Music Downloads

Michelle Higgins
77

Believe it or not, your baby is just one month short of being a year old!
Bubbling with energy
In baby’s eleventh month, he is discovering a whole new exciting universe at a frantic pace. He can roll, sit, stand and even walk a few steps. He has a mind of his own now and you might be shocked to see him assert himself! If he seems to be quiet for a while it could signals some mischief he is up to. He could creating havoc in the restroom or might be busy chewing your new lipstick!
Milestones
Your eleven month-old baby can now stand alone and can expertly cruise around furniture. He can wave and turn around without falling. Encourage him to walk on different surfaces bare feet like the floor, carpet, grass or the sand at the beach.
Baby has learnt to say a few words and understands several more. He has a firmer grasp too. He also loves to deliberately drop objects and have you pick them up (only to drop them again and again!). He is now beginning to distinguish ‘good’ from ‘naughty’ behavior and may seek approval and admiration from you.
Red Alert!
Your adventurous darling may try to scale ‘new heights’ and climb onto furniture to explore more avenues. Frequent stumbles and tumbles are in store as your baby’s eleventh month makes her more active than ever. Keep detergents, drain cleaners, cosmetics, medicines, alcoholic beverages, and any other poisonous substances in locked cabinets. Constantly supervise your baby to avoid letting her get into trouble.
Growth spurt
You might notice that your eleven month-old baby is not gaining much weight. Do not panic. Your energetic baby is using more calories for all his activities. It is crucial for him to develop his co-ordination and strengthen his muscles for his strenuous actions like crawling, standing and walking.
Try to make mealtime more fun to sustain his interest in eating. Introduce a variety of foods and give him colorful bowls and spoons. He will love to feed himself (though most of the food may not get to his mouth!). Do not force him to eat. Leave it to him to decide how much he wants.
Temper tantrums!
Your eleven month-old baby can now exhibit her moods and emotions openly. She is more sensitive and may trust certain people and fear others. She may shake his head back and forth to say “no” more often. Hurling herself on the ground as she wails her lungs out is not uncommon either.
Help expand your baby’s vocabulary
Talk a lot to your baby and read to him too. Introduce him to the vast and wonderful world of words! Tell him the names of all objects around him. Take him for a stroll and point out the trees, the sky, birds and flowers. Identify their colors for him.
Ask your eleven month-old baby several questions and listen patiently even as he babbles an unfathomable tale!

Theresea Hughes
2

The more I study the life of Elvis Presley for my website research, the more I learn about what an amazing and generous man he was. This article is just one example of his charitable Christmas spirit.
It was Christmas time, and in the local paper there was a short article about an old woman in North Memphis, it was near the area where Elvis lived while he was growing up.
The man and woman were old, black and very poor. They lived in a two- room house with only a tattered curtain dividing the rooms, in the poorest part of Memphis. The old woman had been confined to a wheelchair all her life. She had no legs and her old wheelchair had become worse from age, she wasn’t able to use it anymore and left her unable to move around her home.
The story was written by a charitable woman who knew of the old lady’s circumstances and decided to do what she could, and try to raise enough money to buy the old lady a new wheelchair. When Elvis read the article he turned to Marty Lacker and said, “Moon, take care of it for me. Get her a new chair.”
Marty made a call to the phone number which was with the article, and asked the woman who answered the call, if she was still looking for a wheelchair for the crippled woman?
She said, “We are taking donations and will very much appreciate anything you can do.” Marty then asked how much had already been raised; so far the donations received totaled a little over eighty dollars. Marty explained to the lady, he is acting on behalf of someone who would like to remain anonymous but would like to buy the old woman a new wheelchair.
The lady on the phone said, “Oh, you want to donate some money.” Marty replied, “No, we want to buy a new chair for her. You take the money that has been raised and give to her. We’ll get the wheelchair. “The lady seemed to be unsure about the caller, until Marty asked for the old woman’s address and reassuring her that they would get the old woman her chair, she then seemed satisfied this call was genuine.
She said to Marty, “You are very kind,” then she offered to pick up the wheelchair and send the bill on to them, he said, no, ma’am. “We will pick the chair up and personally deliver it, there is somebody who wants to do this for the old lady.” “God will surely bless you and your friend.” She replied.
After getting the elderly woman’s address Marty made another call to a hospital supply company in Memphis, where Marty and one of the other guys found a really nice electric, automatic wheelchair and bought it, put it in the trunk of the car and went back to Graceland to show Elvis the chair before they delivered it to the old woman.
When they got to Graceland, Elvis and Priscilla were dressed to go out. Marty asked Elvis if he wanted to see the wheelchair before taking to the woman, Elvis answered “Priscilla and I are both going with you.”
Elvis, Priscilla and Marty got into one car and two of the guys followed in a second car, using the second car was normal procedure for security, or in case anything happened to the car Elvis was traveling in. They drove to one of the poorest neighborhoods in Memphis. It was the pits, and they all wondered how people were living like that and yet, most of the guys had begun their lives in little better conditions.
Marty went to the door making sure they were at the right address; an old man let him in. It was a shock to see what these people lived in, he noticed the newspapers, which were there to try and stop the wind from coming in the windows, there was an old wood stove in the middle of the floor.
It was the poorest place Marty had ever seen, and the shocking fact was this place was in the city. It was a run down shack, not a house.
Marty explained to the old man three or four times why he was in the neighborhood, even then it’s not certain the old man understood. Then Marty saw the old woman sitting on a wooden chair in the other room, he then told the man he would be right back.
While outside, he told Elvis the old lady was in the house and got the other guys to put the wheelchair together. Elvis carried the chair into the house, with Priscilla, Marty and the others following.
Tears welled in everyone’s eyes at the sight of these dear old people during such poverty. Elvis went to the lady and said, “Hello, I came to give you this chair as a gift for Christmas”.
The dear old woman didn’t understand why this white man was in her home to giving her a new wheelchair. She kept looking at the chair and Elvis while he explained and showed her how it should be operated.
Suddenly she seemed to understand this wheelchair is truly a gift to her, then she tried her hardest to get off the wooden chair to her new chair wheelchair, but she struggled and was unable to do so. Elvis then gently picked her up and carefully placed her in her new chair.
As her tears began flowing from her old eyes she cried, “Praise God! God bless you!” The moment was filled with genuine emotions, with Elvis on one side and Priscilla on the other, sharing this “happy sadness” moment with the old lady.
Even the tough members of the Memphis Mafia couldn’t control the powerful emotions floating in the room; each of the guys came forward and put their arms around the old lady and clasped the old man’s weak hand.
The general feeling that surfaced from this special visit was the love felt for the elderly couple, Priscilla and all that were present, but most of all they truly loved Elvis and the sincerity with which he gave his true gift, himself.
Before leaving the couple, Elvis turned to Marty and said, “Look at the way they’re living,” each person involved in the experience felt thankful for what they had. Elvis then asked Marty to give him a couple of hundred dollars; Elvis then placed two one-hundred-dollar notes in the old woman’s hand wishing her a Merry Christmas.
Elvis gently kissed her, then turned and walked out…
There are many more fascinating stories and facts of Elvis Presley Biography in my free ebook “Elvis Presley Forever” which you can download at http://www.elvis-presley-forever.com
You can also tell us all about the reasons you most love Elvis and his music, in our Fan Survey on the site.
Article Bio: Contributed by Theresea Hughes, a loyal Elvis fan and creator of http://www.elvis-presley-forever.com This site is dedicated to providing Elvis fans with quality Elvis Presley biography information, pictures and articles for your entertainment. Everything you ever wanted to know about Elvis’s life, loves and music. An Elvis Presley biography site by a fan for his fans.
This article may be used in its entirety by websites and ezines as long as an active link to our site is included

