recording studio in Virginia. Shortly afterwards, he felt ready to begin the recording for "Voodoo". D'Angelo wrote most of "Voodoo"s material at Electric Lady Studios, as opposed to his method of composing outside the studio as he did for "Brown Sugar". Recording sessions for what ended up on the album began in 1998 and continued through to 1999. On the sessions' environment, Touré wrote "What started as the follow-up to D'Angelo's 1995 platinum debut, "Brown Sugar", became five years of study at Soul University, complete with classes, pranks, gossip and equal amounts of discipline and laziness." D'Angelo and Questlove have compared the environment to school. Music writer Trevor Schoonmaker examined D'Angelo's and Questlove's initial recording approach, stating "In the endless sessions for the record, the two spent hours trying to conjure the elusive 'vibe' necessary to provoke the album's creation, which included listening to hours of black music that escaped strict classification. Some of that found itself played out in ghostly ways on "Voodoo"."


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Production for the album was conducted in a generally informal manner and took place at Electric Lady Studios simultaneously with recording for Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun" (2000) and Common's "Like Water for Chocolate" (2000). This led to impromptu collaborations and a distinctive sound that is featured on the three albums. Frequent visits to the studio were made by fellow neo soul and hip hop recording artists associated with the Soulquarians collective such as Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, James Poyser, and Mos Def. "Voodoo"s sessions also had visitors not associated with the project, including record producer Rick Rubin, comedian Chris Rock, and rock musician Eric Clapton. D'Angelo previewed songs for them, which they found impressive.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo produced songs on Common's "Like Water for Chocolate". Q-Tip was originally intended to contribute a verse to the song "Left & Right", but was replaced by rappers Method Man & Redman during recording due to creative differences. Questlove has stated that "general opinion was that the song was cool but nobody was feeling Tip's verse". According to former A&R-man Gary Harris, D'Angelo's manager Dominique Trenier "thought that Tip’s verse was wack". Members of The Roots, including Black Thought, Kamal Gray, and Rahzel, also visited the recording sessions in 1997 to 1999; the band was recording their album "Things Fall Apart" (1999) at Electric Lady Studios. That album featured contributions by D'Angelo, Badu, Mos Def, and Common.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Questlove was the "musical powerhouse" behind several of the Soulquarians' projects during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including "Voodoo" and "Things Fall Apart". In a 2002 interview, he told critic Jim DeRogatis about his role in recording "Voodoo" and being a part of the Soulquarians, stating "I tried to do all in my power that I could to bring people together – to bring Common to Electric Lady, have him record here whenever so that he could record with some of these other artists. You'd just come into [the studio's] A Room, you don't even know who has a session, but you call me: 'Who's down there?' 'Common's in there today'. So you come down, you order some food, sit down and bulls—, watch a movie, and then it's, 'Let's play something'. And I say, 'Who wants this [track]?' And it would be, 'I want it!' 'No, I want it!'". Questlove has referred to the recording experience at the studio as a "left-of-center black music renaissance".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Audio engineer Russell Elevado, who recorded and mixed "Voodoo", along with Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun" and Common's "Like Water for Chocolate", used old school recording techniques and vintage mixing gear for the albums in order to achieve the distinct sounds found in classic recorded works. While mainstream recording techniques at the time often involved the use of hi-tech digital equipment, Elevado employed the use of analog equipment, enhancement plug-ins, and a blend of live instrumentation. Notable from the production was that most of it, with the exception of "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", was recorded live with no overdubbing of its instrumentation, in contrast to contemporary R&B production at the time.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: For "Voodoo"s sessions, D'Angelo appropriated most of the instruments on the album's songs, contributing with drums, electric guitar, keyboards, and percussion. During its recording, he employed amplifiers, microphones, a Fender Rhodes keyboards and organ originally used by musician Stevie Wonder for "Talking Book" (1972), and a recording board originally used by Jimi Hendrix. On "Voodoo"s recording atmosphere, D'Angelo stated "I believe Jimi was there. Jimi, Marvin Gaye, all the folks we were gravitating to. I believe they blessed the project".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo composed all of the bass lines for "Voodoo" and sequenced them for Welsh bassist Pino Palladino, whom he had met after being asked to do a duet with B.B. King at the time of "Voodoo"s earlier sessions. Palladino was asked by D'Angelo to learn and improvise the bass arrangements on his 1961 model P bass. For "The Root", "Greatdayndamornin'", and "Spanish Joint", guitarist Charlie Hunter simultaneously played guitar and bass sections with a custom eight-string guitar/bass combo, which had three lower bass and five upper guitar strings. It also had separate pickups for each set of strings, as well separate outputs for each pickup. In order to adjust production-wise to Hunter's intricate playing, Elevado had separate outputs from Hunter's guitar connected to a separate bass and guitar amplifier. He has said that there was enough separation to manage an adequate sound on both amplifiers, in spite of slight "bleeding into each other" from the pickups in close proximity to each other.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo and his supporting personnel constructed several of the songs' grooves for the album to sit far behind time, directly on top of time, or pressing on the time, making them cluttered and loose in style. Questlove helped design the sparse funk, soul and hip hop beats on the generally groove-based record. In later interviews, Questlove discussed that he and D'Angelo incorporated much of the distinctive percussive rhythms of Detroit hip hop producer, Slum Village-member and The Ummah-affiliate J Dilla, also known as Jay Dee. A part of the musical collective Soulquarians, Dilla served as a frequent collaborator of theirs. Although album tracks such as "Left & Right" and "Devil's Pie" help to bring this claim to light, J Dilla himself was not officially credited for production. However, he contributed significantly to "Voodoo"s overall sound, specifically the rhythm and percussion.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: One of the characteristics of the drumming style implemented in recording the album is human timing, complete with imperfections. The drum tracks were mostly programmed mechanically during recording, but minimal loop and quantizing (using digital software to "smooth out" or "correct" imperfections) was used. This resulted in the album's intentional sloppiness. In a later interview, Questlove discussed the intention and purpose of including imperfection in the album's sound, stating "we wanted to play as perfectly as we could, but then deliberately insert the little glitch that makes it sound messed up. The idea was to sound disciplined, but with a total human feel."


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Questlove also acknowledged J Dilla's influence over the recording sessions for "Voodoo". He said of Dilla's unique programming method during the sessions, "He makes programmed stuff so real, you really can’t tell it’s programmed. He might program 128 bars, with absolutely no looping or quantizing ... When Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest first played me some of his stuff, I said, 'The drums are messed up! The time is wrong!' And when we did a song for D'Angelo's record that Lenny Kravitz was supposed to play on, Lenny said, 'I can’t play with this — there’s a discrepancy in the drum pattern.' And we’re like, 'It's supposed to be this way!'


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: According to Questlove, a duet track by D'Angelo and Lauryn Hill, "Feel Like Makin' Love", was planned. Although tapes were sent via FedEx between the two, the collaboration was aborted and the song was instead recorded by D'Angelo. Questlove later said that the duet failed to materialize due to "too many middle men [...] I don't think Lauryn and D ever talked face-to-face." Mistakenly, some critics who reviewed the final track assumed that Hill's vocals are present in the recording.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: During the final days of recording "Voodoo", Questlove spent time recording a version of Fela Kuti's "Water No Get Enemy", a melodic protest song from Kuti's 1975 album "Expensive Shit". He and D'Angelo had intended to revamp the composition into a minimalist soul ballad for Lauryn Hill to contribute vocals for. However, Hill declined and the track ended up as a place-holder for the rough mix of the album. A reconceptualized version of the song was recorded by D'Angelo and guest artists on the charity album "Red Hot + Riot" (2002).


