Author: blogger
Hip-Hop music includes violent and abusive lyrics that could possibly mirror other illegal activities used for sexual intent. The music identified as hip-hop verbally violates basic human rights, particularly the rights of women. Excessive and blatant sexual abuse connotations can be found in almost every musical score, as women are portrayed as whores and assets worth no more than existing for man’s sexual pleasures. Much of the lyrics in rap songs are abusive and degrading to all women.
Hip-Hop is a manifestation and spin on exploitation of African-American and Latino-American youth, and is often considered to have sexism and misogyny attributes. New York City blacks and Latino youths originally started the hip-hop culture, with included rapping, deejaying, break-dancing and graffiti-writing. But, it has evolved into something much more than just local expressions.
Hip-Hop is a lifestyle for many people between the ages of 13 and 30. It involves music, videos, fashion, club-scenes, and the ways that young people interact with each other. The media has embraced and adopted the hip-hop culture, as well as big corporations, such as Coca-Cola and Burger King. Versions of hip-hop can be found in marketing media and corporate advertisements. The Brooklyn Museum of Art even has an exhibit dedicated to hip-hop culture.
The most influential part of hip-hop has become known as rap music. Rap music is a form of poetry, recited over musical instrumentation. Many consider rap music to be brutally honest, violent, and misogynistic. But to others, the violence to and hatred of women appears blatant and offensive.
Much of rap music portrays black women in negative images. The hip-hop culture views all women, but mostly black women, as sex objects. Most hip-hop videos show women dancing or displayed in explicit sexual poses, clothed in bikinis (or less), with the focus on their body parts. The images go hand in hand with the explicit language that suggest women are nothing more than sex objects or money-generating commodities. Many rappers describe themselves as ‘pimps’ and women as second-class and sexual commodities. Many rap songs, not only, glorify the pimp lifestyle, and refer to women in ways a pimp might describe their prostitutes, but the lyrics promote violence to women that disobey.
Of course, not all rap music is misogynistic, and not all black men think of women in this light, but large percentages within the hip-hop culture do. The name calling in the rap music dishonors, disrespects, and dehumanizes women. When society accepts labeling women in this manner, will physical and psychological abuse become acceptable? Unfortunately, many black men battle racism or oppression within hip-hop culture, and have been conditioned to distrust intrusive feelings of trust and love.
Many women consent to these collaborations, and believe racism or subjugation are viable excuses or justification for the practice of degrading and exploitation of women. The numbers of women that show up for unpaid try-outs for video shoots indicate that significant amounts of hip-hop consumers are women. Groups of women can be seen loitering in concert backstage areas, expressing their willingness to perform sexually in return for money and jewelry, or perhaps realize a feeling of being wanted.
Black women have, historically, been used as sex instruments, and continue to fight for power and material wealth. When slavery was legal and rampant, black women were routinely sexually abused by any man that wanted her. They could be used for breeding purposes and create more slave trade for their owners. Black women, also, used sex in order to lower chances of cruel treatment by the slave masters. They were paying with their bodies to survive and achieve better treatment within the uncontrolled, abusive slave life.
Black women emerged out of slavery as oversexed and promiscuous. Some viewed themselves as society dictated, and believed they did not have control over their bodies. As they tried to fit into white societies, some black men wanted the women to be employed in subordinate roles in a white household; while some black women wanted the men to acquire jobs and be the sole provider. Hip-hop culture displays similar oppressive obsessions. Some black women prefer to use sexual powers to reap economical gain. And, many black men have learned how to manipulate women by using money. In order for many black women to get what they want, they accept mistreatment and allow themselves to be exploited through hip-hop images.
Sometimes black women are uneducated and have no job skills. Many believe their bodies are all they have to offer to gain status. Many dysfunctional relationships can be found within the hip-hop culture. Some women believe men are instruments of use to gain access to money; some men think women are only have value when it comes to sexual gratification.
Would censoring hip-hop music and lyrics be an answer? Perhaps, the solution would be to change the hip-hop society and ideology by discontinue negative and misogynistic lyric promotion. But, the first step to change gender relations within the hip-hop community is education. People need to be made aware of the negative and derogatory connotations that continue to violate the rights of women, in sexist lyrics, physical interactions, and at hip-hop gatherings. But, of course, people need to be receptive to the devastating results that violating human rights cause, and be willing to change.