Jane Karwoski
310

To many people, listening to their favorite music as they go about business is a necessity. To others, it is simply a diversion as they go about the boring day-to-day chores we have in life. For some, it is a sensual experience and a form of creative self-expression, whether as an active participant or merely an avid listener.
I myself don’t just enjoy music; I live and breathe for music. I am a musician/songwriter and when I am not writing music or playing music somehow life is not the same for me. This is how I express my emotions, share thoughts, and converse with the world around me. Many times I get lost in the height of a passionate compositional piece, only to find the time has passed by so quickly that I have forgotten all of the things on my mind that have been bothering me.
As technology becomes more advanced, sometimes the creative and artistic aspects of music become less vital to the world than the equipment it’s transmitted on. We might ask ourselves what life would be like without technology, but consider life without some form of music. Without the passion that some music can give us, all the devices that we have at our disposal wouldn’t be quite as interesting.
Consider watching television without music in the background; or a movie without a soundtrack. Who cares about how large the screen is or clear the picture is? How exciting would the picture are eyes focus on be without are aural senses participating.
I don’t care how many mp3 players or stereo systems are on the market. No one would be buying these products if we as human beings didn’t crave some form of music to soothe our souls. At times, technological advancement in our lives can stress us out. We reach for our headphones and listen to music to help us cope.
I must admit, being a musician that composes and plays totally by my senses, I don’t know what I would do without the technological advances in music in the past decade. I would not be able to do what I do as effectively or as effortlessly if it weren’t for digital multitrackers, compact disk recorders, and all the other high-tech devices at my disposal. At one time, an amateur musician could not afford to own any of these devices, or be capable of operating them without some kind of experience in recording engineering. So for me, technology and music is a perfect mix.

Dr. Julie Trudeau
196

Divine music, when you experience it, brings with it intense and lasting bliss. Anyone who attempts to describe it would have to use pale analogies. If we think of the most beautiful music we have ever heard in this world, it still does not compare with the music known as the Voice of God. The divine music is playing within us all the time. We don’t hear it because no one has shown us the way to listen to this inner music.
The divine music is different from worldly music. The music of the Lord is not made by any instrument. It is a melody that reverberates from God. So, it is the source of all outer music.
Outer music is but a reflection of Gods inner music. Second, the music of the Lord is like a magnetic current that elevates the soul into the spiritual realms beyond. Once we contact that sound, we are enabled to rise far above from mere body-consciousness.
That sound fills us with indescribable ecstasy. We become so intoxicated that every pore of our being cries out in ecstasy.
Digital Music plays a great role in realizing us the divine music within us. Get more information on Digital Music with Dr. Julie.
To visit our site: www.drjulietrudeau.com

Dakota Caudilla
21

Before they got together as Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool were merely three extraordinary hopefuls hoping and looking for their big break. The trio has no formal training and got their ‘practice’ from playing for free at punk clubs on Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. Out on the streets is where the 3 talented individuals got their big break – they turned from punk rock’s most unlikely success story to a remarkable band with a series of chart-topping hits. Together, they sold more than 10 million albums and won a Grammy Award in the process. It’s been a long journey for the trio who started out singing out in the streets.
Both Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were born in Rodeo, California in 1972 and have been fabulous childhood friends since the age of 10. At the age of 14, they carefully put together their first band, Sweet Children.
They recorded their first EP as Green Day, 1,000 hours, in 2 days flat and in the meantime, Dirnt graduated and Armstrong dropped out of high school. A local indie label “Lookout!” released Green Day’s debut album – at this time, Green Day recorded the album with their first drummer, Al Sobrante. Al Sobrante soon quit the band. Dirnt and Armstrong found a friend in Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III) who as been a drummer with “Lookout!” since the age of 12. Together, Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool released the group’s second album, Kerplunk.
Green Day didn’t burst into the entertainment scene without followers and fans. That’s because Green Day, before the release of their albums, EARNED their following by driving their renovated bookmobile from coast to coast, crashing in their friends’ places and organizing mini-concerts for their fans. When they reprised their debut, Dookie, Green Day already have a throng of fans and followers. To say the very least, Green Day made immaturity and malcontent cool all over again. Their songs on picking scabs, pyromania….won the hearts of followers and fans who can tune in to the content and felt the pain and stress in the songs. The re-release of ‘Dookie’ took the world by storm because they sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone and they won a Grammy in 1994 for “Best Alternative Music Performance”.
Green Day proves to critics that they are here to stay and refuse to be a one-hit (or even one-album wonders). With their next album, Insomniac, and in their latest album, Nimrod, they stayed steadfast to the punk philosophy. They maintain that being naughty is sometimes nice – even when you’re married and have kids.
What makes the songs from Green Day so wildly popular is the fact it’s easy for anyone to identify with the lyrics. They reintroduced anger and exuberance in a very offbeat and un-rhythmic sort of way. They have, what people will call, the finger-in-your-face attitudes. The sort of staying power Green Day has shown through their songs, it’s not hard to imagine why we say that Green Day won’t be making its way out of the scene any day soon – not today, not Gay.

Sujanti Djuanda
121

The students could be in the bad mood while taking lessons. Force them to play will not make them playing well even the kids often persist in not wanting to play. Let them just sit with no activity is also not the good solution. As teachers, what should we do so that the lessons can still be valued?
As my experienced, the following tips will help students in the bad mood feel better and improve their music knowledge.
1. Being Storytellers
a. Tell a short biography of composer and show his/her pictures since was child.
b. Tell a story behind the music.
For instance, Fur Ellise was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and the original title was Bagatelle for piano in A minor. It was most probably dedicated to Therese Malfatti, his piano student in 1809-1810. Beethoven could be in love with her but this topic is still debated. Years after Beethoven’s death, a researcher Nohl stumbled upon the autograph of the little piece when visited the Malfatti’s family. He misread Beethoven’s handwriting, he read Fur Therese as Fur Ellise. So it’s known as Fur Ellise. Unfortunately, the autograph is lost.
(Source: http://www.xs4all.nl/~ademu/Beethoven/#n21)
2. Being Piano Museum Guides
Let students look at the piano pictures from Baroque period until now, as if teachers are the piano museum guides and students are the visitors of museum.
3. Being Quiz Presenters
At first let students listen some compositions of the composer, for instance, Beethoven. For the quiz, let them listen a composition of another composer then ask, “Is it Beethoven’s music or not?”
4. Being Partners of the Game Players
Let students play the computer game that related with music. Teachers can play with them or just sit to see how they play.
5. Being Good Listeners
If students want to share their problem being good listeners, not judges. If we don’t know the solution, turn to another topic. Sometimes, it’s better not to talk about it such as the problem of kids that just lost their pets.
6. Being Good Supporters
If students can’t play well or have slow progress, don’t ever blame them with negative words such as idiot, dummy, hopeless, etc. It will put them in the bad mood. As known, Beethoven’s music teacher called him hopeless but currently most of us know him as one of great composers. If students want to give up, encourage them with positive words (words of encouragement). The encouraging words have power to change people life much better.Z

