Dynamic Spectogram of Music

This is pretty heavy science stuff (don't try to read it late at night), but it looks interesting, especially when you play the clips and watch the spectogram in action.

In any case it's a different way to experience music, and you may notice "certain visual symmetries and beauties, and certain beauties in the combined visual and aural, as in dance."

Experience the beauties here.

Daxophone, anyone??

Tired of the same-old, same-old in your band? Try one of these wacky experimental instruments, like the branching corruggahorn or the octavox! And quick, add a wobble guitar to your Christmas wish list before it's too late.

The sound clips are as cool as the names. Check it out here.

P.S. Oh man you've got to listen to the Savart's Wheel. Cracked me UP.

Oscar Peterson On Fire!!!!!

He's amazing!!

Pandora Podcasts

We've mentioned the free music discovery site Pandora.com before...now they are launching Pandora Podcasts.

The podcasts are designed to provide an inside look at the techniques musicians use to put their signature on the music they write and perform.

Based on the comments so far, people love the first podcast on the basics of vocal harmony.

Mozart's Complete Catalog....online FREE!

Okay, so Mozart didn't write jazz, but he sure could improvise....so hopefully that justifies this classical music post to let you know that his entire catalog of music is now available free on an online database that the International Mozart Foundation launched this week.

The database contains some 24,000 pages and more than 8,000 pages of critical commentary published since 1954. In months ahead, they plan to add 270 letters handwritten by Mozart and some 100 original manuscripts.

You can search for a specific work using key words and a scroll down menu. You also have the option of printing out individual movements.

And to think it's all free....amazing.

Listen up: more online ear training

Here's a helpful ear training site put together by a couple of Danish lads. You can practice recognition of intervals, scales, triads and tetrads, then test yourself. Compete with other users to earn the highest scores.
It's called Learn2hear.org.

Green mattress music maker

...at least that's what it looks like to me. Make up a tune....click some squares and see what happens. Try it.

Great site for researching jazz standards

Here's a really cool, well-designed site where you can learn all kinds of information about jazz standards, including:

* A list of the 1000 most-frequently recorded jazz standard compositions

* Detailed information on the top 100 jazz standards including origins, historical notes, musical analyses, and CD suggestions

* Concise biographies for the writers and introducing performers

* A decade-by-decade look at jazz history through the trends, events, and people who shaped the jazz standards canon

* References on hundreds of songs to help you in your research

And surprise, it's called JazzStandards.com. Sometimes I wonder about a particular song, when it was written, who made it famous, why it is considered great, etc. Looks like this site has the answers.

World’s Largest Jazz Gathering in New York (Jan. 2007)

...or so they claim.

"The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) returns to New York City for its 34th Annual Conference from January 10-13, 2007. The Hilton New York and Sheraton New York hotels will serve as the headquarters for the largest annual gathering of the global jazz community. Upwards of 8,000 educators, musicians, industry executives, media and students from 45 countries are slated to attend."

Whoa, I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about that crowd! Has anyone ever been to this before? Is anyone going?

There's more information here.

NoTube Newsflash

Iranians who tried to visit YouTube.com on Tuesday found this warm and fuzzy message: "On the basis of the Islamic Republic of Iran laws, access to this Web site is not authorized." So far LarrysImprovPage has flown under the radar, so at least Iranians can still enjoy some jazz videos here!

Jimmy Bruno and the Art of the Duo Video

[This is a repost - Tony edited the video further.] Tony recently was privileged to capture on film this exceptional collaboration between Jimmy Bruno (guitar) and Jeff Pedraz (bass). The two musicians have toured together, and their close connection is evident in their uncanny ability to read each other's musical minds. Watch them travel now to places of breathtaking melodic beauty and technical wizardry that few such virtuostic duos ever reach.

Automatically Save Pandora Tunes as MP3s!

First, if you haven't tried the free music streaming discovery program Pandora, it's really nifty. You create a "station" by providing the name of an artist or tune you like, and Pandora will play other music that's similar. You provide feedback - you like it or don't - and Pandora will factor that into future selections to meet your tastes. You can have up to 100 stations at a time. Try it at Pandora.com. It's a great way to learn about artists whose music you might like.

Now it just got better. Here's a site with instructions on how to automatically save the tunes Pandora plays as mp3s on your computer. Someone please try this and let us know how it goes! Pandora' s Jar

Left Ear Right Ear

I just read this somewhere, but admit I'm skeptical...what do you think?

"If you're stuck chatting up a mumbler at a cocktail party, lean in with your right ear. It's better than your left at following the rapid rhythms of speech, according to researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. If, on the other hand, you're trying to identify that song playing softly in the elevator, turn your left ear toward the sound. The left ear is better at picking up music tones."

CBS once hated "A Charlie Brown Christmas" & its Guaraldi soundtrack

Surprising, huh, given that both the cartoon special and its jazz soundtrack have become holiday traditions. But back in 1965 when "A Charlie Brown Christmas" first aired, CBS hated the jazz and wanted adult actors, not real children, to do the voices. And get this, they thought materialism and faith were inappropriate topics for children! Bizarre.

(Trivia question: what instrument made the "wah wah" adult speech?)

Check out the full NPR story for more, including soundclips and interviews.