When Helen Keller was only twelve years old, she stood accused of plagiarizing a short story. A tribunal acquitted her of the charges, but when her dear friend Mark Twain read about the incident years later, he strenuously protested, exclaiming in a 1903 letter, "the kernel, the soul-let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterance-is plagiarism."
Given the finite number of possible narratives, and combinations of phrases, words, and syllables, he's got a point, though it wouldn't hold up in court where the question of intent comes into play.
If literature is mostly plagiarism, what about music?
How is it possible to copyright melodies when they float through the cultural ether, appearing in similar forms in song after song around the world? What would have become of the blues, bluegrass, and nearly every form of traditional folk music from time immemorial had copyright law prevented unauthorized borrowings? These are questions judges and juries often ponder when faced with two similar sounding pieces of music.
In one recent case, for example, a jury found that pop star Katy Perry had infringed upon the copyright of Flame, a Christian rapper who'd posted a song with the same melody as her song "Dark Horse," even though Perry insisted that she'd never heard of the song or the rapper.
For some musicians, musicologists, and lawyers, the verdict felt scary; after all, large numbers of songs now live on SoundCloud and YouTube. It became thinkable to ask: Could the world run out of original melodies?
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The new American Ultra series includes sculpted rear-body contours, maple necks with a Modern D profile, tapered heels for easy access to the highest positions and fretboards with rolled edges and a 10-inch to 14-inch compound radius. As well as other details including sealed locking tuning machines and a variety of finish choices. All models also have Ultra Noiseless Vintage pickups with advanced wiring options, and a premium molded case.
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IN THE BASSMENT
If you're in the market for a new bass amplifier then you've come to the right place. Our best bass amps guide should arm you with all the information and options you need to zero in on the right amp for you. As bass cabinets have become lighter in the last fifteen years or so, the amps themselves have become equally lightweight, with many companies offering a Class D (solid state, switching amplifier) alternative alongside their larger, heavier amps.
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"Written for the guitarist who has been playing for a while, but is seriously hampered by the feeling that they don't know what they're doing.
Guitar EncycloMedia
provides the perfect solution to this problem by efficiently presenting the theoretical basis of music in a way that is clear, easily applied, and does not require the reading of staff notes or TAB." - Randy Roos, Associate Professor of Guitar, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA.
"Bass EncycloMedia
is filled with practical and highly musical techniques and information that will benefit bass players of any style and ability level, especially those who have passed beyond the 'beginner' stage. This is a great addition to the library of every bass player. I am very impressed! " - Dr. Robert Cutietta, Dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
Dramatically improve your playing by easily learning all the chords, scales, arpeggios and modes necessary to improvise something uniquely different every time with every song. With over 323 pages,
Guitar EncycloMedia and Bass EncycloMedia
offer total fretboard knowledge in one book. They are as essential as your instrument!
Order
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WATCH THIS
For his newly recorded 24-track career retrospective, Best of Tommysongs, Emmanuel has re-recorded some of his most popular acoustic original songs to reflect how he performs them today. Many of these tunes have evolved significantly through repeated playing over the years, and sound much different from their original recordings. In addition, Best of Tommysongs offers five brand-new songs written by Emmanuel, including "Fuel," the first track and video to be released from the album. The song came to life while he was on tour in Europe.
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LEARN HERE
The electric bass guitar came to the fore in the '60s, backing up Motown hits and pop/rock tracks alike. Successive decades brought bouncing disco octaves, rumbling dub subs, machine-gun slap bass, and more. Today's bass guitar vocabulary draws on the entire history of the instrument. But looking to the future, we find the clanking, machine-like bass of modern metal acts, often utilising five-strings for extended range. You can get all these sounds and more in your own productions if you...
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GREAT GEAR
Oceans 12 has two independent reverb engines, which can be run in series or parallel, or even sent to separate outputs. A left footswitch reveals three modes of operation: infinite, tap and send/return. A new Tide control adjusts stereo image alteration, and a Lo-Fi knob, and any sounds can be saved to one of 24 presets. 12 reverb types are included: Room, Spring, Plate, Reverse, Echo, Trem, Mod, Dyna, Auto-Infinite, Shimmer, Polyphonic, and a new Resonant mode.
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ARTIST AWARENESS
A singer, songwriter, educator and virtuoso instrumentalist, James Hill is a man on a musical mission. It's a mission that reaches beyond the concert stage and into communities, homes and classrooms around the world. After all, when the applause fades and the stage goes dark you can still hear the sound of ukuleles strumming happily into the night...
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