Thursday, December 30, 2010

Scales

A musical scale is a sequence of notes in ascending or descending order. Each scale is made up of 4-7 notes. The distance or rather the interval between two successive notes is called a scale step. For example, the distance between the two notes 'C' and 'D' is 1 whole step and the distance between 'C' and 'C#' is a 1/2 step ( C# is pronounced as 'C Sharp' and are among the black keys on the keyboard).

Scales are divided, based on the intervals between the notes they contain, into categories including major, minor, etc. For example, C 'Major' scale contains the notes C D E F G A B C (all white keys on a keyboard)i.e 1 step between C and D, 1 step between D and E, 1/2 step between E and F, 1 step between F and G, 1 step between G and A, 1 step between A and B and 1/2 step between B and C. That becomes 1, 1, 1/2, 1, 1, 1 and 1/2 step. Whereas the C 'Minor scale contains the notes C D D# F G G# A# C which is 1, 1/2, 1, 1, 1/2, 1 and 1 step. So the 3rd note and the 6th and 7th note change.

                   keyboard-all-note-names

There are many types of scales that developed over the centuries. Music in the periods 1600-1900 used mostly three types of scale:

The daitonic scale (7 notes)
The melodic an harmonic minor scale (7 notes)

In the 19th and 20th century many other scales evolved:

The chromatic scale (twelve notes)
The whole tone scale (six notes)
The pentatonic scale (five notes)
The octatonic or diminished scales (eight notes)

That’s all about scales for now. With all the knowledge about scales, I say go explore, cause without music life would be a mistake...the way I see it!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Flicker Free Animation in C#.NET

For all those guys who are facing the problem of flickering screen while programming a game or while creating an animation, here's the solution...

Basically, your game window flickers because you're trying to repeatedly paint the game directly on the screen. You perform some calculations on the graphics, paint it on the screen,wait for some time(in milliseconds) and then refresh(clean) the screen and repeat this procedure again and again in a loop and flickering becomes inevitable.

But there's a way around this. It's called Double Buffering. Instead of painting on the screen directly you can manipulate the graphics and paint it on an image in memory and all you have to do is paint this image on the screen and you have a neat game.

Here's the code in C#.NET

//graphics object that will manipulate the image in memory
Graphics memgrph;

//the image that is buffered
Bitmap memimg;

memimg = new Bitmap(this.Width, this.Height);

//attaching the graphics object to the buffered image
memgrph = Graphics.FromImage(memimg);


//graphics object that will paint on screen
Graphics screengrph = this.CreateGraphics();
//perform graphics manipulation using memgrph;

//e.g memgrph.DrawRectangle(.....);
//
//

//now draw the image on screen using screengrph
screengrph.DrawImage(memimg,0,0);


Wednesday, November 3, 2010

HOW A PIANO WORKS…

 

The mechanical genius Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano around 1700. The name piano is actually a shortened version of the Italian term pianoforte, meaning soft-loud, and referring to the fact that the pianoforte could produce sound volume covering a much larger range than its predecessors, the harpsichord and clavichord.

STRINGS

Every note sounded on a piano is the result of a string, or set of two or three strings, vibrating at a specific frequency (rate of traveling back and forth) determined by the length, diameter, tension and density of the wire. A shorter, lighter string, under more tension, vibrates faster, and produces a higher-pitched sound.

The strings on a modern piano are made of hard, tough steel wire that can nick the blade of regular wire cutters. Each note, from the treble (highest in pitch, at the right-hand end of the keyboard) down toward the bass (low, at left-hand end of the keyboard), is produced by three strings vibrating at exactly the same speed, sounding together when struck by their hammer. At some point in the bass and this is not standardized from one make of piano to another, the number of strings per note changes from three to two, then for the lowest notes, one string per note. Strings tuned to the same note are called unisons. If unison strings are not all at the proper tension, they will produce different pitches, and the piano will sound "out of tune"; tuning the piano involves adjusting string tensions so they match again.

