Assyrian Art and the Lamassu sculpture

Recently I lectured to a group of students on Ancient Near Eastern Art and since then have been thinking about a work of art that generated quite a large discussion: the Lamassu.  The Lamassu were human headed winged bulls, sometimes with the paws of a lion, which were considered guardian figures to the king.

The Lamassu figures are a very interesting example of Neo-Assyrian Art.  For several hundred years (934-609 BC) Assyria was the most important and influential empire in the Mesopotamian region.  The kings at this time used art as a way to make certain everyone knew of their importance.  The figures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art measure 122.5 x 24.5 x 109 in. (311.15 x 62.23 x 276.86 cm), which means they stand over 10 feet (3 meters) tall and would have been quite an imposing presence for visitors.  At the same time they were meant to protect the kingdom from demonic forces.

Neo-Assyrian Gateway Human Headed Winged Lions 'Lamassu' from the North West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud, (883-859 BC) British Museum

photo- © Mujtaba Chohan/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons  

The Lamassu Guardian figures were sculpted in pairs so that they were flanking the entrance to the king's throne room.  There are many pairs of these sculptures that are still in existence including those in the British Museum (London), Louvre (Paris) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) as well as several in Iraq.

Even though each of these come from different centuries in the Neo-Assyrian period, the style of these sculptures doesn't change much.  The examples seen here are either from the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) or Sargon II (721-705 BC).   Let's first look at those from the British Museum from the reign of Ashurnasirpal II.
  
"These composite creatures combined the strength of the lion (or in this case, the bull), the   swiftness of birds indicated by the wings, and the intelligence of the human head. The helmet with horns indicates the creature's divinity."*


The sculptures were meant to be seen in one of two ways- from the front looking directly at the face, or from the side as the viewer entered the king's throne room.  Therefore the figures are sculpted with five legs- two that can be seen from the front view and four that can be seen from the side.  This would indicate that the figure was a four legged beast, but the extra leg was added so that the side view made visual sense.

Winged human-headed bull (Lamassu)

Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II (721-705 BC)

Khorsabad, ancient Dur Sharrukin, Assyria, Iraq

photo- © Luidger/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons  

This version of the Lamassu has the hooves of a bull rather than the paws of a lion.  Interestingly enough the pair from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (also from the reign of Ashurnasirpal II) each has a different set of feet, one with paws and one with hooves.


The figures were carved in relief, that is they were not free standing sculptures but rather only part of the figure was carved and they needed a wall to support them.  Stylistically they are a mix of realism (note the careful portrayal of the legs) and flattened abstraction (such as the stylized portrayal of the wings and the hair).


The Lamassu in the British Museum are followed by many relief panels of the king's lion hunts.  These relief panels were also a mix of realism (seen in the lions) and stylized art (usually seen in the human figures).




For more information I posted a link to the Smart History/Khan Academy website (Jan 6 blog posting) with a short and informative look at the Lamassu sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I recommend watching it, it is just over 4 minutes long and quite interesting.

*quote taken from the British Museum's website

Learning the Electronic Keyboard

There can never be a human who hates music. Each individual has his own tastes in music, and some individuals develop their taste into passion by trying to learn a musical instrument. However, they get confused when it comes to choosing an instrument. Today, we see a host of people selecting instruments such as the guitar, piano, flute, saxophone, drums and so on to fulfill their musical needs and undergo rigorous training to master their chosen instrument. In this article, a special emphasis is made on learning the most popular instrument, the electronic keyboard.

Learning this instrument requires a great deal of patience, as finger dexterity is a prerequisite. Although the electronic keyboard resembles a piano,it is not a piano in reality. It offers a host of other features such as playing with accompaniment, a repertoire of in-built styles and instruments and many more. Anyone who wants to learn this instrument has to get himself enrolled with a tutor who has vast experience in the same. Learning through various 'easy to learn' books may be only of little help, as only a tutor can teach the nuances of handling the instrument. Initially, one has to start with understanding the instrument's structure and the various techniques as to how to handle. Remember that the instrument must be handled softly, as harsh handling could cause the instrument to malfunction. Another important thing in learning is practising what you learn. To master any instrument, practice is absolutely necessary. Practising your lessons with the help of your tutor will show great results. Once you practise the exercises (scales and arpeggios) taught by your tutor to improve your finger dexterity, you can very well start learning and playing solos and songs on your own, as you get familiar with the different styles and techniques. Learning the electronic keyboard is also fun, as one gets to enjoy and explore various sounds and instruments. A keyboardist is sometimes referred to as a 'one-man band'. One can also use the instrument to connect it to their personal computer and record their solos for future listening, and this would always bring a huge feeling of happiness.

