18 July 2010
Libera is amazing!
Libera is an English not-for-profit boys’ choir directed by the genius Robert Prizeman, who writes a lot of their music and arranges almost all the rest. I found out about their music last summer through iTunes shopping cart recommendations, and I immediately loved their songs Far Away and Sanctus. […]
21 June 2010
Speaking of email addiction, I think the topic can be extended just a bit. I enjoyed this clip from Joshua Harris speaking on the subject. […]
11 March 2010
Many people seem to use Mac or Linux because those operating systems are ‘more secure’ or ‘don’t get viruses’. And I have nothing against that—I want my next computer to be a Mac. But that’s not the problem. […]
1 September 2009
The theremin is an instrument that you don’t touch. Really.
It’s an electic instrument, invented in 1920 by the Russian inventor Léon Theremin (born Лев Сергеевич Термен Lev Sergeyevich Termen) when he was twenty-four. He was a scientist, working on proximity sensors, when he got the idea for a musical instrument. A vertical antenna affects pitch—the closer an object is to it, the higher the pitch. A looped antenna affects volume—the closer an object is to it, the softer the volume. The only time you touch it is when you don’t want it to make a sound. […]
17 August 2009
The uilleann pipes are traditional bagpipes from Ireland. Most people know about the Great Highland Bagpipes, the instrument used in the Scottish military and now in marching bands (the Irish equivalent of these are the Great Irish Warpipes). But the uilleann pipes are quite unlike the GHBs. The latter were used outdoors, with the player standing up or marching, and for martial purposes; the uilleann pipes are a social instrument—they are softer and are played indoors (such as in public houses) with the player sitting down. One can actually hear talking and other instruments when the uilleann pipes are being played! […]
English