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In the album's EPK, D'Angelo said that "Voodoo" is "like a funk album", regarding the genre to be "the natural progression of soul". while Questlove describes it as "vicarious fantasy", a "new direction of soul for 2000", and "the litmus test that will reveal the most for your personality", inspired by "a love for the dead state of black music, a love to show our idols how much they taught us". Of the album's title and meaning, D'Angelo told "USA Today": "[T]he myriad influences found on it can be traced through the blues and back deeper in history through songs sung–in religious [voodoo] ceremonies." This theme is illustrated in "Voodoo"s liner photography by Thierry LesGoudes, which depicts D'Angelo participating in a voodoo ceremony. According to "Voodoo"s press kit: "Lyrically, D'Angelo offers that much of "Voodoo" is personal reflection: touching on subjects like spirituality, sexuality, growth, and in particular, becoming a father. Musically, as he puts it, "Voodoo" is 'definitely groove-based'".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: "Voodoo" incorporates musical elements of jazz, funk, hip hop, blues, and soul, as well as ambient music with a musical layer shaped by guitar-based funk. It features vintage influences and a looser, more improvisational structure, which contrasts the more conventional song structure of "Brown Sugar". Music writer Greg Kot has considered the album a production of the Soulquarians, calling it "the most radical of the many fine records" conceived by the collective's members. In an interview with the "New Orleans Times-Picayune"s Shawn Rhea, D'Angelo attributed the album's experimental and jam-like atmosphere to the fact that most of "Voodoo" was recorded "live and its first take". On its eclectic and conceptual style, Rhea commented "[D'Angelo] seems to have channeled the brilliance of his musical forefathers, living and dead, during the crafting of this album. It is a complex, intricate collection of songs that, like voodoo, is simultaneously secular and spiritual, sensual and sacred, earthbound and ethereal". Recording engineer Russell Elevado's analog mixing and old school production techniques contributed to the album's jazz element and vintage sound. On its jazz influence, D'Angelo stated "because a lot of the album was cut live and has free playing on it, it was hard not to go in a jazz direction".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: While most musical compositions rely on tension and release, which can be produced by factors such as soft verses and loud choruses, gradual buildup, subtle tension within verses or over the course of the bridge, or harmonic tension in chords that provides space for improvisation, D'Angelo's arrangements for "Voodoo" subdivide the tension into each of the songs' moments. According to music critic Steve McPherson, the concept results in "no linear way to measure how far off things slide before they pull themselves back ... can't be measured in beats or fractions of beats in a meaningful way. For lack of a less clichéd word, it's entirely 'feel'". This type of syncopation serves as the center for "Voodoo", rather than the more conventional method of using it as flavoring or departure from the center. According to "New York Daily News" music journalist Jim Farber, "In order to counter the slickness of modern R&B, D'Angelo's album reconfigured – and updated – the adventurous song structures and lowdown grooves of early-'70s works like Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up', Isaac Hayes' 'Hot Buttered Soul' and Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'."


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The album features aggressive multi-tracking of D'Angelo's voice, a technique similar to the production of Sly & the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On" (1971) and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" (1973). The multi-tracking on "Voodoo" significantly affected the clarity of D'Angelo's vocals. In "Voodoo"s liner notes, Saul Williams wrote of its heavy use of multi-tracking, stating "You might respond, 'Lyrics? Yo, I can't even understand half the shit that D'Angelo be saying. That nigga sounds like Bobby McFerrin on opium'. And I'd say, 'You're right. Neither can I. But I am drawn to figure out what it is that he's saying. His vocal collaging intrigues me'". "Between every staccato, breathy, slack-jaw-smooth lyric", wrote "Spin"s Julianne Shephard, "was an implied syllable of psychedelic soul sex". Music writers have also noted the production style and sound of "Voodoo" as reminiscent of the sound of the P-Funk opus "Mothership Connection" (1975), Gaye's downtempo disco-soul record "I Want You" (1976), and Miles Davis's jazz fusion works "In a Silent Way" (1969) and "Bitches Brew" (1970).


