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General Interest

  1. Studying Music Improves Your Mind

    There have been several studies that come to the same conclusion: when children take music lessons, their minds improve in several ways compared to children who do not study music. Memory is enhanced and math abilities are especially improved.


    The studies agree that these improvements take place after only a few months of study. The longer the student studies music, the greater is the effect.


    From my own experience I have inferred that this is true. As regular ...
  2. Backstage at the Minnesota Orchestra

    Once again I had the opportunity to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra this week. I'll discuss more about the musical side in a future post, but I noticed a few interesting bits of trivia while I was there.


    First, as an electronics hobbyist (in my past), I found this really unusual electronic tuner for instruments. It is of the type that sounds one of 12 tones for the player to match. It appears to have a fine-tuning control.





    The next interesting ...
  3. Instrumental Pop Songs?

    Have you heard any top 20 pop songs that were all instrumental? Have you noticed that many popular songs don't even use instrumental interludes? There is an interesting article on Slate discussing and documenting this:


    Words, Words, Words

  4. Staff of Car Talk

    OK, this is WAY off the tuba-euphonium topic, but a person needs to laugh now and then. If you ever listen to the NPR show Car Talk and heard the end credits, you may have already gotten a chuckle from the clever names they come up with for their staff. A few examples are:


    Dyslexic Rock and Roll Music Critic: Roland Rock

    Elvis Impersonator: Amal Shookup

    Emergency Preparedness Director: Ron Lykell

    Creative Director: Drew A. Blank

    ...
  5. Twin Cities Event Coming Up - Bowman, Perantoni, and More

    The 6th annual Tubonium event is coming up on March 13-15. It is a must-attend event for tuba and euphonium players in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. This year they are featuring Brian Bowman on euphonium, Dan Perantoni on tuba, and the University of Wisconsin - Madison Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble under the direction of John Stevens.


    As usual there are many other artists around who you will want to meet and chat with. There will be several vendors, and it's a great chance to try out ...
  6. Greatest Musical Instrument Museum In The World

    This aptly-named site has a wonderful video showing instruments in many contexts from all around the world. I saw several I have never seen before. There was even some screen time for a Sousaphone and a euphonium.


    Greatest Musical Instrument Museum In The World
  7. Merry Christmas!

    I hope all my readers are having a nice holiday season. As my family is in the midst of celebrating Christmas, I wanted to offer you this simple puzzle:


    Christmas Puzzle


    Have fun!
  8. Free Time Over Thanksgiving?

    If you have some free time this weekend (or any time), there are a couple sites on the Web that let you donate food to starving countries for free. All they ask is that you visit - you don't have to buy anything. (And NO, neither of these is a scam or joke.)


    The first and most well-known is The Hunger Site. Just click the big button and a donation is made. After clicking you see ads from the site's sponsors. You are not required to click on those ads (but you should if they look ...
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