kastenet

KASTANET (Kingston Access to Science Teaching Across New and Emerging Technologies) is a collaborative project run by Kingston College in conjunction with Kingston University. It is exploring the impact of mobile learning within a large science access course. This area contains news and updates on project progress.

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.
The violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the type of music played on it. The word violin comes from the Middle Latin word vitula, meaning stringed instrument;^[1] this word is also believed to be the source of the Germanic "fiddle".^[2] The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the Gasparo da Salò, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. Great numbers of instruments have come from the hands of "lesser" makers, as well as still greater numbers of mass-produced commercial "trade violins" coming from cottage industries in places such as Saxony, Bohemia, and Mirecourt. Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers.
A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier, or simply a violin maker. The parts of a violin are usually made from different types of wood (although electric violins may not be made of wood at all, since their sound may not be dependent on specific acoustic characteristics of the instrument's construction), and it is usually strung with gut, nylon or other synthetic, or steel strings.
Someone who plays the violin is called a violinist or a fiddler. The violinist produces sound by drawing a bow across one or more strings (which may be stopped by the fingers of the other hand to produce a full range of pitches), by plucking the strings (with either hand), or by a variety of other techniques. The violin is played by musicians in a wide variety of musical genres, including Baroque music, classical, jazz, folk music, and rock and roll. The violin has come to be played in many non-western music cultures all over the world

A melodeon (also known as a cabinet organ or American organ) is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era. By 1840 forty builders are listed

gitar

Electric Guitars were formed early in 1980 by Neil Davenport (vocals, lyrics) and Richard Hall (bass, vocals) who were both studying English at Bristol University. The band soon increased to a five-man line-up, with Andy Saunders (guitar, vocals), Matt Salt (drums) and Dick Truscott (keyboards), they also later added two backing singers: Sara and Wendy. Their first single "Health" / "Continental Shelf" was released on local label Fried Egg Records in 1980.
They contributed four live tracks to the first edition of the The Bristol Recorder in 1980, and in 1981 released their second single "Work" / "Don’t Wake the Baby" on Recreational Records, which reached #45 on the UK Indie Chart.^[1] They toured as support to The Thompson Twins, which brought them to the attention of Stiff Records, who promptly signed them up. The band's first single for Stiff was "Language Problems" in 1982, and this was followed by an EP in the same year, from which Toni Basil recorded "Beat Me Hollow" for her TV special.^[2] Bert Muirhead in his 1982 book about Stiff Records, said about the band, “The combination of Stiff, Martin Rushent and Worldchief Management (OMITD etc) seems unstoppable. They will undoubtedly be very big in the mid 1980’s.”^[3] However, after the "Wolfman Tap" single on Naive Records, they disbanded in August 1983.

Sarah and Wendy Partridge went on to sing with Shriekback.

Gio-Bila Cinta Cover

Seruling

    Seruling merupakan sejenis alat muzik bunyi-bunyian yang paling popular di China, disebabkan alat muzik itu dibuat daripada buluh, maka juga dikenal sebagai “zhudi”.

Seruling dibuat dengan sebatang buluh dan badannya dibuka 8 lubang. Lubang pertama untuk ditiup, aliran tiupan masuk ke dalam badan buluh dan mengeluarkan bunyi.

Walaupun seruling itu kecil lagi sederhana, tetapi, alat muzik instrumen itu sudah bersejarah 7 ribu tahun. Kira-kira pada 4,500 tahun yang lalu, bahan buatan seruling diubah dari tulang kepada buluh. Pada zaman Maharaja Hanwu hujung abat pertama sebelum Masihi, seruling itu dikenal sebagai “Hengchui”, alat muzik tersebut menempati kedudukan penting dalam alat-alat muzik tiupan. Mulai abad ke-7, seruling itu telah diubahsuai, teknik permainannya berkembang maju dan boleh meniup muzik yang bertahap sangat tinggi. Hingga abad ke-10, seruling menjadi alat muzik instrumen utama dalam orkestra opera kalangan rakyat dan opera etnik minoriti.

