Moogfest 2010 tickets now on sale

Aficionados of the annual Moogfest will already know that tickets went on sale for this year’s event last Friday, but for the rest, here’s your notice that you can now buy tickets to Moogfest 2010.

Moogfest – the annual event honoring the remarkable vision of Robert Moog and his amazing musical inventions that changed the course of music – is reinventing itself. This year, moogfest 2010 will move from New York City to Asheville, NC – the place Bob Moog called home for the last 30 years of his life – and will expand to a 3-day, multi-venue event during the weekend of October 29 -31, 2010. During the festival, moogfest 2010 will host artists and audiences from throughout the world in different venues throughout Asheville’s beautiful, historic downtown.

Moogfest 2010 will celebrate Bob Moog’s legacy as a sonic pioneer, which will be the thread that unites the festival’s rich array of musical offerings. While the wide range of Moog instruments – the Minimoog Voyager, the Little Phatty, the Etherwave Theremin, Moogerfoogers, and the new Moog Guitar – will play prominent roles throughout the festival’s events, the artists performing will certainly not be limited to those who create their work on Moog instruments. Instead, artists will be chosen for their role in creating unique and groundbreaking musical experiences that embody the essence of Bob Moog’s visionary and creative spirit.

In addition to fantastic concerts by renowned performers of all kinds, moogfest 2010 will also offer opportunities to engage with the artists in panel discussions, question and answer sessions, and workshops. There will also be interactive experiences for the audience to explore their own musical creativity with a variety of Moog instruments. The festival will also offer visual art exhibitions, installations, and film screenings throughout the weekend.

Confirmed artists include Devo, Mgmt, Big Boi, EL-P, Panda Bear, The Octopus Project, Kuroma, Bonobo, Van Dyke Parks, Caribou, Mountain Man, Emeralds, School of Seven Bells, Four Tet, Jonsi, Jon Hopkins, The Disco Biscuits, Massive Attack, Pretty Lights, Hot Chip, Two Fresh, Dan Deacon, Mimosa, DJ Spooky, and many more.

There will be a range of “engaging and interactive workshops, panels and much more”, with more details to come.

Moogfest 2010

Yamaha CF Series of handcrafted concert grand pianos introduced

Yamaha has announced its new CF Series of handcrafted acoustic grand pianos.

The three models, including the full-size (9 foot) CFX concert grand, the CF4 (6’3″) and CF6 (7′), are based on extensive research and development including play testing with some of the world’s top classical performers.

The new CF Series is unique in that many artists got involved with the design,” said Mark Anderson, marketing director for Yamaha’s Keyboard Division. “Most excelled in all music genres, but the focus was on classical performance. The result is an instrument that will appeal to the world.”

“We compared prototypes on stage in large concert halls against the best our competition had to offer in order to evaluate their positive qualities, as well as their limitations. Using this knowledge, we can now offer players incredible artistic possibilities.”

The CFX replaces Yamaha’s acclaimed CFIIIS concert grand piano.

Full specifications and exact launch date are to be confirmed.

Yamaha C7 grand piano accompanies Star Wars: In Concert

The greatest film saga and the greatest film music composed will come together this fall for Star Wars: in Concert, a multi-media touring event that will feature a Yamaha C7 grand piano.

Star Wars: In Concert combines John Williams’ unforgettable music, performed by a live symphony orchestra and chorus, with specially edited footage from all six Star Wars films. Through each musical piece, audiences experience the key themes, characters and story elements of the epic Star Wars saga in a fresh and exciting way.

Live narration by Anthony Daniels, who portrayed C-3PO in all six films, introduces each segment of the two-hour show, guiding audiences on a remarkable journey into the heart of a galaxy far, far away.

In addition to the main event, guests will have access to an exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props and production work, gathered from the Lucasfilm archives.

The worldwide concert tour begins Oct. 1 in Anaheim, CA at the Honda Center and plans to hit 50 North American cities before embarking on a global jaunt. To purchase tickets and see the full tour schedule, visit www.StarWarsInConcert.com.

iPhone musician to play Wembley Stadium

When the iPhone was first launched it didn’t immediately jump up and shout about its music creation credentials. Sure, it’s an iPod, but that’s really about playback of music — the closest I really expected it to get to music creation was by hooking two or more together with some digital decks and DJing with them.

Nevertheless, two years on and with third-party applications aplenty, the iPhone has such gems as Star Guitar, noise.io, PaklSound1, Bloom, SynthPond, and numerous other music composition and synth creation tools.

Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that the iPhone will be the gadget star of forthcoming concerts at Wembley Stadium:

The London Evening Standard reports:

Singer, songwriter and producer Gary Go will be playing his iPhone instead of guitars and drums at a series of Take That concerts in July.

Go, 24 – real name Gary Baker – has already written several tracks for his first album using software downloaded to the phone. He used it to recreate guitars, drums, piano and horn sections.

All the demos for his album were laid down using a virtual four-track recording studio installed on his phone.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that I’m going to be using a mobile phone on stage at Wembley Stadium in front of so many people. I grew up behind the stadium, and used to listen to concerts in my back garden, ” said Go, whose single Open Arms is released on 11 May.

“My biggest worry is that my phone will ring mid-song.”

We’ll be ramping up our coverage of iPhone musical apps over the coming weeks, because (particularly for a mobile phone/entertainment device) there’s some pretty nifty bits of software available to complement or even replace recording studio and live performance gear and PC software.

Classical piano improvisation is the order from Gabriela Montero

While there’s some element of improvisation (interpretation is probably a better word to describe it) in all performances of classical piano music, pianist Gabriela Montero takes this to a different level by taking requests from the audience and improvising her show.

What might be sacrilege to some, she incorporates soap opera themes, pop music tunes and even nursery rhymes into her original works.

Sounds interesting. You can catch some of her work on her MySpace page (how many classically trained pianists have that, I wonder) or her official web site. Certainly sound like an impressively talented musician however she chooses to interpret the classics.

(Via BlogTO)