aclJohn's Music Finds

The BBC has unveiled a new archive of world music, allowing visitors to sample music traditions of more than 40 countries.

• Brazil,
  
• China,
• Corsica,
  
• Cuba,
• India,
  
• Iran,  
  
• Mozambique,
• Turkey - and many more.

This eclectic collection of indigenous music was collected by visiting each country (including several conflict zones) to record live music.

Featuring 100s of hours of free recordings, this archive is now available to a global audience. You can start exploring right now.

Visit...

Blues Maker is a fun online tool where users select Lyrics and Harmonica effects to make their own piece of music.

In the words of the website,

"Let the sadness out of your heart. After gathering it all, click next and sing along. Foot stomping is recommended."

Visit http://www.thebluesmaker.com/ and make music! 

As you will all be aware from previous blogs, thanks to the internet, in order to create music, users no longer need to know how to play an instrument.

If they want to create something, they can use various online services and mashup "music loops" to create something unique. Soundation is one such website.

Soundation is an online free music mixing program that has many sound loops. The interface is divided into parts..

• the left pane is for audio channels;
• users can set the volume an...

Cantanding is an online karaoke service that can be used by everybody, everywhere, and at no cost whatsoever.

All users have to do, in order to start singing, is...

• Enter the artist's name and the title of the song you want to sing in this way:
  ARTIST - SONG
  Example: Michael Jackson - Beat it
• a list of matching results will be provided; then
  
• click on the one that seems appropriate.

Note: The actual songs are from YouTube, so Cantanding is likely to find most requests.

Just in cas...

Ever wondered why...

• ...your singing sounds great in the shower?
• ...some songs get 'stuck' in your head?
• ...you hear base from a neighbour's stereo, but not the treble?
• ...some music gives you 'goose bumps'?
• ...your recorded voice sounds so strange to you? etc.

Access answers to these and other questions, movies, and online exhibits at http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/index.html.

Oh! And on the way visitors can...

• Compose;
• Mix;
• Dance;
• Drum;
• Experiment and above all...
• Listen.
  

JamStudio is a website that makes song composition easier by allowing users to...

• choose an instrument loop;
  
• plug in basic chord changes; and
  
• listen to what they have created — all within seconds.
  All of this is done rather intuitively by clicking on boxes/menus/etc.
  

A basic knowledge of music theory is helpful but, it is not necessary for making music at Jamstudio, which has...

• a free (with adverts) version that doesn’t require any login information (this is ideal for learners...

The Drumbot wesbite hosts several disparate services and tools into one, but they have one thing in common: they are all geared towards musicians.

The tools include...

• metronomes;
• guitar tuners;
• pattern sequencers; and
• a drumbot that can sit in as a drummer to jam with.

There is also a fifth tool called “Tap BPM” which enables users to tap the keyboard in order to find the beat of any song.

Find out more and/or use the tools at http://www.drumbot.com/.

Note: All of these tools can...

If you have learners who don't have access to a Piano and/or don’t want to spend tons of money on an actual instrument, here is something they may like.

VirtualPiano lets users play a piano online with computer keyboard.

Each letter on your keyboard corresponds to a key on the piano.

VirtualPiano can be used to record compositions and play it back afterward. Moreover users can change the music and the style of the piano.

I am told, I must admit I have no idea, that the virtual pian...

Classical.com provides a large, comprehensive specialist music service for..

• Classical,
  
• Jazz & Blues and
  
• World music.

Customers enjoy ownership of music as downloads (MP3 in 192k high quality) or by subscription which includes unlimited listening (streaming at 128k, the same quality as downloads from iTunes) and selected free album downloads.

Complete information about...

• the major recordings,
• composer biographies, and
• listening guides...

...are provided. Sheet music is also availab...

Have you, or your learners, ever created a multimedia project and wanted to add music to it but did want to infringe on copyright regulations?

Well Jamendo could become a one stop shop resource. Make sure the artist is given credit and users can use most of the music on their site for free.

Note: This is one of a number of sites that I have found that provides music for projects. It can also be used by artists

Just visit http://www.jamendo.com/en/ to find out more.