What does the Cunard cruise line have in common with hobits, elves, and wizards? According to a recent episode of Middle-earth Talk Radio, Cunard’s famous ship Aquatania uses a fantasy name that means “water fairy queen”, and “Aquatania” was the name that musician/singer Heather Downing chose for one of the songs currently featured on her elvish music Website.

Although not all of Downing’s compositions are inspired by the Elves, her second and third albums feature songs such as “Elvish Wedding Song”, “The Shire at Dawn”, and “Rohan Warrior”. Her first collection, from 2005, teases Elvish scholars with songs such as “Ainur Ambaro” and “Into The West”.

Rehtaeh will be making three live performances from Tolkien Moot, a Spokane, WA area gaming and fantasy conference for enthusiasts of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Performances are scheduled for (Pacific Time) 6-6:30 PM Friday (August 13), 7-7:30 PM Saturday (August 14), and 2-2:30 PM Sunday (August 15). According to episode 28 of Middle-earth Talk Radio, Rehtaeh will be a special guest at two live panels from the conference: “Raw Hobbit”, hosted by Michael Martinez in the style of William Shatner’s “Raw Nerve” and Middle-earth Talk Radio, co-hosted by Hawke Robinson and Martinez.

Tolkien Moot is unique in offering role-playing gamers insights into how to adapt Middle-earth to role-playing systems through the efforts of various Tolkien scholars including past speakers Chris Seeman, Thomas Morwinsky, John Rateliff, and others. This year’s Tolkien Moot is being held at Spokane’s East/West Fitness World (1506 N. Monroe) and walk-ins are welcome for the live broadcasts of the panels and music.

Conference events are streamed live across the Internet for fans around the world to watch. A chat room will be used to allow fans to ask questions during the panels.

Listening to pipe organs can be a genuinely wonderful experience. Specifically hearing a live pipe organ, or enjoying the pipe organs with earbuds can be amazing. It may be for particular audiences only, but pipe organ music is really important. Part of the pipe organ’s importance is in the way it enriches people’s lives today, and part of the importance is in how it has impacted the growing of music. This article will talk about some of the organ types and considerations about organs.

Some of the most famous pipe organ composers were from the Baroque era. Of them the most legendary may be Johann Sebastian Bach. Many of the most well-known pipe organ music was written by him during this time. Most people think his strongest peice was the Fuge in G Major. Johann Pachelbel and Dietrich Buxtehude also wrote remarkable pieces. One can easily enrich their life by acquiring the experience and skill of performing on the pipe organ. During the early years is when little ones in our area begin on the pipe organ. This can help them to develop fine motor skills as well as a sense of accomplishment. Stress reduction is another profit of playing the pipe organ.

Historic pipe organs used a slider, and it was not until later that the keyboard was incorporated. Organs did have keyboards in the Baroque period back in the time of Bach. Pipe organs also have a pedalboard which is played by the feet. There are many types of organs, many of them are quite beautiful. Some pipe organs priced over $100,000. For this reason many churches select to use electronic organs. It is still plain to see that a true pipe organ still gives the best quality sound.

Expert technicians are required to keep pipe organs in tune, since it is a complicated process equal to that of playing the instrument. Many people don’t realize that for most of history there was no pitch standard. In 1939 the modern tuning standard was proposed. As the need for pipe organs have changed over time, so has the way pipe organ services continue to change to service our needs. It is exciting to consider about what the next innovation will be.

Note: we also write articles about nonprofit marketing.

Unsigned bands now have a new way to make money online by adding their songs directly to MySpace Music in exchange for sharing in the ad revenue with the service.

The deal, announced Monday, was struck by the digital-media distribution company Tunecore, will let any artist distribute songs directly through MySpace Music starting Thursday without having to have a music label or aggregator do so on their behalf.

Artists will simply pay a small flat fee for inclusion in the on-demand MySpace Music streaming service, which is partially owned by major labels. In return, MySpace promises to pay artists a percentage of the money it makes from the ads that accompany the music.

Thousands of independent unsigned recording bandswere dismayed to find last week that they almost certainly won’t be paid for songs they sold through imeem’s Snocap storefronts embedded on their MySpace pages. And that news comes despite the fact that MySpace just bought the company.

