Music and Audio Books

I found this little gem in a gift shop after Christmas last year. I learned a lot about the roots of gospel music in the easy to read format.I think it will appeal to all ages levels. I have enjoyed the free CD enclosed as an added bonus. I played it all year long. I'm shopping Amazon for gift copies, as I plan to give several as gifts this year.

This small volume contains a wealth of information about the formation and history of Black Christian religious music. It explains the Gospel and Jubilee forms of musical expression. The music quality is excellent. The selections familiar. It would make a great Christmas present for music enthusiasts of all ages

My son plays the piano and his favorite piano book is just about anything by Narada, especially this book! He knows just about every song in it and our whole family enjoys listening to him play! This is an all out fantastic book of piano solos and I recommend it to all!

I liked almost every piece in this collection. Some of the featured composers are: Ira Stein, Michael Jones, Spencer Brewer, Wayne Gratz, Kostia and Nancy Rumbel. Many of the pieces are of a lyrical nature and somewhat impressionistic. Some selections are technically challenging and one suggests improvisation, but the majority of the pieces can be easily mastered by an experienced player. The music is a joy to play and allows for a great deal of personal interpretation.

Having just been introduced to the djembe drum by John Marshal I could not resist they wonderful traning opportunity! John Marshal is a gifted drummer and teacher ~ this easy method of study will be an excellent guide on your hand drumming journey! Enjoy your musical journey! Plena!!

A great book written by a gifted drummer and teacher. The West African, Latin, Brazilian, and Middle Eastern rhythms are lots of fun. The accompanying CD is a big help, as the audio tracks play every rhythm in the book. This was my first drumming book and I still refer back to it.

This handbook is the best I've every read. There are some good books for pro-audio, but this one cover everything. Not only audio, but image projection as well.

This book has everything that an audio engineer would need to know, and nothing you don't. It gives you all the technical information that you could ever need while not being so pretentious as to tell you how you should use it. It is a terrific reference and will give you insight as to how some engineers chose to use thier tools.

I think this is one of the best items I have bought this year and believe me the competition has been tough! It's not recorded perfectly but it is a fantastic and fun tool - I really recommend it to anyone interested in any or a combination of the following: voice/vocal development (I'm an opera singer and a teacher, and a researcher with interests in healing...!), acting, singing, healing, self-confidence/self-help, teaching with or without connection to music, sound therapy etc etc. Its relevance is far-reaching.
When you practise the exercises they really do work - they're soooooo easy too, which is of course a bonus! It's not a theoretical technical guide but nevertheless it allows you to find a very natural means of self-expression, without interference from your over-critical mind and often limited imagination. It's great for tuning into your body and becoming "whole"!!!! I can't recommend it enough!

I thought this tape was excellent. I listened to it in one sitting and could apply the knowledge. It tells you in plain english why using your voice can heal you. Nobody ever told you why chanting or using vowel sounds could heal you. The tape is fulfilling but leaves you wanting more knowledge of the power of your own voice that we all possess. A hidden jewel.

It has been great! listening to Shakespeare acted out or watching it is far better for those who find it hard to wade through reading it cold. Once the love is developed reading it cold is fun. But you have to start them somewhere and this is just wonderful. Whether you are just learning or already love Shakespeare this is delightful. We love the Saint Crispin's Day speech.

The title is taken from the book and William could not have been speaking of himself when he wrote this, he had plenty to say. It is hard to write a review about the best book in the English language.

I once saw, in the credits of a particularly poor Shakespeare film (and most are), the astounding words of - 'written by William Shakespeare, additional material by The Films Director' I forget his name now - but it struck me as strange that you would even mention youself in the same sentence as Shakespeare when discussing credits for writing. Something like 'written by Shakespeare - ruined by the Films Director' would have been more appropriate. Anyway - if you haven't read this book by the time you are 50 - then I can only envy you - I would pay a Kings Ransom to find an undiscovered Shakespeare play.

'The drama is full of singularly beautiful detached passages: for example, the reflections of the King upon ceremony, the description of the deaths of York and Suffolk, the glorious speech of the King before the battle, the chorus of the fourth act, remarkable illustrations of Shakespeare's power as a descriptive poet. Nothing can be finer, also, than the commonwealth of bees in the first act. It is full of the most exquisite imagery and music. The art employed in transforming the whole scene of the hive into a resemblance of humanity is brilliant'.

This tape had my family enthralled for hours on a recent trip - we traveled to New York City and when we arrived at our friend's house, this tape was all we could talk about! It is a wonderful story by a truly talented man - thank you Odds Bodking for sharing your gift with us!

I first heard of Odds Bodkin when he came to my children's school last year. This was the first tape we listened to and I will soon buy it. Bodkin's many voices combined with his gorgeous instrumental music give this recording a superlative, magical quality. My 12-, 10- and 7-year-old children were enthralled, and frankly, so was I. We could hardly wait until the next time we were all in the car so we could listen to the rest of the tape. Highly recommended.

Wonderful, entertaining, insightful and full of information, this CD has intellegent text and beautiful examples. Anyone who loves opera should own this CD.

For those of you who take long car rides, I recommend the tape version of this book; for educators the CD format is best for instant access to any composer. As for the material itself, it is a superb "beginner's guide" to the history of opera. Running just short of 320 minutes (each CD is packed up to nearly the 80 minute limit), the not too cultivated British voice of the narrator takes us through the stages of the development of opera with copious illustrations drawn from the mammoth Naxos catalogue. The information is beautifully organized and very very clearly expressed. I transferred my CD copy to tape so I could hear it several times while on the road and let the information sink in. There is a Naxos set along the same lines that traces the history of all Western music; but there I felt that 4 CDs were not enough. Here I congratulate whoever did the abrigement for a fine job.

I can't say enough about this recording. I've listened to it about five times and I still find it enormously interesting. It combines popular music from the 40s as well as excellent commentary on WWII history. The production is very professional.

This was an interesting look at the 2nd world war, and it provides several great facts and a personal side to the war!

For the person like me who is planning on building a small studio, this is the book with the most information.
It covers everything you need to know from the first step to the last.
It also gives you money saving tips on how to build rather than buy.
My best investment yet!

This book was a great help to me when I was thinking about starting a recording studio in my home. I wasn't sure quite where to start, but this book has in-depth articles that were written specifically for people in my situation. It contains everything from setup and conditioning to gear and monitors to mixing a final cut. It was a great book that was easy to understand, but not "dumbed down" in the way it conveyed the ideas. This book is a must have for anyone who is looking to start a home recording studio.