Double Dissonance came from an idea I had while making Deep Under the Vacuum. It has four tracks, the top two have the same note, with one being a few cents flatter than the other, creating that wah-wah sound you hear when two instruments are slightly out of tune. The bottom two also have the same note, but not the same as the top two. Again, one track is a few cents flatter that the other, creating that wah-wah effect. The top two tracks are panned all the way to the left, and the bottom two are panned all the way to the right. So you have one wah-wah in one ear, and another in the other ear. Then the tracks pan back and forth, letting you listen to the changes in the wah-wah effect. The tune finally ends in a final, non-dissonant chord. It’s much simpler than what I just described. Here’s the link: DoubleDissonance.mp3 Be sure that you don’t have any “sound enhancers” turned on. It will ruin the effect.

Darkscape is just me looped over myself. It’s just for fun. (what isn’t?) Link: Darkscape.mp3 Again, make sure you don’t have any “sound enhancers” turned on. It will ruin the effect.

I made this video one fine Saturday morning so I could flush all the creativity out of my system so I could focus on homework. Strangely, I spent more time trying to upload this video at a decent quality than doing homework!

First of all, to all my readers (ha!) sorry I haven’t been posting as frequently as before, It’s summer, so I’ve been in Maine, where there are no computers.

So, we went to my brother’s SYMS concert (he made the Johnson concert and jazz band. I’m so proud… *sniff*). They played Mazama, Clouds that Sail in Heaven, and A Galop to end all Galops. They were all great, especially for musicians that young. I’d have to say that like Mazama the most, the percussionists really pulled it together on that one, as it required everyone to play a single staccato note at the same time, but no one was late or early! It surprised me! I was like “sweet!” Oh yeah, there was also a tornado warning, which required everyone to go into the cellar. My dad, brother, and I just stayed above ground and watched the lightning. :-)

I’m struggling with the Marathon problem that I have to do for my AP Chemistry summer work. I think I set up the equation properly but I’m still getting a g/mol ratio below one, which obviously isn’t right…

This summer I’ve been listening to way more music than I usually do. Here’s the list of what I listen to, and when I listen to it:

I have been bugging my parents for the longest time, and it just so happened that my teacher, Mike Milnarik, was selling his Rudy! I thought that there was no chance we would buy it, since it cost $6000, but I went and played it anyways. It sounded great, and it slotted so well! I could rip through those partial exercises (|: C E G E Ĉ G E G :|) like nobody’s business! I loved it! Especially with the new mouthpiece that came with the horn, my LM-7 didn’t work so well. After trying the Rudy out for about 30 minutes my mom came in, I played for her, told her how much I liked the tuba, etc. and she said she would buy it. I was like “Wait, what? I thought we couldn’t afford this kind of stuff!” I was ecstatic! And to make a short story shorter, it is now sitting in the corner of my room behind a chair (so no one knocks it over). I can’t wait to spend all day tomorrow playing it!
That’s Rudy!

Admin

Blog Stats

14,500 hits

The Life of a Tuba

Tubas begin their lives as small euphoniums, but quickly move up in rank to a full fledged tuba. They feed on notes in the middle of the staff, and progress downwards as they age. The diagram below provides more information.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/
3166/2557807755_9aa6ebbf50_b.jpg

The Endangered Tuba

The Tuba is one of the largest brass instruments in the world, with an adult male reaching upwards of 4 feet in height and 60 lbs in weight. Tubas are an endangered species, because most have been beaten to death by the "Horn Denters". There are now believed to be less than 10000 tubas left in the world. The Horn Denters usually join band because their parents forced them to. Thus they are very angry fellows and like to take out their anger on tubas. If a tuba is strong enough to survive this ordeal and eats enough pedal tones, then it will go on to become a 6/4 adult tuba. They survive in band rooms, concert halls, and are sometimes lucky enough to gain a "tuba player", who will help the tuba thrive and teach them how to sing.

The Poison Tuba

Although they are not considered to be poisonous, the saliva from a Tuba contains deadly bacteria. This saliva is so toxic, that 0.006 mg of its venom will kill a flute. The spit is initially very painful due to its acidity. The patient will immediately feel tingling around the mouth and tongue, facial muscle twitching, nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, salivation, and shortness of breath. Patients may rapidly develop agitation, confusion and coma associated with hypertension, metabolic acidosis, dilation of the pupils, and generalised muscle twitching. Death results within the hour from progressive hypotension or possibly raised intracranial pressure resulting from cerebral oedema.

The Three Valve Tuba

An F and Eb tuba can only gain valves by finding the valve tree. The sacred Valve-Tree can only be found in the center of the black forest. This forest is guarded by several grand pianos, and one master piano called the Bösendorfer. To reach the sacred Valve Tree the tuba must sneak into the Black Forest and discretely make its way through the underbrush. If a piano hears the tuba, it will be tortured with a barrage of C7's. If the tuba can fight off the pain they it may try to light the piano on fire with its valve oil or, if it a particularly tough tuba, scare off the piano with a barrage of pedal tones. Once the tuba reaches the Valve-Tree it must face off against the Imperial Grand, the Bösendorfer. The fight has never been seen by humans, as the tuba and piano move too fast, but it is generally understood that the Bösendorfer will let the tuba pass if it is worthy. The tuba then heads down a small dirt path and reaches a tree that has valves just like a cherry tree has cherries. The tuba steps under the golden valves and faces up. Immediately there is a blinding flash of light and the Tank Fanfare is heard ringing across the forest. If you listen closely enough, you may hear the newly valved tuba playing the melody. The tuba is then escorted out of the forest by several pianos, and is sent off on its own. The tuba will no longer be bothered by the horn-denters, and will be respected by the other brass instruments for the rest of its life.