Vernacular

Different styles of music have different "sounds." We can all pretty much agree on that point. For example, Jazz uses seventh chords almost exclusively. This, and the kind of chord progressions used in Jazz gives it its unique flavor. But what about new age music? Does it have it's own special ingredients? Yes it does.

Now, there are no hard and fast rules here but for the most part, new age music is a consonant music. That is, there is little or noharshness going on in the music. No Saxes wailing and what not. Having said that we can eliminate most of the tense jazz chords and their voicing. So what are we left with? Mostly Major and minor chords based on the regular scales and the modes. The chord progressions are simpler and usually start on the l chord. No ll-V-l progressions here.

What about melody? In jazz, we have a soloist who usually plays a lot of chromatic notes. This is rare in new age music because it would create dissonance. New age melodies tend to be softer and more on the spiritual side. Solos, if there are any, are not so much concerned with the expression of the self than they are with letting the music express itself. A subtle but very important distinction. Jazz players may have some ego invested in their performance. New age musicians learn to let the music play them. They learn to become a channel for the music itself allowing it to speak through them. Of course, I'm not saying that this can't happen in Jazz, but, just watch a Jazz performer and you'll see what I mean.

Last but not least is rhythm. Let's do a comparison/contrast between Jazz and New Age music. Jazz has a definite discernible rhythm. It is what makes Jazz Jazz. New age music can have a pattern or an underlying rhythm to the music. It can be used to create trance like states in the listener. Drums are usually a part of Jazz music. Percussion is mostly absent from the New Age sound simply because it would not add to the atmosphere most New Age musicians create. Timing is very important to the Jazz musician. The soloist has the freedom to play whatever he wants as long as he maintains the meter and stays in time. New Age music is more elastic in that timing is there, but is not a master of the player. The New Age player can disregard time altogether. Just listen to Zen flute music as a good example of this.

Now, what does all this mean for the aspiring New Age musician? A couple of good things. It means that there is a definite new age "sound" out there. That it is here to stay and that people like and need to hear it. And it means that there are some guidelines out there for what defines the meaning of New Age music.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit http://www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!

# posted by phoenix-pets80546 : 3:52 PM  0 comments

Web video is here to stay and broadband is the vehicle that is fueling the boom. Just about every size and shape of digital camera that is sold today includes capability to take motion pictures. Depending on the magnitude of the camera, you can record both audio and video, ranging from a four-minute segment to up to fifteen to twenty minutes (and more!).

And what can you do with these segments?

Advertise your workon your own website, on a portal, on YouTube, Skidoo, My Space, and the many more spin-offs that are sure to come along.

THE PARADE EFFECT

And not only can you offer a slide-show of selected archived images, but you can include a section on your website such as Images from my recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Another feature: Self-promotion. Include a video of yourself, your surroundings; your opinions that you believe are relative to the stock photo industry and to your photobuyers.

And why is this important? Everyone loves a parade. We enjoy watching snippets of a parade. They last only a few minutes, and then another section of the parade comes along. It goes along with human nature to be engrossed for a few minutes in people-watching.

If that person is you on a web video, youve discovered a new form of public relations with your client list. Put the two together and you have helped cement a photobuyer-photographer relationship.
To give you an example of how this works, you can see a clip of how I placed a short (2 minute) clip on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqZceQi3iSU

Web video's rapid growth will continue. In our industry, video will be the most important form of media on the Internet.

MOVING FAST

You probably remember previous attempts of web video technology. They
were filled with static, flickers, and glitches. On regular phone lines, they were impossible to view. Now the technology is much better. Theres still some room for improvement, but for you, the time has come to start doing your homework and get ahead of the curve.

Thanks to earlier TV innovations such as Americas Funniest Videos, and Candid Camera no one expects Hollywood style lighting and precision with your web videos. If the message is clear, perfection can take a back seat.

Since Internet-savvy photographers and photobuyers populate the stock photography marketplace, there has been an increasingly rapid adoption of broadband with us.

In the general population, over 65 million consumers signed up for broadband service in 2006, according to the technology research firm, In-Stat. They report that worldwide broadband subscriptions now number 285 million. That number is expected to double in the next four years.

This is not to say that text descriptions or articles (like the one youre reading now) will disappear. But Web video will give an added new dimension to your stock photography business.

To learn more, check out web video on your favorite search engine and see how you can adapt this new idea to your marketing efforts.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of Sell & ReSell Your Photos and sellphotos.com, has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: 8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer, visit http://www.sellphotos.com

# posted by phoenix-pets80546 : 3:21 AM  0 comments