vocalman2004 odds & ends

What would modern music sound like, were it not for the synthesizer? Electropop wouldn’t exist, Ellie Goulding would be an acoustic act, and the Beatles’ Abbey Road wouldn’t have as much pizzazz. While modular synthesizers existed and were used in music studios, it’s the Minimoog — the first portable analog synthesizer and the first-ever electronic […]

Mozart pleases his public The years 1650 to 1750 were a period of feverish invention and technical ingenuity in music that reached an apotheosis in Handel’s sublime oratorios and Bach’s cantatas and Passions. Bach was probably the cleverest composer who ever lived; the mind-boggling complexity of much of his late music, in particular, has yet […]

The post-war reconciliation between France and Germany was enshrined in a treaty signed 50 years ago. But many believe a song recorded the following year did as much to thaw relations. Can there be many songs that really did change the world? There have certainly been records which have been immensely popular – and some […]

A piece of music that was composed by waiting for bird droppings to fall onto giant sheets of manuscript paper has received its premiere. Artist Kerry Morrison laid manuscript sheets on the ground in Liverpool parks and let birds deposit their droppings. Composer Jon Hering has transformed the bum notes into a full musical score. […]