Interchanging Idioms

Alisa Weilerstein joined Pacific Symphony for Dvorak's Cello Concerto and stunned the audience I love going to see a wide variety of classical concerts particularly when I get to see artists like Alisa in a variety of settings, playing a variety of pieces and watch their growth as an artist. It was my pleasure to see Alisa Weilerstein several years ago performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Vail Valley Music Festival (2009) where she played Schelomo, Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra . She has matured as a cellist over the past few years and she was pretty amazing back then. Where in Vail she inhabited the voice (and face) of Solomon, last night her performance pulled out both the demanding intensity Dvorak lavishly spreads throughout the first movement, while diving into the depth of despair in the second. The third movement frolics a bit, swerves toward the chaotic and then plummets into the pathos even deeper than before. It was an emotional roller-coaster and Ms Wei

Dave Brubeck dies at 91 A jazz legend died today, at Norwalk Hospital, near his home in Wilton, Connecticut. His famous "Take Five" is one of the great jazz pieces, and ushered in a whole world of different time signatures and irregular rhythms bringing jazz into the main stream. Although early on fellow jazz musicians felt Dave's piano playing didn't swing, he taught the world a new meaning to swing relying on shifting meter and intricate rhythmic play. Back in the mid 70's I was just coming into my own as a musicians (albeit still in 8th grade). I was first chair trombone in a school jazz band and fell in love with making music. It was this year I first heard "Take Five" and it's been my favorite piece of music every since. If you listen to my music today, you'll heard elements of those initial irregular rhythms that seem to somehow feel regular pervasive throughout. While I have studied Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Debussy, Shostakovich, Copla

Instrumental Solo or Duo Christian Mason Learning Self- Modulation Chamber Thomas Adés The Four Quarters Vocal Colin Matthews No Man’s Land Choral Gabriel Jackson Airplane Cantata Wind Band or Brass Band Simon Dobson A Symphony of Colours Orchestral Sir Harrison Birtwistle Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Stage Works Jocelyn Pook DESH Liturgical Francis Grier Missa Brevis Sonic Art Ray Lee The Ethometric Museum Contemporary Jazz Composition Christine Tobin Sailing to Byzantium Community or Educational Paul Rissmann The Chimpanzees of Project Happytown Making Music Award Emily Howard Mesmerism for Piano and Chamber Orchestra International Award Thomas Larcher Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra The Awards were presented at a ceremony at Goldsmiths' Hall, on Monday 3rd December 2012 which opened with a performance of Gareth Moorcraft’s Rondo? – winner of the third Student Competition at the British Composer Awards – performed by members

When there are literally thousands of miles between the musicians, the sound engineers and the composer, trying to get all the pieces to fit together can be a monumental task. TwtrSymphony is in the last stages of releasing the 4th movement of Birds of a Feather , their debut symphony. So far the first three movements have been met with great enthusiasm, the videos averaging over 1000 views within the first 30 days and the music downloads beyond all expectations. Still, you'd think for an organization that has been playing together for eight months we'd have the process down. Far from it! With remote recording sessions the variety of recording levels from one track to the next. Is the flute really meant to be the focus in this section or is the volume of their track just that much higher than the strings? The engineer has to make choices as to what works and what doesn't. Then, he/she has to send the track to the producer (me) to make suggestions as to changing the volu

Music is by its very nature a social art form. Therefore it only makes sense that music would do so well with social media I look around a some of the big names on Twitter and realize music has an huge influence on our community. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and Shakira have over 200 million fans combined. Granted there are probably a fair number of these fans who follow more than just one (if not all) of the above noted names in the music industry. Still, their combined reach is estimated at over a billion people. IF you could get all seven of these 'stars' to tweet about the same thing you'd be reaching nearly a sixth of the world population. Wow, the power of music! Seven of the top ten Twitter feeds are directly related to music. Twelve of the top Fifteen Facebook pages are music personalities. That shows the importance our society (and as a result social media) places on music. If music is this important to us, and the