Peter Edvinsson
163

What is the ultimate truth about guitar practicing?
Is there a best way to practice on your guitar? Of course you have to make your practice sessions effective but could there be a way to practice that is more effective than other ways? There are many principles involved in an effective practice session and I think some of these are a motivation founded on a love and passion for the music you can produce on the guitar, an acceptance of the fact that you must practice on that technical level you have reached, a working knowledge of muscle tensions and how to minimize them when you play and how to work on reducing them when you don’t play.
What shall we do until we find the most effective way to practice?
When I was studying music at an academic level I many times had the question messing around in my mind about the ultimate method for practicing on my guitar and other instruments I played. A well renowned jazz tenor saxophonist who was my teacher in jazz improvisation discussed this issue with me as I asked him about it and he gave me the most intelligent answer I ever heard before or after. He said with a smile, “until you find out the best way to practice, practice anyway!”
How effective can a practice session be?
My humble opinion after much practicing and playing guitar and piano and other instruments and also teaching piano and guitar is that you have to take many things into consideration like the time available, your motivation level, how concentrated you can expect yourself to be and more. As real growth often is a slow process you will not very often be able to measure the effectiveness of a practice session by how much you have learnt so you have to find other ways to find out if you are effective. The roads to Anywhere are many so to find out if you are on the right road you have to decide your destination.
Can you practice too much or too effectively?
It depends on how we define effective practice sessions. If effective guitar practice is to work through a long list of things to improve in your playing and to practice ten hours a day without interruption I guess you can practice too effectively. This will mean that you practice in such a way that you will get fed up with guitar playing and maybe you will even hurt your muscles and develop an aversion towards guitar playing for the rest of your life.
What is real effectiveness when you practice on your guitar?
Real effectiveness is better measured by how well your practicing methods and results are pointing towards you goals. Without goals you cannot measure effectiveness. If your goal is to have fun with your guitar then you have a very effective practicing session if you have fun with your guitar. If that is what you want then it is a worthy goal. I guess you could come upp with more specific goals than that with deadlines so you can measure them better. But it is you who have to decide your own goals otherwise the goals will not be effective.
I hope these words on practicing guitar playing will give you some comfort and also help you realize that when human beings like you and me are involved we cannot definitely say how we ought to play to be effective. Human beings are funny things that sometimes behave like as if they were identical but nevertheless they are unique. This also applies to guitar players like you and me. We are different in many ways but I guess we want our guitar playing to contribute to our happiness and joy so have fun and … “until you find out the best way to practice, practice anyway!”!

Jakob Culver
300

One of the most popular guitars today and one of the best is the Fender Stratocaster. It has been around for years and has established a well known reputation for having an original sound and been great to play. Many top guitarists of the past and present played Strats - Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, the list goes on and on. All of these artists have that beautiful tonal sound of a Strat but when you hear each one, you can tell the difference between them, and that’s the beautiful thing. The Fender Strat gives you such originality while having that beautiful tonal sound no other guitar has.
The secret to that great sound that the Strats have is in the single coil pickups, the wood of the guitar and the way the body of the guitar is put together (2 sections). The combination of these 3 things put together is one of a kind, that guitarist have come to love right from the beginning of the Strats birth.
Although Strats are centered around a standard setup. There are lots of additional models that slightly differ and in-turn slightly change the sound of the guitar. This is great because it offers guitarists the chance to find that desirable sound that they have always wanted. To go one step further a lot of big name guitarist that play Strats get fender to make them a custom model just for them on specifications that they want so they can come up with the ultimate and perfect sound for them. These guitars are also available to the public to buy and are deemed signature models. If you desire a sound from one of these top quality guitarist than you can have it by buying a signature model which emulates the exact sound that artist has.
If you are thinking of buying a Strat I highly recommend to you that you go and try out as many different models that you can. Most people buy the standard USA Strat but this may not be for you, you may want something slightly different with a few different changes to the standard. Another thing I wish to point out is that when you try out a Strat, it is important play it through a quality amp, i.e. a fender twin amp. This is because if you try out guitars (great ones and poor ones) though a cheap and poor amp than the guitar will sound bad and disgusting. The rule when buying a guitar or any musical instrument is to try out many different types of that instrument as possible, this is the only way to properly find out what guitar suits you best.

Brent Wilson
143

Okay, now you may be a hip hop fan that is just not with it enough. Or, you may be new to it. Or, you may even be a parent trying to figure out what the hip hop slang is all about. Hey, no problem! Let’s talk about it here. If you are not sure what the words you are hearing mean, take a minute to check them out. We’ll get you in touch with a few here, but know that there are some awesome websites out there that can keep you together as well. So, don’t pretend to know what bling bling means get with it and learn the hip hop slang!
So, what is it that you do not know? Perhaps you are not sure what all the “izzle” words are standing for? This form of hip hop was started by Frankie Smith but has been largely popularized by Snoop Dog, a very popular hip hop artist in the current time. These words are often just changed to add the “izzle” onto them without changing their meaning.
As for bling bling, this term is used to mean something of high worth. Usually it refers to expensive jewelry. Flashy, highly valuable jewelry is very commonly considered part of the hip hop culture. Bling bling can also be a term used for those who have a lifestyle built on excess spending and accruing wealth. Having bling bling isn’t a bad thing!
Okay, so this is no where near all the information you need about hip hop slang. So, what do you do to get what you need to know? Translating songs or just knowing what the artists are talking about on their videos can be somewhat hard when you can’t figure out the words. But, it isn’t meant for everyone. If you are determined to learn what hip hop slang means, check out some of the pretty cool websites that talk about it. Some are even in dictionary form to help you easily converse in hip hop anytime you want to. So, get with it and learn your hip hop slang!ZZ

Mike Lieberman
166

If you don’t like the new scoring system recently introduced into the world of figure skating, you could make up your own on Sunday and help choose the winner of the Marshall’s Figure Skating Challenge.
Presented by ABC television, fans from all over the country were able to pick the winners during the first-ever live, interactive, fan voting during a nationally-televised ice skating event. Fans were able to vote via a 900 number, cell phone text message, or online voting at The US Figure Skating Association web site. The 900 number and cell phone text message costs were .75 per vote.
In addition, 2000 fans at Boston University’s Agganis Arena were able to vote from their seats with a handheld device. But, the Marshall’s Figure Skating Challenge did not totally abandon traditional judging. The ABC panel of experts-Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, and Peter Carruthers-were there to offer their expert commentary based on more than just who wore the cutest outfit.
In the men’s preliminary, Michael Weiss thrilled the crowd with a back flip he dubbed a “tornado” and advanced to the championship round. Favorite Johnny Weir, whose 900 number message indicated a vote for him was a vote for the fact that he was “hot,” also advanced to the final round. Interestingly, however, the panel did not agree with the public. It unanimously named Matt Savoie, a late replacement for the injured Evan Lysaceck, as the overall best. Savoie finished last in the public voting just behind third place Tim Goebel.
On the women’s side, Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan advanced to the final round by easily outdistancing Alissa Czisny and Emily Hughes. The panel of judges voted Cohen the best, although she finished behind the veteran Kwan who was skating for the first time since a September injury sidelined her.
In the men’s championship round skate-off, Weir overcame a fall in the first round to receive 64% of the vote over Weiss. For the ABC panel of experts, it was the only time that it agreed with the 900 number, text message, and internet voters who also gave Weir the title and $50,000 in prize money.
The ending of the show seemed similar to most of the women’s figure skating competitions that we’ve witnessed over the past decade when Kwan has copped nine national titles. Kwan won the event, but it was bittersweet, because the panel of experts all voted for Cohen who is still looking for her first national title.
In all, according to the New York Times, 104,418 votes were cast via the 900 number, text message, and the web site. Advanced Telecom Services (Wayne, PA) handled the 900 number voting. Spark Network Services (Des Plaines, IL) provided the text message voting through its PromoTXT.com system. WinnerComm (Tulsa, OK) tabulated the online voting.
One thing is for sure, with over 100,000 votes, each costing .75, it was pretty difficult to rig the judges.ZZ

Sam Longoria
305

I get a lot of questions on if I can “do” sound sweetening,
usually by frantic filmmakers, calling in the middle of the
night. They are frantic because the sound in their movie or
video is bad.