Strings lengths and diameters increase from treble to bass. Several notes are strung with the same thickness of wire, but cut to different lengths, and tuned to different tensions to produce the desired pitches. In the bass range of the piano, the strings are wound with other wire to make them thicker so they will vibrate more slowly. On modern pianos the winding wire is almost always copper. The copper winding wire and the steel core wire are both so heavy that the lowest string is about a quarter of an inch in diameter.

HAMMERS

When a piano key is pressed, a hammer flies up and strikes the strings tuned to produce the corresponding note, then falls away from the strings quickly so as not to stop their vibration. The mechanical action allowing the hammer to drop instantly away from the strings is called the escapement. If a hammer remained in contact with the strings, it would produce a "clunk" sound instead of a sustained musical tone. Modern piano hammers are made of wood covered with thick, tightly compacted felt. The size of the hammers increases steadily from treble to bass. If a piano is played so much that the felt becomes extremely tightly compacted from striking the strings, the piano may produce an unpleasant, harsh tone. The tuner can voice the hammers by loosening the felt fibres a bit with special needles so the tone becomes mellower.

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SOUNDBOARD

The vibration of a piano’s strings alone would be too quiet to be heard; their sound must be amplified. Piano strings, like those of a violin or a guitar, press down on a bridge which conducts their vibration to the large, thin piece of wood called the soundboard. Wooden ribs glued across the board, underneath, help spread the strings’ vibration throughout its mass.

DAMPERS

The function of a damper is to stop the vibration of a string when the sound has continued long enough. As long as the player's finger depresses the key, the damper belonging to that key's strings remains lifted, and the strings are free to vibrate. When the key is released, the damper falls back against the strings, pressing soft felt against them to absorb the vibration. The highest strings on a piano usually do not need dampers, because the energy of their vibration is released so quickly, they stop sounding in a short time.

PEDALS

The pedal on the right is for the purpose of lifting all the dampers away from the strings at once, allowing the player to sustain a series of notes whose sound continues even after each key has been released. Furthermore, because strings can vibrate in sympathy with other strings whose vibrations are mathematically related to their own, lifting all the dampers allows strings to vibrate which have not been struck, but which are in harmonic relationship with those which have been. This gives a fuller, richer sound.

The pedal on the left is for producing a softer tone. On a grand piano, it shifts all the keys and their hammers to the right, just far enough so two things happen; the hammers strike fewer strings and the part of the hammer's surface that has become firmly packed from repeated contact with the strings is moved over so a softer, less-used part of the surface strikes the strings. On a vertical piano, the soft pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings so they strike with less momentum.

The middle pedal on a modern piano can be for lifting only the bass dampers, or on other pianos, for sustaining whatever note or notes were played at the moment the pedal was pressed. On vertical pianos, the middle pedal sometimes activates a muting effect, placing cloth between the hammers and the strings for an extra soft sound. This is a very old device that was used on pianos in Beethoven's time.

FRAME

The highest combined string tension on a large modern concert grand piano is around thirty tons, although most pianos have far less string tension than that. To withstand the tension of the strings, a piano must have a tremendously stable frame. A modern piano's strings are supported by an iron plate, cast in a single piece and bolted to a heavy wooden frame. Part of the tone of a modern piano is the resonance of this metal plate. Because metal is less subject to changes in humidity than wood is, a piano with an iron plate holding its strings stays in tune through changes in weather that would untune a wooden-framed instrument.

This is some info about one of my favourite instruments without which my music would be incomplete. After all music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music…the way I see it!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO

Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Mike Batio or MAB (born in the 23th of February 1956) is an American guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered to be one of the fastest guitarists in the world. Batio is (self-taught) ambidextrous, able to play two guitars at the same time either in synchronization or using separate harmonies.

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Batio mastered the "Over-Under" fretting technique, which involves flipping his fretting hand over and under the neck, playing the guitar both regularly and like a piano. (Pic 1)

Double Guitar

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Batio was the inventor of the Double-Guitar, a V-shaped, twin-neck guitar which can be played both right- and left-handed.This guitar, as designed by Batio and guitar technician Kenny Breit, featured a flight case latch attached to the back of each guitar, which could reportedly be assembled in five seconds. (Pic 2)

Quad Guitar

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As well as the Double Guitar, Michael Angelo also invented and designed the Quad Guitar. The guitar was originally built in conjunction with Gibson, and built by Wayne Charvel in California. The top two guitars have seven strings, while the bottom two have the regular six. (Pic3)

I chose to write about this musician cause he is an inspiration to thousands of shredders and an intelligent musician as well. I believe music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent….. the way I see it!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Logophobia...