People think there is a catch to TwtrSymphony TwtrSymphony is an orchestra founded because I write orchestra music and need an orchestra to play it. The problem I face getting my music played by other orchestras is simple: Music Directors and Conductors are extremely busy. Even if they're willing to give my music a glance (and few of them are willing unless they already have a personal relationship with me), they often don't do more than listen to the first couple of minutes of music. If the music doesn't grab them by that point, they're done and my score goes no further. While some will accept midi realizations, again, these who do are by far the minority. Even those who accept midi realizations prefer live recordings. So, composers need live-orchestras to record their music if they have any hope of getting music played by a live orchestra — rather a catch-22. I believe TwtrSymphony is the perfect solution to this conundrum. We perform 140 seconds (or 2 mins, 20

Book review Typically this blog is about music, but there is more to my life than just music. So, today I branch out into discussing a book I just finished Redshirts by John Scalzi. It is a wonderful read, even for people who aren't Science Fiction fans, those who have no knowledge of Star Trek and the related issues with unexplained deaths of those who wear red shirts, and even people who prefer reading gritty crime novels, present day character studies or sappy romance books. Redshirts is a thought-provoking romp, with lots of comedy, philosophical questions and the appropriate number of tugs on the heart strings. In the end, the "Redshirts" win in more than just they get their own story — they get a back story we care about. Redshirts are the people on the television show Star Trek who, for one reason or another (and often really lame reasons) end up dying, to give a sense of potential danger to the situation. "What's going to happen to the main charac

Tweet your Q's to #TwtrTpc to answers from the sound engineer professionals of TwtrSymphony all day today. They'll try to answer questions on Twitter, but all your questions will be posted here tomorrow - with as many answers as possible. Also look for future posted with more in-depth answers to the more difficult questions. WOW, the conversations were fast and furious today. A HUGE thank-you to Felipe for fielding so many questions. Although, I have a feeling anyone reading today's discussion will only have more. That's OK - you can tweet them to #TwtrTpc OR email to TwtrSymphony . We'll get you an answer! ails: What programme should I se for my recording. Been using mixpadaudio on my laptop #TwtrTpc Felipe Gonzalez: Hi: we have posted some options here… http://www.instantencore.com/buzz/item.aspx?FeedEntryId=215574 Jeff Freeman: #TwtrTpc I use a Zoom H2 as a USB mic into my Windows laptop. Mixcraft 6 is my software of choice. Felipe Gonzalez: NIce

Felipe actually tweeted these gems to the musicians of TwtrSymphony, but they were SO good I had to share Violin recorded with 1 mic at 1 mt, room by 2 mics. No eq, no edit no plugins. Quick thoughts: Headphones for recording?, Closed Back or In Ear type. On both cases not the cheap ones, here, more $ is better. MAC, Windows or Linux OS?, it doesn't matter.If you setup the computer correctly, all of them will perform OK Which Audio Interface?, one with at least 1 Mic input and headphones output, USB 2 or Firewire for faster speed. An external Audio Interface will sound better than the computer built in, allowing better recordings from you. DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is recording software in your computer. Purchased software options: ProTools, Logic, DP, Cubase. More purchased DAW options: Audition, Nuendo, Vegas. Some free DAW options: Audacity and Ardour. Felipe and Garry will get checking in on Twitter throughout Thursday to answer your technical questions. Tw

Following up on some of what was discussed yesterday: What are some of the way TwtrSymphony can effectively communicate the different dynamic levels to the various musicians considering none of the musicians are in the same room? Right now these are all issues resolved in the editing room. A number of musicians commented about the struggle to get the right dynamic levels for their recording not playing in the same room with the rest of the ensemble. So... how we do resolve this: It has already been suggested we create principal chair positions, who play the first parts to provide a guide for the rest of the musicians. Are the other options? What does this mean for the principal players and how do we get them to have the same dynamic levels? The conversation wasn't as active today, but still some good points to take away. We even had a comment from someone outside of TwtrSymphony — of course, those comments are welcome too. More dynamic markings in the score Use composite mi