They’ve used a cheap mic, plugged into the camera, or worse,
have used the on-camera mic.

They had a friend aimlessly point the mic at the floor, or the
sky, anywhere but at the actor muttering his lines, and moved the
mic randomly during shooting.

Some, from the sound of it, have pointed the mic directly at the
whirring camera, or rumbling electric generator, or humming air
conditioner, or buzzing fluorescent lamp. They’ve bumped the mic
against the wall, or the ceiling, or trees or bushes.

They’re far away from what they’re recording, not even in the
same vicinity. There’s so much “room sound,” you can barely hear
the actor mumbling along.

So, the Sound Guy (whoever they can get for a few minutes -
usually a well-meaning person with no experience) turns up the
level too far, which just makes the sound distort horribly, or
too low, which buries the good sound in the mud.

Sound Editing adds more mistakes, and compounds the problem.
The filmmaker has the equipment, and wants the film to be good.
You’d think he’d read a book on the subject. You would be wrong.

He chops the sound when he chops the picture, and that’s it. He
doesn’t split it into tracks, or replace bad sound, or finesse
the tracks, or otherwise spend time exerting care and craft on
his precious film’s soundtrack.

Essentially, when he’s done shooting and cutting and laying
music, he thinks he is done, without spending the minimum of
time and care and money it takes, to have a good sound track.

So the filmmaker shows his movie, with its bad sound, to
lukewarm audience reaction. Ouch!

People don’t know why the movie is bad, actually. Not one in ten
can recognize “bad sound,” they just think the movie stinks.

If the filmmaker is very, very lucky, somebody will tell him the
sound is bad. Otherwise, he has no clue.

He’s disappointed, but he still wants to maybe fix it. Somebody
says “sweetening” the sound will help. So he comes to me.

He wants to know if bad sound can be fixed. I have to tell him
the bad news - no.

At this stage, unless he has a great deal of time and money, and
is willing to start completely over and take the proper care,
nothing can be done.

Bad sound is the product of negligence. If you spend the time
and care, from the beginning, there is no reason for your film or
video sound to be bad.

You’ve probably seen many commercial movies with good sound,
so why doesn’t your movie sound like them? You probably don’t
really know how a good movie sounds, and what effort went into
making them sound good.

Take some time, and actively listen. After a while,
you’ll notice what a good movie sounds like.

I was very lucky when I was starting out.
I read a book by Ivan Watson from England, who
spelled out precisely what it takes to record and edit
and mix good movie sound.

You can still find “Uncle Ivan’s” books, either online,
http://snurl.com/brbu
or at your library. If you haven’t read any filmmaking books,
you need to. Get going!

What can you do to make your movie track sound less like a video,
and more like a real movie?

Maybe a better question is, “Why does video sound so bad?”

I think that’s a fair question, because frankly, most video
sound, (all elements music-dialog-effects), sucks. I’ve heard
exceptions, so I know it’s not just the video itself.

Film does sound very different than video, I am certain of that.

Real movies are rich-sounding, with only the sounds and music
that move the story along. Video, even shot by filmmakers who
should know better, often is tinny and muffled, with thumps and
noise on the tracks.

How is film sound different from video? Making a movie sound
like a movie starts with the production sound.

Film sound is recorded on analog machines (yes, they still
exist), or on cool new 96Khz/24bit sampling recorders.

Mini-DV camera sound is uncompressed Khz/16bit sampling.
That’s better-than-CD audio quality, but camera makers save money
by using cheap audio circuits in most under-$5k video cameras.

Cheap-and-dirty analog-to-digital circuits add noise and
distortion to your high-quality mic’s crisp analog sound.

The best video camera sound I’ve found is on the Panasonic
DVX-100A. Its audio section is good as most DAT or solid-state
flash memory recorders. Shooting with one is like recording on a
separate digital recorder.

Film sound is recorded with a midrange bump, and an
EQ raise above 6KHz.

6KHz is the high end of the human voice. “Midrange” is around
2.5KHz. The film sound “EQ raise” at 6KHz increases dialogue
intelligibility and perceived crispness.

In video, sound is recorded without pre or post EQ. Video sound
also usually uses inferior mics to those used in film sound.

Film sound mics have a cleaner sound, and flatter response,
sounding better than the mics used to record video sound.
They are highly directional (rejecting extraneous noise).

Give your video sound’s midrange an EQ bump, and a raise at 6Khz,
and it will be more like how film sound is recorded.

Get some decent mics, not the cheapies. A Sennheiser ME66, or an
Audio-Technika 835b, is mid-level, not terribly expensive, and
really works well. Those will give you a rich and full sound.

You may not want to record double-system (sound recorder
separate from the camera), but if you can, do it!

If you have a Nagra or other analog tape recorder, use it. They
just sound better.

35mm mag film to edit? Sounds great. It should – it’s a 1/4″ magnetic
track at 18ips, and if you fill empty spaces with slug stock, it’s self-gating.

In film sound, the sound designer matches sound to the look of
the film. A sad movie has mood lighting, and the sound will be
designed to match it in emotional tone. Its dialogue is EQ’d
less crisply, with a lower-frequency boost.

In a happy comedy, lower frequencies are rolled off, and it’s
EQ’d and mixed to be “brighter.”

Film sound is “sweetened” by manipulating room tone, premixing
audio levels, and carefully considering dialog, music, and effects for
their proper audio EQ.

Film sound expects post-production sweetening, which makes film
audio sound so different from audio for video. Video sound can be
sweetened, but Indies use it pretty much as it is recorded. Yuck!

What can be done about it? How can you make your movie sound
like a real movie?

First, notice how video procedures are designed for quick-and-
easy operation, and not really for quality.

I think most video sound sucks because the camera operator is
also the sound recordist, and the camera op doesn’t care about
sound.

He wants the framing and focus and color and bla bla bla.
Sound is not his priority, and he’s not really listening to what’s
coming through the mic and mixer and headphones. He can’t.

For your sound to be good, you must care about it being good.
That care will force you to listen to your track, something most
video hobbyists, and many filmmakers, simply don’t do.

Until they’ve lost a film festival, and notice the winner has
good sound. Or they see the one Indy film that comes along in
a blue moon, the one with good sound.

If you actively listen to your track, you’ll start hearing (it
takes time to train your ears) all the junk you’re recording.