We all know that learning is a continuous process and does not stop abrupt. Therefore, to take their learning to the next level, one can also enroll, under the guidance of their tutors, with various musical exam boards such as Trinity Guildhall, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Rockschool and many more to hone their skills and to get an accreditation. This gives a sense of achievement. To conclude, learning this instrument is more of fun and not difficult at all. Anyone, be it a kid or a grown-up, can learn and improvise based on what they learn. There is no age bar no special skills required. The only thing that is necessary is the passion and will to learn.

Learn to Make Your Own Dubstep Music

There have been huge advancements in both technology and recognition when it comes to music that happens to be engineered digitally. Dubstep music has exploded and is turning out to be more popular as the recording industry is reacting to what plenty of people are dancing to in night clubs around the globe. Dubstep performers such as Skrillex and Deadmau5 are even performing at and winning Grammy Awards. What is huge about this music is that you can generate it in the enjoyment of your house with just a computer.

There are many software platforms which can be purchased and downloaded that enable you produce the best Dubstep music of all. Your very own. Never before has it been so easy to create the kinds of music which you love. Much of the best Dubstep can be made without any of the fancy computerized gear you find in a recording studio.

DubTurbo 2.0 is the best Dubstep software available for the starting music maker. It contains all the comprehensive music making attributes currently available on the big Digital Audio Workstations (DAW's) for a small fraction of the cost. You can design your own personal beats and multi-layered tracks in minutes of getting the software because of the simple to use and intuitive interface.

If you have been wondering in precisely what the best software for Dubstep is, then look no more. You will be amazed at the type of sounds you can develop and what a great artist you can transform into. The music that you've been following and love can be crafted by you tonight. Imagine the feeling of composing your genuine tunes and coming up with your own different sound. You can also produce re-mix's of some of your very own favorite songs.

You are in a nutshell only restrained by your imagination. This Dubstep making software makes possible you to add together a number of tracks and sounds into a single track and then export it in the most advanced file forms to ensure that you don't lose sound quality. You can easily import your own personal sounds using free 3rd party recording tools to really get the customised sound you desire to have.

It is a very cool time if you desire to generate your own music. By no means has it been a great deal easier to generate higher level music for such a discounted price tag. I would recommend any person that is a supporter of Dubstep to have a look at the dubstep software that is available on the market today. It is obvious that the best Dubstep software is DubTurbo 2.0.

The Violin - How To Set Up The Bridge

I recently had a friend call me saying that he had bought his daughter a violin, and it had arrived through the post with the bridge not set-up. He had looked on the web, but the information was a bit confused and he was still not sure how to do it. This post deals with a seemingly easy topic, but as you will agree, something that is essential for the novice violinist.

Here are the steps to follow to set up your bridge.

If you already have strings on the violin, loosen them so they don't have any tension, and are slack enough for the bridge to fit under. Pull the strings into the centre of the finger board and check that there is enough space to fit the bridge. The violin has two "F" holes and if you look carefully at them you will see a small notch cut into each one. The bridge should sit between these two notches to give it the perfect distance for optimum sound. Please note that the bridge of your violin does the same as the bridge of most other stringed instruments such as the guitar or cello; It raises the strings from the resonating chamber and also transfers the energy of the strings to give you the sound. If you bow the violin close to the bridge, it will give you a different sound to what you will get if you bow further away.

The bridge has two distinct sides to it. It has a straight side, and a side with a slight curve to it. The straight side must be facing the tailpiece, and the curved side facing the finger board.

Place the bridge flat against the surface of the violin, making sure that the bottom is aligned with the "F" Hole notches, and that the curved side is face down on the wood.

