Ask any modern singer or songwriter for a list of their influences, and you’re more than likely to see pop mastermind Burt Bacharach at the top of their list. Know best for his many hits that span the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Burt Bacharach’s songbook is one of the best known in modern times.

Burt Bacharach was born on May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri. From an early age, he showed interest in music. He studied the subject extensively at the Mannes School of Music, McGill University and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.

Bacharach’s career began to blossom in 1957 when he joined forces with lyrical mastermind Hal David. A year later, their first big hit was recorded by Marty Robbins, entitled “The Story of My Life.” It became a number one hit on U.S. country and UK charts. The success was followed up in early 1958 with Perry Como’s hit, “Magic Moments.” Como’s song reached number four hit on American charts and number one in the UK.

Burt Bacharach and Hal David then found success writing songs for artists like Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick, The Drifters and Chuck Jackson in the early 1960s. Their popularity as a songwriting team snowballed as they continued to compose hit songs for many of the brightest talents of the time.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Burt Bacharach was writing songs for best artists around. Through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, he was one of the most sought after songwriters in the world. His list of clients included The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, The Shirelles, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert and Luther Vandross. Dusty Springfield songs are now

His success carried over into the 1990s and beyond into the new millennium. He worked with Elvis Costello on a Grammy award winning album entitled, “Painted From Memory” in 1998. He even collaborated with hip hop mogul Dr. Dre on his recent album release entitled, “At This Time.”

Burt Bacharach also had success on Broadway with his musicals. In 1968, “Marlene Dietrich” and “Promises, Promises” made their way to the stage. In fact, the latter was nominated for a Tony award for best musical. More recently, a review entitled “The Look of Love” was performed on stage in 2003. That same year saw Bacharach’s contribution to the original musical called “The Boy From Oz.” Burt Bacharach was also a featured songwriter in Andre Deshield’s production of Harlem Nocturne in 1984.

Burt Bacharach’s distinctive style, which often uses unusual chord progressions and syncopated rhythms to create a catchy hook, made him one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century. From Brian Wilson to Oasis to Faith No More, many contemporary acts cite Bacharach’s songwriting as highly influential on their careers.

Did you know that duplication is the best for quantities up to a thousand and for faster turn-around time?

The master disc is duplicated onto a high quality media to make sure that the end product is suitable with a large number of electronic players. All master copies ought to be tested with a lot of playback devices prior toDVD duplication.

Multi-session is the word used for the different ways of scripting information in different increments. This is not suggested, though, since many CDR and CDRW drives do not include the proper support for multi session CDs. On the other hand, most CDR drive, CD player, or CD Video player will playback the duplicated CDR.

There is no validity to the rumor that CDs and DVDs that are duplicated are not as consistent as CDs and DVDs that are replicated. In most cases, DVDs were created for the storage of audio, video and data, disregarding the current issues with the inability to playback with recordable DVDs. Audio CDs are the fruitage of the data CD. Similar to many new technologies, there were issues to solve when the CD-Rs were mass generated. To place products in the stores quickly, a few manufacturers produced imperfect products which have had problems loading audio and keep the CDRom spinning in an audio only players.

Today, CDRs are generated with very strict guidelines. Even though there are still inferior brands of CDRs and DVDRs, selecting a reputableCD duplication company that uses only professional equipment and high-quality equipment will generate quality product. A reputable company will have the duplicated product is verified with the duplication equipment to match completely with the master copy.

CD/DVD duplication and replication both have their advantage when it comes to cost and quality. The customer has the option to decide on the best method of manufacturing their products. Sales people are there to help clients decide on the best method for their quality demands against budget restrictions.

The Arctic Monkeys’ favorite karaoke songs make Kasabian guitarist Serge Pizzorno vomit.

The “Crying Lightning” rockers often sing along to Craig David tracks in karaoke bars, and during one impromptu performance Pizzorno had to rush to the toilet to be physically sick because it sounded so terrible.

