What Is A Crumhorn?

The Crumhorn is a woodwind instrument that peaked in popularity during the Renaissance and was revised in modern times. It is a double reed instrument that is J shaped with a cylinder bore.

The origin of the Crumhorn dates back to the 1300's to the 1600's in Europe. This said to originate from the bladder pipe and the chanter from bagpipes. King Henry the VIII of England had 25 pieces of the instrument and it could be assumed that they were played in his court.

It is also noted that the Crumhorn in modern times was used by Richard Harvey and Brian Gulland from the rock group named Gryphon.

Jazz Legend Lionel Hampton

One of the best-known jazz musicians the history of music is a vibraphonist, bandleader, percussionist and actor by the name of Lionel Hampton. He was born in 1908 Louisville, Kentucky and was raised by his grandmother. Soon after he was born his mother decided to move both him and herself to her hometown in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1916 his family decided to move to Chicago Illinois.

By the 1920s, Lionel started playing the xylophone and drums and his music career began when he started to play drums for the Chicago Defender Newsboys Band. In 1927, he moved to California and started playing drums for the Dixieland Blues Blowsers. His recording debut was with the Quality Serenaders led by Paul Howard. He later went on to play for Les Hite band at Sebastian's Cotton Club in Culver City.

While he was in Culver City, Lionel began saying the vibraphone and Louis Armstrong asked him to play the vibraphone on two songs. Because of this, the vibraphone became a popular instrument. While he was in the Les Hite band while he was studying music the University of California. Lionel  also worked with the Nat Shilkrer orchestra and in 1936 he was in the film called "Pennies From Heaven" starring Bing Crosby.

It was also in 1936 when Benny Goodman came to watch Lionel  perform. Pleased with his performance, Benny asked Lionel to join his trio which consisted of Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson and of course, Benny himself. Before joining the trio, which became a quartet after, Lionel worked with Billie Holiday along with Benny's orchestra. Because of this there were known as one of the first integrated music groups the performed openly in society.

While playing for Benny Goodman, Lionel also recorded with other groups and in 1940 he left to create his own band; which became popular in the 40s and 50s. One of his popular hits was a rhythm and blues style number called "Flying Home". The song became so popular that another version of the tune was made called "Flying Home, Number Two". Lionel's music was often a mixture of rhythm and blues and jazz and while having his band, he worked with even more jazz greats such is Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Johnny Griffin and Dinah Washington.

In the 1970s, recorded with the Who's Who record label. One could say that his success was due to his college education. Lionel Hampton and his band would regularly perform jazz concerts at the University of Idaho and in 1985, the annual music festival in which Hampton played at took the name The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. In 1987,the music department at University of Idaho decided to name themselves The Lionel Hampton School of Music. Lionel continued to play until he suffered a stroke while he was in Paris in 1991. After his stroke, he didn't perform as much as he used to; but he continued to perform and therefore he did a performance at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2001 shortly before his death.

JUKEBOX HITS BY HAMPTON,LIONEL (CD) (Google Affiliate Ad)

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION BY HAMPTON,LIONEL (CD) (Google Affiliate Ad)

JAZZ ICONS:JAZZ ICONS BOX SET WITH BO (DVD) [8 DISCS] (Google Affiliate Ad)

The History Of Audio Recording

With the capabilities of technology and the understanding of how sounds are used within a recording studio, you may think that recording music is a recent thing. However, recording audio has a much longer history than you think.

Recording sound started back in 1890s when most of recording was done through acoustic means.  The process included the use of a tape that would allow the audio to be documented on. After the documentation, it would go through a horn which would record the sound frequencies that were being played. Then it would be documented by putting grooves into the recording itself through the waves and how they were translated.

This early recording process included limitations on how the sound was recorded as well as the sound rooms themselves. The recording studios that were more upscale usually consisted of only a soundproof wall so that the sound would not bounce around. Abilities such as  master, edit, or mix was not available at the time. A second popular means of recording is for the person recording to take the records outside of the studio and into the field where the sounds of nature were to be placed into the recording.

Different equipment and options for recording sound started in the 1930s. The use of amplifiers and microphones were added in order to record more certain frequencies. By that time the sounds could be manipulated and changed while recording by use of a mixing board and loudspeakers. As a result more accurate recordings could be done.

These combined methods was a popular way of recording among the studios until the 1970s. Acoustic rooms combined with microphones and were recorded live to the mixing board and straight into the disk or recording tape. Unfortunately this left very little room to record or edit. The majority of the recording was done by complete orchestra's bands are groups that would place everything onto the disc at one time.

During the late 1960s and into the 70s, analog recording moved into the field. This would allow for more complex machinery to be at the forefront of recording. This kind of recording consisted of a magnetic tape that would carry the sound waves and read them back through the recording.  This could then be written over and revised according to what was recorded.

This time period created experimentation with new equipment, sounds and effects that became popular for recording studios as well as allow advancement within recording. Those who were working within the industry found not only new technologies for recording, but also developed sounds that were unique because of the ability to process the mixing and mastering in a different way.

The movement into analog recording changed recording into an electronic and digital set of capabilities as well as industry standards that are now accepted as the normal setting among all recording studios. Due to new technology and experimentation, certain conclusions about what worked better with recording and how production could be effective can be made by those who work in the recording industry.

The Recording Engineer's Handbook By Owsinski, Bobby (Google Affiliate Ad)

Modern Recording Techniques By Huber, David Miles/ Runstein, Robert E. (Google Affiliate Ad)

MiniGadgets PRMA128USB digital voice recording pen in gold (Google Affiliate Ad)

Sony Digital Recording Microphone Silver ECM-DS30P (Google Affiliate Ad)

CAD U1 USB Dynamic Recording Microphone (Google Affiliate Ad)

Crosley CR6007A-MA - Recording Tech Turntable (Google Affiliate Ad)

Happy 2013 Everyone!!

Well, here we are at the beginning of another year. 2012 brought many challenges to me and my family in so many different ways. Even though there were so many challenges, though some good things that happened too. Not only did we moved out to the Spokane Valley, where I grew up last fall, I also had the wonderful opportunity of returning back to my birthplace; the San Francisco Bay Area California. I looking forward to what 2013 will bring. I have many goals in mind and I'm anticipating many good things.

I hope that 2013 will bring you lots of good things; love, joy, peace and prosperity. Happy new year everybody!! :-)