Very gently lift the bridge up until it is vertical. Adjust the position so that it is straight and exactly between the two notches.

You will notice that at the curved top of the bridge there are four notches, and you must now place the loosened strings into each of the four notches.

Very gently begin to tighten the strings. Do not fully tighten one, but put a little tension on each, until your bridge is held in place by the tension with the strings. Tighten again each string until you are close to being in tune, and then if you have fine tuners, use them to complete the task.

How To Achieve A Clean Recording

1. Make sure you have a good microphone. If you start off with garbage, all you can make in the end is "polished garbage". An MXL 990 is a good one to start with and it's very cheap; only $50. With the proper mix this thing can do magic, but in most cases, what you pay for is what you get.

2. Experiment on different mic positions while recording (close to you, far from you, etc). Some voices call for different positions. Also, the desired effect can call for a certain position as well. If you want to sound like you're in someone's ear (Which isn't a bad thing) then you want it close. If you want to scream, back up!

3. Don't over edit your vocals. This is a huge problem that I see people do all the time. A lot of people add a bunch of effects on the master track of their song making the whole song reverbed or compressed. This is a terrible practice. Leave the master track alone unless you're adding a slight limiter to prevent clipping or something else very light. You don't want to over compress or over EQ anything. A lot of the time, all that's needed is to, compress it and add little touches of EQ boost/decrease.

4. There is no "magic setting" you can put a compressor on. Different songs and voices call for different effects. The best way to skillfully use a compressor is to understand how it works and tweak it according to your mix. Most compressors have the same knobs as follows: "Threshold" which is the cutoff where the compressor will turn on. Once the volume of the track being compressed reaches the number you've set, the compressor will take any sound louder than that setting and bring it down, or compress, it. Then there is the "attack" setting which is how fast the compressor comes into effect when your track starts sounding. Then the "release" setting which is how long your compressor will keep working even once the sound is done. These and + & - gain (volume) knobs are the most common compressor settings.

5. Recording multiple takes is ideal. You'll almost never get the job done with one take. Record multiple times just to be able to pick out from the best one. If you think your vocals need to be filled more, don't just add a chorus effect, record it again, over dub the takes and pan them out. You'll get the job done much easier and efficiently that way.

6. Adding reverb and delay is also called for in some songs, but don't overdo it! In general, you'll want reverb and delay on most of your songs, but you want it so low that unless there's a drop in the beat, or someone with very good ears is listening, you don't want listeners to know it's there. I'm sure now you're thinking "If they don't know it's there, why waste time putting it in?". Well think about this, (This is mostly aimed at producers/engineers) but haven't you heard something in a song that you barely notice, but if it wasn't there, you'd feel like something is missing? The same concept applies here. So add some slight reverb and delay if you feel your vocals are missing a little presence.

7. Make sure you're loud! You're never gonna make a good recording if you're scared to sound like you have some confidence in yourself. You need to attack the mic like you know what you're doing and you know you're gonna do it well. I cannot stress on this enough. This can be the difference between a good song and a flop. I've had many people submit songs to me where they weren't putting enough feeling into it. The real bad part is, it can't be faked; I can tell you to put feeling into your recording all day, but if you are only "getting louder" you'll sound like a screaming, non-confident artist and that's not the desired effect either. Have some confidence; listeners will be able to tell.

8. Don't be shy! I know some people are recording in their bedrooms and other "not recording friendly" environments and they have people outside of the door that can hear them. A lot of people are shy and don't want people to hear them record. Here's a huge tip for those people; get over it. I know it feels stupid because you're just yelling rhymes into this metal object, but they're gonna hear you, and if you sound like you're scared for people to hear you record, listeners will notice. Again, have confidence.

9. Lastly, take a listen to some songs you've bought. Always buy you're music unless its being given by the artist for free. You're in the music business, don't steal from it!. Compare your mix to one that's been professionally mixed and don't be afraid to mimic it a bit. You're voice is different from theirs, but just try it out. It's a great way to learn different techniques.