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner said: “It either goes one way or the other doesn’t it, the Craig David songs. I think me and Matt Helders did a duet of Craig’s “Seven Days” and it actually made Serge from Kasabian sick. He actually threw up. He left to be sick.”

But the stomach-churning incident didn’t stop the band - which is comprised of Alex, drummer Matt, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley - from grabbing the microphone again during a night out at the Joshua Tree Saloon bar, in California.

Matt - who along with his bandmates recorded their latest LP “Humbug” at a nearby studio - said: “I sang Craig David on karaoke recently just to lighten the mood a bit. But it was a very dangerous move. It was near an army base and there weren’t many people there fortunately, but it was the kind of place where ‘Seven Days’ worked. I didn’t even look at the screen once, I knew all the words!”

Meanwhile, Matt has revealed he is a massive fan of Britney Spears.

He explained: “I went to see Britney Spears at The O2. It was great. I’d never been to anything like that before, it blew my mind. I went with music producer James Ford, we were in the front row and she was eyeing him up. There was this one bit where this big picture frame gets erected in front of us. We were thinking, ‘Ooh, I wonder if she’s going to come out of there!’ She comes and stood on this picture frame and well winked at Ford! I were miffed.’

7 Simple Steps To Drumming Success

The following will do more for your training progress than any other super secret drumming technique or exercise:

Think on paper: Only about 3 percent of drummers have clear, written goals. These people accomplish five and ten times as much as people without written goals!

Step 1: Decide Exactly What You Want.

This will allow you to prioritize so that you are spending the most time on high value tasks that move you closer to your goals. If your goal is to play drums in a rock band, there isn’t much point in using up a lot of your practise time by practising jazz fill-ins!

Step 2: Write It Down.

Again, think on paper. Written goals are a powerful thing. They have an energy behind them that helps you move toward them that unwritten goals just don’t have. In fact, you’d do even better by writing down your goals every day.

Yes, every day. It will only take a few moments and will help you tremendously.

Step 3: Set A Deadline On Your Goal.

Create a sense of urgency and positive pressure. Without a deadline, you will procrastinate and do the little things that may damage your short term goals

If you wish to learn a particular technique or rudiment, set time scales on this and keep your mind focused on the deadlines which will encourage that ’sense of urgency’ to complete.

Step 4: Make a List of Everything You Can Think of That You Will Need To Do To Help You Achieve Your Goal.

Leave nothing to chance. The more planning you do ahead of time, the more likely you will stick to the plan and achieve your goals.

The more prepared you are, the more success you will experience.

Step 5: Organize The List Into A Plan.

Organize your list by priority and sequence.

Step 6: Take Action On Your Plan Immediately.

Do something. Get started. Start building positive reinforcement and momentum RIGHT NOW.

Step 7: Resolve To Do Something Every Single Day That Moves You Toward Your Major Goal.

And with drumming, you have to, don’t you? Whether it is your rudiments, listening to tapes, reading drum instruction manuals etc., you should always be doing something that moves your forward toward your goals.

If you continue to focus on and perform these 7 steps, you’ll be amazed at the results you’ll see with your drumming skills, speed and techniques.

To discover great information on drumming techniques and ways in which you can improve your drumming knowledge, skill and speed, The www.DrummingDrums.Com website is packed with FREE information for you to advance.

It was Schopenhauer who first said that all arts aspire to the
condition of music. What he was referring to was the abstract
qualities of music. The path between music and audience is a
direct one, without the intervention of a medium of
communication that is used for other ‘everyday’ purposes, which
is unlike many other art forms! The architect expresses himself
in buildings, which have some utilitarian purpose. The poet uses
words, which we use on a daily basis in conversation. The
painter usually expresses himself by representing what he sees
i.e. the visible world. Only the composer of music is perfectly
free to create a work of art out of his own consciousness, which
performs no function, other than to please.

A testimony to the mystical nature of music is the unknown
Polish classical composer who’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”
sold more than pop icon, Madonna, in the year it was released
and more than any other classical composer in the entire history
of the world! However, this remarkable achievement only occurred
17-years after he composed it.