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo and his crew also utilized a hip hop production style, which often subordinates song structure to a stable foundation for a rapper's delivery and flow. This was familiar to D'Angelo, as his first original recordings were rap demos. Subsequently, most of the songs were performed without a definitive structure, settling into a mid-tempo groove with minimal verse-chorus-bridge progression. This also resulted in an emphasis on texture over both structure and hooks. "New York" writer Ethan Smith noted this occurrence, stating "most of the songs aren't really songs at all – at least, not in the traditional sense". While not predominant on the album, some tracks incorporate sampling. Most of its production was influenced by hip hop producer J Dilla's input. On J Dilla's influence, Questlove stated "He's the zenith of hip-hop to us. Jay Dee helped to bring out the album's dirty sound and encouraged the false starts and the nonquantized sound of the record".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The opening track "Playa Playa" features basketball metaphors and gospel overtones, which accompany the track's slow funk and jazz vibe. On his bass playing in the song, Pino Palladino recalled "I was thinking about Stevie Wonder in the choruses and P-Funk in the verses". Rob Evanoff of "All About Jazz" called the song "an uplifting soul ride", and stated that it evokes an image of "a musical train seen far off in the distance, slowly getting bigger as it gets closer". Evanoff also compared the track's style to the jam-sound of Pink Floyd, and wrote "it surrounds you with a deep thick infectious groove that, at first, shadows and then envelopes your senses in such a way that is equal bits liberating, intoxicating and hypnotic…you close your eyes and are transported into another dimension". On the song's lyrics, one critic wrote that "D'Angelo disses all neo-soul wannabes by calmly singing 'Bring the drama playa/Give me all U got'". "Devil's Pie" is a funk and hip hop diatribe with a lyrical theme concerning hip hop excess, and it is accompanied by P-Funk style harmonies and low-key singing by D'Angelo. It is a bass-driven track produced by DJ Premier, who contributes to its hip hop texture. The song's theme also incorporates religious imagery into its message of social strife. Questlove has stated that "Devil's Pie" was written to address the issues of "the money hungry jiggafied state of the world we're in".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: "Left & Right" is a funky party jam featuring rappers Method Man and Redman, who exchange verses as D'Angelo sings the song's verses and chorus. "Entertainment Weekly"s Matt Diehl calls Method Man's and Redman's lyrics "misogynistic", adding that it upsets "Voodoo"s "organically sensual vibe". The introspective track "The Line" has a downtempo, spiritual sound with lyrics about dealing with some unnamed adversity. According to one critic, it "could be about his MIA status ('Will I hang or get left hangin?/Will I fall off or is it bangin?/I say it's up to God'), or about anyone facing doubters with a revolver loaded with talent and self-confidence ('I'm gonna put my finger on the trigger/I'm gonna pull it, and then we gon' see/What the deal/I'm for real')". Music critic Robert Christgau interpreted the lyrics to be "unjudgmental, unsentimental ... in which a young black man lays out the reasons he's ready to die-leaving the listener to wonder why the fuck he should have to think about it". Andy Peterson of "The GW Hatchet" viewed that the adversity is "the price of fame" or "lamenting a lost lover".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The sparse funk song "Chicken Grease" has lyrics advising against acting "uptight", and it features D'Angelo referencing the line "I know you got soul" from Eric B. & Rakim's song of the same name (1987). It contains an ambiguous harmony and bass by Pino Palladino, who evokes the playing style of James Jamerson, with spontaneously improvised variations-on-a-theme parts that sit back "in the pocket". The track was originally intended for Common's "Like Water for Chocolate", but D'Angelo offered Common the song "Geto Heaven Part Two" as a trade. "Chicken Grease" is named after a technical term that musician Prince used for his guitarist to play a 9th minor chord while playing 16th notes. The song contains background voices, which one writer described as "omnipresent party people channeled in from 'What's Going On' and 'Voodoo Chile', laughin and carryin on all over". Co-written by D'Angelo's former girlfriend, singer Angie Stone, "Send It On" contains lyrics concerning themes of honesty and faith in love, and features jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove on flugel horn. Titled after a southern colloquial conflation of the terms "One More Time" and "Again", the mid-tempo ballad "One Mo'Gin" has its narrator reminiscing about a former lover. Its introductory sound consisting of soft organ work and dim percussion evokes the sound of D'Angelo's "Sh★t, Damn, Motherf★cker" (1995). "One Mo'Gin" contains strong jazz overtones and a prominent rocksteady drum rhythm played by Questlove. It incorporates Delta blues-style bass and keyboard-driven verses with a melodic hook. The song is introduced with lead-in bass licks by Pino Palladino, who adds musical texture to its sparse composition by using 10th notes and other arpeggio shapes. According to "Seattle Weekly"s Tricia Romano, the song's music actualizes "new skool sensibility with old school soul".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: According to Questlove, "The Root", "Spanish Joint", and "Greatdayndamornin' / Booty'" serve as the "virtuoso part of the record", featuring intricate technical arrangements, no overdubbing, and Charlie Hunter playing both electric and bass guitar. "The Root" is a mid-tempo heartbreak song with the bass line and guitar solo played simultaneously by Hunter on an eight-string guitar. It is about a vengeful woman's effect on the narrator: "In the name of love and hope she took my shield and sword ... From the pit of the bottom that knows no floor/Like the rain to the dirt, from the vine to the wine/From the alpha of creation, to the end of all time". Miles Marshall Lewis writes of the song's subject matter, "[it] can actually be digested and emotionally felt, sadly rare for Hot 97 R&B." Co-written by Roy Hargrove, "Spanish Joint" is a salsa-infused, high tempo track about karma. It incorporates rhythmic Brazilian guitar licks by Hunter, funky horn arrangements by Hargrove, and Latin grooves and fusion instrumentation similar to Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (1973). "Feel Like Makin' Love" is a cover of Roberta Flack's 1974 hit of the same name with a low-key, quiet storm sound. "Greatdayndamornin' / Booty'" features double rimshots placed behind the beat by Questlove.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Co-written by Raphael Saadiq, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" is a tribute to one of D'Angelo's primary influences, Prince, and evokes his early . The similarity of D'Angelo's music on "Voodoo" to Prince was addressed in Saul Williams's liner notes, as he stated "I'd pay to see Prince's face as he listens to this album." Questlove described the song as "finding the line between parody and honesty [...] In an era of 'the cover song', redoing a Prince song was taboo. This is the second best thing". It follows a six eight signature and features electric guitar interplay throughout, which is reminiscent of the Jimi Hendrix guitar style and "Maggot Brain" sound. The song contains a drum pattern with a uniform dynamic. D'Angelo's vocals were overdubbed several times to produce the sound of a choir singing harmonies during choruses, all of which were sung by D'Angelo. The song's sexually explicit lyrics describe the narrator's plea to his lover for sex, as exemplified in the second verse: "Love to make you wet/In between your thighs, cause/I love when it comes inside of you/I get so excited when I'm around you, baby" It has been cited by critics as the album's best song.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The philosophical album closer "Africa" celebrates D'Angelo's heritage, while reaffirming his contemporary mission in life. It has been cited by Questlove as his favorite song on the album. The theme of "Africa" concerns the finding of a spiritual home amid geographical displacement, and of passing that sense of belonging on to one's children. "Africa" was originally written in honor of D'Angelo's son, Michael Archer, Jr., and ended up as a dedication to history, Africa, and God. Opening with a shimmery rustle of chimes, the song contains a drum interpretation of Prince's "I Wonder U" from his "Parade" (1986), which was also utilized for the Ursula Rucker and The Roots track "The Return to Innocence Lost" from "Things Fall Apart". Questlove discussed producing the opening chime sounds for "Africa", stating "we took the cover off the rhodes and mic'd 'em". One critic described C. Edward Alford's guitar work for "Africa" as "backward guitar solos (at least they "sound" backward)". Another critic described the song as a "lullaby" and "a gorgeous, opalescent closer ... a prayer of sorts". "Voodoo"s coda, which consists of chopped-up track snippets run backwards, plays at the song's conclusion.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The album's release was preceded by several delays, which were primarily caused by the folding of D'Angelo's former label EMI Records and legal troubles with his management. It was originally scheduled for release on November 23, 1999, When "Voodoo" was originally presented to Virgin Records executives, mixed opinions formed on whether or not it would succeed commercially, as the project had been heavily financed by the label. In return for the production budget, Virgin executives expected a record with potential for radio-oriented success. However, "Voodoo"s unconventional sound proved difficult to translate into singles suited for contemporary radio success, in contrast to the more accessible "Brown Sugar".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: "Devil's Pie" and "Left & Right" were released as singles but failed to make a significant commercial impact, with the latter having been aimed at R&B and hip hop-oriented radio stations due to the prominence of rappers Redman and Method Man on the track. A music video for "Left & Right", created by director Malik Hassan Sayeed and producer Rich Ford, Jr., was anticipated by fans and MTV network executives that had planned special promotions and a world premiere for the clip. However, Sayeed's concept of a concert video that paid tribute to funk shows of the past expended Virgin's budget and resulted in a missed deadline for the MTV premiere. As punishment, the network refused to put the final edit of music video in rotation. It was eventually world-premiered by BET on Thanksgiving Day. According to Ford, both the single and the video went commercially unnoticed due to MTV's refusal to place the song's video in rotation.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The limited success with singles and lukewarm opinions from label executives led to more promotional efforts and a public response made by D'Angelo's management through issuing a statement, which cited "Voodoo" as the R&B musical equivalent of art rock band Radiohead's acclaimed studio album "OK Computer" (1997). While both records feature an experimental edge, in terms of sound and lyrical themes, the English indie rock scene to which the latter had belonged was album-oriented, as opposed to the contemporary R&B scene in the United States, which was more single-oriented at the time. Prior to its release, Virgin launched an extensive, multi-layered campaign for the album, which setup several promotional performances by D'Angelo in 1999, including a guest performance on the season premiere of The Chris Rock Show on September 17, New York's Key Club, the National Black Programmers Coalition meeting in New Orleans on November 20, KMEL San Francisco's House of Soul show on December 10, and KKBT L.A.'s Holiday Cooldown on December 11. Following commitments made by the label for the album's distribution in the UK, continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, D'Angelo appeared at London's Music of Black Origin Awards on October 6. Other promotional events included signings and in-store appearances by D'Angelo at shopping venues such as Macy's, Virgin Megastore, and Fulton Mall in New York City, which attracted a considerable number of D'Angelo's female fans. A remix album, "Voodoo DJ Soul Essentials" (2000), was also issued by Virgin.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The release of the controversial music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" prior to the album's release has been cited as having the greatest promotional impact, boosting the song's appeal and D'Angelo's popularity. Directed by Paul Hunter, the video features D'Angelo, filmed from the waist-up, lip-synching in the nude. According to writer Keith M. Harris, it portrayed D'Angelo's "discursive play with masculinity and blackness". "Billboard" had written of the video, "it's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". It would earn three nominations for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best R&B Video, and Best Male Video. Gaining significant amount of airplay on the BET and MTV networks, the video reintroduced D'Angelo as a sex icon to a newer generation of fans. It was also viewed at a promotional party thrown in celebration of the album's release, which took place in January 2000 at the Centro-Fly nightclub in Chelsea, Manhattan. Douglas Century of "The New York Times" wrote of the club's appearance as "packed and sweaty, with decor and soul music out of a 1970's time warp: multiple video screens playing images of Curtis Mayfield and vintage "Soul Train" episodes, replete with dancers in Day-Glo bell-bottoms".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In January 2000, a press release for "Voodoo" was issued discussing the album's experimental edge and the anticipation for its release. It called "Voodoo" "the CD that D'Angelo was put on this earth to create" and "quite literally the record that much of the universal soul nation has been feenin for." "Voodoo" was ultimately released on January 25, by the Virgin-imprint label Cheeba Sound in the United States, January 18 in Canada and February 14 in the United Kingdom on EMI, awaiting eager anticipation from fans and critics. "Voodoo" was issued with a parental advisory label, due to profanities and sexually explicit lyrics present on the tracks "Devil's Pie" and "Left & Right", and also as a "clean" edited version with an alternate cover. A double LP release was made available in the UK through EMI.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In its first week, "Voodoo" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 320,000 copies. It entered the "Billboard" 200 on February 12, 2000, and remained on the chart for 33 consecutive weeks. Its debut replaced Carlos Santana's "Supernatural" (1999) at the number-one spot on the chart. It had sold over 500,000 copies within its first two months of release. The album charted for 33 weeks on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: "Voodoo" charted on several international album charts, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand. On February 24, 2000, it was certified gold in sales by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, following sales in excess of 50,000 copies in Canada. Two months after its US release, "Voodoo" was certified platinum on March 1, 2000, by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's platinum certification had coincided with the commencement of "Voodoo"s supporting tour. By mid-2000, the album had reached sales of 1.3 million copies in the United States. By 2005, the album had sold over 1.7 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Despite its success, "Voodoo" did not achieve his debut album's sales performance nor generate the single-oriented success D'Angelo's label had envisioned.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: "Voodoo" was met with rave reviews from critics, many of whom hailed it as a "masterpiece" and D'Angelo's greatest work. In "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau called it a "deeply brave and pretentious record ... signifies like a cross between lesser Tricky and Sly's "Riot Goin' On"", and wrote of D'Angelo, "he leads from strength" rather than "tune-and-hook", "a feel for bass more disquieting than bootalicious." "NME" praised its diverse sound and commented that the album "represents nothing less than African American music at a crossroads ... To simply call D'Angelo's work neo-classic soul, as per corporate diktat, would be reductive, for that would be to ignore the elements of vaudeville jazz, Memphis horns, ragtime blues, funk and bass grooves, not to mention hip-hop, that slip out of every pore of these 13 haunted songs." Christopher John Farley of "Time" called it a "richly imagined CD". Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters called it "the working blueprint for 'post-Soul' black pop". Joshua Klein of "The A.V. Club" commented that the album "often recalls the muddier bits of Sly Stone's later works [...] and the much-missed balladry of prime Prince" and stated, "D'Angelo's mellow strategy frequently pays off [...] a brave antidote to current pop and hip-hop trends."


