UK Band name called Karnataka?

UK Band name called Karnataka?,yes you heard it right,there is a UK(United Kingdom)band named after our beloved state.

Karnataka were formed in 1997 by founding members, Ian Jones (bass/acoustic guitar), Jonathan Edwards (keyboards) and Rachel Jones (vocals). The band started as a project to record songs in Ian’s home studio, that had been written and performed by Jonathan, Rachel and Ian in earlier bands. The project was augmented by additional musicians, Paul Davies (electric guitars) and Gavin Griffiths (drums), who had played with other members of Karnataka in earlier bands.
At the end of the recording the decision was made to continue the project as a band. The name Karnataka was chosen by the band, from a suggestion by Ian, following his trips to that region of India.

The five-piece recorded what would become their debut album, Karnataka in 1997. In the beginning, the band had no thought of actually releasing the album — they made the recording for their own pleasure. As they started to play live shows in their new configuration, however, word of mouth ensured that an increasing number of people started asking for copies.

It was recommended to the band that they send a copy of the album to Martin Hudson at the Classic Rock Society. Martin gave the band their first break by positively reviewing the album in the society’s magazine, and then offering them a gig for the Classic Rock Society in Rotherham, supporting the Genesis tribute band ReGenesis in 1999. The show was a success and Karnataka were offered another support with Jump in October 1999. Encouraged, the band had already started writing the material that would eventually appear on their second album, The Storm

Since then they have released two more projects 'Delicate Flame of Desire' (2003) and 'The Gathering Light' (2010) and live album called Strange Behaviour (2004)

Karnataka were recently voted 2nd in the ‘Best Of 2012 Live Acts’ category on the Get Ready To ROCK website !.

Here is one of the famous tracks 'The Storm'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdw-EanLja0

For more info on the band you can visit their website
http://karnataka.org.uk/home.php

Karnataka's facebook page link:
https://www.facebook.com/KarnatakaOfficial

Listen to their songs
http://www.last.fm/music/Karnataka

Absolute Essentials For Your Band’s Website.

These days having a web site with a user friendly platform like WordPress is as simple as paying for hosting and following the instructions. And yet, many bands and artists do not present themselves well on their websites. A site doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to tell your story as fully as possible and let people know how to get in touch.


Here are 10 things every band or individual musician’s web site needs:

• Homepage: Ever go to a band’s website and find yourself in the middle of a tour blog or a six-month old item on a festival gig, or a full-page photo and bio of the bass player, or a year-old list of dates? The message this presents is that the band is careless, lazy or disorganized, and possibly all three. Your web site should always open to a homepage that is a map of your site, with a great, representative photo, headlines that convey your essential message, something folks can read and a variety of buttons with titles like “music,” “video,” “store,” “tour dates,” “press” and the like, that will take visitors to that information with the click of a mouse.

• Bio: Nothing tells your or your band’s story like the story of you or your band. Write an exceptional bio or have one commissioned, and either give it a dedicated page or put it under an obvious category, like “press.” Fans want to know about you, but more important, so do journalists who might write about your band or agents who are considering hiring you for shows. Those professionals don’t want a mystery; they want information, fast.

• Gigs: Update your gigs regularly — weekly, if they are being constantly added to your schedule — and list them all, even if they are private events. (Listing the latter lets people know you are available for private events, which are typically more lucrative than club shows.) A full schedule also sends the positive message that you are a working band or performer and tells fans when you are visiting their region or simply playing next, so they can put your shows in their calendars. Few things puncture your credibility as much as a list of expired dates or no dates at all.

• News or blog: This can be a blog that lets fans know what you’re up to, or the place that tells the world at large about new albums, tours, endorsements and other news. Real bands and musicians have active careers with things worth writing about. Those things should be trumpeted.

• Contact information: Let people know how to reach you. Fans like to contact the artists they follow, and you might find that engaging regularly with people who want to know more about the music and gear you play and love via email is rewarding. Also, people who want to book your band or contact you for other business reasons need your email address or phone number. If you’ve got a booking agent and manager, include their contact info, too.

