Music Web Links

Unit Six
Music!... To Let Us Create

Chapter 15 Communicating with Sound

Gioacchino Rossini Biography
http://www.ajf.org/ROSSINI/ROSBIO/BIOR.html
How old was Rossini when he first performed in an opera? How old was he when he wrote his first opera? Guess how long it took Rossini to write The Barber of Seville, then read this entertaining biography to find out if you were right.

Bulgarian Music
http://www.omega.bg/bulgarianart/music.html
Where did Bulgarian folk music come from? How was it handed down from one generation to the next? Visit this site to find out.

Chapter 16 Making Musical Decisions

The Blue Highway
http://thebluehighway.com/tbh.html
Scroll down for biographies and sound clips of famous blues artists. Who was McKinley Morganfield better known as? Who is considered the greatest blues artist of all time? While you are there, check the Delta Map to find the actual "blue" highways and where they go.

W. C. Handy Birthplace, Museum & Library
http://www.ci.florence.al.us/museums/handy/handy.html
Check out this biography of William Christopher Handy, the "Father of the Blues," and see the museum that pays tribute to his memory. How did Handy disappoint his father? Where did he get his inspiration for his most famous song, "The St. Louis Blues"? This is the place to find out!

Arnold Schoenberg and Twelve-Tone Music
http://www.futurenet.com/classicalnet/composers/
features/schoenberg/arnie.html
Step out of the cozy world of tonality into the twelve-tone frontier. Click on "jargon buster" for definitions of twelve-tone terms. What was Schoenberg trying to accomplish with his new system?

Chapter 17 Creating with Technology

MIDI and Music Synthesis Tutorial
http://www.midi.org/Tutorial/Tutor.html
Why is MIDI becoming more widely used than sampled music on disk or CD-ROM? You can learn the basics of MIDI here. Keep scrolling down, and you'll get a thorough MIDI education.

Electronic Music Primer
http://nmc.uoregon.edu/emi/emp_win/main.html
Wow! Everything you need to know about electronic music in a well-organized, easy-to-use format. How does the production of sound in electronic music differ from that in "unplugged" music? This site takes a few minutes to download, but it's worth it.

Chapter 18 Musical Creators

The Aaron Copland Homepage
http://voodoo.acomp.usf.edu/copland.html
Find out more about one of America's greatest twentieth-century composers. See pictures, read an entertaining biography, and hear some of Copland's greatest hits on MIDI. Can you identify the piece that plays when you open the homepage?

The Duke Ellington Society
http://duke.fuse.net/essence/index_ie.html
Explore this extensive source of information on Duke Ellington, where you can hear over 10 samples of famous vocalists performing his music. Can you name the work that Ellington considered to be his most important?

In the First Person: Libby Larson
http://www.newmusicbox.org/archive/firstperson/larsen/index.html
Read (and listen to sound clips from) an excellent interview with composer Libby Larsen. Find out about composing from an expert! What advice does Larsen have for young composers?

Unit Six Encore! The History of Recorded Music

Recording Technology History
http://ac.acusd.edu/History/recording/notes.html
Did you know that recordings existed before CDs, before cassettes, even before vinyl records? Check out this lively timeline of recording history. What was the first song ever recorded? Find out here!

The Online Antique Phonograph Gallery
http://www.inkyfingers.com/Record.html
Ever wonder what your grandparents listened to before stereos were invented? Satisfy your curiosity at the antique phonograph gallery. See the phonographs and hear recordings of them. What was an offbeat use for the "horns" or amplifiers of the old cylinder phonographs?