Seruling kaya dengan banyak daya permainan, ia selain boleh memainkan irama yang panjang, tinggi dan lapang, tetapi juga muzik tarian yang riang gembira dan iramanya yang merdu juga ditiup. Selain itu, bunyi-bunyian seruling juga dapat meniru suara burung.

Piano

Piano iaitu alat muzik yang dimain melalui keyboardnya. Ia menghasilkan bunyi apabila tali kelulinya dimain dengan penukul kain felt. Penukul itu melantun dengan serta-merta dan membenarkan tali keluli terus bergetar pada frekuensi resonansnya.^[2] Getaran ini dipindahkan melalui kekuda ke bod suara untuk menguatkan bunyinya.

Kompang

 
Kompang ialah sejenis alat muzik tradisional yang paling popular bagi masyarakat Melayu. Ia
tergolong dalam kumpulan alat muzik gendang. Kulit kompang biasanya diperbuat daripada kulit kambing.
Pada kebiasaannya, seurat rotan akan diselit dari bahagian belakang antara kulit dan bingkai kayu bertujuan menegangkan permukaan kompang, bertujuan menguatkan bunyi kompang. Kini, gelung plastik turut digunakan.
Alat muzik ini berasal dari dunia Arab dan dipercayai dibawa masuk ke Tanah Melayu sama ada ketika zaman Kesultanan Melaka oleh pedagang India Muslim, atau melalui Jawa pada abad ke-13 oleh pedagang Arab.
Kompang biasanya berukuran enam belas inci ukur lilit dan ditutup dengan kepingan kulit pada sebelah permukaan. Ia mempunyai bukaan cetek dan dimainkan dengan memegang dengan sebelah tangan sementara dipalu dengan sebelah tangan yang lain.

Gambar belakang bahagian kompang. Kelihatan gelung plastik tebal yang digunakan bagi menala bunyi kompang dengan menyelit antara bingkai dan kulit penutup. Pada waktu dahulu, rotan digunakan.

Cara memalu kompang ialah dengan menepuk kulit kompang dengan bahagian jari-jari atau tapak tangan mengikut rentak. Kompang biasanya dimainkan semasa perarakan, kenduri dan upacara-upacara tradisi lain.
Bunyi yang berlainan dihasilkan dengan membezakan cara bukaan tapak tangan. Bunyi 'bum' di perolehi dengan tepukan di sisi kompang dan tapak tangan dikuncup/rapat. Bunyi 'pak' di perolehi dengan tepukan di tengah kompang dengan jari tangan yang terbuka.
Paluan kompang terbahagi kepada 2 bahagian iaitu paluan tradisi dan paluan moden ataupun kreatif. Paluan tradisi adalah paluan di mana memukul kompang sambil menyayi ataupun bersyair dalam versi Arab ataupun bahsa Melayu klasik. Manakala paluan moden pula di mana paluan tersebut diselitkan dengan gerakan ataupun tarian. Di Sabah, pertandingan kompang sering diadakan untuk memartabatkan kembali kesenian Melayu yang telah hampir pupus ini.

Biola

Biola atau violin adalah sejenis alat muzik bertali yang dimainkan dengan mengunakan penggesek biola (bow). Biola mempunyai empat tali dan leher yang tidak mempunyai fret. Ia dimainkan dengan cara menggesek tali-tali tersebut dan hujung biola diletakkan di bahu pemain. Terdapat beberapa alat lain dalam keluarga biola, contohnya viola dan selo. Bezanya adalah dari segi saiz (kerana bunyi yang dikeluarkan berbeza), namun cara bermain adalah sama. Biola adalah yang terkecil dan mengeluarkan pic yang paling tinggi. Biola dibuat oleh tukang lut (luthier).