Forgotten folk songs of St Kilda have now been discovered. The small island of St Kilda located 40 miles west of Scotland’s Isle of Lewis is one of the most isolated places located near the United Kingdom.
After years of islanders living a very simple way of life hunting sea birds and making tweed out of sheep’s wool St Kilda is now a beautiful attraction where visitors can enjoy a peaceful and relaxing break, escaping from the busy and demanding city life they may lead elsewhere.
Recently there has been a discovery with the old folk songs of St Kilda. These came from islanders who would sing work, love and funeral songs including one wedding song which was found. The island itself was strictly under the influence of the Protestant Church in the 1800s and any singing of songs other than psalms was extremely frowned upon.
They’re reaped in deep history and culture, and now timeless Japanese Waka poems, dating back from the 13th century, are being revived for a modern day instrument – the digital piano.
Reaped in history…13th century poems revived for digital piano
The Yamaha Clavinova digital piano has fought off fierce competition, and been named on Time magazine’s list of “50 most influential gadgets of all times”.
Fighting off fierce competition…the Clavinova has been named on Time’s list of 50 most inflential gadgets ever
You have to be living under the rock if you haven’t heard about Pokemon Go! The recent app, involving everybodys favourite 90’s cartoon monstors has taken the world by storm, and doesn’t it just keep on growing. Pokemons now even taking the internet by storm in the world of digital piano!
A long forgotten piece of piano sheet music depicting the story of the battle of Trafalgar is on course for being replayed for the first time in 200 years, in a small town in Cambridgeshire.
Dedicated….Quentin Robinson hopes some music loving fans in his local town can recreate the sheet music
A popular American musical group, known as “The Piano Guys“, have completed a feat which is up there with the likes of Justin Bieber and Katy Perry – they’ve just racked up an impressive 1 billion views on YouTube.
Playing the right notes – The Piano Guys have racked up an impressive 1 billion hits on their YouTube Channel
Evolution of the digital piano starts way back in the 1980’s. They were use predominately, at the time, to aid touring musicians with the age old problems the acoustic piano offered: tuning, hammers, the usual problems. People still, however, feared they sounded too electronic. Skip forward 30 years or so, and technology has enabled them to come on in leaps and bounds since that decade…
modern and sleek, the Chase CDP-245– the evolution of the digital piano.
Back in February, the award-winning singer songwriter Adele had her performance at this years Grammys halted slightly, due to a technical hitch regarding her acoustic piano. Microphones inside the instrument had fallen, causing vibration sounds. Had she been using a digital piano, however, and this problem would be a thing of the past. As, of course, digital pianos do not require tuning before a show, nor do you have to mic it, or indeed run a risk of mics falling onto the strings.
The most significant improvement in the evolution of digital pianos is undoubtedly their ability to be able to mimic 3 dimensional sounds that are produced from acoustic pianos. Indeed, digital piano technology has advanced in such stages that more and more big touring acts are using them on their worldwide tours. The question many ask is how manufacturers actually worked out how to improve the sounds. And the answer is relatively simple. Digital pianos have gotten better mainly due to the fact that they have merged with traditional pianos. Thus, the hybrid approach, which, as stated, merges the traditions of an acoustic instrument with the innovation of digital technology.
Digital pianos for musicians on tour
Indeed, as aforementioned, many musicians even still favour the digital piano. Coldplay’s Chris Martin was shown earlier this year at the Superbowl in San Francisco playing a Kawai, and has been sported in the past with a timeless Yamaha upright.
Ironically, Lionel Richie, in his most recent tour, had a unique request. He had the shell of an old grand piano made, which he could then slide a digital piano into, thus, in a stadium of thousands, hopefully nobody would be able to tell the difference as the music blasted out of the PA system.
Indeed, as time moves on, many people and musicians don’t have the time, energy or money for old acoustic pianos. Digitals are small, cheaper and more convinient. And, as proven, they can now be seen as the new alternative to acoustic, and have revolutionsed digital music since their beginnings.
The year was 1938, and the second world war had yet to begin. A young, 16 year old Frieda Hart began as a teacher to give piano lessons to those around her, in her small mid west American town. 78 years later, at the ripe of age of 93, and she continues to do the same.
Still playing – 98 year old Frieda Hart is thought to be the worlds oldest piano teacher