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Despite perceiving a "heavy-handed emphasis on groove over melody" and "self-indulgent" song durations, Miles Marshall Lewis of "The Village Voice" viewed the album as a progression for D'Angelo and compared it to Prince's acclaimed "Sign o' the Times" (1987), noting that the latter album was initially perceived by most critics as "uneven". Greg Tate of "Vibe" dubbed it "the most daring song-oriented album by a mainstream R&B artist of his generation." Steve Jones of "USA Today" wrote that "no other R&B artist today seems to have as acute an understanding of where he comes from as D'Angelo, and none seems as willing to take risks in exploring where he should be heading". "The Austin Chronicle"s Christopher Gray commented that ""Voodoo" unlocks the brain's inner freak like an especially nimble Harry Whodini". Rob Evanoff of "All About Jazz" gave it five out of five stars and called it "a record you put on and let it seep in, soaking your essence and one that evolves over subsequent listens... an aural aphrodisiac". He found it to be in the tradition of classic jazz albums and wrote of its musical significance, stating:


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: However, some critics found it inconsistent. Music journalist Peter Shapiro criticized its "loose playing and bohemian self-indulgence", stating ""Voodoo" drifted all over the map in a blunted haze". "Rolling Stone"s James Hunter disapproved of the experimental and loose-sounding structure, and viewed that it does not attain its potential, stating "long stretches of it are unfocused and unabsorbing [...] "Voodoo" flatters the "real" at the expense of the thing. The result is superb smoke, but smoke nonetheless". By contrast, Jon Caramanica wrote in "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004) that "D'Angelo achieves through nuance what some singers with decades of experience and training never achieve: a throbbing, vital presence, that demands attention, even as it shuns it".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In 2001, "Voodoo" won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards, which was awarded to D'Angelo and recording engineer Russell Elevado. The song "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and was also nominated for Best R&B Song. The song was also ranked number 12 on "The Village Voice"s Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2000, as well as number 4 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of the year. "Voodoo" proved to be one of the most critically praised and awarded albums of the year, topping several critics' and publications' "end of year" lists, including the number 6 spot on "The Village Voice"s 2000 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. "Rolling Stone" and "Spin" magazine both ranked it number 4 on their "albums of the year" lists, while "Time" magazine named "Voodoo" as the number 1 album of 2000. "Voodoo" was named one of the top ten albums of 2000 by several "New York Times" staff writers, including Ben Ratliff (number 2), Neil Strauss (number 3), Ann Powers (number 2), and Jon Pareles (number 1).


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In 2003, "Rolling Stone" ranked the album number 488 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and at number 481 in a revised list in 2012. In the 2020, the album was re-ranked at 28, calling it "an album heavy on bass and drenched in a post-coital haze". In 2009, "Pitchfork" ranked "Voodoo" number 44 on its list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s decade, calling it "a triumph of hands-on, real-time, old-school soul minimalism" and citing D'Angelo's vocals as "maybe the most erotically tactile singing put to disc this decade". "Rolling Stone" placed the album at number 23 on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade, stating "The decade's most magnificent R&B record was also its most inventive — so far ahead of its time that it still sounds radical". AllMusic editor Andy Kellman has cited "Brown Sugar" and "Voodoo" as "two of the most excellent and singular R&B albums of the past 15 years".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: Following "Voodoo"s release, D'Angelo embarked on his second international tour in support of the album, "The Voodoo Tour". The tour was sponsored by the clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., and it featured D'Angelo promoting an end to gun violence. After signing an initiative on June 7, 2000, at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles to collect a million signatures by November 7 in support of "common-sense solutions" to end gun violence, the anti-gun violence organization PAX agreed to sponsor the tour. The tour was also set to feature a wall composed of denim by Levi's, made available for fans to sign in support of anti-gun violence. D'Angelo was backed by a group of session personnel and other musicians, assembled and directed by Questlove, called the Soultronics. J Dilla's group Slum Village opened on several dates, while R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup within the Soultronics on occasion.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: D'Angelo's wardrobe during the tour included tank tops, black leather pants, and boots. "Rolling Stone"s Touré commented on one of the outings, "The Soultronics begin each show in all black, but beyond that one requirement, each looks completely distinct. One man is in a deacon's robe, another in a long cape with a knit ski cap that says FBI. There’s a feather boa, a few badass leather coats, and Questlove's mighty Afro. There's a P-Funkish freaky flair to the Soultronics' look." In contrast to D'Angelo's performing behind his keyboard when promoting "Brown Sugar", his performances were more lively for "Voodoo". Tour manager Alan Leeds, who headed James Brown's late 1960s and early 1970s outings, as well as Prince's "Purple Rain" tour in the mid-1980s, cited "The Voodoo Tour" as his most memorable gig. Footage from the tour was later used in the music video for "Voodoo"s next single "Send It On".


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: With ticket prices ranging from $49 to $79, the tour became one of the most attended shows of 2000. By July, the tour's first half had sold out in each city. The tour lasted nearly eight months, while performances went for up to three hours a night. The tour began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. "The Voodoo Tour" was taken internationally to venues including Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: The music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" portrayed D'Angelo as a sex symbol to mainstream music audiences, which had repercussions on "The Voodoo Tour"s second half. During the tour, female fans yelled out for him to take his clothes off, while others tossed clothes onto the stage. As trumpeter Roy Hargrove recounted, "We couldn't get through one song before women would start to scream for him to take off something [...] It wasn't about the music. All they wanted him to do was take off his clothes." This led to frustration and both onstage and offstage outbursts by D'Angelo, with him breaking stage equipment. Questlove later said, "He'd get angry and start breaking shit. The audience thinking, 'Fuck your art, I wanna see your ass!', made him angry." Although some were cancelled due to D'Angelo's throat infection during the tour's mid-March dates, many shows were cancelled due to his personal and emotional problems. D'Angelo chose on several occasions to not perform on scheduled dates, and delayed others to do physical workouts like stomach crunches. According to Questlove, three weeks worth of concert dates were cancelled, including two weeks worth of shows in Japan. He elaborated on the experience in a 2003 interview for "The Believer", saying that:


title: Voodoo (D'Angelo album)

text: In the same interview, Questlove also said that he had not been fully compensated for his work on "Voodoo", stating "I didn’t get the rest of my check." Several of D'Angelo's peers and affiliates have noted the commercial impact of the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video and "The Voodoo Tour" as contributing factors to D'Angelo's extended period of absence from the music scene after "Voodoo".


title: Recording studio

text: A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single singer-guitarist, to a large building with space for a full orchestra of 100 or more musicians. Ideally, both the recording and monitoring (listening and mixing) spaces are specially designed by an acoustician or audio engineer to achieve optimum acoustic properties (acoustic isolation or diffusion or absorption of reflected sound echoes that could otherwise interfere with the sound heard by the listener).


title: Recording studio

text: Recording studios may be used to record singers, instrumental musicians (e.g., electric guitar, piano, saxophone, or ensembles such as orchestras), voice-over artists for advertisements or dialogue replacement in film, television, or animation, foley, or to record their accompanying musical soundtracks. The typical recording studio consists of a room called the "studio" or "live room" equipped with microphones and mic stands, where instrumentalists and vocalists perform; and the "control room", where audio engineers, sometimes with record producers, as well, operate professional audio mixing consoles, effects units, or computers with specialized software suites to mix, manipulate (e.g., by adjusting the equalization and adding effects) and route the sound for analog or digital recording. The engineers and producers listen to the live music and the recorded "tracks" on high-quality monitor speakers or headphones.


title: Recording studio

text: Often, there will be smaller rooms called "isolation booths" to accommodate loud instruments such as drums or electric guitar amplifiers and speakers, to keep these sounds from being audible to the microphones that are capturing the sounds from other instruments or voices, or to provide "drier" rooms for recording vocals or quieter acoustic instruments such as an acoustic guitar or a fiddle. Major recording studios typically have a range of large, heavy, and hard-to-transport instruments and music equipment in the studio, such as a grand piano, Hammond organ, electric piano, harp, and drums.


title: Recording studio

text: Even though sound isolation is a key goal, the musicians, singers, audio engineers and record producers still need to be able to see each other, to see cue gestures and conducting by a bandleader. As such, the live room, isolation booths, vocal booths and control room typically have windows.


