Child Percussion Set Helps Children Make Fun Rhythms

Here's a great childrens percussion set to help children make fun musical rhythms. The Meinl NINOSET12 Rhythm Set is great for schools and daycare. Specifically crafted for child sized hands, Meinl's NINO® Percussion line of musical instruments is great for early childhood education. NINO musical instruments are well-suited for use in Kindergartens, Elementary Schools, Music Therapy, and for musical activities in a day care environment.



The NINOSET12 is On Sale with Free Shipping Now!



This discounted NINO® Child Percussion Set by Meinl includes 12 individual percussion instruments. The childrens percussion instrument set is perfect for use in kindergarten, schools, or percussion groups. This collection of different percussion instruments is the ideal way to explore the complete NINO® world of percussion and rhythm.
Contents:
1 x Wood Claves, large
1 x Triangle, 6 inch
1 x ABS Hand Drum, 10 inch (color may vary)
1 x Wood Tambourine, One Row
1 x Skin Maracas pair, medium
1 x Single Energy Chime, Medium
1 x Wood Guiro
1 x Rattan Shaker, either a Ganza or a double( pictured)
2 x Egg Shakers (color may vary)
1 x Wood A-Go-Go, Two Rows


NINO® instruments have been tested by the Landesgewerbeanstalt Bayern, Germany (LGA), Institute for the Testing of Goods and Quality Monitoring and have been awarded with the LGA Test Certificate. This means that NINO® musical instruments comply with the strict requirements of the European Community Directives 88/378EC and 87/357/EC.


NINO® instruments pass the following tests:

• Testing in dependance on the Toy Safety Directive (88/378/EC)


• Mechanical and physical characteristics


• Inflammability


• Migration of certain parts


• Saliva and perspiration resistance


• Colorfastness


• Determination of the content of Pentachlorphenol (PCP)


• Testing with regard to pesticides


• Valuation in accordance with EC Directive 87/357/EC

After passing all tests, the internationally accepted LGA Test Certificate was awarded for all NINO® percussion instruments. This certificate vouches for quality and safety.

Pants on the Ground, Neil Young Rendition with Harmonica and Acoustic Guitar

"Pants on the Ground" has gotten lots of attention since being seen on American Idol. Check out Neil Young's rendition with harmonica and acoustic guitar on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon blog.

Coupon for World Musical Instruments Expires 12/24/2009

Choose your coupon for WorldMusicalInstruments.com - pick either Free Shipping Coupon for orders $299 and up OR $5 off coupon for orders of $50 or more. Both coupons expire 12/24/2009. Must enter coupon code on Shopping Cart page before you checkout. View details on the coupon codes and how to enter the coupon code.


Visit WorldMusicalInstruments.com for hundreds of musical instruments on sale: didgeridoos, sitars, gongs, world drums, and more!

Shakira Performs Did It Again with Drum Dancing

Shakira performs "Did It Again" on "Dancing with the Stars" on October 13, 2009, featuring some great drum dancing with Asian drums. It's always great to see Shakira's moves, but it added an interesting dimension to see the drummers moving along with their drumming - seems like it would be called drum dancing.

The drums at the beginning of the song look like talking drums:



Click to view larger

The drums shown during most of Shakira's performance (2-headed drums on wooden stands) look like Japanese taiko drums or Chinese thunder drums. A video of Shakira performing "Did It Again" on Jimmy Kimmel shows drums like marching band drums or tabor drums.

What kind of drums do you think were used in Shakira's performance of "Did It Again" on Dancing with the Stars?

Harmonica Music in Cadillac Records Movie Creates Interest in Original Blues Artists

If you've seen the movie Cadillac Records, featuring classic blues music of Muddy Waters on guitar and Little Walter on harmonica, most people agree on one thing: the movie creates a desire to listen to the original musical artists perform their original renditions of the classic blues music featured in the movie. Hearing the harmonica music and classic blues guitar music in the movie is one thing, but you just can't listen to the covers in the movie, you're drawn to searching for the original Muddy Waters on guitar and Little Walter on harmonica for a true dose of the blues.


You may not like the Cadillac Records movie, but I liked the nostalgia it created for me based on the movie music.


If you want to give the harmonica a try, WorldMusicalInstruments.com is offering the Bends brand harmonicas from Brazil, which are just being introduced into the US market. Bends Harmonicas start around $30:

Didgeridoo Making - How It Is Done

Didgeridoos from WorldMusicalInstruments.com are hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind instruments made by Tree Thump Didj Co. that not only create the unique didj buzz, but are also finished to last a long time. Here's a brief look at the didgeridoo production process of turning a tree branch into a beautiful, long-lasting musical instrument, the didgeridoo:


Tree branches are selected for the didgeridoo production process. These didgeridoos are made in Illinois, so are made from limbs of pine, poplar, or birch trees.


The bark is removed and the branch is shaped and sanded, then split in half, ready to be carved.




Branches are carved to specifications to create didgeridoos in various keys. After carving, the two halves are glued back together and coated inside with a protective resin and hung to dry.


A final sanding, then finishing artwork and/or stain are applied, followed by a glossy protective resin coating. What was once just a tree branch is now a custom didgeridoo!


Please note: Since the didgeridoos hang to dry, there may be some hardened resin drips at the bell of the didgeridoo as pictured here, which in no way impact the great didj buzz:

Duduk Tips for Ghamish Reed

This post provides tips for working with the ghamish reed for the Professional Duduk:




Make sure ghamish is open before playing. If it is not completely closed you can blow warm air through it to get it to open a little more so it will play better. If the ghamish is completely closed, you can do one of three things:

- make sure cap is on and run some warm water into the bottom (open) end, shake it with your finger covering the hole and then pour out. Leave sitting with cap down in a vertical position for up to 20 minutes.

- an alteration of the above is to leave the warm water in the ghamish and let it sit for awhile with cap on, upside down.

- on a really dry day with a very closed ghamish you can take the cap/bridle off and set the top upside down into about 1/2 to 1 inch of warm water. This can be dangerous if you forget and leave it! The ghamish is not a split reed like bassoon or oboe; it will want to revert to a round shape if left in that water. This is not good and you would need to carefully put the cap back on and hope it comes back down to a reasonable opening with time.

Once it is open enough to play (you never want it too open- if so it will feel really hard to blow) you can use the bridle to make very slight adjustments to the pitch. Remember that ghamish can change pitch in the middle of a tune with no warning so that bridle needs to be able to hold on to the reed a little for adjustments. In dry environments you can put a little water under the bridle on the ghamish to help it grab.

The duduk is played with very little reed in the mouth. Just a quarter inch or so. The embouchure is not like oboe or any other double reed woodwind in that the reed is not held between the teeth with the lips covering them. You must keep the reed/ghamish in front of the teeth controlled by the lip muscles. The whole top minor third of the range (on an A duduk from G to the highest B) is all achieved by squeezing the reed so the opening has to be good to allow for the control to get these notes. If the opening is too little, or the ghamish is dry many times these notes can be very sharp. And conversely if it is too wet and open you will have great difficulty playing the top part of the range.

These tips for working with the duduk ghamish reed were provided by professional woodwind player Chris Bleth.

To purchase the Professional Duduk from Armenia, visit WorldMusicalInstruments.com.