Notable Covers of Tears for Fears Songs

I’m a huge fan of Tears for Fears from the 80’s till now. As a teen back then I just loved how their songs

sounded, but I couldn’t place where the beauty lies. Their eccentricity attracted me and the variety of their compositions kept my ears glued to the headphones. After more than two decades, with Roland Orzabal’s passionate singing style and Curt Smith’s choir boy voice, coupled with smooth bass lines interspersed with driving yet still melodic instrumental leads, their music and compositions still rock. After having studied music as my major in college, I appreciate them all the more. Here are some of their originals and the notable covers of their songs.

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Tchaikovsky’s Deadly Symphony: Superstition or Fact?

Many musicians believe that some musical compositions court sinister coincidence. Among them were the noted conductors, Arturo Toscanini and Walter Damrosch.

The Pathetique has a somber history. Maestro Toscanini declared it to be the most sorrowful of all symphonic music and explained: “In its adagio lamentation it is the wail of a soul in torment. Perhaps the soul or Peter Ilyich Tchakovsky is eternally imprisoned therein for it was the swan song of this greatest of all Russian composers.”

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Music From the Caves of Luray Caverns: The Greatest Musical Organ

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Beneath the ground, in the beautiful Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia, is a unique musical instrument. Not only is it unusual, but also the largest in the world — and still growing.

It all began when little Robert Sprinkle visited those Shenandoah Valley caves on his fifth birthday. When the guide struck a stalactite at just the right spot, the rock’s deep, resonant tone, fascinated both him and his father. Mr. Sprinkle, an electronic scientist, became excited over the idea of creating an instrument for playing music on the stalactites. The Blue Ridge Mountain Caverns were probably formed by underground rivers. Slow seepage of rainwater through lime stones produced hanging formations called stalactites.

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Electric Guitar Recording Tips

The beauty of the playback sound relies greatly on the recording. Here are tips on recording your electric guitar performance.
This technique is adapted from Fett of The Performing Songwriter. Aside from a direct sound recording input in the other room of a studio, multiple mics can be used on the amp to capture sounds from different angles, just like in acoustic guitar recording. You may experiment on different ways that may even sound weird as a normal recording concept but they’re definitely worth a try. You just might be able to get that elusive sound you’ve been trying to achieve for years, or a totally new sound that you never could have imagined.


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Church Music Terminology

Although music has no doubt been an important part of life for many cultures since antiquity, it was in the hands of the Western Christian Church that music underwent important developments that were to send it on a series of courses leading ultimately to classical forms and then on to influence today’s myriad of musical styles. It was in the hands of the church that musical notation was invented and then refined.

Here are the common music terms used in the church:

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