Home Theater Speakers

By Sam Williams

In a typical home theater setup, there should be six home theater speakers: two front speakers, two surround speakers, a center speaker and a subwoofer for the lowest frequency ranges. There are two ways to obtain all these speakers: buying each of them seperately, or buying a home theater speaker set.

Home Theater Speaker Sets:

If you're low on budget, you should think about one of these. But remember: don't spare on speakers, they're very important. There are lots of cheap home theater speaker sets on the market, but you shouldn't buy one of them, because these are of poor quality. Usually, sets manufactured by well-know brands (Klipsch, Bose, for example) produce a decent sound. This way you'll still not spend as much as you would on separate speakers.

If you're thinking about buying one of these sets, read our article on home theatres in a box.

Going One By One:

So, you're serious about your future home theater, and want to spend a little more on the speakers? Buying speakers separately has many advantages: it's the best quality you can have, and another, often overlooked advantage is that you can don't have to buy the whole set at a time, so if you haven't got the money, you can still have high quality speakers in your setup.

Your front speakers should be the strongest members in your home theater speaker setup. If you have a small room, choose bookshelf speakers. Larger rooms will require larger speakers; in this case, powerful floor-standing speakers is the choice to go with.

I often hear that it is advisable to have the exact same speakers for surround and front. This is true, but it's not very practical: movie sound mixes don't use surround speakers as much as they use the front speakers. So, you can choose smaller and less-powerful speakers for your surround setup, it won't make significant differences anywhere except your wallet.

The surround and front units were good, old-fashioned hi-fi speakers used for a home theater setup. The case is different with our center speaker. It's a special speaker with unique frequency response. If it's possible, have the center speaker from the same brand as the surround and front speakers. This unit is also often overlooked, but it's very important, because this speaker is used for voices and talking in a sound mix.

The subwoofer is used to reproduce the lower frequencies. Sometimes, it's optional: the front speakers can be powerful enough to rock the house, and an additional subwoofer is not needed. However, in larger rooms, it's inevitable. Subwoofers require lots of power, and in most cases, they require their own power input (these are called "active subwoofers"). - 18758

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Please click on link to find great deals on Home Theater Speakers

The Glorious Story Of The Saxophone

By Jim Samposzi

The saxophone, or sax, is a lively and popular instrument that is apart of the woodwind family of instruments. The sax is usually built of brass and is standard for an orchestra, band, or other musical group. The saxophone goes way back to the days of jazz and big band. Also, this instrument has been instrumental in the production of blues and more importantly, modern rock. This beautiful music maker has also been known to be included in military bands and processions.

The saxophone is a complicated instrument that is made up of the following components:

Brass stock/horn

Single-reed mouthpiece

Tone holes (20-30)

Speaker holes

Keys (or pad cups)

Spit Valve

These parts of the instrument have been improved over time to further expand the capabilities via engineering and trial. The mouthpiece, as an example, has been made of various metals, such as: gold, silver, rubber, glass, wood, porcelain, crystal, or bone. Manufacturers over the years have attempted various prototypes to improve the tone and overall sound quality of the instrument.

Saxophones have increased in popularity since their invention by Adolphe Sax in 1841. Sax was determined to create an instrument that would bridge the gap between all other woodwinds and brass instruments. Mr. Sax did what he wished and the saxophone was the leading instrument in orchestras of the late 19th century. For the Army, the sax worked perfectly when tuned to include B and E pitches. Also, the saxophone was made to create the C and F sounds for an orchestra. Later, the saxophone was an instrument of necessity for jazz music and was improved upon to produce pitches of all kind (A, B, C, G, F, and E).

After time, Adolphe Sax's invention reached a patent expiration in 1866 which prompted manufacturing of modern saxophones by several organizations. Later, in the 1950's, a an individual, M. Houvenaghel of Western Europe, introduced a special type of saxophones which had a single-tone key arrangement which enabled the musician to create octaves with his/her thumb; this design stayed permanent with the sax and was used ongoing in sax production. Other kinds of saxophones were built and tried but this arrangement was said to be the most successful and created the best control over the tones of the sax.

In modern times, the saxophone is most seen in rock, jazz, and military bands. Saxophones are built of either brass or bronze and differ in cost and usability. Preferences are typical with different musicians of jazz and funk; most jazz professionals like mouthpieces with a shorter chamber due to the ability to produce a high baffle, louder, and richer melody. Other classical musicians prefer a larger chamber because of the simpler, duller sound. Whatever the application, the saxophone is the popular instrument in music of all types. From invention to improvement, the sax has made strides by leaps and bounds and is said to be the cornerstone instrument of jazz and funk. - 18758

About the Author:

Jim is a gazetteer with more than 25 years of writing experience. Jim is currently working as a publicist with many well-known b2b portals and has become the in house guru on musical instruments. Take the time to visit our useful website for additional information on Baritone Saxophone and Soprano Saxophone.

The Colorful History Of Drums

By Jim Samposzi

The history of the drum goes a long distance back in our world's history. People used drums to produce sounds as far back in time as 6000 B.C. In these ancient societies, like the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas, this instrument was played when they threw parties. Drums were dug up in many mountains of these ancient areas by researchers in later times.

Many people think that it is the main body of the drum that is responsible for making sound. But, this is not the case - it is the stretched out fabric covering the top, or the membrane, that is responsible for the beat. The sound is produced when the top of the drum is whacked with a stick of some sort. When the drum is drummed on, the membrane vibrates and the sound is reverberated throughout the instrument. The Indians actually used real wooden sticks to pound onto the instrument during rituals and ceremonies.