Are human flesh traders alive and well in the United States? Of course, we all know trafficking women is illegal, but considering the more than 45,000,000 dating websites on the Internet, is this a modern legal tool that continues the exploitation of women?
Speaking out against exploitation of women in hip-hop cultures, and for women everywhere, can help change ideologies. But, if women are not interested or willing to stop exploitation tactics, they will continue to be used and considered as just sexual instruments.
Although women have come very far, their work is not finished, and they have a long way to go before equality will be realized.
Indian Classical Music is all about ragas. A raga portrays a mood, a sentiment, expressed through a microtonal scale. There are a number of ragas, each with its own mood and its own corresponding microtonal scale that is based on the natural harmonic series – the natural law of vibrations.
Today, Indian Classical music is influenced by a foreign tonal system that is not based on the natural harmonic series. This is the Western tonal system that has had a big influence on Indian Classical music. Many Indian Classical musicians, nowadays, make use of Western instruments such as guitar and drums.
Most Western audiences find Indian Classical music to be quite exotic. Two major reasons are the differences between the two traditions in tuning and scales.
The subtle differences
Let’s straightaway delve into the differences between these two vast genres of music to get a better idea:
Indian Classical Music (ICM) is primarily homophonic, which means that it focuses on creating melodies using a sequence of notes, whereas Western Classical Music (WCM) is to an extent polyphonic, which means multiple notes are played/sung together, where the counterpoint, harmony, and texture created using multiple voices is very important.
WCM is composed, whereas ICM is improvised. WCM compositions are formally written using Staff Notation, and performers usually follow that. But in the case of ICM, the Teacher-Student tradition of learning leads to each performance being an improvisation.
ICM uses “Taal”, where Taal is a cycle of beats that is centered on “Sam” that repeats itself. In the case of WCM, there aren’t any complex beat cycles.
WCM is modal and so has a chord for each note of the scale. On the contrary, ICM is tonal and, hence, is based on a single scale (a single drone, chord, and key).
Fusion all the way
But then again fusion is a growing concept in India. So, their differences and some similarities make fusion music even more interesting and challenging. If we take a deeper look, we will actually find a number of similarities. Today, “guitar” has acquired prime position and popularity in Indian Classical Music with Indian Ragas being played on guitar.
There are two types of Guitars that is used for fusion in India: Spanish guitar and Hawaiian guitar.A wide variety and mix of instruments ranging from Guitar, Drums, and Saxophone to Sitar, Tabla, and Flute are used for fusion music/concerts.
My band, known as Kaivalyaa, is also a fusion band, where we fuse various western genres with Indian Classical music. The Western and Indian instruments we use include Guitar, Drums, Keyboards, Mouth Organ, Bass Guitar, Harmonium, Flute, Sarod, Tabla, and a number of percussion instruments. Some of the big names in the Indian fusion scenario are Indian Ocean, Avial, Advaita, Raghu Dixit Project, Mother Jane, Tabla Beat Science, and Bandish Fusion. With varied influences, experiments, scales, tones, and sounds, fusion is the next big thing. So, if you want to know more about the Indian Classical scales/Ragas, you are at the right place.
Bellus Music Shop has released a few interesting offers on its official website.
The website of the Bellus Music Shop is constantly up-to-date with interesting offers that give visitors the chance to purchase music instruments online and at affordable price.
Having the school just begun, the offers of this month have been conceived for children and kids. In order to view all the products at discount prices, you only need to click on the banner -School offers- that you find on the homepage. Visiting the section of the website dedicated to the school offers, you will notice that the Bellus Music Shop offers a wide range of musical instruments at affordable price, and everyone can choose the instruments and accessories that best meet their needs.
To the list of the products that are on offer these days belong both simple accessories and complex instruments, and each product is accompanied by a detailed description. To order the product you are interested in, you only need to select it, add it to the cart, and pay it (of course you need to sign up first). You also have the chance to get to know more about each product by clicking on the entries that accompany each product description, i.e. producer, useful tips and assistance. Moreover, from the page dedicated to each product you can ask a question to know more about (you only need to fill in the form that you find in each page), share the content of the page on your Facebook profile (so that other can see what you wish or what you have just bought) and print the product details.