You’ll take the steps necessary (filtering, mic placement, EQ,
editing) to discard everything that is extraneous. Get rid of
anything that doesn’t create a mood, or push your story along.

You will put the mic just as close to your subject as you can,
and roll off the wind noise, and use a fur piece on the mic, and
only mix in enough room or ambient noise, and only when it’s
necessary.

If there’s a single “most important part,” I would say it is
“gain staging.” Set your levels carefully - at every stage!

When we recorded in analog, there was a certain forgiving quality
to the recording process. Overmodulation would “saturate” the
tape, limiting levels before actually distorting.

Now everything’s digital, and if you’re recording digitally (to
DAT, CD, Mini-disc, or Flash Memory), there is very little
“headroom,” and much less tolerance for clipping, than in analog.

If your meter goes “into the red,” the sound becomes a chattery
digital nightmare. It is ruined forever. So make sure you use
“-6Db” for your “0Db,” to keep it clean.

Always “expect the unexpected” when setting your levels. I’ve
noticed actors always “perform” 6Db louder than they “rehearse,”
and musicians do too.

I always feed one mono signal to both stereo tracks, with L at
the “proper” level, and R backed off 6Db or so.

If the sound gets too loud, L will distort, but I’ll still have a
chance to salvage that section of R, when I’m editing.

How much is enough? Experience will teach you. Listen!

The major difference between how film dialog sounds and video
dialog sounds is the EQ and compression that is used to make it
intelligible and “fatter.” With practice, you will learn how to
get that sound. There is no shortcut - you must practice!

You will learn what distortion sounds like, and you will learn to
set the gain properly, and boost the midrange or add compression
in recording or mixing, when it’s necessary, to push the
important signal up out of the mud, and into your audience
awareness.

How much boost? Again, experience.

That’s why you need a Sound Mixer with sound as his only job,
one who cares, with enough faith in his ears, and experience at
setting the gain and EQ, and also a trained and experienced Boom
Operator, with necessary skills to point and move the boom.

Make it clear to your sound crew that you consider sound just as
important as the picture, and you expect good work from them.

Insist they yell “Cut!” if it distorts, and tell you when they
need another take.

Don’t make the mistake of letting “just anybody” volunteer to
record sound. Make sure they’ve done it before.

Just hanging a mic on a boom stand is better than nothing,
but not very much better. Care must be taken at every stage.

Get the best sound you can, when you shoot, so your editing
will go smoothly.

Few things are worse than an edit session that becomes an audio
salvage operation. It detracts from the creativity, replacing it with
an air of desperation. You want to edit, when you edit.

After your picture is locked, start the sound edit. Split your
tracks, so you can vary the gain on any element. If two
characters are talking, you should have each on his own track.

Cut your dialogue, and then effects. Use your audio editing
program to “normalize” your levels, and clean up the sound.

See what needs to be fixed, and fix it. Some stuff can, like Boom
mic crashes, and ambient noise, but if something is bad and can’t
be fixed, replace it with ADR, looping, and foley.

Foley is extremely subjective, that is, it’s not realistic. You don’t
notice footsteps at all in real life, but in the movies, if you need
to know somebody’s purposefully walking along, the footsteps
are loud and pure and pristine.
Tik, tik, tik.

Papers or clothes rustling, same thing. There are persons who
make their living making clothing rustling noises, and walking
and all those noises. They’re called “Walkers,” or “Foley
Artists.”

I don’t mind having to record every footstep and line of
dialogue. I’ve done it enough, I know how to make it seem
real. How? From doing it and doing it, so if you want to
learn how, get started, record something.

In fact, I much prefer replacing location dialogue. This
frees me to shoot with literally any camera, noisy or not.
Eyemo? Arri or Cameraflex? Mitchell, Eclair, Konvas?

All quite delightful results, if you record a track just to
use as a guide track.

Or shoot two takes, one with the camera running, one without, but
recording sound both times, and cheat the camera-less sound over
the camera take, and cut it into sync.

Looney, but it works, and that’s what I do, and I get good sound.

The harder and longer you work on your sound edit, the better
chance your mix has to be good.

In my experience, looping or ADR are not all that expensive,
when you have a vocal room in your house, and some good mics.

In a pinch, a closet full of coats works fine, or a tent
made of carpet, hanging from the ceiling. Just put the mics
away from your computer fan or open windows.

My friend Jimmy O’Brien, Editor and Dialogue Director at
Universal for many years, told me he’d flown to NY and far-off
places to record a few lines on occasion, if it would fix or
change a line reading, or even change the whole plot line!

I know much of what I know about film sound from a long-ago
interview with Walter Murch, in an issue of “Filmmakers
Newsletter,” where he advised to replace all the lines, rather
than just one, so they’ll all match. Die-hard attitude, but his
tracks are lovely.

One of those that comes to mind is “Apocalypse Now,” which had
virtually no usable sound when they entered post-production.
Think about that - everything was ADR and Foley!

Which brings me to the point in “making your movie sound
like a real movie.”

Real movies have real good sound tracks to start with, and are
willing to replace most, and sometimes ALL the sound, to make
it really good.

Use your imagination, to determine what process might make your
sound “sound right.” Create a sound space for each scene that
serves the story. Use EQ and reverb and sound effects to create
that space.

Compression is still a useful tool, even in these days of digital
audio. It makes the “louds” quieter, and the “quiets” louder,
raising the overall perceived level. That makes the track easier
to mix, because it is “pre-mixed.” The mix flies itself.

Use compression sparingly, so it doesn’t make overall changes you
don’t want. Rather than compressing everything, use your audio
editing software to draw in your gain changes.

This is actually a manual type of compression, with intelligence,
(yours). Drawing in your level changes makes the track fatter
and more intelligible.

Take all the time and care your movie requires, with only one
outcome in mind, to make your movie tracks sound better.

Have the picture scored by a composer who knows what he’s doing,
and get the very best mix you can.

Good audio takes as much planning as good picture, from start to
finish. Good audio doesn’t “just happen,” it is the result of
careful listening, and time, and care.

Most video hobbyists don’t give sound the attention it deserves,
and that’s why there’s such an astonishing difference in quality
between video and film sound. Be different.

Start listening! Take care!ZZ

Henry Genry
193

If you are looking for cheap electric guitars there is a lot of choice out there.
You can buy a cheap electric guitar from as little as £70 and there are a number of brands making cheap guitars.
Don’t spend under £90 on a guitar
If you are buying your first electric guitar, I wouldn’t recommend spending under £90. Most of these guitars are built with very cheap materials to bring the production costs down, hence the retail price. The guitar’s sound will be compromised with this lower quality and the finish will also look a bit rough.
You will usually find that the guitar strings are the cheapest ones you can buy, they will sound twangy.
The other downside of these cheap electric guitars due to the low build quality is the durability. You will be lucky if you can play it for more than 1 year and not have a problem with the guitar parts. You will end up with a cheap electric guitar (cheap meaning the quality this time and not the price).
Spend £90-£150 on a guitar
My advice is to spend between £90 and £150 on your first electric guitar. You will get some reasonable quality at the lower end and good quality at the upper end.
Electric guitar brands to look out for
Here is a list of guitar brands that offer beginner electric guitars within the above price range: Stagg, Crafter, Vintage, Encore, Cruiser by Crafter, Gould, Squier, Yamaha, Dean, Peavey, Epiphone, Carlsbro and Ibanez.
The Epiphone, Vintage and Yamaha are the most popular electric guitars from the above list, the Stagg offers the best value for money in my opinion.
Should I Buy My Guitar in a Music Shop or Online?
It is really up to you, but my advice would be to buy one of the recommended guitar brands above. You can do this easily online, and you won’t get a shop salesman trying to push what’s best for them rather than what’s best for you. Follow this link for a comprehensive range of Cheap Electric Gui

