Mega Music Talent

Posts Tagged ‘dance’

Billy Elliot is a heartwarming story about a young boy who longs, and loves, to dance. His incredible natural talent is unleashed when he has a chance to participate in ballet classes at his school, and that is how a star is born. Bill turns out to be more than just a good dancer, he is a great dancer, and has an incredible passion for the Ballet. This musical version is touching and beautiful, and stars three different and equally talented young men who play the part of Billy Elliot on alternating nights.

The story has much more to it than just a young boy who loves to dance, because Billy Elliot comes from a mining family, and it is seen as being his destiny to take the road underground as well. The story has a political undertone to it, as it is set during the very powerful government of Margaret Thatcher. During this time a miner’s strike ensued over plans to close the Cortonwood colliery in Yorkshire. Not long afte it became clear that more than one mine was facing the ax and during that time more than half of the miners in Britain walked out of the mines and refused to work until their jobs were secured.

The fight for the mines was long and bitter, in response to the strike the conservative government stockpiled 50 million tons of coal, meaning that it would take months before the effects of the miner’s strike would be felt by the rest of the country. In the musical Billy Elliot’s father is one of the miners who leads the strike at his mine, and becomes influential in negotiations over when the miners will return to work.

It is against this backdrop that Billy, whose mother is dead, begins to find comfort in ballet as he takes classes from a lady at his school along with some of the other girls. When the teacher realizes his extraordinary talent, she begins to campaign with Billy’s father to allow him to pursue his talent more seriously. At first furious that his son has been learning such things, and terrified that he will become what he calls a “poof” Billy’s dad angrily demands that Billy stops lessons. But eventually he comes to realize his son’s talent when he sees him dance for the first time.

After he discovers his son’s true talent, Billy’s father will go to whatever lengths necessary to make sure that Billy is able to have a better life than he has had. In the end the audience comes to realize that the musical is as much about the community that the musical is set in, as it is about Billy himself. Even though the miner’s strike in 1984 and 1985 failed, this musical and the film that inspired it stand as a sort of tribute to the miners and their families who suffered during that period of time.

Billy Elliot New York tickets are currently available and are constantly raved about by theatre-goers who have already seen the musical on stage. Tickets can be hard to come by, so be sure to get yours at http://www.stubhub.com/billy-elliot-new-york-tickets/. This is a great opportunity to experience one of the most exciting events in theatre this year.

Author Bio: This article was written by Phoebe Wickliffe and sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells Billy Elliot New York tickets as well as many other kinds of theatrical performances, concert tickets, sports tickets, and special events.

What are the answers? At this new website we believe we have most of the answers from people who were there and saw what was going on first hand. A lot of people say if Prince’s music was so good and all that, why don’t we hear him on the radio like Beyonce, Snoop Dog, Kanya West and J- Z? That’s because most people don’t know how radio air play works. If Prince wanted a good song from a cd to be played in regular rotation he could get it done. All of the above mentioned artists paid anywhere from $200,000 to $1,000,000 million dollars to an Independent Promoter to be placed in regular rotation nationally. It’s got nothing to do with how popular you are (e.g. Beyonce). With their connections with the radio stations they get the job done. The music industry is another subject matter that must be discussed to educate the uninformed public of the inner workings of this vast empire and how Prince and Michael were both ripped off by the major labels, along with a long line of other entertainers.

What if Prince had stood next to and sang with Michael Jackson? What was their relationship like? How did they feel about each other personally and musically? What was it like to hear them on the radio like Beyonce? Michael Jackson VS Prince is a new website developed to further explore these mega superstars’ careers and musical contributions to the world. At one point Quincy Jones tried to bring the two of them together. What most people don’t know is that Prince was asked to appear on the Michael Jackson ‘Bad’ album of 1987. The new Michael Jackson VS Prince website has some of the answers to these questions regarding the two largest icons of the 21st century and how they felt about each other, these two of the largest egos in music. Michael was a star before anyone new who Prince was, so how did Prince feel about the Jackson 5 performing their music during his Minneapolis days?

The big fallout between Prince and the music industry came about for him not appearing on the ‘We are the world’ video, when he would have stood next to and sang with Michael Jackson. What was the hold up which could have seen the pairing of two of the biggest superstars of the music world? At this new website we will explore these questions.

How does Prince feel that his biggest rival is no longer with us? In 1984 James Brown performed at the Beverly Theater in LA and he invited MJ and Prince on stage, this being the only time both stars have been known to appear on stage together. With Michael no longer with us we wonder how Prince is feeling now that his biggest and only rival is no longer here. These and other questions we will answer on this website.

Author Bio: KEY2KHOLORZ: The disciples of a FUNKADELIC is what they prefer to be called due to the keyboard wizadtry of Andre Enestro Wilson a member of the funkadelics who appeared on the Aqua Boogie and One nation under a groove cd. Andre was an intrical part of the creation of the Key2kholorz CD, which is a fusion of hard rock funk and hip-hop. ALL members were brought up in the Detroit area including Andre and played in clubs and arenas through out the metro area. There sound represents the essence of the OLD SCHOOL. http://key2kholorz.fatcow.com/

Slapping a whole load of sounds on top of each other usually results in a muddy incoherent mess so what are the secrets of creating a rich, full sounding, thick mix? We’ll explore a few of the tips and tricks that you can use to clean up that mix.

1) Kick Drums: choose your sounds carefully, layering several kick drums with the qualities that you like can result in a thunderous speaker flapping kick, so flick through you sample collection and choose some favourites. Load them up into your sampler of choice – NI Battery is especially good for this since it gives you easy access to individual controls for each drum hit.

