Articles of Interest for Musicians by Ellistrations

2010-10-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

New Technology Influences the Player PianoThe style is almost strange, at first. The area is a perfectly typical studio in a part of Culver City. In one part of the room, a 6.5 foot concert grand piano with the lid removed--stands against the painted wall.The piano keys begin to move by themselves, without human help, as if touched by an invisible master and then a spew of music pours out:

2007-08-22T19:03:00.001-07:00

Trombone Accessories Can Kill! Here is a real bizzare story that Brass players may want to read!Man Slides His Trombone & Kills Trumpeter in Front of Him!By Randy Jeffries / Weekly World News(January 23, 1996) BOCHOLT, GERMANY - A band musician died of a brain injury when the trombonist behind him jerked the slide of his trombone forward and struck the trumpeter in the back of the head.

2007-08-13T20:44:00.001-07:00

I learned this valuable trombone accessory while I was in the U.S. Army Band as a trombone player. Use Lemon Pledge on your trombone slide. Lemon pledge has a wax in it that makes your slide move very easily, so if you spray it on your slide it makes it move very freely. Not only that, but Lemon Pledge actually tastes much better than trombone oil, Super Slick or even Rapid Comfort. Also if you

2007-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

Correct Embouchure for the Flute Correct Embouchure for the Flute If you really want to get a nice, clear sound on the flute, then you will have to have a proper embuchure. There are several different factors or things, that will determine how nice of the tone the will be able to produce. The use of abdominal breathing. The direction of the air stream. How much of the hole on the

2007-01-24T14:25:00.001-08:00

Finding Time To Practice Your Musical InstrumentLike the commercial says "Life comes at ya fast!" and it is true. You know, I heard a guy state on the radio that time seems to be speeding up. I never actually considered the metaphysics of all that, primarily because I'm not smart enough to understand most things deeper than a comic book. Anyway, I do know that you are given only so much time

2007-01-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

Bruce Campbell must be a Musician. I don't know why, but the Old Spice commercial with Bruce Campbell just keeps sticking like a mantra in my head. I think this dissertation could be named "The Musicians Creed" It just sounds like something a Brass player would say. Here is a transcript of the entire commercial:When you have it, you don't need it. When you need it you don't have it. If

2007-01-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

The Weird Blog of the Bagpipeby EllistrationsThis is the the bagpipe picture of the pipes fashioned by Don Pablo de la Taco al a Carte. They were fashioned from the skins and bladders of two goats, a chicken and a yak. They had a characteristic odor that was unpleasant.No one in Spanish history is more associated withBagpipes than Don Pablo de la Taco al a Carte.During

2007-01-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a crazy Picture I did for bagpiper's awhile back. I guess you could say that this picture has it all!

2007-01-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

Goal Setting for Musicians Part III From the Series: Playing in the Mental Key Brought to you by:Ellistrations Music Apparel and Gifts In the last segment of this series, we talked about the importance of setting down and writing out your musical goals. In this segment we would like to talk about the importance of setting down and writing out your long term goals first and then your short

2007-01-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

How to Set Attainable Goals For Musicians Part IIFrom the Series:The Mental Key of MusicEllistrations Music Apparel and GiftsIn the last lesson from The Mental Key of Music, we discussed the fact that without a goal you are like a ship without any direction. The captain of the vessel (you) is a very frustrated individual without any clear objective or target. You were given a specific

2007-01-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Goal Setting for Musicians Part I From the Series:Playing in the Mental KeyEllistrations Music Apparel and Gifts Imagine if you will, that you are on a trip and you are traveling on foot. On this journey, you take along all of the provisions that you need; you packed up a certain amount of food, and water and put shoes on your feet of course, clothe yourself. You carry maps, and a

2007-01-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

Bassoonist.... Reinvent Yourself !by Ellistrations Music Apparel and GiftsGo ahead, take inventory. You've been laughed at. Ridiculed. Youv'e been called "bed post holder", "double reed geek" and the worst insult of all..."sewage pipe sucker". It's not your parent's fault and it certainly isn't the bassoon's fault. You really can't blame anyone but yourself. Look at your appearance, you look like

2007-01-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Violent History of the BassoonBy ELMOcopyright 2005 EllistrationsMost people know nothing about the brave and distinguished history of the Bassoon and the role it has played in the Marital Arts.During the feudal Heiji War in Japan(c. 900 AD) it was not uncommon to see Samurai Warriors carrying Bassoons.Later, China would pick up the mantle with the little known "BassoonRevolt" in which