Here are some of the products offered by the Bellus Music Shop for the school beginning: musical instruments like guitars, digital pianos, digital accordions, clarinets, flutes, trumpets and saxophones, but also amplifiers and accessories like tuners, music stands and metronomes. Very interesting are also the jumpstart packs offered by the shop, which give beginner musicians the chance to buy all the necessary to start playing their music at once: an Ibanez IJRG Jumpstart Pack, for example, includes a guitar, an amplifier, a tuner, headphones, a bag, a shoulder strap, plectrums and an accessories holder. You can buy the pack also paying by instalments.
If you do not find the product you are looking for in the section dedicated to the school offers, you can visit the section dedicated to the offer of the day, or browse the website and see the complete product catalogue of the music shop.
For more information please visit batteria elettronica
Music Shop Bellus Srl
32100 Belluno
Press release by Francesca Tessarollo
Prima Posizione Srl – web marketing agency
Everyone who loves making music and wants to make a career out of it needs to record their music. The only way to truly record your own music so that it sounds professional is through the use of an audio interface. An audio interface has come a long way over the past several years, making it more compact and much more affordable so that just about anyone can have their own studio.
When you want to record music, a USB interface can plug directly into your computer so that you can download what you’ve already recorded. The interface itself is very small and contains storage on the machine so that you can take it everywhere you go. If you want to record a live session at a night club, you can do so using the interface.
Once you get home, you’ll use the USB audio interface to plug into your computer and download your jam sessions. Most of these interfaces come packed with their own software to make the downloading very easy. After you’ve downloaded the music, you even have the option of modifying the sound waves, adding techniques, voice overs and much more to customize the sound. You can also designate what kind of file you want to save the music as to make it easier to share online, burn to CDs or send to potential agents.
The audio interface will go wherever you go. It is a fairly small device in most cases – smaller than a shoebox. This allows you to keep it in your backpack, set it in your garage or take it anywhere that you plan on making music. You can plug microphones and instruments directly into it or have the device record from the amp or speakers.
There are many USB interface systems available in the marketplace, so you need to determine which one is right for you. Some will give you a screen so that you can do playbacks right from your interface without plugging into a computer while others depend on the computer for playback. You may also be able to adjust pitch and other parts of the music with controls directly on the interface.
Ultimately, you need to determine how much you want to do with the USB audio interface. If you plan on tweaking the sound in the field, then you will need to spend more money on one of the higher end interfaces that will give you more control. This doesn’t affect the size much, but it will give you more controls and a screen to be able to adjust your settings easier.
The USB interface can help you with all of the digital changes that you’ll do from the computer, too. The software bundled with the interface should be stand alone, meaning that you don’t need to buy additional software. Read through the features of each software program to make sure that you’re getting everything you need to produce the right kinds of sounds. Some programs feature background tracks and synthesizers to adjust your recorded sound as needed.
Once you have the USB audio interface of your choosing, you can start to record the sounds that you or your band are capable of. The only way you can improve your chances for success in the music career is if people hear what kind of music you’re playing. You will be able to create electronic files to share across the internet and send out to anyone so that you can be heard.
The Premiere of the show Extra Terrestrials was held today at the Music Academy.
The show began with a performance by the Golden Power- the two men Sandor Vlah and Gyula Takacs who were painted in gold displayed an amazing combination of strength, skill and art by effortlessly performing hand balancing acts and taking on each other’s weight.
The audience was still recovering from the wonderful feats performed by them, when Wolfgang Bientzle the German Wheel Acrobat, came up with an awesome performance on the wheel to exclamations of ‘wow’ in the audience.
Erik Ivarsson’s antics on the unicycle left the audience speechless with amazement, while Jerome Murat a mime, illusionist and ventriloquist captivated the audience with his act. Watching him was like watching a magic performance- should be watched to be believed.
The audience was enthralled by Anton Monastyrsky as they watched him get in an out of the hula hoop and spin circles around it until the hoops almost became a blur. No wonder he is also called The Lord of the Rings.
Not only was Roma Hervida’s performance spell binding but her very presence was magnetic. Her dazzling performance had most of us in the audience at the edge of our seats!
The final performance by Laser man, Theo Dari who was bending, cutting and restoring laser points to create a visual display that was truly enchanting. You can take it from us-we did not want the performance to end!
What else can we say about the performances other than ‘Wow’?
You have to watch the show to believe how good it is.
The shows are taking place on February 3,4,5,6 and 7, 2010 thrice a day, at Music Academy.