Hornmaker - Not what you think. Joe Becker specializes in custom carved powder horns (i.e cow horns), combs, hair clasps, etc. Links to other makers of custom horn creations.
Classical Music Themes in films, radio & TV
Flash Fabrica is compendium of brain teasers, games, and puzzles (example: Test #4 - find out the "age of your brain"). It is in Japanese, but this link is to a sort-of English translation. Fun stuff!!
Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the Pentatonic Scale
Cool Tools - "cook, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material or website... that are new and wonderful." Many categories, including computers, design, photography, aural, edibles, dwelling family, culture, health, vehicles, life on earth, play, learning...
Internet Yodel Course - "Will make you smile, guaranteed."
Instructables - "a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others." If there is any smidgeon of "Do-It-Self"ness in you, this is the place to go to learn from others and to share what you know. Random samples of articles: Make a Pita Pizza in 5 min.; Simple Metalworksing Techniques; Inexpensive Halogen Music Stand Light, Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin Guitar Solo; Cigarette Packet Camera Flash Diffuser; Stuff You Can do with a 55 gal. Drum; How to Get a Free Yacht; Bike Painting Tips; Linoleum Block Printing; Making a Bell Tetrahedral Kite; Volume of a Sphere, and so on.
Cheapesttextbooks.com - a terrific idea: a web site that will search the web for the best offers for used college textbooks. The link here will take you to "Art & Music" textbooks - unfortunately mixed together, but if you can wade through it all (or just use the Search funchtion) to find the textbook you're looking for, you will be offered an array of unbeatable low prices for used textbooks.
Have a look also at TextbookX.com - new and used discount textbooks, general reading, and reference titles. 930,000 titles in stock, average savings of 50% off. Students can also sell used textbooks.
There's also Chegg.com, where you can actually rent textbooks.
Horn Lamp. How can you live
without one of these? Available from Ken Pope.
Musipedia - "A searchable, editable, and expandable collection of tunes, melodies, and musical themes" inspired by Wikipedia. Have a tune in your head but can't remember where you heard it? You can enter a series of notes in Musipedia (by online keyboard, contour, sing or whistle it, or put in the rhythm) and it will return suggestions of possible tunes - notated! I put in the beginning of "How Dry I Am" and got back ten pages of possibilities. See also the Wikipedia article on Musipedia.
Classical Music in Movie Soundtracks - Ever wonder what that sort-of-familiar music in the soundtrack of your favorite movie? This is the place to come to find out. See also ClassicalThemes
Online Tuner - Slick online tuner by Seventh String Software. Also downloadable as a zip file.
Online Metronome - Slick online metronome by Seventh String Software. Also downloadable as a zip file.
Gig After Gas Online Calculator - Enables musicians to calculate travel expenses and compare with pay.
All Brass Band Internet Radio - for fans of British-style brass bands.
Odd Music - "Experimental music, unique, unusual, strange, weird musical instruments. Look, listen, explore, participate."
Revival Clothing - missed your true century? This site makes it easy to dress in medieval clothing (including boots, underwear, and accessories). See also The Society for Creative Anachronism
Conductorcise with Maestro David Dworkin
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Army Bugle Calls - notated and recorded examples of army bugle calls. More information here.
Blackout Poems - Writer, cartoonist, and designer Austin Kleon creates "poems" by blacking out text in the New York Times - what's unblacked is the poem.
Cartoons by Kliban
Andrew Crawford's hand made
decorative boxes:
The Reactable
"The Reactable is a collaborative electronic music
instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface."
You have to see it to appreciate (and perhaps believe) it:
Quirkology - is a term created by
Prof. Richard Wiseman to refer to quirky psychology and
experiments, such as the above video. There are more
videos at the web site, plus more information on the
subject and links to the book on the subject.
Phantom Words and Other
Curiosities
From Wikipedia: "Harry Partch (1901-1974) was an American composer and instrument builder. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-make instruments he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation."
This site lets you "play" Harry Partch's original instruments (using your computer keyboard), such as the Bass Marimba, the Quadrangularus Reversum, The Boo [bamboo marimba], The Cloud Chamber Bowls, the Zymo-Xyl, and the Harmonic Canon (I, II & III). There are also recorded sound clips of the instruments plus clips of Partch describing the instruments and they are made and played. Amazing stuff!
The French Horn Hotel & Restaurant in Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire, UK
30 minutes from Heathrow. Signature dish in the restaurant is "duck, spit-roasted in front of the bar and carved at the table."
The French Horn - pub. "Built in
1640, the French Horn is a delightful, historic pub in
Alton, Hampshire - a town renowned for its brewing
heritage. With the help of new chefs and a lot of
maintenance, the French Horn has been restored to its
former glory and is an ideal eating venue in North East
Hampshire, both night and day, seven days a week."