Scott Bianchi
189

Every time I go to the supermarket and stand in line to check out I see dozens of magazines or tabloids about celebrities. My question to anyone that buys these magazines or cares what is inside is, why do you care?
I can understand going to a movie because you are a fan of the star. I personally try to see any movie that Tom Hanks is in because he makes excellent films. I can understand why a person might want to go to a concert to see their favorite musician. There are many examples where a fan could be interested in a celebrity. That is where it should stop though. Why do people care if Nick and Jessica are breaking up? Why do people care what Ben Affleck is doing? If it wasn’t for Matt Damon and “Good Will Hunting” he would be working a construction site like he was in the movie, because he hasn’t made a good movie since.
If my next door neighbor is having trouble with his spouse it is not found all over the magazines and tabloids. Why are “celebrities” personal lives any different? They are not any more important than the rest of us, or are they? It is our hard earned money that makes these people famous in the first place. There are movie stars making $20 million a movie because we buy the tickets. There are drug dealers/gang bangers, making a fortune as rap stars because we buy their CD’s and tickets to see them in concert.
The most unfortunate part of this fascination with celebrities is that more often than not, they are bad influences on younger people and bad examples to society in general. It is very discouraging when you see celebrities rarely being found guilty of crimes because they have high-priced attorneys that get them off. This is not to say they are all guilty but I think there have been cases when a guilty man was set free. Celebrities act as if they are immune to the same laws that apply to the rest of us.
It seems as time passes that people’s priorities become more and more distorted. Instead of focusing our time and energy on people who need it, whether they are sick, homeless, undereducated, or what have you, people spend time and money following the people who need no help from anyone because they can buy all the help they need. Somehow I did not feel bad for Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt when they broke up. Both are very well-off financially, both are very attractive, they had multiple homes together with servants to handle all their needs. Their biggest concern was selling off their main home for $20 million. This is just not reality, but then again, maybe that is the reason people are caught up in their lives. At least the magazines and tabloids that discuss these very wealthy people do serve one purpose, they help to keep the homeless people warm on those artic winter nights.
ZZ

Matt Canham
227

More, more, more for less, less, less is what the networks are saying about reality television because the popularity has staying power that is here forever.
There will always be a new reality show coming out, with new ideas coming from every aspect of life and there are even television stations dedicated to reality TV 24 hours a day.
But how long can this golden run go on? The short answer is indefinitely, as there is something of a stand off in place. The viewers ask that question, and the producers also ask that question, and both sides continue to watch and create the programs.
Who will crack first? When will they crack? With the huge success of many shows, it is not going to be anytime soon. But what about this huge success?
In terms of the individual success of one show, it will have little to do with the overall popularity of the genre. The run away success of The Simpsons didn’t stop others producing animation, just as the wild success of one Reality show won’t stop others from being made.
The big attraction to Reality TV is the audience involvement. They are watching real people and invest in them emotionally. Anyone who invests their time emotionally, isn’t going to just walk away, so they stay and keep watching to see the eventual outcome. And we already know there are no limits to the behaviour and emotions of human beings.
For this reason, I feel the next wave will be even wilder that the what we are seeing now. It’s going to get kind of weird folks, which in turn makes for great television. Sorry to all my buddies in Hollywood that act or are so called real writers.
In my opinion reality TV show writers are just that; “writers” but they are also creators as well which is an interesting duality that is really unique to them. Everyone has got an idea but who is able to lay it out so a producer can envision their show idea, who knows the ins and out and which hoops to jump through. Who knows what will be a colossal waste of time and at the same time knows exactly the proper path to take? The path that can lift your idea from just an idea to a simple proper one page treatment across the right desk of the right person, in the right fashion, without smacking of desperation and looking as if it has been put together by someone lacking experience…
The big consideration these days is the potential market for advertising. If you can clearly identify the target age groups for your show and the companies who might want to advertise to that market, you will have a very powerful pitch. The Contender was a great example - Everlast and Toyota Tundra broadcast to an audience of millions. Reality shows are about Entertainment, but they are also new vehicles for advertising!
Instead of just being involved in the breaks between the show, Reality TV allows advertisers to become part of the show. And any adman worth his place on Madison Avenue will know that being in the mind of the consumer for the whole show, not just 30 seconds of it, is a very worthy exposure for his client.
For this reason, the role of potential advertisers in the show should be of paramount importance to writers. Reality TV is not just about entertainment - it is also about selling products to the shows target audience. Never forget that.
If your idea is good, you might want to move ahead with it NOW. There are 150 top production companies that do reality shows and are waiting for the next big idea.
There is only question left you need to ask yourself. Is it going to be yours?
Copyright 2006 Matt Canham

Fabio Marcell
90

Breakdancing is the street dancing which began around 1969. Most people will agree that the superstar James Brown began the whole thing with a dance called the “Good Foot”. James Brown was a real innovator and his dancing was something to behold. He did things with his feet that would give most of us a couple of broken legs!
Simultaneously in the ghetto, what is known as the “dance battle” became very popular and in many cases replaced gangster warfare as a method to end disputes. Breakdancing lent itself very well to the dance battle and the Good Foot was a perfect base for breakdancing.
Street dancers adopted the Good Foot which, for a short period, became known as the B-Boy and then breakdancing. Back then the dance moves were a lot different to the kind of breaking we see today. There were no popular, documented moves such as the headspin or the windmill. The dancers simply used their feet and nothing else. Some would argue that this “old style breaking” is more complicated than the kind of dancing we see these days.
Some of the floor work improvised back then was fantastically complex. If you go to a modern breakdancing competition you won’t see many of the old school moves but you will see a lot of gymnastics. Impressive though this is, there are those that think breakdancing has lost its roots a little. On the other side of the coin you have people saying that it’s just an evolution.
As a way to solve street battles and gang violence it was inspired. You were finding that amazingly, the gangs were using breakdancing instead of fighting. The breakdancing “battle” took on a world of its own. Of course there were still fights and inevitably sometimes a sore loser in a breaking battle would resort to violence.
Out of all this, breakdancing crews were formed. The members of a crew would practice and dance together. This is when the first very basic breakdancing choreography came about. One crew would invent a move which would inspire an opposing crew to go one better. For some of these guys breakdancing was literally the difference between life and death. They were very dedicated to what they were doing.
Just as all these new breakdancing crews were bursting onto the scene a guy called Afrika Bambaataa embraced the genre. Afrika Bambaataa is a legendary figure in the hip hop world. He was largely responsible for bringing breakdancing into the general public’s consciousness. He got to know all the crews and encouraged them to develop what they were doing. Bambaataa’s “Zulu Kings” breakdancing crew became a force to be reckoned with, winning many battles.
Since then breakdancing has continually progressed and more and more very talented dancers were bringing their skills into the arena. There were new moves being invented by the week and it wasn’t long before we had headspins, windmills, backspins and all the other high energy, acrobatic moves we see these days.
The “Rock Steady Crew” were one of the groups to pioneer this new school breaking. These guys along with Charles Ahearn who made the seminal hip hop movie “Wild Style” were to bring breakdancing fully up to date and the dancing phenomenon became much more popular. There was no stopping the onward march of the break dance.
Nowadays breakdancing influences a lot of the choreographed dance routines which are an integral part of a modern pop record release. You have young kids coming up who are really into it and the genre is experiencing something of a renaissance. There’s no doubt about it, breakdancing is here to stay and if you want more info a quick search on the Internet will turn up thousands of references to this modern art form.