TwtrSymphony examines what's it like to play in a virtual orchestra with today's Twitter Topic (TwtrTpc) We'll be following TwtrSymphony musicians today to see how they respond to today's topic. - so come back tomorrow to see what they've said - and catch tomorrows TwtrTpc As the Music Director/Composer-in-Residence, I'm familiar with the tracks as they come in. It's surprising to me how good two individual tracks can sound. Yet put them together and the slight differences between attack and release are extremely noticeable. Trying to write music that allows musicians a chance to express themselves and yet capture that ensemble, everyone playing together feeling is a real challenge. It was a lively discussion today &#8212 obviously one we should have done months ago. We chatted about: the difficulties of not being in the same room potentially using skype or Ninjam as an alternative struggling with the concepts of dynamics (and tempo) lots of inform

"Tremulando Dança" is the third movement and is Portuguese for Fluttering Dance. As might be typical for a third movement in a classical symphony the minuet and trio is used with a nod toward the Scherzo or "joke." The music dances about in an altered rumba beat for the minuet, with the trio a modified waltz with some unlikely shifts in the beat. The minuet keeps the heavy use of 13/8 as the main underlying meter. You can download the music from TwtrSymphony's website: twtrsymphony.instantencore.com . Want to get involved? TwtrSymphony is always looking for new people who want to connect with other musicians from around the world. Click here for more information.

Pre-release copies are available NOW for FANS ONLY Monday, October 15th, TwtrSymphony will release the long awaited 3rd movement of Symphony No. 2 Birds of a Feather , "Tremulando Dança." This piece, which some of our musicians called, "the most difficult, yet rewarding music" is finally out of the studio and ready for the public. Sound Engineers Garry Boyle and Felipe Gonzalez have been working on this track now for nearly two months. When you hear the complexity of the voicing, the interweaving rhythms and the intricate interplay of the various melodies you'll understand their struggle. Complicating their efforts is the fact that none of the musicians recorded their parts in the same room. The whole concept of TwtrSymphony is connecting musicians from around the world. So, "Tremulando Dança" is a piece comprised of recordings from all over, brought together in the studios of Garry (in Edinburgh Scotland) and Felipe (in Concón, Chile) to cre

On October 30 in North America Decca will release the debut album of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein. The album features the Edward Elgar and Elliott Carter Cello Concertos, and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei performed with conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle. Ms. Weilerstein signed an exclusive recording contract with Decca in October 2010 and is the first cellist to sign with the record label in over thirty years. Ms. Weilerstein said, “It has been a thrill to work with Decca Classics. Performing and recording the Elgar Concerto with Maestro Barenboim has immeasurably deepened my relationship with the work, and it has been an honor to record Elliott Carter's Concerto. The Staatskapelle Berlin has been an outstanding musical partner, and I can't say enough about my producers Andrew Keener and Friedemann Engelbrecht. I am so excited to finally share with the world what has been, for me, an unforgettable experience in every way.” Ms. Weilerstein gave a speci

INCLUDES DELUXE LIMITED EDITION WITH BONUS DVD “MY LIFE WITH CHOPIN” AVAILABLE OCTOBER 9 The music of Chopin – universally loved for its beauty and communicative power – has long been a dynamic force in Lang Lang’s life, propelling him through a number of career-defining experiences. Now, in his 30th-birthday year, Lang Lang records his first album entirely devoted to the great composer’s solo piano masterpieces. The Chopin Album – Lang Lang’s third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz. Chopin “speaks with such a universal voice,” Lang Lang says. “I genuinely believe he’s a true ambassador for classical music among the great composers. He appeals to everyone.” Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the fir

22 October, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm 23 October, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 7.30pm 26 October, Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm Sarah Chang performs Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Sanderling, in Edinburgh, Manchester and London in October. The programmes in Manchester and London are completed by Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn and Dvořák’s Symphony No 9 (From the New World). In Edinburgh Beethoven’s Egmont Overture opens the programme. Sarah Chang is recognised as one of the world’s great violinists. Since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of eight she has performed with the greatest orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades. Michael Sanderling became Principal Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. The Orchestra is one of the oldest and most respected symphony orchestras in Germany