The MySpace Music on-demand and playlist-sharing service is owned by News Corp. and three of the four major labels. It also includes music from EMI and independent aggregators such as Merlin, The Orchard and IODA. This TuneCore partnership marks the first time unaffiliated artists have been able to add their music to MySpace Music (not to be confused for now at least with the site’s free, promotional band pages).

Although it failed to catch on with consumers initially, MySpace Music is growing thanks to acquisitions of imeem and iLike two of the services included in Google’s music search.

A party that supports file sharing of music has found another platform to argue its case. It has decided to join politics in order to influence policy making regarding copyright. The party is the Pirate Party, and it has already gained some presence in Germany and Sweden, even proposing an amendment in Swedish law to reduce the duration of copyright from 50 years to 5 years.

Now the party is trying to make an entry into the UK political scene. It has decided to place candidates in the next UK election. it will be campaigning for legalisation of file sharing once it comes to power, and this is not good news for artists and entertainment bosses who have been fighting for protecting the entertainment industry from acts of piracy.

Rick Falkvinge, the leader of the party, recently spoke at the In The City music conference in Manchester. However, he was opposed by delegates, one of whom even called him manipulative.

According to the organiser of the event, it was important that the debate started at least now. Had it started earlier, the parties would have been able to accomplish some solution by now and the entertainment industry would not have been in such a bad mess over this issue.

For an insight into the various ISP

Use your Need4 Video Converter to convert your favourite videos in the ASF format toXvid, to be then played on your computer, cell phones, mobile devices or video sharing files. Convert ASF videos to Xvid wthout any fuss.

Step 1. Launch

To begin with you will need a video converter program, such as a Need4 Video Converter.

Download the program and follow the directons.

Step 2. Add ASF Video To Converter

The selected file will be added to the list of opened files.

Step 3. Select Output Format

Step 4. Specify Folder to Save Video

Step 5. Select a Video Segment to Convert

Step 6. Hit Convert to Save ASF Video to Xvid

Need4 Video have the finest selection of video conversion software on the market, designed to transfer video cips from any file format to another, for whatever isrequired.

CD and DVD Duplication

Duplication is the process of burning data from a master copy onto a blank CD-r or DVD-r exactly the same way a person would do in your PC but instead of doing them one by one bulk copiers are used. As this process is a lot simpler the run lengths can be a lot shorter. Also, the lead-time will be a lot quicker. In most instances the CD or DVD duplication can be done on the same day depending on how many burners the company has available. In fact some companies can burn as many as thousands in a day. An extra advantage is if the artwork to be printed on the disc is ready before the data and the disc will be burnt when the data becomes available, this is not possible with replicated discs. The only disadvantage with this process is that you can tell it is a CD-R or DVD-R as the recording surface has a hue to it this is an organic dye that the laser burns the data into and some people take a dislike to this even though it has the same quality. You can get around this with CD-Rs by choosing diamond discs which used a silver dye and is nearly impossible to tell the difference unless you know what you are looking for.

Disadvantage of cd or dvd duplication

Not cost effective on larger runs

People might think it is unprofessional compared to replicated disc.

Chart-toppers La Roux are leading the hopefuls for this year’s Mercury Prize, along with Kasabian, Florence and the Machine and Friendly Fires.

Bat For Lashes gets a second chance to win the prize, while Glasvegas and The Horrors have also been given nods.

But hotly-tipped acts Little Boots, Doves and White Lies have been left off the 12-strong list.

Lisa Hannigan, The Invisible, Led Bib, Sweet Billy Pilgrim and Speech Debelle complete the list of nominees.

The award, now in its 17th year, aims to promote the best British and Irish albums of the last 12 months.

Bat For Lashes has revealed that she wants to scoop the Barclaycard Mercury Prize this year so she can get her own studio. She revealed that it had always been her dream to have her own recording studio.

“If I did win, it would be great because I’d make my own studio and it would mean that I had more freedom creatively to do more production and work in my own time, which is my idea of heaven really,” said the singer, whose real name is Natasha Khan.

“So that’s what I would spend the money on and if I did win, it would be really nice after being nominated last year.”