Sujanti Djuanda
104

There are beginner piano books begin by introducing five notes i.e. CDEFG in right hand (RH) and CBAGF in left (LH) by using the same fingers position such as on RH note C played by thumb, D played by index finger, etc. On LH note C played by thumb, B played by index finger, so on. I called as “five fingers same position”.
The benefit is before added the new note, beginners have practiced some similar exercises so they, especially kids will not confused by rhythm, names and positions of notes.
Because of many exercises that using the same fingers position, mostly kids tend to read the fingers numbers as notes positions. For instance, they mean no. 1 on RH is C - always played by thumb, no. 2 is D - always played by index finger and so on, likewise on LH.
In early lessons, students seem fluently in notes reading but the problem comes when start playing pieces with no “five fingers same position”.
If students have to use “five fingers same position” books, as teachers, we have to explain from the first lesson that one note can be played by any fingers and fingers numbers are never changed such as on RH no.1 always for thumb, no. 2 always for index finger and so on, likewise on LH.
To make students remember the fingers numbers quickly, we can ask them to play as fast as they can such as “Play C with finger number 1 …. Now play C with finger number 2 and so on”. The kids will love this fun game! Then ask them play the same piece with any fingers by writing a new fingering on their book. For instance, for RH play C with finger number 2, D with finger number 3 and so on.
There is no perfect method in notes reading, as teachers, we can only find the suitable one for each student by merging one method with another. I prefer using “five fingers same position” book at first lesson by using any kinds of fingers positions, not just as written in book.
It is much benefit and easier to learn right at first than re-learn after made mistakes. However, if students have made misunderstandings on notes reading, no matter with our ‘own’ students that have been taking lessons with us since their first day on piano lesson or transferred ones, just do not ever blame them, their old teachers (for transferred ones) and ourselves especially beginner teachers. It will not make notes reading of students better.
The solution is re-teaching them as first lesson. Of course, it needs much time, patiently and often rather difficult to train ‘a new habit’. The students could be frustrate and complain but with fun game as I mentioned above, kids usually enjoy the lesson again. If happens on teens or adults (so far, I never found yet), we can support them by positive words so that they have ‘new spirit’ to continue their lesson. Moreover, as teachers, we should not ever stop learninZZZZ

During 1974, several researchers working out of UCLA began to investigate one of the most famous and frightening Parapsychology cases ever documented. Often referred to as a violent or extreme haunting, ‘The Entity’ investigation became famous after the 1981 release of a major film based on that case. Doctors Gaynor and Taff investigated the haunting under the auspices of Thelma Moss, a UCLA Parapsychologist. While the film highlighted the fact that the female victim of the alleged haunting was repeatedly and violently raped, it may have downplayed other events that might have provided an alternative explanation.
The film relied largely on audience imagination to fill in the blanks as the victim was sexually assaulted and highlighted the fact that most people who heard her story tended to initially discount the tale of spirit rape. However, family members, friends and those who bothered to investigate the matter more fully often witnessed the attacks themselves. Some, like her son, were hit, beaten or suffered some degree of bodily harm. The movie seemed to focus on one entity, but the case was far more complicated then that.
In real life, the victim described three entities. Two held her down and the third raped her. Black and blue marks all over her body were clear indications that she had been physically attacked and harmed. This is incredibly significant because it is almost unique in the history of the unexplained. Although there have been instances of everything from bite marks to words carved into flesh on the victims of other supernatural attacks, most of these incidents remain largely suspect when it comes to supernatural causes. ‘The Entity’ case had more then its fair share of credible witnesses to the rapes and beatings.
Beyond the terrible sexual abuse itself, one event really brought home the uniqueness of this case. During one of their visits to the home of the victim, Gaynor, Taff and others actually saw the figure of a man appear out of thin air. Gaynor gave the following statement to OMNI Magazine in the 1990s: “We saw the head take shape and then the shoulders. The light extended down to the ground until it became a full humanoid figure of greenish-white light. Then it just vanished, almost as if somebody pulled the plug. It didn’t fade away. It just vanished. Everybody was completely in awe and silent as we watched this happen.”
The appearance of the full-figured apparition always bothered me. It just wasn’t something that had ever been successfully documented during a haunting before. That, along with the sexual attacks, just didn’t fit into the normal ‘ghost’ scenario. This wasn’t an ethereal figure reenacting an event from their life or some misty spirit. It was a violent and powerful man who had full control over his victim. When asked why she thought it was a ghost that was raping her, the victim told researchers that the man just vanished after the attacks. Based on her descriptions of the perpetrator, he must have been very visible to the victim during the attacks.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I am not going to be the one to second-guess the work of Gaynor and Taff. Even with a good working knowledge of all areas of the unexplained, it would have been hard to consider ‘The Entity’ case anything more than a very unusual haunting. I’ll be the first to admit that what happened in the 1970s would have probably leaded me to the same conclusion if I had been investigating the case at that time. It wasn’t until years later that additional events came to my attention, which may provide another possible explanation for “The Entity’ attacks.
My first opportunity to speak with several people alleged to have been involved with U.S. Government time travel, mind control and invisibility experiments came in 1988. That first meeting lead to a more in-depth examination of those people in 1989. The 1989 session was videotaped, lasted a full day and included technical experts and specially invited parties from various backgrounds. That session provided enough information for me to establish an on-going investigation of The Philadelphia Experiment, Montauk Project and related events. Those continuing investigations lead to an incident that occurred in 2004.
On February 12, 2004, a woman that I’ll refer to as Virginia was joined by her husband and two friends to clean out a small room that existed on the second floor of their newly purchased retirement home in Maryland. The eighty-five year old house needed an interior facelift. With Contractor work set to begin shortly, the four had the task of removing items from a smaller room that was going to become part of a larger open area when everything was completed.
As the small group of people prepared the items for removal, they suddenly felt sick to their stomachs. A green mist appeared in the room accompanied by the form of a man and the odor of over-heated circuitry. He looked like a sailor wearing a long out of date naval uniform. Before anyone could react, the sailor looked at the group and said, “2005. Watch out for 2005! They’re playing with your future!” After that, the Sailor faded into the wall and the green mist quickly dissipated. All agreed later that they had heard his voice and everyone heard the same thing. They described the Sailor’s voice as deep and full, but sounding a bit muffled.
I believe the warning about 2005 may have referred to the unusually destructive hurricane season that may have been caused by government weather control experiments. While seeking additional funding for weather research and control, a military spokesperson told a congressional committee “The Air Force will own the weather in five years.” The weather experiments have a direct connection to some of the technologies discovered and used during various incarnations of The Philadelphia Experiment.
The appearance of the sailor within a green mist is eerily similar to the appearance of the full-figured apparition during ‘The Entity’ investigation. Another connection is the alleged mental state of many of the sailors who took part in the original Philadelphia Experiment. A number of people who claim to have been involved with the 1940s Navy Project say that attempts to make Navy Vessels invisible lead to severe side effects among the survivors, including mental illness and insanity. And there’s more.
Some of the Sailors who survived the original Philadelphia Experiment had a bad habit of fading in and out of their physical environment. Two sailors floated out of the wall of a bar near the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (according to an article in a local newspaper shortly after the incident).That event was witnessed by shipyard workers, naval personnel and others. A few weeks later, two sailors at the same bar got into a fight. The fight spilled out into the street. Once outside in the light, witnesses described the men involved in the scuffle as being transparent or translucent instead of solid figures made of flesh and bone. They were said to have been a part of the specifically chosen crew placed aboard the as yet to be commissioned battleship escort later know as the USS Eldridge for a sea trial of the P.E. technology.
All this leads us to the inescapable fact that the most famous haunting case of all time might not have involved ghosts at all. It’s entirely possible that Survivors of some known or unknown test of Philadelphia Experiment technology could have been the culprits behind ‘The Entity’ sexual assaults. They may have been victims themselves. Who can say what people who have been exposed to a bizarre technology that leaves them insane, mentally unbalanced and in some horrible ethereal limbo might do?
Anyone investigating the Philadelphia Experiment, Montauk Project and related events knows that you’re always at a disadvantage. That’s because time is linear and there is no specific database to draw from when it comes to understanding or investigating time travel. If I enter a time machine, travel to three different times in one day and do all sorts of crazy things, no connection to those individual events may actually be made until enough time has passed. As I already pointed out, it took the 1988 and 2004 incidents for me to make any possible connection between ‘The Entity’ case and The Philadelphia Experiment. It was only after researching those events that I found a way to better understand what might have happened in 1974 during the alleged haunting.
Sadly, the victim of the 1970s ‘Entity’ attacks has long since disappeared. With a possible connection to the most secret of all government projects, one now wonders whether that disappearance was actually voluntary. Either way, it’s unlikely she’ll be seen again and that means no additional investigative work can be performed on that case in a meaningful way. However, based on my research into the *Philadelphia Experiment, Montauk Project and related events, I am certain that we haven’t seen the last of people appearing in green mists and saying or doing incredible, amazing and possibly criminal things.
*You can read more about my research in the Philadelphia Experiment, Montauk Project and related events at http://wwwy.com