How to Promote Your Music in 2012

A couple of decades ago it was unlikely an aspiring musician would get the opportunity to record their own music. If you were in a band and wanted to record a proper sounding album you would need to be signed to a record label which would pay for the advance for you to make an album. The advances in digital recording in the last decade have it made it possible for musicians with even a modest budget and proper skills to make something that may be worth listening to. Although, it's great that musicians now have the ability the record in the privacy of their own homes it has saturated the market with an excess of music on the internet that would take endless hours to sift through. Luckily, if you have recorded something worth listening to their maybe a couple of ways you can rise above the masses and get your music heard.

1.Streaming music services

This day and age more and more people are subscribing to different online streaming music services like Spotify, MOG, and Pandora. A lot of musicians might not know that submitting your music to these online services is usually a very straight forward process. For example, in order to submit your music to Spotify you would have to license your music through an artist aggregator like CD baby or to Ditto. Services like this also make it possible to submit to other digital services like Itunes or Amazon at the same time. The process for submitting your music can vary for each streaming services but from what I have researched I haven't found one that is to hard to accomplish.

2.Social Media

If you haven't already it is integral that you join as many social media outlets as possible. Everyone knows about Facebook and Twitter but there are other sources as well like Pinterest, Bebo, Netlog that could be a valuable way to promote your music. There are lots of interesting ways you can market your music through social media.Think outside of the box so people can get interested and involved with your music. For example, bring a video camera in the recording sessions of your band making a new album, then post the videos on YouTube and then go on Facebook to tell all your friends about it.

3. Radio Stations

Don't forget about the power of radio stations. The good news is that are a lot of small independent radio stations on the internet that you can submit your music to. Services like shoutcast and live365 have thousands of radio stations that you can try to submit your music to. You obviously want to submit to stations that cater to your genre and have a decent amount of listeners. Sirius radio has over 20 million subscribers so make sure you submit your music to them.

4. Soundcloud

If you haven't heard of Soundcloud yet you need to start taking advantages of these services. Soundcloud is a service that dedicated to letting people distribute and listen to sound files. It is unique in that it lets artists have their own distinctive URL which they can then embed on their own website. It is also very easy to integrate with Facebook and Twitter. If you are a paid member you are granted more hosting space and can distribute to more groups.

5.Get reviewed

Hopefully, other people will appreciate your music as much as you do. That's why it important to submit your music to different magazines and websites.A good review on a popular website like "pitchfork" can catapult a band from playing local bars to being on a national tour. Tiny mix tapes, drowned in sound, and the a.v. club are just a couple of places you should be submitting your music to.

How Can Young Music Composers Enhance Skills Through Music Forums?

Internet serves as the best tool to gain insight into several things. Just like you can conduct research for your school project online, you can also get lots of information about the entertainment industry, religion, finance, politics and everything that you read and watch through other mediums of communication. The music industry does not lag behind in this race and you can see a visibly stunning amount of literature and resources available at music forums to help the aspiring musicians.

These music forums are administered under the guidance of some of the best musicians who are willing to help out the budding musicians to create innovative music. The best part of these music forums is that young musicians from all parts of the world can participate and share their knowledge and art with others. Music is discussed and improvised together by the young musicians and established musicians to create a stimulating piece of music. The recognized musicians also help these budding musicians by providing resources like vocal software and hardware that smartens up the music completely.

In these music forums, the young musicians can find lots of useful tips, resources, and ideas from other artists who have established themselves through such forums. Besides these resources, the musicians get the chance to become actively involved in the music community and get great insight into several music genres. Also, since these communities serve musicians from all parts of the world, there is a great way to gain insight about the heritage of music of other countries. For example, the folk music has recently been a source of inspiration for many musicians and they have composed inspirational music, amalgamating the folk and urban music in their albums.

Also, there is a lot of competition going on in the music industry, which is an encouraging element for many aspiring musicians who want to make it big soon. The established musicians at the music forums provide opportunities to these young and talented musicians to build careers in the music industry.

While making the most of the music forums, the musicians should keep in mind certain things. Firstly, they should use these forums as a creative tool and a platform to learn new things. They should seek out ways to learn by interacting with other musicians and seniors. And most importantly, they should not cause any harm to the forum and its resources and other musicians at the forum. The discussions should be free of spam and useless posts, whereas the musicians should keep their profiles and posts informative, well-organized and uncluttered so it is easy to go through them.