• Videos: Having a video page is important. Today, most booking agents want to see a performance video before they will consider hiring an unfamiliar band. Don’t let YouTube be your curator. Present your favorite videos on your own page.

• Downloadable photos: On-line and print media publications that write about you or your band will often need band or artists photos, and possibly a jpeg of your latest album cover. It’s important to have these readily available to be downloaded at a moment’s notice. You never know when the listings section of the local paper is going to find a hole to fill when it’s about to go to press, or when an editor working on a story past midnight will decide he or she needs a photo. So be sure you have a selection of downloadable high-resolution jpegs available.

• Music: This, like video, is crucial. You can offer downloadable MP3s if you want, but all that’s essential is streaming files of your music. Everybody needs to know what you sound like.

• Merchandise: You can set up a comprehensive store — CDs, shirts, coasters, mugs, baseball caps, whatever — on your website by partnering with companies that specialize in providing custom shops, including ebay. If you’re just selling CDs, at least install a link to Amazon, CD Baby or some other source that’s selling your discs online. By the way, online sales of downloads are essential, although if you’re in a market that caters to an older audience, like blues or Americana, then making physical CDs available is also a requirement.

• Social media: As important as it is to have your own website, it’s also important to have a presence on popular social media. So place links to your Facebook, MySpace, etc., pages on your website, too.

Credit: http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/10-Absolute-Essentials-For-Your-Band-Website.aspx

Recording Industry on Growth path,Manages a Sliver of Growth for the First Time Since 1999

For the First Time Since Napster, Music Sales Are Growing

The last time music was a growth business was 1999 — back when people bought millions of Britney Spears CDs,and GeoCities was the third-most popular Web property in the world. You know what’s happened since then.

But music’s slide may have finally stopped. Last year, recorded-music sales inched up 0.3 percent worldwide, to $16.5 billion, according to industry trade group IFPI. That’s the first time global sales have increased since the Napster era, and it echoes bumps we’ve seen earlier in the U.S. and other markets.

According to the report from the IFPI, growth is being driven by digital revenue, which was up 9-percent in 2012. That digital sales accounts for $5.6 billion in revenue, which is just over one-third of the total. A full 70-percent of the digital total comes from online download stores like iTunes, which means that despite their millions of users, subscription-based services like Spotify and Pandora aren't generating nearly as much industry-sustaining revenue as some of them would have you think.

If the growth sustains, it means that the predictions we’ve been hearing for a decade and a half have finally come true: Digital sales are increasing fast enough to outpace the decline in physical. Last year, digital grew 9 percent and accounted for 34 percent of revenue.

Some of that growth comes from the rise of subscription services like Spotify and Deezer, which now represent more than 10 percent of worldwide digital revenue. But digital sales are still primarily about iTunes and download sales, which account for 70 percent of the total. Sales on iTunes have been flattening for some time in the U.S., but as Apple expands internationally, its numbers keep growing.

And just like last year, the music industry is also a synonym for the Adele industry. Just like last year, her “21? album was the world’s best-seller, moving 8.3 million units (this would have been a pretty good number in 1999, too). Taylor Swift’s “Red” came in second with 5.2 million units. Brit boy band of the moment One Direction had the next two spots, with total sales close to nine million.

Either way, growth is growth. Congrats to the music industry on its .3-percent bump.

source:allthingsd.com/

Why people love listening to new music. Revealed!

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A new study has identified the specific brain activity that makes new music rewarding and predicts the decision to purchase music.
The study was conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University.

Participants in the study listened to 60 previously unheard music excerpts while undergoing functional resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, providing bids of how much they were willing to spend for each item in an auction paradigm.

“When people listen to a piece of music they have never heard before, activity in one brain region can reliably and consistently predict whether they will like or buy it, this is the nucleus accumbens which is involved in forming expectations that may be rewarding,” said lead investigator Dr. Valorie Salimpoor, who conducted the research in Dr. Robert Zatorre’s lab at The Neuro and is now at Baycrest Health Sciences’ Rotman Research Institute.