Fear is inherent in everybody. What makes it different is what the people are afraid of. But there are some very different, very weird types of phobias, the presence of which is baffling as these are real fears. Here is a list of some strange n some hilarious phobias.

Philophobia - Fear of falling in love or being in love.

Phobophobia - Fear of phobias.

Aibohphobia - Fear of palindromes (It is not an actual word; aiboh is not of course Greek or Latin for Palindrome, but is simply intended to make the word itself palindromic).

Anemophobia - Fear of air.

Antidaeophobia - Fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you (fictional, from Gary Larson cartoon).

Caligynephobia, Venustraphobia - Fear of beautiful women. (Really????)

Eleutherophobia - Fear of freedom.

Euphobia - Fear of hearing good news.(Huh?)

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - Fear of the number 666

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of long words.

Levophobia - Fear of things to the left side of the body.

Melophobia, Musicophobia - Fear or hatred of music.

Papaphobia - Fear of the Pope. (Lolz…:-D)

I believe we should never run from our fears, 'coz when they catch up to us, we're too tired to fight. It’s true… the way I see it.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Bizarre Flags

clip_image001 The flag of Nepal is the only national flag which is non-rectangular.

clip_image002 The flags of Switzerland and the Vatican City are the only national flags which are exact squares.

The flag of Libya is the only national flag which consists of just one solid colour (green) with no other designs or symbols.

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The flags of Cyprus, Kosovo, and Christmas Island are the only national flags which depict the shape of the country that it represents *(The Korean Unification Flag depicts the Korean Peninsula although it is not an official flag in either North or South Korea).

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The flags of Moldova, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia are not identical on their obverse and reverse sides.

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The flag of Mozambique is the only national flag to incorporate an actual modern firearm into its design (an AK-47). The green stands for the riches of the land, the white fimbriations signify peace, black represents the African continent, yellow symbolizes the country's minerals, and red represents the struggle for independence. The rifle stands for defence and vigilance, the open book symbolizes the importance of education, the hoe represents the country's agriculture, and the star symbolizes Marxism and internationalism. The flag of Guatemala has two rifles forming part of the coat of arms displayed as an insignia; however, these are Remington rifles dating from 1871.

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The flag of the Philippines is the only flag which may be hoisted upside-down when the Filipino Congress has declared the nation to be in a "state of war". The reverse case is true for peacetime, when the flag is hoisted with blue stripe over the red. The peacetime arrangement is the more conventional method for displaying this flag unless the situation calls for otherwise.

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That’s all about bizarre flags. It’s fascinating…. the way I see it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Nuts & Bolts

      The fundamental building blocks of learning would probably be - as the teachers call it ;-) "Getting the basics right". So this post would just be about the basics of music. Being a neophyte myself, we'll try to keep this as simple and accurate as possible and these posts would help us all.

music=life 

    Music is build by the various combinations of notes. The western notations being C D E F G A B C and Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. These are no different from the ones back home. As they say - A note by any other name would sound as sweet. Indian classical music divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni. These 7 semitones do have proper names.

Sa   -  Shadaj
Re   -  Rishab
Ga   -  Gandhar
Ma   -  Madhyam
Pa   -  Pancham
Dha -  Dhaivat
Ni    -   Nishad

    In Indian classical music, the equivalent of scales are "Ragas" which are fixed sequences of a minimum of five notes arranged in ascending and descending order. But unlike the western scales, the ascending and descending notes are not always identical, but we'll come back to that in a later post. Some methods of writing music  that are usually shown in cartoons, contain 5 lines and a whole bunch of dots and squiggly lines. That is called "Staff Notation". Its a very precise form of representing music.

 music

     This is just a start and I hope this small introduction gives an idea about the basics. It's not rocket science guys it's just music..the way I see it!

 

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