Piano stairs

Astor Piaszzolla is Composer of the Month

Astor Piazzolla (1921 – 1992) was an Argentinian composer and bandoneón player. Much of his music was written for tango (the national dance of Argentina). His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. An excellent bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with different ensembles. He is known in his native land as “El Gran Astor” (“The Great Astor”).

Here's a video of Astor Piazzolla from a live performance of "Adios Nonino"



In this video, Piazzolla plays the bandoneon. The music is "Milonga del Angel" (a Milonga is an Argentine form of music which "modulates from minor to major at certain times and its melody is reminiscent of the Argentinean tango" (link)



This video shows Yo-Yo Ma (Cello) and Nestor Marconi (Bandoneón) playing a tango,"Libertango"



This ist he Tango dance scene from the movie "Scent Of A Woman" (1992) in which Al Pacino plays a blind retired Lieutenant Colonel (for which he won an Oscar).
The music is "Por una cabeza" by Carlos Gardel and the girl dancing is Gabrielle Anwar.




photo of Piazzola from Wikimedia Commons

an iPhone orchestra? Blow into your iPhone???

"The mobile phone is a very nice platform for exploring new forms of musical performance," Essl said. "We're not tethered to the physics of traditional instruments. We can do interesting, weird, unusual things..." Read more about it at this link.



Here's how they did it:



There's another video at this link.

Make your own music

Click on the arrow to play my music:

This is from a web site called iNudge, where everyone can create music. You can add to what I made in this little box, or go to the web page and create your own.

• Select 1 of 8 different Sound Patterns from the small Matrixes icons 
• Use your mouse to draw notes on each 16 Step Matrix.
• For each Pattern, adjust Volume, Mute, Clear, or set Audio Pan from Left to Right.
• Click on the Tempo numbers and click up or down to change the overall Tempo.
• Get & Share allows you to Send Mail, Get Link, Get Embed code or Spread in communities.

Early Birds Singing

Best viewed on a PC (sorry Mac users - it's a swf page)



To go to the web page itself, and play the birds in full screen, paste this link into your web browser:

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/music/early_bird_singers.swf

Master of the Euphonium

"The euphonium, a tuba-like musical instrument, is rarely heard outside of traditional brass bands. Young euph prodigy Matthew White uses hip-hop rhythms and a wild new vocal technique to bring a fresh sound to this underappreciated horn." link



"White was a finalist in the brass section of the 2008 BBC Young Musicians of the Year competition, and has guested with the legendary Black Dyke Band as the first honoree musician in the band's Young Artist Scheme, a yearlong fellowship. He was Principal Euphonium with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and also played with the award-winning Leyland Band. He now continues his study of the euphonium at the Royal Northern College of Music." link

Melodica

If you have an iPhone...



"Melodica presents a 16 by 10 surface where the length represents the 4 bars of a 4/4 beat and the height is a set of 10 notes that all harmonize well together. Interesting if you want to create melodies quickly and simply." Read more about it here.