October 22nd, 2008 artsbook
February 2008
Looking for a specific bagpipe tune? The Encyclopedia of Tunes is a complete listing of 22,300 tunes from 328 pipe music books. It can save you time and energy when you’re trying to find the right tune!
Featured Article
The Bagpipe Tree
The Mpingo tree, also called the African Blackwood, is a member of the Rosewood family that grows in the Miombo woodlands of Africa. It has a high density, great durability, and natural oils that seal the surface of the wood, making it great for musical instruments like the bagpipes.
These trees often grow naturally knotted and twisted. To use them for musical instruments, they must be straight and without defects. Less than 2% of all the wood harvested can be used for this purpose! It takes about 70 years for the Mpingo tree to reach maturity followed by 3 years of processing before it can be used to make an instrument.
The middle of the wood is black and so hard that it can blunt an axe and must be drilled before screwing or nailing it. The wood is very resistant and the roots support bacteria that increase soil fertility.
As Tanzania’s national tree, it is the most valuable tree harvested and also the most expensive, requiring special equipment to harvest. These trees are currently at risk of being wiped out. There has been a shortage over the last 20 years due to weather, political instability and economics. In many places, the trees are illegally cut down or burned to clear the area for farming and livestock. Burning kills the younger trees and leaves the older trees deformed and diseased.
There are efforts in place to save the “bagpipe tree” and create a sustainable supply for the future. Reaching these goals will not only increase the amount of trees legally harvested, but will also reduce poverty in the area, help to rebuild the forests, conserve water, reduce soil erosion and, keep the music playing!
All of the Blackwood we use comes from a supplier that purchases wood from a government approved seller whose trees are legally harvested and documented. The wood is only supplied to musical instrument companies.
The government of Tanzania is trying to cut back on the amount of tree smuggling by scanning and conducting physical searches of cargo shipments. There are increasing efforts to monitor the legal trade of African Blackwood and police the illegal trade. All of these factors add to the cost of the wood. Most reputable Bagpipe manufacturers use wood from legally harvested trees. Ask us about fair trade bagpipes!
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Sincerely,
Rauncie Kinnaird
Kinnaird Bagpipes
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Tags: africa, bagpipes, blackwood, Kinnaird Bagpipes, music books, Tanzania
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October 17th, 2008 artsbook
When it comes to wanting to have quality entertainment, most people automatically assume that they are going to have to spend a big chunk of money. Because you can learn how to buy cheap mp3 player systems with little trouble, that simply is not the case.
The thing about these gadgets is that even though they are extremely popular, you can find yourself a cheap mp3 player to get you started. For someone just starting out this is a good way to get started, but of course, the cheap mp3 player is not going to be the system that holds the most amount of songs.
The cheap mp3 player can be found online through different web stores and even in some online auctions. You are probably going to want to make sure that you are going with something new instead of something used, in order to make sure that everything runs smoothly for you. This is just to make sure after a few days that your cheap mp3 player does not just end up in the garbage can. There is no reason why you could not afford a brand new one, being the new ones are so reasonable in price.
The Difference Between Models
When you are buying a cheap mp3 player you have to take into consideration that it is not going to hold as much songs as the more expensive models. While this does not matter to a lot of people, it is still something to be aware of. You will still have plenty of room for all kinds of different songs even with the cheap mp3 player. Even the low-end player will hold a couple hundred songs. You are going to have no choice but to go with a more expensive model if you are the type of person that insists on being able to store thousands upon thousands of songs.
Also, there is the big thing with the brand name, which has a lot to do with the price tag that is put on the cheap mp3 player. So you will have to expect that your top of the line models is not going to be the cheapest in price. You are going to get more of an off brand player more then likely with the cheap mp3 player, but it will still work just as good. When it comes to the cheap ones, there really is no difference in the quality of the mp3 player.
View more artices at www.mp3.jsgenterprises.com.
Tags: Cheap MP3 player, MP3, Music, Technology
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October 9th, 2008 artsbook
After first purchasing my guitar I spent a lot of time browsing the web searching for videos and tutorials that were free to help me learn to play. When I first started learning it was an adventure I was learning everything from scratch so each new chord or technique I learned was bringing me closer to piecing together a full song.
I hit a wall how ever after only a couple of months and exhausting the majority of free videos and tutorials I could find on the Internet. I realized that I was going to need more detailed instruction if I was to become a better guitar player.
A friend of mine had been taking private guitar lessons from a local teacher, the down side was it cost $20 bucks a lesson, once a week. How ever the cost seemed steep to me, and I was interested in learning to play faster. I had time and was eager to learn and once a week wasn’t going to cater to that.
I figured that there must be some paid options online I could look at. I started doing my research to try and find out more about the guitar lesson products that were out there for people like me to learn from home.
The best one I found was after reading a Learn and master guitar review. This dvd course seemed to be the top rated learn guitar course out there, and it was priced competitively for how much content it gave you.
I didn’t purchase the product right away, I kept doing some more research. I came across numerous online membership websites, downloaded guitar videos, and ebooks that promised to teach me how to play guitar in one weekend.
It didn’t matter how many sites I read and message boards I went to it always seemed to come back to that Learn and master guitar review. I decided it was worth a try, they had a money back guarantee so if I wasn’t satisfied with the course after I got it I’d request a refund.
It was less then one week for my copy of Learn and Master guitar to get here and right out of the box I was impressed. The packaging, the practice book, everything looked very professional. I popped in the first dvd to get a look at the lessons and the video quality was awesome.
I have to say I’ve had Learn & Master guitar for several months and my guitar playing has progressed a lot. If I didn’t have this home study course I assume I’d just be playing the same handful of chords and being frustrated that maybe I just couldn’t learn how to play the guitar.
Tags: Education, guitar lessons, learn guitar, Music
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