The bass guitar has been derived from the double bass, which was used in the late 1950′s. Having 4 strings, these instruments add the lower tones to a musical performance. Experimentation with the bass had started as early as the 1920′s. It wasn’t until the 50′s however, that a proper bass instrument was formed.
In the mid 20th century jazz became popular. As double bass’s were used those days, they were often not heard due to the lack of amplification. The drums, banjos and other instruments in the band drowned out the sound of the bass. Until the 1950 when the first electric bass came into existence with modern amplification techniques.
The bass guitar is played like all guitars with the player holding it close to his body in a horizontal position. The strings are plucked with hand or with the plectrum. In the 1970′s, the slapping technique became popular.
Today, the bass guitar ranges from 4 strings up to 11 strings. The 5, 6 and 7 strings providing the mid range while the 11 string starts from a lower than human hearing going up to a very high active. Electric bass guitar players use various configurations. These changes are made by using preamplifiers and speaker sets. Signal processors are also varied to provide new soundscapes.
In night clubs, combo amplifiers are used. These amplifiers are fixed with single loud speakers to make them portable and effective.
The body of the instrument can be of wood or graphite. A wide range of finishing is applied to make it look good. IT can be colored or simply clear white. The work done on the body is fine engineering and delicate balances have to be maintained.
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The modern piano developed its form from two keyboard instruments, the clavichord and the harpsichord, which originated from early in music history. These keyboard instruments operate on the principle of direct connection between the applied force or pressure of the player on the keys, and the volume of sound. Meaning, the harder the pressure or force the player applies on the keys, the louder the sound of the instrument, the lighter the touch, the softer the sound.
Earlier musicians, however, encountered a problem with the clavichord and harpsichord: the sound was relatively diminutive as compared to how they would have wanted it to be, considering the fact that keyboard instruments were often played in large rooms (chambers), cathedrals and churches.
Around the year 1700, Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) created the new keyboard instrument and coined its name from the fact that it could both play “piano” (soft) and “forte” (loud), addressing the problem of the old keyboard instruments. Thus, the pianoforte, or what we call shortly now as the piano.
Aside from the direct connection between the fingers on the keys and the sound, the piano also has two different pedals which are the “sustain” or damper pedal and the “soft” pedal. The sustain pedal allows the pianist to hold the tone or sound even after releasing the key. The soft pedal veils or muffles the sound. There is also a third pedal called the “sostenuto” pedal. However, not all pianos have this.
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The success of rap music as the main expression of hip hop has elevated it beyond a cultural movement but to the status of financial powerhouse. Started in the 70’s by innovative DJ’s, rap has become a world wide phenomenon. The organic growth of the music has established the identity of rap music as a political tool for the underprivileged. It has been the voice of the oppressed and underrepresented. Today’s rap, however, has changed. The forces behind hip hop are no longer focused on the art and message. Instead rap has become a commercial boom to be used for profit. The hyper commercialization of rap music has led directly to the degrading of its potency as a form of pure art.
The rap industry posted revenues in excess of 1.5 billion dollars in 2005. It’s a far cry from the roots of rap, perfected in east coast ghettos some 25 years ago. Today, the industry of hip hop is run with the efficiency of major corporations. Potential rap stars are plucked from obscurity with the public psychology in mind. Businesses pour millions of dollars of advertising revenue into artists such as Nelly and Eminem to shill for their clothes and shoes. Music industry corporations have fully accepted and promoted gangsta rappers like 50 cent, leaving violence and sexism in their wake.
The over commercialization of rap has spawned a litany of pretenders hoping to strike gold. The use of controversy to garner attention is widespread. Involvement with a shooting, being associated with a gang or getting arrested for weapons charges can add “street credibility” to your image. It follows that in order to gain millions of dollars many artists may stage a shooting or purposefully get arrested. This misuse of violence is matched with a high degree of sexual exploitation of women. Females are valued for their physical attributes only. Video after video show us herds of women dressed in porous outfits dancing aimlessly. Rap lyrics reveal a general perception of woman as whores and liars. Sexist and violent mainstream rap no longer holds the position as the enlightened voice of a struggling generation coming to grips with the harsh realities of an unfair world.
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Selling on the web has become one of the new frontiers of commerce. We find it hard to think of anything not being sold and bought every minute over the internet; just have a look on ebay.
Hip-Hop producers were quick to understand the powerful worldwide reach of the internet and started selling instrumentals to artists through this channel.
A couple of websites therefore gathered enormous music inventories from professional record label producers, and started selling complete instrumental tracks just like Amazon sell CDs. Pay x amount online, and we’ll ship you a CD with the tracks you purchased. A new market full of opportunities was born.
About a year and a half ago we also understood the potential this new market had. Having promoted our own music on websites such as mp3.com and vitaminic.com, we realised that creating our own service would give us much greater flexibility and reach. We also had around 250-300 instrumentals sitting on our hard drives waiting for rappers and vocalists to rhyme/sing over them. There was no way we could’ve used all of these instrumentals ourselves, therefore why not offer artists worldwide the chance to easily obtain top quality instrumentals for their musical projects?
Hence the birth of La Cantina Productions. Our aim is to give artists who may not be able to afford to buy expensive instrumentals/beats a fair chance to get their music out there. Our typical artists are talented emcees or vocalists, desperately in need of beats, but with little cash.
So how does it all work? Artists just need to visit the website, listen to preview samples of the instrumentals and then purchase the ones they like directly online. We were one of the first websites to offer the possibility to download instrumentals immediately after payment; no more waiting for CDs to arrive through the post, high quality mp3’s can be downloaded immediately.
And it doesn’t end here. Artists record their vocals over our instrumentals and we then take care of promoting their complete tracks in the right places. After years of promoting our own music on the web, we know exactly where the online promotional efforts should be concentrated. Promoting music online requires hard work, but when you know where to go, the job is a thousand times easier.
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