“What makes music so emotionally powerful is the creation of expectations. Activity in the nucleus accumbens is an indicator that expectations were met or surpassed, and in our study we found that the more activity we see in this brain area while people are listening to music, the more money they are willing to spend,” Salimpoor stated.
The second important finding is that the nucleus accumbens doesn’t work alone, but interacts with the auditory cortex, an area of the brain that stores information about the sounds and music we have been exposed to.

In other words, the brain assigns value to music through the interaction of ancient dopaminergic reward circuitry, involved in reinforcing behaviours that are absolutely necessary for our survival such as eating and sex, with some of the most evolved regions of the brain, involved in advanced cognitive processes that are unique to humans.

The study was published in the journal Science.

Credit: http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/1821751/report-revealed-why-people-love-listening-to-new-music

karaoke @ home : Setting up a Karaoke system at home

 Karaoke is excellent entertainment for people of all ages. You most like experienced karaoke in a bar or club or perhaps a wedding reception. The karaoke host would have had a large selection of songs to choose from and a professional sound system. They would have used a karaoke machine with discs or a laptop computer and song files.

A growing number of people are investing in a karaoke system for their home. There are few things better for livening up a party. You can also save a substantial amount of money by staying at home and entertaining yourself. Being able to practice songs before performing them in public is another plus.

When you think of a karaoke system for your home you may envision an all-in-one boombox type of system. While these are certainly preferable for some applications, and come in a variety of sizes, power ranges, and prices, they do leave you with limited options and can not be considered a "professional" karaoke system.

The first thing you will need to decide is which type of player you will use. Your choices are a karaoke disc player, a hard drive karaoke machine, or a laptop computer with software player. There are pros and cons to each.

A multi-format karaoke disc player is the least expensive option. These will play CD+G and DVD karaoke discs and have features like digital key control and single play. Some may have a "vocal cancel" feature that reduces the volume of the lead vocals on some standard audio disc song tracks. The big downside to this player is having to handle, maintain, and store discs.

The sound system is independent of which type player you opt for. The basic components are an amplifier and mixer (or powered mixer), PA speakers, and microphones. For saving space and ease of setup a powered mixer is the best option for a home karaoke system. These come in a wide range of sizes, power ratings, and prices. A powered mixer with at least 4 channels and a total power output rating of over 400 watts will work great for a home system.

PA speakers are what separate a karaoke sound system from a high powered stereo. While high power rated stereo speakers perform well with recorded music they are unable to handle the live vocals of karaoke. Select a pair of 2-way or 3-way PA speakers with a combined power handling rating that exceeds the output rating of your powered mixer. I recommend no smaller than a 12" woofer.

Opt for good quality microphones. You can use any TV for displaying the karaoke. How you connect to the TV depends on the video output options of your chosen player.

The karaoke music could easily become the most expensive component of your system. The discs are more expensive than standard audio CD's and many contain just 9 songs. CD+G is the most common karaoke format and by far the largest selection of song titles are found on CD+G discs. In fact, I suggest that you forget about any other type of karaoke disc. All karaoke disc players support CD+G discs and the
hard drive players will import the songs from them. There is software that will rip the song tracks from CD+G discs to a compressed format that is used by karaoke hosting software.

There are various cables you will need to set up the karaoke system. The exact cables needed will depend on the type of components you chose and the setup area. I think you are going to find that connecting everything together is less complicated than you first imagined.
Much less complicated than installing a DVD player and surround sound in my opinion.

So there you have the basics of a professional home karaoke system. This will rival the sound of the commercial systems you sing on at the karaoke bars. More than satisfactory for throwing a great karaoke party.

Happy Singing!

source:wiseguy.articlealley.com

Traditional Easter Eats Around the World.

See what people in different countries serve in honor of the holiday. Symbolic or steeped in tradition, these culinary mainstays make Easter a front-runner of food-friendly holidays everywhere.   Happy Easter.

