... and give the effect as if the sound is coming from behind you, as well as in front of you (the surround effect). A good room to listen in, is a typical family room with sheet rock walls and four ninety degree corners. The second consideration is placement of speakers. The corners of a room are the perfect spot for your speakers. You shouldn't position them flush against the wall, but put the back of the speaker into the corner, so each side of the speaker is against each wall. For this reason, the bass is extended (louder), and the tweeters, mid-range, and woofers give you their undivided attention. ...

... we like to keep it simple. a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's." singing without instruments A Capella? Some musical dictionaries indicate that the Italian a cappella is preferred over the Latin a capella (one "p") yet both are technically correct. Why do those dictionaries muddy the waters with two spellings? The phrase was first used in Italian Catholic churches, where Latin was the language for sacred text. Thus, the Latin spelling for 'in the style of the chapel' - a capella - has some historical basis. However, most other musical terms - forte, ...

... in front of a huge audience that included kings and queens; Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are the three composers that are best known for their symphonies. These are still popular today being performed in rock music, for example, Aerosmith's latest hit includes an orchestra that is playing a type of symphony. The string quartets, on the other hand, are quite different. These are instrumental pieces of music for small audiences with one player per part. Included in the string quartet there are the first and second violins, a viola, and a cello. A quartet does not have a conductor like the symphony does, but th ...

... experiences one felt at the alter or the hope of seeing a lost family member in the here after has been the subject of many Appalachian gospel song. Singers and song writers like Tennessee Ernie Ford and Ernest Tub have left us with joy in our harts and tears in our eyes. Singing and listening to songs like The Old Rugged Cross has carried over from generation to generation in Appalachia. Another branch of Appalachian music that encircle around religion is bluegrass. One of the best known Bluegrass artists (Bill Monroe)Known also as the father of bluegrass music, dedicated a portion of every performance ...

... dramas with music, and particularly spirituals, remained in fashion. "The Green Pastures" is the best known example of this trend. As dramas about black life took on greater importance in the 1930's, they often borrowed from the musical comedy traditions of the 1920's. Serious drama, about black life in the rural south or in northern cities, managed to blend music into its structure. In the 20's many of the dramas that had to do with black life, music became a necessity. In the 30's this trend prevailed, musical elements of Afro-American culture were showcased primarily in dramas rather than in musicals. In Ha ...

... wearing decorations hanging on chains, which was unusual for his time. For two years Liszt was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. In some ways he was much like Kurt Cobain, the late lead singer of the rock band Nirvana. Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. He was passed on to several relatives after his parents divorced when he was eight years old. For some time he even lived under a bridge and was hospitalized for a heroin addiction. It was not entirely unexpected that Cobain committed suicide. He had had entered a coma by overdosing on a mixture of champagne and tranquilizers on Ma ...

... the guitar Chris Jonnou, Ben Gillies, and he, were bored. So they decided to start a band. When they did they made up a song called "Tomorrow." They entered it into a contest that was held in their city. The judges loved it, so they got to record a single with the song "Tomorrow." Their first single. Then they played it on the radio and everybody loved it. Everybody went and bought the single. A music company called Epic records came to them and they signed a record deal. They made their first album "Frogstomp." They started to put a band together in 1992. They started in Australia. All of them lived about 5 minutes ...

... semitone, or half step refers to the interval of a minor second, as in moving from a white key to the adjoining black key on the piano. The function of is an issue left to be explored. The tone in a piece of music is often reflective of the composer's attitude or feelings. For instance when we listen to music, what determines how we classify it? Its usually the tone, either its soft, hard etc. What makes music soft and hard, is the tone in correlation with the manner in which it is presented. For example compare the tones in the instrumental pieces Canyon and Beethoven's 5th symphony. In Canyon, the tone throu ...

... the obvious conclusion: that the element which makes West African music different from ours is not the absence of any of these four characteristics but simply the different relationship between them? Most West African languages had evolved not only from vowels and consonants but also from a third element of articulation which was based simultaneously on variation of pitch, timbre and timing. West African drum language was not a primitive sort Morse code but a phonetic reproduction of the sound of words; only languages dependent on pitch, vibrato and timing lend themselves to such treatment. The time element was ...

... bass or tuba, and drums) to accompany the horns. These bands played for dancers or marched in parades in the South. Some of the first New Orleans musicians were among the most stirring of all jazz artists. They include clarinetist Johnny Dodds, clarinetist-soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, and cornetist King Oliver. The first jazz record was made in 1917 by a New Orleans band the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, made up of white musicians who copied black styles. The New Orleans musicians discovered that audiences were eager for their music in the cities of the North and the Midwest. In ...