Steven Kirby
100

Being a DJ may seem like an easy career path for many people. The fact of the matter is there is an endless stream of would be DJ’s who are just as into the music scene as you and me. The only way to get ahead in this game is to be hard working, self-promoting and flexibility is an essential!
Any music is good!
Under no circumstances must you turn down any opportunity to play any music to a crowd. This is very important for a couple of reasons. Lots of beginners will refuse point blank to play a different genre to the type of music they are used to. This is a big mistake. Playing any type of music to any crowd is a huge confidence builder. You may mess up now and again but, hey, everyone makes mistakes. At least you will be gaining experience and learning, even if it is to a pub full of drunks on a Friday night. The point being, every little bit of experience is good experience, the more confidence you can build, the less likely you are to make mistakes.
Flexibility.
Remember my comments in the first paragraph? “…flexibility is a must!”…This isn’t a reference to your aerobic skills. I am of course talking about your musical abilities. Sticking to one type of genre is all very well for the Tiestos of this world but in the early days of your DJ career you may not be able to pick and choose. Play whatever you think will pay the bills until you become established; everybody has to earn a living.
Learn to use different equipment. There is new music technology becoming available all the time, learn to use it, hire it in if you can’t afford to buy it as long as you can have a go. It’s extremely important that you stay up to date with the latest technology or you will get left behind.
Promoting your music.
It will take hard work and lots of determination. Self-promotion is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for most ‘bedroom DJs’. This is just as important, if not more so, than the music itself. It doesn’t matter how well you play your music, if you cant promote yourself, you may as well smash your decks up now! Self-promotion is easier than ever. There is a whole host of web sites offering free uploads, free downloads, free this and free that. Submit to them all, and get your own site up and running. You would be surprised how easy it is. If you’ve read this far I’m guessing you don’t mind reading to learn, so get reading. Contrary to popular belief, building a web site isn’t hard. It doesn’t have to be flashy, just a few pictures of you, maybe gig pictures. You could have information about your preferred music genre. Getting people to visit the site is the hard part. But if you have submitted all your mixes/music to the free sites then you should have links referring visitors to your site. This might sound like a method likely to fail. Earlier this year (2005) The Arctic Monkeys had a number 1 single in the UK using this method of promotion….As well as offline gigs of course!
Money matters.
DJs are surprisingly well paid. Because you are working for yourself, the fact of the matter is you wont always be busy. The trick is to be sensible. Save a little money to cover the times when there is no work on, this way it wont seem so bad when there is nothing coming in. Treat it as a normal career; you want to develop yourself as well as your prospects. Eventually you could own an agency or something. Set yourself goals to keep yourself motivated. And always keep things legal.
As a DJ you are classed as being self-employed. As with anybody who is self employed your tax is your responsibility. You will get stung if you don’t sort it out. Again, a little reading maybe needed if you are going to sort your own tax out. A quick search in any search engine will reveal lots and lots and lots of sites regarding tax issues so I’m not going to go into it here. An easier approach is to hire an accountant if you can afford it. They are surprisingly cheap and if you shop around a bargain can usually be found.
Reality of the modern DJ.
The harsh reality is that 90% will never make it to the level they dream of. Weather you are a producer or DJ it takes a lot of hard work and determination to succeed in this industry and many people just aren’t up to it.
You have to be able to take the knock backs and accept that you are going to get rejected now and again and hopefully with a lot of hard work and a little luck you will be able to live your dream of working within the music industrZZZZ

Charles Cruz
106

After following the trend of users coming on to the internet to download music, many resources started to come out offering you the latests downloads. At the very beggining this was great for most users.
After a while, people started to take advantage of this. They started adding pop ups, illegal spy software, among many other things to their sites. You downloaded an mp3 file and you got the file, but with it you had a shiny new browser window that told you to buy viagra everytime you surfed the web.
Fortunately, other resources came out. Legal Resources. Places were you can come inside and download music in a safe way, in a way you can trust.
These are cost effective, and if you compare it to the damage that could be caused by downloading the files from an illegal source, then the legal sources will outweight their value by tenfold.
When you’re downloading for and Mp3 music file online, there are a few things you will want to look for:
1) The quality of the Mp3. File quality can range anywhere from 20 kbps which is blurry quality to 320 kbps which is basically CD quality. You should aim for downloading music files that are above 1 kbps. Anything below that will have a trashy background that will not sound great when you burn it onto a CD.
2) You internet speed must be in a good shape. Sometimes it’s necessary to restart your computer to get it back to optimum speed before attempting to download any mp3 file. You’ll want anything over 3 kb/s to get the song in under 10 minutes.
3) Check you computer to make sure you have enough space on the drive you’re downloading your file. There’s nothing more annoying than getting to 75 percent of the download only to find out that you didn’t have enough room in your C: Drive. Nowadays with our hard drive’s spaces growing this is more unsual but it’s best to make sure before you start.
4) Make sure you don