Polish Composer in Translation

The composer’s name is Henryk Gorecki and his success is nothing
short of a miracle. When he wrote the symphony (his 3rd) in
1976, he and his wife were declared ‘non-persons’ under the
communist regime and their passports were confiscated. His name
was unknown, and according to records in Poland, he did not even
exist. Gorecki had been born in Czernica, in the coal-mining
belt of Silesia on The Czechoslovakian border. It is 20-minutes
from the town Oswiecim, which the Germans would later name
Auschwitz. This piece of music was so inspired, as to be a
warning to future generations and to bear witness to what had
occurred there. Corecki commented: “The fact that 17 years
later, it seems young people all over the world have heard what
I said, and understood: that my warning will not go forgotten
into the world”.

Beauty and hope are firmly embedded in this piece of music that
is played by taxi drivers and royalty alike. 300 000 copies were
sold worldwide when it was released, unheard of for a classical
piece which would hopefully sell 10 to 20.000 copies in a
lifetime, and that’s about it.

A Symphony of International Value

The road to fame of the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” is an
interesting one. 1976, the year it was composed saw the first
performance in a Paris concert hall. After the performance a
music critic whispered ‘Merde!’ into Goreck’s ear. The first
recorded version appeared in Britain in 1987, and was basically
ignored by the classical music magazines. In 1989, the piece
reappeared; this time in concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall,
after the London Sinfonietta decided to champion Gorecki’s work.
Bob Hurwitz, head of Warner’s Elektra Nonesuch label decided to
attain the symphony for his label. In 1990, Hurwitz recorded it
with the London Sinfonietta using young American conductor David
Zinmaan and the soprano Dawn Upshaw. In September 1992, classic
FM, Britain’s first commercial classical music station was
launched and picked Gorecki’s symphony as the station’s first
classic ’sure thing’. In October that year a sudden demand
caused chart sponsors W H Smith to stock the symphony. In
November BBC Radios 3 and 4 followed, then Radio 2, and finally,
DJ Simon Bates on Radio 1.

A Multicultural Moment

January 1993 was a watershed moment for “Symphony of Sorrows’ as
the album jumped from 71 to 27 in the Music Week pop charts. In
February that year Gorecki received a gold disc for sales of
100,000.

Fascinating to think that a symphony, 54-minutes long, scored
for a large string orchestra, would climb so high up the charts
and sell more than a contemporary musical legend. It is a true
testament to the universal language of music, the genius that
lies in certain compositions and the infinite power of music to
move people.

Purchasing music for use as production music for film, television and video projects, or as background music for different projects and companies as well as music on-hold for personal and professional telephone systems can be a time-consuming and very expensive endeavor. Because many businesses do not have the money to spend on on-going music royalties, many are turning to libraries of royalty free music to fulfill their many musical needs.

While royalty free music is certainly a convenient and inexpensive option for those in search of bulk music for their restaurants, not all royalty free music is created equal. Music from major providers such as Award Winning Music is an affordable and premium music choice for all types of professionals. The following are five characteristics to look for in high quality royalty background music, production music, and music on-hold to help insure it will enhance a business’ or project’s mission and communicate its purpose and style without reducing its value:

1. Good - make that excellent — sound quality. The sound quality of the music you are listening to will be the first and most noticeable element. If the music has been recorded under optimal conditions, you will hear a perfect balance between bass and treble, as well as consistent sound and texture regardless of the volume at which you are listening to the music. Similarly, you will be able to pick out the individual sounds of different instruments as they blend to create the whole piece.

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4. Well-composed music by musicians and artists with real credentials. Great royalty free music sites will provide credentials for the composers and performers they enlist, and their artistry will shine through in the finished product. A purveyor of beautifully and carefully crafted background music, on-hold music and production music will be able to give the history of the artists involved in the design and production of the music, and this history will include collaborations with major artists in the genre of the type of music being composed.

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Looking for these basic characteristics when shopping for royalty free music will help discriminating professionals select the perfect production music, music on-hold or background music to suit their very specific projects.

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