Part of the Nash Ensemble’s Dreamers of Dreams series, British music from the first half of the 20th century Saturday 27 October 2012, 7.30pm, The Wigmore Hall The Nash Ensemble is joined by tenor John Mark Ainsley at the Wigmore Hall on Saturday 27 October. They perform Benjamin Britten’s Three Divertmenti for string quartet, Frank Bridge’s Romanze, Cradle Song, and Sernade for violin and piano, Peter Warlock’s Songs for tenor and quartet, Edward Elgar’s La Capricieuse, Canto popolare, and Sospiri for violin and piano, and Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ On Wenlock Edge (Houseman) for tenor, string quartet, and piano. Marianne Thorsen is violin soloist with Ian Brown on piano. The Nash Ensemble will perform a number of Britten works throughout the Dreamers of Dreams series, in celebration of his upcoming centenary in 2013. Britten 100 is an unprecedented collaboration of leading organisations from the worlds of the performing arts, publishing, broadcasting, film, academia, and heritage, m

EMPTY ORCHESTRA this week released their much anticipated album, entitled One More Time, Altogether Now, on Pentimento Music Co. A record that comes as the result of years of writing, recording and endless touring, the group have described the incredibly in-depth sound of the release as "filled with our blood and guts and hands and hearts." One More Time, Altogether Now is available for purchase here . To coincide with the album release, the video for single, The Audience, has debuted on The Performer. Filmed and set in the historic Capitol Theatre in the band's hometown of Flint, Michigan, the clip pays a gritty homage to the unfaltering melancholy of entertaining. Hauntingly beautiful, the band wanted the clip to encapsulate the ever-present love/hate relationship between performer and audience member. Check out the music video, plus guest blog entry from band member, Stephen Wisniewski, here .

Based on the Zuni myth Four Flutes .

Kronos Quartet Announces KRONOS: UNDER 30 PROJECT / #5 Commissioning program includes mentoring, residency, premiere, + recording Deadline for applications is November 16, 2012 The Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association is pleased to announce the fifth edition of its Kronos: Under 30 Project , a comprehensive commissioning and mentoring program for young composers under the age of 30. Launched in 2003, the Under 30 Project is designed to help nurture the careers of emerging artists, while enabling Kronos to forge stronger connections with the next creative generation. To date, four composers have received commissions through the Kronos: Under 30 Project. Nearly 1,000 applications, coming from 49 countries on six continents, have been personally reviewed by the quartet. From this year’s call for applications, Kronos will select the composer to whom they feel most artistically committed. That composer will be commissioned to write a new work for Kronos in close consultatio

80 years and still going strong The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 80th anniversary season opens next week! We begin the 2012/13 season with a diverse series of performances ranging from the dark theatrics of Strauss and Zemlinksy, spell-binding Russian bells, thought-provoking explorations of War & Peace, soulful cello concertos and brand new work from Carl Vine. Upcoming Events 26 September – Strauss & Zemlinksy Love, infidelity and scorn abound in Zemlinksy’s A Florentine Tragedy , inspired by Oscar Wilde’s play and Zemlinsky’s own embittered feelings towards former lover Alma Schindler. Greatly influenced by Richard Strauss, Zemlinksy’s colourful and gritty one-act opera is complemented by excerpts of Strauss’s own Die Frau Ohne Schatten . 29 September – Rachmaninoff The Bells An all-Russian programme of bell-inspired works, two also inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring UK premieres of Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, Denisov's B

