Magnatune - Magnatune Artists, Michael Masley, the Seldon Plan, Lara St. John, Atomic Opera, Shlomo Mintz, John Buckman, Brad Sucks (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Magnatune Artists, Michael Masley, the Seldon Plan, Lara St. John, Atomic Opera, Shlomo Mintz, John Buckman, Brad Sucks, Cheryl Ann Fulton, Dufay Collective, Plunkett, Falling You, Jan Hanford, Arthur Yoria, Lisa Debenedictis, List of Artists Signed to Magnatune, Beth Quist, Cargo Cult. Excerpt: Michael Masley (born September 22, 1952 in Trenton, Michigan, USA) is known for his musical work on the Hungarian cymbalom. His unique method of playing the instrument comes from his invention of the bowhammer, a cross between a fiddle bow and a dulcimer hammer, attached to the finger with a ring. The bowhammers, one worn on each finger except thumbs, allow Masley to bow, strike, and pick the cymbalom's strings. These bowhammers, along with a pick on each thumb, allow for the creation of unique musical effects and highly complicated music. Cymbaloms are most commonly played with two dulcimer hammers, one held in each hand. While playing with eight bowhammers and two thumb picks, Masley has been known also to use pan pipes attached to a neck bracket, as well as rhythm instruments such as shakers and rattles attached to his legs. Since 1983, Masley has made his living as a street musician, busking and selling cassette and CD recordings on the streets of Berkeley, San Francisco, and other San Francisco Bay Area locations. Masley describes his music as "earth-folk", "a contemporary Afro-Celtic variation of Free World and Country Eastern music.". Others have categorized his music as New Age or World music. One musician has described Masley's bowhammer style of cymbalom playing as generating "a turkish steambath of overtones". Masley studied creative writing at Northwestern Michigan College in the early 1970s. Starting in 1973 he studied hammered dulcimer... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=7397351