Caw-Caw Music

Archive for the ‘Musical Instrument’ Category

No one is certain when the first musical instruments were made. It’s possible that they predate language in human cultural development, but I’ll leave that argument to the anthropologists. What is sure is that there is a deep, ancient desire within people to express themselves using sound. Our voices were almost certainly used for more than communication. Somehow that was not enough. Our ancestors pushed creative sound further.
The first instruments were probably percussive because they are the simplest to make. Clapping hands or striking flint on flint, it’s easy to imagine that this would be our earliest attempts to make our own rhythm, our own pulse, sent out into the world and echoed back. What likely followed were simple mallets and skins stretched on bowls. What makes these tools so distinct is that they had no other purpose than create a controlled, predictable sound. Our modern drums are a descendant of this type of early instrument.
Most likely wind instruments came next. These could have been created relatively easily with a hollowed out plant stem or animal horn to create a simple flute or horn. This innovation gave a greater range of notes and pitches. Another feature is that it uses breathing to generate and control the sonic effects, more closely resembling our vocal chords. Further technical advancements in smelting and metal working gave us instruments with more sound making precision and exceptional durability. Modern trumpets and saxophones are closely related to these early instruments.
Stringed instruments likely came last. Egyptian records indicate that instruments using vibrating strings existed at the time of the pharaohs, near the dawn of recorded civilization. Lyres and harps are early examples and their manufacture required a dedicated craftsman. This instrument gave us harmony and chording on one device giving greater sonic possibilities to a single musician. A later development added a resonating chamber making the instruments potentially louder. Violins and guitars are modern string instruments. Modern pianos are a special hybrid; it has hammers that strike the strings making it percussive and stringed.
The control and use of electricity took musical instruments to a completely new level with developments like the microphone and amplifier. Guitars had pick-ups added, keyboards had wave form manipulation and the most mind-boggling innovations have come with computers and digital music. Experiments are being conducted to create plasma instruments and other advances could bring instruments that interface directly with our brains.
Like our ancestors, we still use sound to create and the instruments we use are developed along with our technology. We keep stretching the possibilities toward the horizon and when we arrive, I believe we will find more horizon to explore.

Comfort

They’re not perfect. If you have a sensitive head, you might want to try them on before you buy if you can, because they are a bit tight with both earcups on. This problem is actually the reason I got rid of my Pioneers – they started giving me headaches. The Sennheisers, which I’ve been using for a month or so, now, don’t do that. The split headband allows you to adjust this tightness a bit, but the loosest setting would still be a bit tight for people with big heads or who are prone t muscle problems.

The weight, however, is impressive. They weight under 5 Ounces. Not pounds. Ounces. They’re certainly easy on the neck.

Sound

They sound amazingly clear, with deep bass and crisp highs. Everyone who listens to them is amazed by the quality of sound that comes out of them – no one believes that headphones can sound this good. They’re an absolute dream to mix with and to listen to just about anything with. One note, though…you will hear errors in recordings. There are some old Beatles recordings where you can hear people talking in the sound booth and stuff like that. It will probably piss you off if you’re a music snob like most DJs are. The isolation is better than any headphones I’ve heard, including the much larger and tighter HDJ-1000s.

Operation

Well, they don’t work like normal DJ headphones. Instead, the left ear cup swivels on an axis that goes through your head. So, what I normally do is twist the left ear cup so that it rests either behind my ear or on top of my temple. Everything sits in place nicely and it’s actually really comfortable. Also, in this position, it’s really easy to hold that left ear cup to your ear with your shoulder…you have to be careful because you’ll snap them if you push too hard, but you don’t have to bend your neck or shoulder nearly as far to do it…if that’s your thing. One other strange thing is that the cord is on the right ear cup. I’ve never seen that in DJ headphones before, but it doesn’t make a difference. What will make a difference for some is that the cord isn’t coiled. And, It’s a bit short. If you move around a lot without taking off your headphones, you might want to look into other headphones or change your habits.

You may not have heard of Christy & Emily yet, but they get themselves noticed. John Peel favourite Robert Lloyd requested their support in 2007 after being blown away by a show. A year later Faust man Hans Joachim Irmler had the same experience and invited them into his studio: ‘No Rest’ is the result. The teaming of self-taught punk?kid Christy with Emily, a trained classical pianist, results in a restless piece of work. The Brooklyn duo’s third album captures a sticky, Patti Smith moodiness with the restraint of Cate Le Bon and is peppered with eclectic styles but never overbakes ideas. Chillwave seems contagious in contemporary Brooklyn; here’s to an album that glides above the fuzz.

One tries to keep an open mind in this game, but honestly, Sharleen Spiteri doing covers of classic movie soundtrack songs? Why not just turn up on the NME CD pile with a big ‘KICK ME’ sign Sellotaped to your back? The sheer scale of the delusion of a woman whose name is a byword for MOR mediocrity, in thinking that she can reinvigorate classics like ‘If I Can’t Have You’ and ‘Windmills Of Your Mind’, defies the very furthest limits of human belief. The latter is a particularly ghastly desecration as Sharleen plays it all kittenish, and Berlin’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ translated into Spiteri’s signature country-lite snooze is similarly awful. Stick to making Tannoy music for upscale supermarket chains, love.

The Ibanez GRGM21L is the left hand version of the Mikro 34 scale electric guitar. It is perfect for last minute rehearsals, running scales while waiting for downloads, young rockers just joining the fray or anyone who just wants a smaller neck and body. Not to be confused with other small guitars, the Ibanez Mikro is no toy. Mikro features the same construction, high quality and careful set-up of the Ibanez full size GRX and GRG models.
Mikro’s 22″ inch scale length (standard guitars feature a neck scale from 24 3.4″ to 25 1/2″) makes it the right choice for beginner players or pros practicing on the tour bus.

• Neck Material: Maple
• Neck Type: 22.2″ scale GRGM
• Body: Basswood body
• Frets: Medium frets
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Inlay: Sharktooth
• Bridge: Fixed bridge
• NeckPU: PSND1
• BridgePU: PSND2
• HW Color: CH
• Finish: Black

Post-Interpol, us Brits have churned out a succession of groups turning the dark ore of that band’s influences into a succession of inferior alloys; Editors’ bendy spoon, White Lies’ pound shop aluminium foil. New Yorkers Blacklist toil at a similar forge but retain a sense of arch grace. It might be best enjoyed with a fragile chemical mind in the company of a black-haired girl who could do with a few sausage rolls, but this tour around Bunnymen and early U2 is executed with panache; ‘Flight Of The Demoiselles’ and ‘Julie Speaks’ teeter on The Edge-style histrionic guitar flourishes. There’s no new dawn in ‘Midnight…’, but it’s a shade of the nocturnal worth embracing nonetheless.