Today, St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU and the St. Louis Symphony announced the renewal of their partnership to include live broadcasts of all 2012-13 Saturday night Wells Fargo Advisors Orchestral Series concerts. The performances will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio’s main channel, 90.7 KWMU and will be streamed live at www.stlpublicradio.org . This is the third year of the partnership. The series’ first live broadcast from Powell Hall will be Saturday, September 29 at 8 p.m. St. Louis Symphony Music Director David Robertson will be at the podium, conducting Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (featuring pianist Emanuel Ax) and Respighi’s iconic Pines of Rome. A complete list of all live broadcasts can be found on-line at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/programs/symphony.php#.UFii91F15nw St. Louis Public Radio’s Robert Peterson returns to host the live broadcasts. The St. Louis Symphony’s Adam Crane will again join Peterson as broad

Long-Time Arts Administrator Previously Served as Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum Roy Mueller, a highly regarded non-profit arts administrator with deep roots in Southern California, has been appointed Executive Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) following a nationwide search, it was announced by LACC Board Chair Joanne Crawford-Dunér. Mueller, who is also an accomplished musician, previously served as Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, where he led the museum through a successful four-year $5.2 million capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Prior to that he was Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum, where he developed innovative art and science education programs for a diverse community audience. “I am pleased to welcome Roy to the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Crawford-Dunér. “His exceptional non-profit arts le

Inspired by the Anthem Rock bands of the 70's and 80's – groups like Yes, Kansas, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Anthem Rock has hard driving beats with intricate melodic lines and layers of different sounds – all features of the classical music I gravitate toward. This is not a pastiche of any particular song or band, but rather a homage to the artistry of these musicians. Skimming Rock & Skipping Stones has three movements. As word play, colloquialisms, and double entendré are common for song and album titles in the rock world, I indulge in the same practice. "Taken for Granite" - 1st Movement "Salt of the Earth" - 2nd Movement "Clean Slate" - 3rd Movement Even the title of the entire piece is a play on words "Skimming Rocks & Skipping Stones" In geological terms there are three types of rock      Igneous      Sedimentary      Metamorphic Granite is igneous, salt is sedimentary and slate is metamorphic. I the

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's 2012-13 season launches with a dynamic program of works both familiar and new when Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducts and performs as soloist. It features two highly anticipated West Coast premieres, including LACO Composer-in-Residence and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Andrew Norman’s The Great Swiftness, commissioned and premiered by the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2010. Inspired by the city’s signature Alexander Calder sculpture, La Grande Vitesse, the piece prompted the Grand Rapids Press to describe it as “sliding down the giant sculpture's graceful arms.” The other West Coast premiere, True South by James Matheson – recipient of the prestigious $200,000 Charles Ives Living Award and heralded by The New Yorker as “an early thirty-something American composer who is ignoring style labels and writing synthetic, satisfying music that avoids the glib theatricality of postmodernism” – was commissioned and premiered in 2010 by the New York Philharmo

There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes trying to get this ensemble off the ground. Correspondence Probably the most surprising aspect of working with TwtrSymphony is the amount of time I spend corresponding with people. Beyond just the tweets – which have moments of being fast and furious (and I've not been nearly active enough over the last three months) – I get emails from the musicians in the group, musicians wanting to join the group, people interested in knowing more about us and people wanting to sell us some service. There are details that have to be maintained when we get new musicians, like email addresses, instruments they play, biographies. Fortunately, We have a couple of volunteers who help with this administrative work. Still, it is a lot of work keeping it all organized. Paperwork Add to this our ambitions of setting TwtrSymphony up as a non-profit organization (like most other orchestras in the United States), and there is a host of paperwork

Turning Point by Chip Michael We romanticize vampires, but what does the soul go through when turning? It can't be pretty. The experience isn't death of the body, but rather death of the soul, which has to be, in its own way, extremely painful. "Turning Point" is a solo violin work (in progress) examining that moment.

