On This Day …

1822 – Composer Cesar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was born.
1908 – Composer Olivier Messiaen was born.
1965 – The Grateful Dead played their first concert. The show took place at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA.
1968 – John Lennon made his first solo TV appearance.
1976 – “Wings over America,” by Paul McCartney’s was released.
1988 – Bill Harris of the Clovers died of cancer at the age of 63
1992 – The musical “My Favorite Year” opened.

On This Day …

1791 – Composer Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner was born.
1837 – Composer Charles-Emile Waldteufel was born.
1882 – Composer Joaquin Turina was born.
1963 – The first Supremes album, “Meet the Supremes,” was released.
1964 – The John Coltrane Quartet recorded “Love Supreme.”
1972 – Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” was released.
1974 – George Harrison released his first album on his Dark Horse label, entitled “Dark Horse.”
1984 – The Jacksons played their last show together in Los Angeles, CA.
1992 – Bill Wyman left the Rolling Stones after over 30 years with the group.
1993 – The musical revival of “My Fair Lady” opened.

On This Day …

1731 – Composer Frantisek Xaver Dusek was born.
1813 – Beethoven’s “Opus 92: Symphony No. 7 in A major” was performed for the first time.
1865 – Composer Jean (Johan) Julius Christian Sibelius was born.
1882 – Composer Manuel Maria Ponce was born.
1890 – Composer Bohuslav Martinu was born.
1980 -In New York City, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon to death. Earlier in the day, Lennon had autographed an album for Chapman.
1998 – The FBI opened its files on Frank Sinatra to the public. The file contained over 1,300 pages.
2000 – Sting received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On This Day …

1637 – Composer Bernardo Pasquini was born.
1840 – Composer Hermann Goetz was born.
1842 – The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.
1863 – Composer Pietro Mascagni was born.

Computer Generated Music is everywhere around us!

In several blogs we have talked about a growing presence of computer generated music. We have discussed its beginnings and novelties it had brought into the theory of music. Now it s time to discuss computer generated music omnipresence. For those who are still not very fond of the “magical link” between music and technique, here are some examples that proof this symbiosis.

Since the beginning of electronic era people has started to experiment and generate electronic music. During its development, digital era has improved computers to the point at which is almost impossible to even compose music without using a computer. Today’s computer generated music is highly sophisticated. It is possible to compose, arrange and perform music without even getting close to the piano keyboard. Percentage of the composers who don’t use computers is getting smaller and smaller, so we can almost say that way of composing without computer is considered as “old fashioned” and uninventive.

The spectrum of computer generated music is really wide. There are even specialized web sites, FTP servers, USENET downloads and many other sources that provide great music to the audience – and for free! Also, even you can sample, mix, remix, etc. music – using just your own computer – in search for wanted sound. So, if you still haven’t discovered the magic of computer generated music, I highly recommend you to start a.s.a.p.

On This Day …

1660 – Composer Andre Campra was born.
1667 – Composer Michel Pignolet de Monteclair was born.
1879 – Composer Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty was born.
1961 – Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl” was released.
1976 – Tommy Bolin of Deep Purple died of a drug overdose at the age of 25.
1980 – Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones made the announcement of their decision not to re-form Led Zeppelin in the wake of the death of drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham.
1987 – Metallica released the “Cliff ‘Em All” video collection.
1988 – Roy Orbison gave his final concert in Akron, OH. He died two days later.
1995 – Michael Jackson appeared with legendary mime Marcel Marceau at New York news conference promoting a Jackson special airing on HBO.
2001 – Gene Simmons’ book “Kiss and Make-Up” was released.

On This Day …

1634 – Composer Andres de Sola was born.
1813 – Composer Charles-Henri Valentin Alkan was born.
1859 – Composer Sergei Mikhailovich Liapunov was born.
1982 – Metallica played their final concert with Ron McGovney.
1988 – LL Cool J performed the first rap concert held in Africa.

How did it all start?

“It was the start of the computer age.” Mr Tootill

Forties of the 20^th century seem so far away today. It looks like everything was at the very beginning, and that it was almost impossible to imagine a strong expansion of informatics era. Or, at least, this is the way outsiders who don’t know much about informatics and computer science think. During the forties, scientists have devotedly and truly worked on all those things we have nowadays developed and improved. At that time, Manchester was a place where scientists intensively considered and tested possibilities of a commercial computer. That is how Manchester has become a “home” of the world’s first commercial computer – Ferranti Mark 1 (also known as Manchester Electronic Computer). Ferrenti Mark 1’s forebear was named Baby.

Mark 1 made the earliest known recording of computer music, playing a mixture of “God Save the King”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “In the Mood”. This recording was made by the BBC at the end of 1951. Programming was done by Christopher Strachey, a teacher of mathematics at Harrow and a friend of Alan Turing (famous British mathematician).

On This Day …

1934 – Composer Alfred Schnittke was born.
1972 – ABC-TV debuted “In Concert.”
1985 – Singer Big Joe Turner died of a heart attack.
1991 – Freddie Mercury of Queen died of AIDS complications at the age of 45.

On This Day …

1663 – Composer Friederich Wilhelm Zachow was born.
1719 – Composer Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was born.
1778 – Composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born.
1805 – Composer Fanny Cacilia Mendelssohn Hensel was born.
1900 – Composer Aaron Copland was born.
1943 – Leonard Bernstein made his debut with the New York Philhamonic.
1961 – The Elvis Presley film “Blue Hawaii” premiered.
1970 – Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” was released.
1995 – The Rolling Stones released their acoustic “Stripped” album.
2000 – Marilyn Manson’s released “Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death).”