In the nineteen hundreds, drums were to be further built upon, and in time, the drum set was born. A drum set has: a tom-tom, cymbals, snare drums, and bass drums (one of them has a foot pedal to produce the sound. Other percussion instruments like bells, chimes, and wood blocks were included in the arsenal of instruments to produce even more sounds to add to the overall melody of a song. These collections were popular in the 30's up to the 50's, then drum kits similar to the types described above were necessary for rock groups. You were not a rock band if you were without drums.

Like other string-type instrument pieces, drums became digitized for more enhancement. Digital beat machines, keyboards, synthesizers, and drum machines allow for the individual to fabricate their own beats. These sounds created from synthesizers were unique and were not emulated from set of drums. Therefore, modern music employed these include these synthesizers in its repertoire of instruments.

Drums weren't just used for music. In fact, people of other continents used to beat drums as a form of speaking with one another. A series of beats would signal a comment that others in the tribe would understand. Drums further stood as a symbol of religion for Native Americans and people around the world. Most referred to drums as a male and give them as a gift to teen boys becoming men.

The drum produces a sound like nothing else. Drums have been included in genres like: rock and roll, jazz, bluegrass, classical music, and many more genres. Next time you attend a concert of any kind, look on the stage and you might see a drum or arrangement of drums of any type. These instruments are needed for percussion and low tones; because of this, these instruments can be a perfect addition to a concert or band of any kind. - 18758

About the Author:

Jim Samposzi is a gazetteer with over fifteen years editorial experience. Jim is consulting as a publicist with many well-known b2b portals and is considered the company authority on drum kits. Take the time to visit our very useful web portal for additional information on Junior Drum Set and Junior Drum Sets.

The History Of Vintage Synthesizers

By Michael Clakson

Synthesizers are musical instruments capable of producing a myriad of tones and sounds. Vintage synthesizers were more limited in capability than their modern counterparts. The appearance and size of synthesizers have also changed dramatically since they were initially introduced.

The first synthesizer, dubbed a "musical telegraph" was invented accidentally by Elisa Gray, inventor of the telephone, in 1876. Through the serendipitous discovery that one could control sound via a self-vibrating electromagnetic circuit, Gray developed a single-note oscillator. From this simple invention as well as primitive analog computers, early musical instruments, and laboratory test instruments, others created many different types of early synthesizers.

Ivor Darreg introduced a single microtonal electronic keyboard oboe in 1937, which was followed shortly thereafter by Evgeny Murzin's ANS synthesizer. The Columbia Princeton Electronic Music center in New York invented the Mark 2 Music Synthesizer in 1958. This synthesizer, which featured a vacuum tube system, could only be played after being manually programmed.

In 1958 another synthesizer was created by Daphne Oram at the BBC radio phonic Workshop, using the Oramics technique. This synthesizer was used by BBC for several years, along with different automated music controllers which were invented in the late 1940s and early 50s by Raymond Scott, John Hanert, Hugh Le Caine and some other inventors.

By 1960, modified synthesizers that could be played in real time were invented. They were so large that they had to be confined in the sound studio. Modern synthesizers have many more features than did vintage synthesizers, which were made simply of modular devices and normally had the piano tone. A few other tones were available but there was not much to choose from.

Vintage synthesizers were specially made devices that were very experimental. The mechanics were very much dependent on the concept of modularity. Robert Moog created a synthesizer which became a big hit with pop musicians at the time because of its small size and instrument-like appearance.

The first musician to use one of Moog's synthesizers in a mass-market recording was The Monkees' Micky Dolenz in their 1967 album "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd." Popularity of the Moog synthesizer soared following this album's release.

As time passed by new modifications started taking place on synthesizers. During this time their new models were invented. The new ones were far more updated then the vintage ones. But we should always remember that old age synthesizers were the first that made new age synthesizers. And for that reason, we shall always keep them in our minds. - 18758

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If you want to find out more about synthesizers, take a look at this website: Roland Jupiter 6

Learn to Play Guitar At Home

By Payo W Perry

Learning how to play guitar is quite intimidating when you're just starting out. Usually all you want is to be able to play something, no matter what it is, just to get a musical sound.

Often beginners will try to teach themselves only to end up frustrated and while it's true that there are many types of guitar lessons available today, which ones are correct for you?

Begin by looking at the kinds of things you'd eventually like to be playing. What style of music is it? What we're looking for here is a general compass point which is going to provide direction for future guitar lessons. If it's Jazz or Classical guitar for example then 1-1 lessons are advised.

This is due to the fact that your mastery of correct technique is very important for those styles of music. In other genres technique is not of such consequence and you can enjoy much more freedom to forge your own path. Such examples would be in Blues and Rock where students learn to play guitar free of structured exams or grades.

Lessons for guitar should be effective in communicating to you every aspect of what you're required to do. Not everyone can teach correctly, it's a skill to teach well and you will need to do your best to find good quality tuition.

Using the web to learn from home is a wonderful option and there are a few fantastic websites offering very cost effective solutions to learn guitar. You'll need to be self motivated and have a strong desire to play, this may be a problem for some but generally learning guitar online is excellent.

Remember that everything comes with consistent practice and you'll need to be patient in the beginning. Try to steadily build into more advanced techniques and always practice slowly and perfectly.

As a last point remember that all musicians find their own way. Youre going to have unique musical problems but the answers are always there with perseverance and motivation to get through them. When you learn to play guitar you learn about yourself. - 18758

About the Author:

The writer has a great resource site for anyone wishing to learn guitar. Guitar in a Nutshell is a popular new system of online acoustic guitar lessons with lots of free tutorials to try out and an online tuner as well. Visit the site for lots more info on learning to play guitar.