title: Recording studio

text: Recording studios are carefully designed around the principles of room acoustics to create a set of spaces with the acoustical properties required for recording sound with accuracy. Architectural acoustics includes acoustical treatment and soundproofing and also the consideration of the physical dimensions of the room itself to make the room respond to sound in the desired way. Acoustical treatment includes and the use of absorption and diffusion materials on the surfaces inside the room. To control the amount of reverberation, rooms in a recording studio may have a reconfigurable combination of reflective and non-reflective surfaces. Soundproofing provides sonic isolation between rooms and prevents sound from entering or leaving the property. A Recording studio in an urban environment must be soundproofed on its outer shell to prevent noises from the surrounding streets and roads from being picked up by microphones inside.


title: Recording studio

text: Not all music studios are equipped with musical instruments. Some smaller studios do not have instruments, and bands and artists are expected to bring their own instruments, amplifiers, and speakers. However, major recording studios often have a selection of instruments in their live room, typically instruments, amplifiers and speaker cabinets that are large, heavy, and difficult to transport (e.g., a Hammond organ) or infeasible (as in the case of a grand piano) to hire for a single recording session. Having musical instruments and equipment in the studio creates additional costs for a studio, as pianos have to be tuned and instruments and associated equipment needs to be maintained.


title: Recording studio

text: General-purpose computers rapidly assumed a large role in the recording process. With software, a powerful, good quality computer with a fast processor can replace the mixing consoles, multitrack recording equipment, synthesizers, samplers and effects unit (reverb, echo, compression, etc.) that a recording studio required in the 1980s and 1990s. A computer thus outfitted is called a digital audio workstation, or DAW.


title: Recording studio

text: While Apple Macintosh is used for most studio work, there is a breadth of software available for Microsoft Windows and Linux.


title: Recording studio

text: If no mixing console is used and all mixing is done using only a keyboard and mouse, this is referred to as "mixing in the box" (ITB). OTB describes mixing with other hardware and not just the PC software.


title: Recording studio

text: A small, personal recording studio is sometimes called a "project studio" or "home studio". Such studios often cater to the specific needs of an individual artist or are used as a non-commercial hobby. The first modern project studios came into being during the mid-1980s, with the advent of affordable multitrack recording devices, synthesizers and microphones. The phenomenon has flourished with falling prices of MIDI equipment and accessories, as well as inexpensive direct to disk recording products.


title: Recording studio

text: Recording drums and amplified electric guitar in a home studio is challenging because they are usually the loudest instruments. Acoustic drums require sound isolation in this scenario, unlike electronic or sampled drums. Getting an authentic electric guitar amp sound including power-tube distortion requires a power attenuator or an isolation cabinet, or booth. A convenient compromise is amplifier modeling, whether a modeling amp, preamp/processor, or software-based guitar amp simulator. Sometimes, musicians replace loud, inconvenient instruments such as drums, with keyboards, which today often provide somewhat realistic sampling.


title: Recording studio

text: The capability of digital recording introduced by ADAT and its comparatively low cost, originally introduced at $3995, were largely responsible for the rise of project studios in the 1990s. Today's project studios are built around software-based DAWs running on standard PC hardware.


title: Recording studio

text: An isolation booth is a small room in a recording studio, which is both soundproofed to keep out external sounds and keep in the internal sounds, and like all the other recording rooms in sound industry, it is designed for having a lesser amount of diffused reflections from walls to make a good sounding room. A drummer, vocalist, or guitar speaker cabinet, along with microphones, is acoustically isolated in the room. A typical professional recording studio has a "control room", a large "live room", and one or more small "isolation booths".


title: Recording studio

text: All rooms are soundproofed by varying methods, including but not limited to, double-layer 5/8" sheetrock with the seams offset from layer to layer on both sides of the wall that is filled with foam, batten insulation, a double wall, which is an insulated wall built next to another insulated wall with an air gap in-between, by adding foam to the interior walls and corners, and by using two panes of thick glass with an air gap between them. The surface densities of common building materials determines the transmission loss of various frequencies through materials.


title: Recording studio

text: Thomas A. Watson invented, but did not patent, the soundproof booth for use in demonstrating the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell in 1877. There are variations of the same concept, including a portable standalone isolation booth and a guitar speaker isolation cabinet. A gobo panel achieves the same effect to a much more moderate extent; for example, a drum kit that is too loud in the live room or on stage can have acrylic glass see-through gobo panels placed around it to deflect the sound and keep it from bleeding into the other microphones, allowing better independent control of each instrument channel at the mixing console.


title: Recording studio

text: In animation, vocal performances are normally recorded in individual sessions, and the actors have to imagine (with the help of the director or a reader) they are involved in dialogue. Animated films often evolve rapidly during both development and production, so keeping vocal tracks from bleeding into each other is essential to preserving the ability to fine-tune lines up to the last minute. Sometimes, if the rapport between the lead actors is strong enough and the animation studio can afford it, the producers may use a recording studio configured with multiple isolation booths in which the actors can see each another and the director. This enables the actors to react to one another in real time as if they were on a regular stage or film set.


title: Recording studio

text: In the era of acoustical recordings (prior to the introduction of microphones, electrical recording and amplification), the earliest recording studios were very basic facilities, being essentially soundproof rooms that isolated the performers from outside noise. During this era it was not uncommon for recordings to be made in any available location, such as a local ballroom, using portable acoustic recording equipment. In this period, master recordings were made by cutting a rotating cylinder (later disc) made from wax. Performers were typically grouped around a large acoustic horn (an enlarged version of the familiar gramophone horn). The acoustic energy from the voices or instruments was channeled through the horn to a diaphragm to a mechanical cutting lathe, which inscribed the signal as a modulated groove directly onto the surface of the master.


title: Recording studio

text: Electrical recording was common by the early 1930s, and mastering lathes were electrically powered, but master recordings still had to be cut into a disc, by now a lacquer, also known as an Acetate disc. In line with the prevailing musical trends, studios in this period were primarily designed for the live recording of symphony orchestras and other large instrumental ensembles. Engineers soon found that large, reverberant spaces like concert halls created a vibrant acoustic signature as the natural reverb enhanced the sound of the recording. In this period large, acoustically "live" halls were favored, rather than the acoustically "dead" booths and studio rooms that became common after the 1960s. Because of the limits of the recording technology, which did not allow for multitrack recording techniques, studios of the mid-20th century were designed around the concept of grouping musicians (e.g., the rhythm section or a horn section) and singers (e.g., a group of backup singers), rather than separating them, and placing the performers and the microphones strategically to capture the complex acoustic and harmonic interplay that emerged during the performance. In the 2000s, modern sound stages still sometimes use this approach for large film scoring projects that use large orchestras.


title: Recording studio

text: Because of their superb acoustics, many of the larger studios were converted churches. Examples include George Martin's AIR Studios in London, Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York City, and Pythian Temple studio in New York.


title: Recording studio

text: Facilities like the Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York and Abbey Road Studios in London were renowned for their identifiable sound—which was (and still is) easily identifiable by audio professionals—and for the skill of their staff engineers. As the need to transfer audio material between different studios grew, there was an increasing demand for standardization in studio design across the recording industry, and Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood was highly influential in the 1970s in the development of standardized acoustic design.


title: Recording studio

text: In New York City, Columbia Records had some of the most highly respected sound recording studios, including the 30th Street Studio at 207 East 30th Street, the CBS Studio Building at 49 East 52nd Street, Liederkranz Hall at 111 East 58th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues (a building built by and formerly belonging to a German cultural and musical society, The Liederkranz Club and Society), and one of their earliest recording studios, Studio A at 799 Seventh Avenue.


title: Recording studio

text: Electric recording studios in the mid-20th century often lacked isolation booths, sound baffles, and sometimes even speakers. A major reason that isolation was not used was that recordings in this period were typically made as live ensemble "takes" and all the performers needed to be able to see each other and the ensemble leader while playing. The recording engineers who trained in this period learned to take advantage of the complex acoustic effects that could be created through "leakage" between different microphones and groups of instruments, and these technicians became extremely skilled at capturing the unique acoustic properties of their studios and the musicians in performance. It was not until the 1960s, with the introduction of the high-fidelity headphones that it became common practice for performers to use these to monitor their performance during recording and listen to playbacks.


title: Recording studio

text: The use of different kinds of microphones and their placement around the studio is a crucial part of the recording process, and particular brands of microphones are used by engineers for their specific audio characteristics. The smooth-toned ribbon microphones developed by the RCA company in the 1930s were crucial to the "crooning" style perfected by Bing Crosby, and the famous Neumann U47 condenser microphone was one of the most widely used from the 1950s. This model is still widely regarded by audio professionals as one of the best microphones of its type ever made. Learning the correct placement of microphones is a major part of the training of young engineers, and many became extremely skilled in this craft. Well into the 1960s, in the classical field it was not uncommon for engineers to make high-quality orchestral recordings using only one or two microphones suspended above the orchestra. In the 1960s, engineers began experimenting with placing microphones much closer to instruments than had previously been the norm. The distinctive rasping tone of the horn sections on the Beatles recordings "Good Morning Good Morning" and "Lady Madonna" were achieved by having the saxophone players position their instruments so that microphones were virtually inside the mouth of the horn.


