What Does Coeur d' Alene Idaho and Young Artists Have In Common?

Every year in January, young artists from all over the world descend on the small picturesque city of Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.  You might ask yourself what these artists are doing in Coeur d' Alene. This North Idaho town holds many treasures and one of it's best kept secrets is the Coeur d' Alene Symphony Orchestra and it's annual Young Artists Competition. This competition encourages young talent and the first place winners have the opportunity to no only win scholarship money, but to perform with the Symphony in their March program. Come hear the Coeur d' Alene Symphony and the winners of this Competition in concert Friday, March 8 at 7:30 PM and Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 PM at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Click Here for ticket information!

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Winners of the 2013 Young Artist Competition:

In the High School Division:

Hana Cohon, age 16, Cello, from Seattle, Washington

Felicity James, age 16, Violin, from Seattle, Washington

In the College Division:

Ashley Hoe, age 19, Piano, from Lake Forest, California, a student at USC

Seula Lee, age 21, Violin, from Carrollton, Texas, a student at University of North Texas

Colin McCall, age 22, Marimba, from Rochester, New York, a student at Eastman School of Music

Courtney Ruckman, age 25, Soprano, Mount Vernon, Washington, a student at University of Maryland

The Professional Division:

Catherine Daniel, Mezzo Soprano, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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.

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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.

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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!! :-)

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

With colored lights shining brightly on many homes and trees, to parties with family and friends, the atmosphere of many people shopping and spreading holiday cheer, Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  I have many fond memories growing up and spending the holidays basking in the glow of it's wonder as well as listening and playing it's music. This year is no exception. Even though it has been a rough two years, I am still caught up in the magic that makes this time of year special and I always look forward to the next year with hope.  Here are a few of my favorite Christmas tunes and I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!!

Who Is Mario Lanza?

When I was growing up during the holidays, my family and I would always play Christmas music in our house. Not only did my sister, brother and myself play Christmas carols on our instruments, we also had Christmas music playing on the radio, cassette tape and vinyl record players as well. One of our favorite holiday recordings was a record of Mario Lanza singing Hymns and Christmas Carols. From the gorgeous majestic sound of the Horn section introducing the opening song, Joy To The World, to the awe inspiring version of O Holy Night, it had become an annual family tradition.

Who is Mario Lanza? American singer, actor  Mario Lanza was one of the most famous operatic tenors of the 1940's and 1950's. He was born  Alfredo Arnold Cocozza to Italian immigrants and changed his name when he signed to the movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM for short) in 1947. He was discovered by  Louis B. Mayer when he heard Lanza perform at the Hollywood Bowl and was impressed by his singing. After signing with MGM, Lanza played the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madam Butterfly in New Orleans in 1948, In 1949, he appeared in his first movie,  That Midnight Kiss with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore. In 1950, he appeared in another movie, The  Toast of New Orleans that featured his first million-selling hit Be My Love. Lanza also had the opportunity to play his singing idol Enrico Caruso the following year in the movie The Great Caruso.

His final millionth selling song, Because You're Mine, was actually a title song for his next film and it received an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Even though his singing career was a success, Mario Lanza suffered from addictions to both food and alcohol while filming his movies. These addictions had an adverse affect on his health, relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members. He was known as an individual who was ambitious, rebellious and tough. However, we went on to in three more films before dying of a pulmonary embolism at age 38. By the time of his death he was known as the most famous tenor in the world.