2007-01-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

2007-01-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

The Basics of Breathing For Wind Players ...By ElmoOriginally Posted 01/13/06Students always seem to neglect the importance of the air ?stream and therefore suffer from consequential problems; poor sound production, lousy intonation, limited range and the inability to phrase efficiently. Any woodwind player or brass player can eliminate these problems by developing the ability to control

2007-01-10T22:08:00.000-08:00

What inspires you?By Elmo Originally Posted 12/22/05Ellistrations Music Apparel and Gifts We all know the music is pretty inspirational thing. We you’re in a parade or on a stage, maybe even marching on a football field…people take notice. The melody of an instrument or the smooth sound of a singer’s voice can often times leave people standing in their tracks. And in many situations it can

2007-01-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

KEEPING THE FIRE IN YOUR BELLY:A summertime guide to motivationOriginally Posted 12/12/05Summer stretches ahead, enticing you with sleeping in and hanging out with friends. Who wants to mess with practicing music or guard work for a marching show that doesn’t mean squat to you now? That sheet music tucked neatly inside your instrument case is probably the last thing on your mind…. right up

2007-01-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

Chopsticks for Dummies"Originally Posted 11/04/2005By Elmo As all percussionists know, how well you play is directly influenced byyour wrist strength and your ability to control that strength. Manypercussionists develop this strength by doing many repetitive exercises thatstrengthen the wrist. These exercises are called "chop builders". In thisarticle we will talk about building chops and

2007-01-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted 09/15 /2005A Brief Dissertation onTrumpet Historyby Mark EllisHistory is sometimes a very difficult subject cover because events, ideas, inventions and civilizations are not always compartmentalized into one geographical area or one particular time frame. For example, the history of something like, let’s say umbrellas, may have been a scattering of different ideas, in many

2006-01-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

The Basics of Purchasing an InstrumentOk, I know that I’m usually dealing with musicians here, so here are a few tips on how you can buy an instrument with out spending a ton of dough. Also, if you do not purchase instruments regularly, here are a couple tips to help you out with the process.Buying a Musical Instrument as a Gift.First of all, do not buy a person a musical instrument for a

2005-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

News! News! News! We now have the Flute section page up and running and its alternate name is the Flute Note Page.We are going to have an ongoing Flute lesson Page with FREE flute lessons on them and we have a Native American Flute page as well. I have just finished designing a beautiful Native American Flute pullover to our inventory. Keep checking our site for new updates and new products!God

2005-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Flute Note is Coming! Well, I at least got the Trumpet and Trombone Sections of our site up, now I am working on the Flute Section which will also be called "The Flute Note" This section will have brand new Ellistrated apparel such as flute shirts, hats and even purses. So, all of you flute players keep an eye out for the Flute Note Section which will be out in a few days. We will have a

2005-07-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ellistrations Web Site UpdatesIn case any of our subscribers have been wondering what has happened to the Ellistrations Newsletter, let me just send you this note to let you know what has happened to us. First of all, if anybody tells you that it is easy to make money on the Internet and all you have to do is set up a Web site and get products and yadda, yadda, yadda, just tell them if they

2005-07-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

The New Newsletter Archive From Ellistrations! We have now added a Newsletter archive on our Web site with a lot of our past articles. You'll find motivation practice information as well as practice techniques for instrumentalists. We have also recently updated our Trumpet Section which should be more entertaining as well as informative. There is also a link to our free

2005-07-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Trumpet Section is Here !!!Well, I finally got our trumpet pages up and running. There is now a Trumpet Page which is nothing more than a starting page for all of the other pages I'm about to add. There is also a Trumpet History Page that has information about my new and FREE Ebook on the history of the trumpet. (There seems to be a lot of confusion about who invented the trumpet, this

2005-07-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

Trumpet History Update Ok, I'm putting together really fun web page about trumpet history. I'm going to be placing it on my web site within the next few days and I am sure that most of you trumpeters will get a charge out of my efforts. The problem with writing an ebook about trumpet history is that it covers the entire world and so many cultures you would not believe it. Believe it or not one

2005-07-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

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2005-07-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Trombones can be used against Saddam! If you don't believe it check out this true story from the Darwin Awards Web Site!Orchestral PhysicsPaolo Esperanza, bass-trombonist with the Simphonica Mayor de Uruguay, in a misplaced moment of inspiration decided to make his own contribution to the cannon shots fired as part of the orchestra's performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture at an outdoor

2003-02-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Death By Music! Here is a real bizzare story that Brass players may want to read! Man Slides His Trombone & Kills Trumpeter in Front of Him! By Randy Jeffries / Weekly World News (January 23, 1996) BOCHOLT, GERMANY - A band musician died of a brain injury when the trombonist behind him jerked the slide of his trombone forward and struck the trumpeter in the back of the head. Police say the