title: Recording studio

text: The unique sonic characteristics of the major studios imparted a special character to many of the most famous popular recordings of the 1950s and 1960s, and the recording companies jealously guarded these facilities. According to sound historian David Simons, after Columbia took over the 30th Street Studios in the late 1940s and A&R manager Mitch Miller had tweaked it to perfection, Miller issued a standing order that the drapes and other fittings were not to be touched, and the cleaners had specific orders never to mop the bare wooden floor for fear it might alter the acoustic properties of the hall. There were several other features of studios in this period that contributed to their unique sonic signatures.


title: Recording studio

text: As well as the inherent sound of the large recording rooms, many of the best studios incorporated specially-designed echo chambers, purpose-built rooms which were often built beneath the main studio. These were typically long, low rectangular spaces constructed from hard, sound-reflective materials like concrete, fitted with a loudspeaker at one end and one or more microphones at the other. During a recording session, a signal from one or more of the microphones in the studio could be routed to the loudspeaker in the echo chamber; the sound from the speaker reverberated through the chamber and the enhanced signal was picked up by the microphone at the other end. This echo-enhanced signal, which was often used to "sweeten" the sound of vocals, could then be blended in with the primary signal from the microphone in the studio and mixed into the track as the master recording was being made.


title: Recording studio

text: Special equipment was another notable feature of the "classic" recording studio. The biggest studios were owned and operated by large media companies like RCA, Columbia and EMI, who typically had their own electronics research and development divisions that designed and built custom-made recording equipment and mixing consoles for their studios. Likewise, the smaller independent studios were often owned by skilled electronics engineers who designed and built their own desks and other equipment. A good example of this is Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, the site of many famous American pop recordings of the 1960s. Co-owner David S. Gold built the studio's main mixing desk and many additional pieces of equipment and he also designed the studio's unique trapezoidal echo chambers.


title: Recording studio

text: During the 1950s and 1960s, the sound of pop recordings was further defined by the introduction of proprietary sound processing devices such as equalizers and compressors, which were manufactured by specialist electronics companies. One of the best known of these was the Pultec equalizer which was used by almost all the major commercial studios of the time.


title: Recording studio

text: With the introduction of multi-track recording, it became possible to record instruments and singers separately and at different times on different tracks on tape. In the mid-20th century, recordings were analog, made on -inch or -inch magnetic tape, or, more rarely, on 35 mm magnetic film, with multitrack recording reaching 8 tracks in the 1950s, 16 in 1968, and 32 in the 1970s. The commonest such tape is the 2-inch analog, capable of containing up to 24 individual tracks. Throughout the 1960s many pop classics were still recorded live in a single take. In the 1970s the large recording companies began to adopt multi-track recording and the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing, with treatments like echo and reverberation added separately during the mixing process, rather than being blended in during the recording. Generally, after an audio mix is set up on a 24-track tape machine, the tracks are played back together, mixed and sent to a different machine, which records the combined signals (called "printing") to a -inch two-track stereo tape, called a "master".


title: Recording studio

text: Before digital recording, the total number of available tracks onto which one could record was measured in multiples of 24, based on the number of 24-track tape machines being used. Most recording studios now use digital recording equipment, which limits the number of available tracks only on the basis of the mixing console's or computer hardware interface's capacity and the ability of the hardware to cope with processing demands. Analog tape machines are still used by some audiophiles and sound engineers for their unique sonic characteristics. Scarcity and age have led to certain models of analog tape machines rising significantly in value.


title: Recording studio

text: Radio studios are very similar to recording studios, particularly in the case of production studios which are not normally used on-air, such as studios where interviews are taped for later broadcast. This type of studio would normally have all of the same equipment that any other audio recording studio would have, particularly if it is at a large station, or at a combined facility that houses a station group, but is also designed for groups of people to work collaboratively in a live-to-air situation (see Ahern, S, Making Radio).


title: Recording studio

text: Broadcast studios also use many of the same principles such as sound isolation, with adaptations suited to the live on-air nature of their use. Such equipment would commonly include a telephone hybrid for putting telephone calls on the air, a POTS codec for receiving remote broadcasts, a dead air alarm for detecting unexpected silence, and a broadcast delay for dropping anything from coughs to profanity. In the U.S., stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also must have an Emergency Alert System decoder (typically in the studio), and in the case of full-power stations, an encoder that can interrupt programming on all channels which a station transmits to broadcast urgent warnings.


title: Recording studio

text: Computers are also used for playing ads, jingles, bumpers, soundbites, phone calls, sound effects, traffic and weather reports, and now full broadcast automation when no staff are present. For talk shows, a producer or assistant in a control room runs the show, including screening calls and entering the callers' names and subject into a queue, which the show's host can see and make a proper introduction with. Radio contest winner interviews can also be edited "on the fly" and put on the air within a minute or two after they have been recorded accepting their prize.


title: Recording studio

text: Additionally, digital mixing consoles can be interconnected via audio over Ethernet, or split into two parts, with inputs and outputs wired to a rackmount audio engine, and one or more control surfaces (mixing boards) or computers connected via serial port, allowing the producer or the talent to control the show from either point. With Ethernet and audio over IP (live) or FTP (recorded), this also allows remote access, so that DJs can do shows from a home studio via ISDN or the Internet. Additional outside audio connections are required for the studio/transmitter link for over-the-air stations, satellite dishes for sending and receiving shows, and for webcasting or podcasting.


title: Gerald Green

text: Gerald Green (born January 26, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 18th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Known for his dunking skill, he has performed well in many slam dunk competitions, having won the 2005 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest and the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, while finishing as the runner-up in the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green was born in Houston, Texas. When he was in the 6th grade, he was involved in an accident that left a significant portion of his right ring finger cut off. He was wearing a ring on his right ring finger when he attempted a dunk on a makeshift basketball hoop. The ring caught onto a nail on the goal and his finger was ripped, with amputation being the only option.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green did not play high school basketball until his sophomore year, when he played junior varsity for J. Frank Dobie High School. In his junior year, he made the varsity team, but his play was cut short because of academic issues.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green transferred to a charter school, Gulf Shores Academy in Houston where he repeated his junior year. In his senior year at Gulf Shores, he averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocked shots per game. He was named an All-American and was the high scorer with 24 points in the 2005 McDonald's All-American Game, which features two teams composed of the best high school basketball players in the United States. Green also won the McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest that year, defeating future Duke player Josh McRoberts.


title: Gerald Green

text: Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Green was listed as the No. 1 player in the nation in 2005.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green originally committed to Oklahoma State University, but later decided to enter the NBA draft upon graduation. He hired an agent, thereby making himself ineligible to participate in NCAA athletics.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green was expected by many analysts to be one of the top players chosen but he fell to the Celtics, who selected him with the 18th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. His fall is attributed to his decision to give individual workouts only for the teams with the top six picks prior to the draft.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green was one of the last players to enter the NBA directly from high school, as the collective bargaining agreement between NBA owners and the National Basketball Players Association now mandates that American players who enter the draft must be at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school class and reach age 19 no later than December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.


title: Gerald Green

text: During the preseason, Green averaged 8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game for the Celtics in the 2005 Las Vegas Summer League.


title: Gerald Green

text: After seeing limited playing time during the first part of the season, Green was placed on the Fayetteville Patriots of the NBA D-League by the Celtics in January 2006. He was recalled and activated to an NBA roster position on February 3. He was reassigned to the NBDL, to the Florida Flame, on February 16. He was recalled and activated again on February 21, and saw his first significant NBA game action on the following night, scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 23 minutes.


title: Gerald Green

text: He appeared in 32 games and averaged 11.8 minutes, 5.2 points, and 1.2 rebounds during these contests. Green left marks on the league with his highlight plays including a shot clock beating half court three against Indiana and two "SportsCenter" top play dunks in the closing seconds in two games against the Toronto Raptors.


title: Gerald Green

text: Over the off-season, Green aimed at improving all aspects of his game in order to gain playing time. He had shown flashes of his capability during the end of the 2005–06 season, but started off the 2006–07 season slowly, earning a somewhat limited role and playing time behind captain Paul Pierce, and swingman Wally Szczerbiak. With injuries to Szczerbiak and Pierce, his playing time increased, but he was unable to nail down a starting role. Green started his first-ever game early December against the Philadelphia 76ers, but then lost his job to a returning Szczerbiak. Green finished the 2006–07 season averaging 10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.