Now comes the fun part: try tuning each kick separately as well as filtering (high pass filters work great for cutting unwanted low frequencies from kicks) and balancing the volumes of each. You may want to shorten some of the samples down so you only get the portion of the sound that you like too. Compression with a high attack and fast release may also help to give your layered kick extra ‘smack’. Layering a closed high-hat on top may also help you get some serious impact here. Once you’ve achieved the sound your after it makes sense to re-sample (render, bounce or what ever your DAW software calls it) your kick layers down to a single drum hit so you’re only dealing with one sound, then re-import them into a single sampler instrument.

2) Bass: This can be tricky, since low frequency sounds have a nasty habit of clashing creating phasing effects, while this can be pleasing in some cases many dance genres require a constant driving bass sound.
Start off with a low frequency bass that you like the sound of, something warm and fat. Then try adding a higher mid-range layer to thicken it up – you may find that they phase, to cut this out try using a high pass or low cut filter on your mid frequency sound. Try adjusting the oscillator settings of the synths your using – this may really help to gel them together. A Little detune on the mid-range stab may help too. This really is a black art and even seasoned pro’s can have difficulty getting it right so experiment! You can try using multi band distortion on some of your layers, this can really add some grit so your sound if it’s needed. Another trick some producers use if they make a bass sound that they like which phases is to sample it – just sample a long note of the layered sound and use it in your favourite sampler – voila!

3) Synths: First off is good sound choice, choose your lead sounds carefully, a nice rich warm starting point will really help out as with all your layers. Once you’ve tweaked your first sound try adding another copy of the same sound in a higher octave – this may really help to thicken your sound. To achieve a different flavour try adding a third layer with different properties to the first, say one with a rougher edge. Pro’s routinely use 4 layers for my lead sounds, often in different octaves to add depth to the synth mix. Experiment with panning here too – while this is outside the scope of this tutorial it can really help separate sounds.

Next separate your lead sound from your bass – this involves a hefty low cut or high pass filter. Start to cut around 200 Hz and adjust until your bass cuts through, but your lead sound isn’t too thin and weedy. Camel Phat is a great tool for this, and of course gives you many additional control over your layered lead such as distortion and a secondary filter. I’d recommend sending all your chosen lead sounds to an Aux or Bus channel and processing them together. You may find that a light dose of overdrive or even very very light bit crusher can help tighten up and bring out your sound. A limiter may also help the overall level of sound of your synth mix from spilling over.
So some final points to bare in mind:

1) Be brutal – if it doesn’t work dump it – even if it took you 2 hours. Start again! Experiment!

2) Use different sound sources – try sounds and samples from different synths, every synth has its own strengths and weaknesses and combining them can make a mighty combination. For example for lead sounds the Access Virus can be warm, wide and rich, while reFX Vanguard can sound wimpy in comparison. However the Vanguard’s sparkling top end can add a layer which will make your complete layered lead sound cut through your mix.

3) Try using overdrive plugins and multi-band distortion – used lightly these effects can really help shape your mix.

4) EQ – use your ears! If it sounds wrong then hit re-set on your plugin and be gentle! On lead sounds try pulling out these frequencies: 700 Hz, 1-2 kHz, 10-12 kHz, these may help to add warmth, presence and high-end sparkle respectively.

Author Bio: Felicity is a freelance writer, writing occasional pieces in the UK about House Loops. Dance MIDI Samples also specialise in cd samples and Computer Music MIDI files in the UK.

Third eye review of a live performance in Calgary, Alberta, from a local 60′s, 70′s and 80′s rock band. This three person group is called ShadowBeat. If going to Calgary and you appreciate older music, you might just enjoy this combo. Do so if you get a chance.

“Get your motor running” That’s what this band will do to you. I managed to catch this three person combo by accident Friday night in Calgary. They were shaking the walls in some lost eastside pub called Chelsea’s, and though the crowd was not huge, we were on fire with this performance. And so was ShadowBeat.

As the night went on I found myself losing time but not wasting it. It was an experience worth living. The little place was a-happenin’, as they might say and we all enjoyed many familiar oldies (think John Paul George and Mick) and a few NotHeardThatinAge’s.

And then they hit us with a sharp left hook. A few great wing-ding’s from the 1990′s country line dancing and hat head era. Personally, I don’t two-step, but plenty were stompin’ their runners to this classic string of hits that included an Alan Jackson favorite of mine and that old Grundy County Auction song. I could tell by the wall posters that country bands frequented this establishment. But this was a rock outfit with a bit of creative dabble.

The first set I saw opened with Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf and by the third or fourth selection we were convinced this group knew their stuff. They weren’t much to look at, not having a drummer on stage with them or the heavy-metal concert trappings seen in bar bands of years gone by. It was just the three of them. Dying to have a voice. They were just there. Authentic. In your face. They were good.

I like it when a cover band tries to make the well-known piece their own and have fun with it. Granted, ShadowBeat did not do this with every composition on the setlist but when they did, it shone through, and the effort became worthwhile. You might want to check out the original versions of these songs. I did some Googling and found out that they have their own mini internet broadcast station easily found by entering “Shadowbeat radio”. That’s where you can hear those originals. Handy. It’s at http://www.live365.com/stations/radiosonde1?play

Who would have thought a stage keyboard could be played like that? Not me, that’s for sure. Somebody sprinkled this guy with magic dust, or maybe a few extra recorded tracks. It’s hard to tell. Wait for “Time of the Season” by the Zombies. It’s worth it.

In general, the band takes full advantage of the highs and lows (tempo, dynamics etc.) in the material. When they were tight, it was as good as it gets and the loose rambling between songs kept the feeling quite casual. Nobody was intimidated. With the old stuff I heard that night, you’ll go back to your younger days in an instant.

Author Bio: More about – this band if you like this kind of rock.

And more – check it out – you’ll be glad you did.