MUSIC

  • Technical Proficiency, Part II

    As promised in Part I, here is a criminally incomplete selection of non-standard, modern folks well deserving the title of Virtuoso. Jean Luc Ponty is a classically trained violinist and was accepted to one of the premier music schools in France at age 16. Afterwards he had a pretty good gig going with one of… Continue reading

  • Technical Proficiency, Part I

    A virtuoso is generally defined as a person technically proficient on an instrument or in a field. While a technically sufficient definition, it is as unsatisfying as a birthday cake with white paste frosting. While I may be technically proficient at walking and could possibly qualify, John Cleese would be correctly considered an ambulatory virtuoso.… Continue reading

  • All Your Bass Are Belong To Us, Part II

    To continue our electronic odyssey began in Part I here are some artists you might find at SPL to plug in to and up the amperage of your playlist. Bombay Dub Orchestra – Take a fully orchestrated Bollywood soundtrack, chop it up, chill it down and this is what you get: a 2-disc set, the second… Continue reading

  • All Your Bass Are Belong To Us, Pt. I

    Back in 1919, when the world was in black and white (I’ve always wondered how they knew the sky was blue and the grass was green but every time I ask a librarian about it they get a funny look, mumble something, and wander away. But I digress … ) Leon Theremin was working for… Continue reading

  • Standards and Forgotten Gems: Sheet Music at SPL

    So, all you old sheet music of the 1930s and 1940s nerds (I know you’re out there–and I proudly include myself in this group!), did you know that The Seattle Public Library has a massive, uncataloged collection of this material–available for check-out? Well, we do! Do the names Richard A. Whiting, Harry Revel, Arthur Johnston,… Continue reading

  • You got that where … ? Part II

    As promised in the first part of our journey into the dank recesses of the library’s metal-clad hallways, here are a few examples of what SPL has available to feed your head-banging habit. Army of Anyone. Take the lead vocalist from Filter, add the guitars from Stone Temple Pilots and a stellar studio drummer (who… Continue reading

  • You got that where … ?

    Way in the back of the library, behind the rows of Mozart and Etta James, Jean-Luc Ponty and Steely Dan, in a place where even Frank Sinatra’s ghost won’t tread is a huge, iron-studded door. Locked inside are the dirty little secrets the librarians don’t want you to know about. They remember the horror and… Continue reading

  • December Question of the Month: An irregular series

    The reference librarians at Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we showcase.… Continue reading

  • Top Ten Things to Do in our Music Practice Rooms

    Drumroll Please! You’ll have to imagine you are hearing one of those amazing announcer voices reading the list below (with no apologies to any TV show): #10 Play 1 piano 4 hand duets with a friend. #9 Play your favorite song with different keyboard sounds. #8 Improvise on that tune you can’t get out of… Continue reading

  • The Piano: A Romance on Three Legs

    Few other instruments equal the piano for beauty, simplicity, engineering and sensitivity. For more than one hundred years pianos have been found in homes all around the world. It is the easiest instrument to make music on, but also fiendishly difficult to master. Our love affair with the piano has grown over the years. In… Continue reading

  • Record Industry a bunch of Luddites?

    While riding the bus a while ago I noticed a fellow bus rider was reading an article in Entertainment Weekly. I had trouble remembering what the article title was but I remembered it was about the recording industry and also about their resistance to modern technological breakthroughs that enable music to be shared. I decided… Continue reading

  • What Is a Mix Tape?

    “When I first saw you, I saw love.” “All you need is love.” “Love is a battlefield.” “I’m not going to write you a love song.” “I’m all out of love.” From famed music critic and contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine, Rob Sheffield’s book Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song… Continue reading

  • The Genesis Suite

    Have you heard about the Genesis Suite? In 1944, Hollywood composer/arranger Nathaniel Shilkret commissioned leading composers of the day (Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Milhaud, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Tansman and Toch) to write a piece based on the book of Genesis. The seven-movement work (Shilkret himself wrote one of the movements) premiered in 1945 in Los Angeles. In the early… Continue reading