title: Gerald Green

text: On February 17, 2007, Green won the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, beating out Nate Robinson, Tyrus Thomas, and Dwight Howard.


title: Gerald Green

text: The season was going very well for Green. On March 16, 2007, he scored a career-high 25 points in a Celtics loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and on April 10, 2007, Green topped that with 33 points (12–22 FG, 4–5 3FG) at Atlanta.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 31, 2007, it was made official that Green was to be traded along with Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett.


title: Gerald Green

text: At Minnesota, Green found himself stuck on the bench behind a number of players at his same position. In early January 2008, Green's agent asked the Timberwolves to trade his client.


title: Gerald Green

text: At the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Green opened the competition with a dunk he called "The Birthday Cake" in which he blew out a birthday candle on a cupcake set on the back of the rim while dunking. He followed that up with an alley-oop two-handed windmill. His first dunk of the second round was an alley-oop from behind the basket which he put between his legs before dunking. His final dunk of the night was a between-the-legs one-handed slam that he performed after taking off his shoes. He ended up finishing second to Dwight Howard, after Howard received seventy-eight percent of the votes cast by fans through text message.


title: Gerald Green

text: On February 21, 2008, Green was traded to his hometown team Houston Rockets for Kirk Snyder, a 2010 second-round draft pick, and cash considerations. He was subsequently released by the Rockets on March 8 and became an unrestricted free agent in July.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 1, 2008, Green signed with the Dallas Mavericks. His agent Colin Bryant told Fox 26 Sports, "We have a verbal agreement with Dallas on a one year contract, We talked to a number of teams and there is more money out there, but this is the best situation for Gerald at this point in his career."


title: Gerald Green

text: Green was not supposed to go to the summer league, but chose to go to learn the plays and get a feeling of the Mavericks organization early and not let his chance slip away. In the Vegas Summer League he averaged an underwhelming 13.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg on 38% shooting from the field. On a bright note, he was 43% from beyond the arc. Following the Vegas Summer League, the Mavericks and Green participated in the Rocky Mountain Revue, a summer league held in Salt Lake City, Utah. There in just 25.8 mpg Green averaged 17.7 ppg to go with 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1 spg, .5 bpg, and a respectable 2.2 topg. This time around, Green shot a much more impressive 45%, including going 12 for 26 from behind the three point line (46%), and 28–31 from the free throw line (90%). His overall performance was enough to earn him All-Revue Team honors.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green signed with PBC Lokomotiv Kuban of Russia in December 2009. The Lokomotiv Kuban waived him in June 2010.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green was named to the Los Angeles Lakers roster for the 2010 NBA Summer League. After the Summer League, he signed with BC Krasnye Krylya, also a Russian team.


title: Gerald Green

text: In October 2011, Green moved to China, signing a one-year contract with the Foshan Dralions. On December 2, 2011, Green was released by Foshan.


title: Gerald Green

text: On December 13, 2011, Green signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as an opportunity to return to the NBA. However, Green was waived by the Lakers on December 22 just days before the shortened regular season began.


title: Gerald Green

text: On December 28, 2011, Green signed with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. He played at the NBA D-League All-Star Game and was awarded the NBA D-League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. Over the season, he averaged 19.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He recorded a season-high of 35 points against the Erie BayHawks.


title: Gerald Green

text: The New Jersey Nets signed Green to a 10-day contract on February 27, 2012. He was signed to a second 10-day contract on March 8, 2012. His dunk against the Houston Rockets on March 10, 2012, was called "one of the dirtiest in-game windmill alley-oops in NBA history". On March 18, 2012, he was signed for the rest of the season. Through the season he averaged 12.9 points, 1.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 31 games played.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 12, 2012, Green signed with the Indiana Pacers. During the 2013 All-Star weekend, Green participated in his third NBA Slam Dunk Contest.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 27, 2013, Green was traded to the Phoenix Suns alongside Miles Plumlee and a future first-round pick for Luis Scola. Green started for the Suns when fellow guards Goran Dragić and Eric Bledsoe were injured during their respective periods in November 2013. He received more starting time with the Suns after Bledsoe had a major knee injury during January, February, and early March 2014. Throughout this period, Green would take over some games as being the team's leading scorer, including a 112–107 overtime victory against the Denver Nuggets, in which he'd record a then-career-high 36 points against them, which included making 8 of the team's 13 points in overtime.


title: Gerald Green

text: On March 6, 2014, Green recorded a new career-high 41 points, including a career-high 8 made three-pointers, in a 128–122 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. When Eric Bledsoe returned to action on March 12, 2014, Green returned to his bench role. Green finished the season with new career highs in points per game and free-throw percentage. As a result, he finished fourth in the NBA Most Improved Player Award behind Anthony Davis, Lance Stephenson, and Green's teammate Goran Dragić.


title: Gerald Green

text: On April 8, 2015, Green scored a season-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting in a 104–107 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 9, 2015, Green signed with the Miami Heat. He made his debut for the Heat in the team's season opener against the Charlotte Hornets on October 28, scoring 19 points off the bench in a 104–94 win. On November 27, he scored a season-high 25 points while starting in place of the injured Luol Deng, helping the Heat defeat the New York Knicks 97–78. He topped that mark on April 1, 2016, scoring 30 points while starting in place of the injured Dwyane Wade, helping the Heat defeat the Sacramento Kings 112–106.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 27, 2016, Green signed with the Boston Celtics, returning to the franchise for a second stint. On December 27, 2016, he scored a season-high 19 points in a 113–103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. On April 23, 2017, in Game 4 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, Green had a postseason career-high 18 points, 16 of which were tallied before halftime.


title: Gerald Green

text: On September 24, 2017, Green signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was waived on October 14, after appearing in four preseason games.


title: Gerald Green

text: On December 28, 2017, Green returned with the Houston Rockets for a second stint. On January 3, 2018, he scored a season-high 27 points in a 116–98 win over the Orlando Magic. Two days later, Green came off the bench to score 29 and tie a career high with eight 3-pointers in a 124–114 loss to the Golden State Warriors. He became the first player in franchise history to make seven or more 3-pointers in consecutive games after he made seven against Orlando. On January 17, Green was suspended for two games without pay for entering the Los Angeles Clippers' locker room after a game against the team two days earlier. On March 30, Green hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to snatch a win against the Phoenix Suns.


title: Gerald Green

text: On July 22, 2019, Green re-signed with the Rockets. On October 28, the Rockets announced that Green had undergone surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot and would be sidelined for approximately six months.


title: Gerald Green

text: On February 5, 2020, the Rockets traded Green to the Denver Nuggets in a four-team trade, and the Nuggets waived Green two days later. On December 1, 2020, Green re-signed with the Houston Rockets to a one-year non-guaranteed deal. On December 19, the Rockets waived Green.


title: Gerald Green

text: On January 8, 2022, Green came out of retirement and signed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, averaging 18 points and 5.1 rebounds.


title: Gerald Green

text: On October 22, 2021, Green announced his retirement and joined the Houston Rockets coaching staff as a player development coach.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green drew comparisons to future Houston Rockets teammate and star Tracy McGrady in the period leading up to the 2005 NBA draft.


title: Gerald Green

text: Green's second cousin is Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Danny Green. He also has a younger brother, Garlon, who is also a professional basketball player for CSM Oradea in Romania. He formerly played for TCU before going to play in Europe.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne ( ) or Diarmid O'Dyna, also known as Diarmuid of the Love Spot, was a demigod, son of Donn and one of the Fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology (traditionally set in the 2nd to 4th century). He is best known as the lover of Gráinne, the intended wife of Fianna leader Fionn mac Cumhaill in the legend "The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne". Among his sons were "Donnchadh", "Iollann", "Ruchladh" and "Ioruad".