International hip hop star and renowned peace activist Emmanuel Jal was badly beaten by police in the South Sudanese capital of Juba last night on 8 September 2012. At approximately 9:30pm, Emmanuel was en route to the Gatwich guesthouse in the outskirts of Juba when he was stopped by police and robbed of his mobile phone. Determined not to use or respond in violence, he was repeatedly beaten by 5 police and national security officers until he eventually lost consciousness. A group of approximately 15 police and national security officers watched on as Emmanuel was beaten. It appears that Emmanuel was randomly attacked in an unfortunate and unprovoked example of police brutality. The incident has been reported and an investigation is underway. Emmanuel is in Juba to highlight International Peace Day with the anticipated "We Want Peace" Business Gala and concert on 20 & 21 September 2012. The scheduled events are due to take place at Juba's Independence ha

This is the 1st movement of the string quartet Atmospheres . While the cloud forms have a seemingly regular form to them, they are anything but a regular shape. So, using the time signature 19/16, I allow the quartet to move through a variety of different ways of breaking up this irregular time into semi-regular beats creating a sense of movement, while propelling the listener forward. Taking inspiration from György Ligeti, Atmospheres is a blending of the rhythmic 'clock' music with elements of the sonic-scape of 'cloud' music. For more about me and my music visit: http://chipmichael.com

Recent breakdowns in negotiations between musicians and management in the orchestral world indicate a sea change: now is the right time for TwtrSymphony to fly TwtrSymphony is a unique concept in the symphony orchestra -- the musicians come from around the world and don't actually play together in the same physical space. The music is made by each musician recording their own track with the various tracks put together in the studio. So, in many respects, we are a studio orchestra. We also are 100% volunteer right now, but that is soon to change. TwtrSymphony is taking the steps to become a non-profit organization. Once the final paperwork has come through, we will be able to apply for funding. Eventually we will be able to pay the people who put in time and effort to make the music happen. By the very nature of our music -- 140 seconds at a time -- TwtrSymphony isn't going to be a full time orchestra. There are no plans to pay our musicians enough they can quit their

by Chris McGovern Natalie Zhu, the longtime recital partner of Hilary Hahn is coming back to play with her for a few shows in South America in September this season--That unto itself is a blessing, but even better is that I got to do this interview with her! While she's been away from Hilary, Natalie has keeping busy with her family, continuing to play piano (She has recorded a solo piano CD titled Images which can be purchased online--I highly recommend it!), and becoming involved with The Kingston Chamber Music Festival , of which she is the Artistic Director.

TwtrSymphony's new piece "Birds of Paradise" is now out on video "Birds of Paradise" is the 2nd movement of Symphony No. 2 "Birds of a Feather" performed by TwtrSymphony. Each of the 40+ musicians recorded their part separately from various locations around the world, with Felipe Gonzales and Garry Boyle putting the tracks together in the studio. Sarah Richardson compiled the video from clips sent in by the various musicians. You can download the music here: TwtrSymphony.instantencore.com click here if you want to watch the videos in order.

The closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London gave a celebration of British music, fashion and culture. Yet, none of the music was by a British Classical composer living or dead. This isn't because the organizers don't like classical music. The London Symphony Orchestra played a large role in the creation of the music from recording all the national anthems, playing at both the opening and closing ceremonies. What this shows is classical music, and composers of classical music aren't even thought of, had no relevance when the creators were planning the production. It amazes me that Benjamin Britten, probably the greatest opera composer in the English language (ever) wasn't given a node. Peter Maxell-Davis and Thomas Adès are world wide recognized living composer and yet not mentioned. Film composers like Debbie Wiseman, Patrick Doyle, Craig Armstrong, to name just a few, all went unmentioned. This oversight isn't the death knell of classical music, but it

The rapid change in technology is creating a new generation of music connesisseurs that think differently than the typical orchestra concert goer. Don Pepper made a great observation in his article " The Reason "Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25 " Struck Such A Nerve" which was a response to this article by Cathryn Sloane. Don's point is that technology is moving so fast it is possible to see innovations that didn't exist for the previous generation making it into the mainstream consciousness. This is having a major impact on how people perceive music consumption. The gramophone record replaced the audio cylinder in 1910 as the most popular form of obtaining audio recordings --just over 100 years ago. Now, 'record' shops that actually carry LP's (long playing records, for those of you too young to remember that term) are like pawn shops, dealing in antiquated artifacts. The digital age of music has ushered in a new era, and