Imagine your child practicing their very first Christmas Song on the piano, such as Away in the Manger, or Silent Night, but they’re not holding out the half notes or playing the dotted quarter rhythms like we’re all used to hearing it. Their song starts and stops and lacks the rhythm your trained ear is used to hearing. But of course you don’t want to say anything discouraging! When parents do try to correct such “imperfections” in rhythm and tempo, it often creates a lot of friction. Young students just can’t seem to get the right beat and parents don’t understand why! Well there is a solution that’s easy to use. One of the great features of modern piano lessons is the electronic or digital keyboard. With guidance from parents and piano teachers the recording features of these instruments are very useful to piano students.

One of the most difficult things for young students to learn is how to keep a steady beat and play correct note values. While a metronome is a great tool for this, it keeps a very strict beat that may not allow for proper expression of the music. Plus the concept of a metronome is difficult for young students to grasp. One of the great features of modern piano lessons is the electronic or digital keyboard.

With guidance from parents and piano teachers the recording features of these instruments are very useful to piano students. By recording passages of music for students, however, parents and teachers can give young children musical examples to imitate. Once a student can imitate the music (this is kind of like a baby bird learning its family song) they can learn to count the rhythms they are already playing.

Another great feature of a digital keyboard is that students can record their own pieces of music for self evaluation. This is a whole lot better than parents and teachers telling kids what to do, and of course this is the ultimate goal of teaching and parenting.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Korg has been the leaders in synth and workstation production over the last few years with their Triton range and in 2006 there is no reason to suggest they don’t hold this title. Korg at the moment make 4 different models of Tritons:

• Triton Le
• Triton Extreme
• Triton Rack
• Triton Studio

All these models are based around a similar design and are have great sounds and lots of them. I personally own a Triton and the thing that I most love about it is that it has everything I need and it’s all quality. There are a lot of synths out there that may have a lot of sounds but the sounds are very ordinary. With the Triton you have quality all round. Anyway let’s talk about the features of the Korg Tritons.

Korg Triton Le

The Triton Le is the entry level synth of the Triton series. It takes all the best features of the Triton range and compiles it into a cost effective product by where you get a top quality synth without paying a lot of money. The Triton Le comes in 3 different sizes - 61 key (list price US$1860.00), 76 key (*), 88 key (list price US$2466.00). The 88 key Triton Le comes with a fully weighted grand piano keys and comes with an extra 16mb grand piano sample set.

Korg Triton Extreme

The Triton Extreme is the next model up from the Le and is the newest model to the Triton series. The Triton Extreme takes synths and workstations to a whole new level, its comes with a vacuum tube processor, USB CD burning and data sharing, compact flash storage and all the standard sounds and features of a Triton. Like the Triton Le the Triton Extreme comes in 3 different sizes - 61 key (list price US$2800.00), 76 key (list price US$3150.00), 88 key (list price US$3600). The Triton Extreme is a great synth/workstation if you want high performance and require enhanced features.

Korg Triton Rack

The Triton Rack is a rack mount version of the Triton series. It allows you to use all the functions and sounds of the triton series with any piano, keyboard, midi controller or other compatible synth. In terms of features the Triton Rack comes as a compact 2 space rack mount unit and contains 8 EXB-PCM expandable slots to add expansion boards. Its also allows you to have access to 2057 programs and 1664 combinations at any one point - including 256 GM programs and 9 GM drum programs. At a list price of US$2500.00 it is a great option is you already have a piano or keyboard that can act as a controller and you don’t want to spend the big $$$$ for a Triton Studio or Triton Extreme.

Korg Triton Studio

The Korg Triton Studio is the top model of the Triton series and contains all the bells and whistles you could imagine. From initial recordings on the Triton Studio to creating audio CDs, from over 3000 programs and combinations combined, and with a 48 Mbyte PCM ROM (including 429 multi-samples and 417 drum samples) the Triton Studio is leading the way in the synth and workstation world. You Name It, It Has It! Like the Triton Le and Extreme, the Triton Studio comes in 3 different sizes - 61 key (list price US$3400.00), 76 key (list price US$3800.00) and the flagship of the Triton range, The Triton Studio 88 key (list price US$4200.00). If you are after THE BEST in synth and workstation technology than you can not go past the Triton Studio Range.

* - 76 key Triton Le is hard to find a price on since very little of them are sold.

Jakob Culver is a professional working musician and founder of the website http://www.musiciansequipment.com/

To find out more information on this topic visit our information page

©2005 Millennium Online Marteting Pty Ltd