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: In the legend, the Tuatha Dé Danann god of love and creativity Aenghus Óg was Diarmuid's foster father and protector. According to the story, Diarmuid was a skilled warrior and a well-liked and valued member of the Fianna who single-handedly killed 3,400 warriors in a battle, saving Fionn and the Fianna.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Aengus Óg owned a deadly sword named Móralltach or Nóralltach – the Great Fury, given to him by the sea-god Manannán mac Lir (Mananaan Son of the Sea). In The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne it is said of Móralltach that it left no stroke nor blow unfinished at the first trial. Aonghus gave this sword to his foster-son Diarmuid, in addition to a sword named Beagalltach, the Little Fury. Along with these two swords, Diarmuid is known to have wielded two spears, Gáe Buidhe (Yellow Spear) and Gáe Dearg (Red Spear), which inflicted wounds that could not be healed. He used Gáe Dearg and Moralltach for adventures which were matters of life and death, and Gáe Buidhe and Beagalltach for lesser battles.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Diarmuid's father, Donn, was a warrior of the Fianna. At a dinner party, Donn, jealous of the attention given to the son of Aengus' steward, killed the steward's son, Congus, when no one was looking. Aengus resurrected the steward's son in the form of a boar, but the steward required Fionn to find out the truth and, upon learning the truth, put a curse upon Diarmuid: He was to be killed by the boar, the steward's transformed son.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Diarmuid was famous for his beauty, and for his 'love spot', which made him irresistible to women. While hunting one night he met a woman who was the personification of youth. After sleeping with him she put a magical love spot under his eye that caused any woman who looked at it to fall in love with him.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: One freezing winter's night, a 'Loathly Lady' entered the Fianna lodge where the warriors had just gone to bed after a hunting expedition. Drenched to the bone, her sodden hair was snarled and knotted. She knelt beside each warrior and demanded a blanket, beginning with Fionn. Only young Diarmuid, whose bed was nearest to the fireplace, took pity on the woman, giving her his bed and blanket. She noticed Diarmuid's love spot and said that she had wandered the world alone for seven years. Diarmuid told her she could sleep all night and he would protect her. Towards dawn, she became a beautiful young woman.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: The next day, she rewarded Diarmuid's kindness by offering him his greatest wish—a house overlooking the sea. Overjoyed, Diarmuid asked the woman to live with him. She agreed on one condition: He must promise never to mention how ugly she looked on the night they met. After three days together, Diarmuid grew restless. She offered to watch his hound and her new pups while Diarmuid went hunting. On three occasions, Diarmuid's friends, envious of his luck, visited the lady and asked for one of the new pups. Each time, she honoured the request. Each time, Diarmuid was angry and asked her how she could repay him so meanly when he overlooked her ugliness the first night they met. On the third mention, the woman and house disappeared, and his beloved greyhound died.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Realizing that his ungratefulness has caused him to lose everything he valued, Diarmuid sets out to find his lady. He used an enchanted ship to cross a stormy sea to the Otherworld, where he searched for the lady through meadows filled with brightly coloured horses and silver trees. Three times he saw a drop of blood; he gathered each drop into his handkerchief. When a stranger revealed that the King's gravely ill daughter had just returned after seven years, Diarmuid realised it must be his lady. Rushing to her side, he discovered she was dying. The three drops of blood Diarmuid collected were from her heart, spilled each time she thought of Diarmuid. The only cure was a cup of healing water from the Plain of Wonder, guarded by a jealous king and his army. Diarmuid vowed to bring back the cup.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: At an impassable river, Diarmuid was helped by the Red Man of All Knowledge, who had red hair and eyes like glowing coals. He helped Diarmuid to cross the river and guided him to the king of the healing cup's country. Diarmuid called out that the cup should be sent out from the king's castle to him, or else champions to fight with him should be sent out. Twice eight hundred fighting men were sent out, and in three hours there was not one of them left to stand against him. Then twice nine hundred better fighters were sent out against him, and within four hours there was not one of them left. The king gave him the cup of healing. On the return trip, the Red Man advised Diarmuid on how to heal his lady. He also warned the hero that when her sickness ended, Diarmuid's love for her would end as well.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Having cured his lover, Diarmuid boarded an enchanted ship to return to the Fianna, where he was greeted by his friends and his greyhound, which the lady had returned to life as her final gift to him.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne – in English "The Pursuit of Díarmuid and Gráinne" is a popular romance of a love triangle. Although the surviving text of The Pursuit of Díarmait and Gráinne is dated no earlier than the 17th century, there is a reference to this tale in the late 12th-century manuscript The Book of Leinster.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Fionn Mac Cumhaill, much older than in his other adventures, had several wives over the years. When his last wife died, his son Oisín and his companions one day asked Fionn when he would remarry. Diorruing suggested that the best woman for Fionn would be Gráinne, daughter of Cormac Mac Art, the high king of Ireland.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Gráinne thought that she would be marrying Fionn's son Oisín or grandson Oscar, not the aging Fionn himself. Disappointed to find that her fiancé was old enough to be her grandfather, she determined not to marry Fionn, but to run away with one of the champions of the Fianna.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Grainne administered drugs into the wine of the guests save for Oisín, Oscar, Diarmuid, Caílte and Diorruing. She approached Oisín, who refused her request, then she approached Diarmuid. Diarmuid also objected to her advances because Fionn was a friend and his leader. Grainne imposed a geis on Diarmuid that he must follow her. His friends were saddened, knowing that Diarmuid would die if he came between Fionn and his desired wife. Diarmuid left the palace, knowing that despite being a friend and follower of Fionn, his leader would hunt him down for the betrayal.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: When Fionn Mac Cumhaill woke, he sent Clan O'Navnan to track down the fleeing couple. Diarmuid and Gráinne crossed Ath Luain (Athlone), and hid in the Wood of Two Tents. Diarmuid's friends Oisín, Oscar, Caílte and Diorruing were troubled by Fionn's behaviour and determined to secretly help Diarmuid whenever they could.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: In the Wood of Two Tents, Diarmuid had erected a fence around him and Gráinne with seven doorways leading to different directions in the wood. Fionn told his followers to surround and capture Diarmuid. Each of them offered to let the lovers through, but Diarmuid refused to allow them to compromise their honour by doing so. Aengus, Diarmuid's foster father and protector, wanted to help him, but Diarmuid insisted that he would leave on his own. Aengus took Gráinne away to the Wood of Two Sallows, and Diarmuid escaped by using his spear to vault over the fence and escaped into the wood.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: In the centre of the Forest of Dubros were magical berries from the rowan tree that could restore the youth of an old person, guarded by the giant Searbhan on the instructions of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Diarmuid and Gráinne asked Searbhan if they could live and hunt game in the forest. Searbhan agreed on the condition that they would not eat the berries. Gráinne asked to eat the berries. Searbhan refused and attacked Diarmuid with his massive club. Diarmuid used Searbhan's own weapon to kill him.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Fionn gathered the Fianna and travelled to the wood where he had a fidchell board set up, and played his son Oisín. Oscar and Cailte assisted Oisín in the game, since no one except Diarmuid was a match against Fionn in this game. Diarmuid watched the game from above, and couldn't resist aiding Oisín in the game by tossing berries at the pieces. Fionn lost three straight matches to his son. Fionn realised that the couple were hiding in the tree and ordered men to kill his rival. Diarmuid killed seven warriors named Garbh. Oscar, Fionn's grandson, warned that anyone who harmed Diarmuid would face his anger, and escorted the couple safely away through the forest.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Fionn went to the Land of Promise to ask his old nurse Bodhmall to kill Diarmuid. Diarmuid was hunting in the forest beside the river Boyne and Bodhmall flew through the air on a flying water-lily and hurled poisoned darts that could penetrate his shield and armour. Diarmuid suffered agony where the darts struck him; he killed her with the Gáe Dearg.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Fionn pardoned Diarmuid after Aonghus Óg interceded on the couple's behalf; Diarmuid and Gráinne lived in peace at Ceis Chorainn in Sligo for several years. They had five children, four sons and a daughter. Diarmuid built a fort, Rath Gráinia. However, they went for years without visiting Grainne's father Cormac Mac Art and Diarmuid's former comrades. Gráinne persuaded Diarmuid to invite their friends and relations to a feast, including Fionn and the Fianna. Fionn invited Diarmuid on a boar hunt on the heath of Benn Gulbain; Diarmuid only took his short sword Beagalltach and his yellow spear, Gáe Buide, not his best weapons. He was gored by a giant boar which had already killed a number of men and hounds.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Water drunk from Fionn's hands had the power of healing, but when Fionn gathered water, he twice let it run through his fingers before he could bring it to Diarmuid. Threatened by his son Oisín and grandson Oscar, he fetched water a third time, but this time he was too late: Diarmuid had died.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: After Diarmuid's death, Aengus took his body back to the Brugh, where he breathed life into it whenever he wished to speak with the hero.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne has often been compared with the earlier love triangle between Deirdre, Noísi and King Conchobar of Ulster, "Longes mac nUislenn" (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu), which is part of the Ulster Cycle.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne is said to be the founder of the Scottish Clan Campbell. On the Campbell crest is a boar's head, a reference to Diarmuid's geis and death.


title: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

text: In the 1999 Irish dance show, "Dancing on Dangerous Ground", Diarmuid was portrayed by former Riverdance lead Colin Dunne.