Hot Cross Buns

 

Traditionally eaten in the UK during Easter time, these little buns are flecked with currants or raisins and have a cross etched and/or frosted along the top. Many believe the tradition was started by the Anglo-Saxons, who crossed the buns to honor the four quarters of the moon. Now the cross is widely used to symbolize Jesus’ crucifixion. Photo: Shutterstock

Paskha

“Paskha” means “Easter” in Russian, but it is also the name of this traditional Easter dessert. Made primarily of cream cheese and cottage cheese—foods traditionally forbidden during Lent—it’s speckled with dried fruit, molded into a pyramid shape and stamped with the letters “XB,” which stand for "Christ has risen" in Cyrillic script. Photo: Thinkstock

Paskelbrygg

Breweries in Norway began making this special blend of “the best local beers” in 1934, but it met a lot of opposition from Christian groups. After World War II, however, the tradition picked up popularity and is still a common holiday brew today. Photo: Shutterstock

Red or Green Easter Eggs

Outside the U.S., the Easter custom of dyeing eggs (symbolic of rebirth and thus the resurrection) goes beyond DIY crafts. In Greece, eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ; in Germany, eggs are dyed green and exchanged on Holy Thursday, when other green foods, like veggies, are consumed, as well. Photo: Shutterstock

Paçoca de Amendoim

More commonly referred to as just “Paçoca”—not to be confused with the salty meat dish of the same name—this Brazilian Easter treat is made of crushed peanuts, sugar and cassava flour (and has a taste likened to the insides of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup). The easy-to-dole-out candy has long been served during holiday procession walks. Photo: iStockphoto

Monas

Especially in Spain during Easter time, one is likely to see elaborate chocolate sculptures called "monas" (first established during the 15th century in Catalonia) gracing displays. The figures and scenes, some of which can be seen at the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona, celebrate history and are more or less intended for entertainment. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Colomba Pasquale

Made of natural yeast, butter, flour, sugar and eggs, this traditional Easter loaf, commonly served throughout Italy, is known for its panettone-like flavor and distinct shape: a dove, which represents peace or Christ. Before being baked, the bread is coated with almonds and coarse sugar. Photo: Getty Images

Herring

In Scandinavia, this saltwater fish—which is caught during spring around Easter time—is enjoyed in one of many preparations: pickled, raw or cured. Traditionally, the delicacy is served on a bun or alongside rye bread, potatoes, sour cream and akvavit, a special-occasion Schnapps. Photo: Shutterstock

Credit:  http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/traditional-easter-eats-around-the-world-117631

For The People, By The People

Young Indian artists need crowdfunding, besides relevant lyrics, a distinct sound and a reality check,
but this is a great place to start. Whether it’s for a gig or a new album, a growing number of music
 enthusiasts are willing to lend voice and support.

Last September, close to 10 promising bands, mostly from Mumbai, took to the stage for their debut
show at Control Alt Delete, an event that was completely funded by its 600-member audience. Rishu Singh,  manager of bands such as BLEK, who coorganized the gig, claims to have raised a sum of Rs 95,613 on the crowdfunding platform Wishberry within a month, posting a daily update on the day’s collections on Facebook.

In fact, the Mumbai gig managed to get online contributions from Chennai, Gurgaon and even Washington. “We needed about Rs 90,000 to make the gig happen excluding the bands’ fee,” says Singh, “We finally  raised Rs 1,64,000 including contributions at the gate and each of the 10 artists got a fat, princely sum of Rs 7,000 .”

A crowd of contributors placing their money and faith in events like Control Alt Delete is in stark contrast to the other side of the coin: the frustrating reality where organizers and venues find it tough to draw audiences to gigs across the country.

American performer Amanda Palmer, who is one of the biggest success stories on international crowdfunding site Kickstarter [she raised $1.2 million within a month] wooed the crowd by offering everything from digital downloads to CDs, vinyl and even dinner and private performances alongwith a photoshoot with her band.

Though many attribute the early success of crowdfunding to initial euphoria, others feel it could be the beginning of an alternative movement against the money mintinglabels. Musicians, for their part, are only hopeful that this new online avenue will finally give them a voice. Whether crowdsourcing will help indie India is a matter that we will only find out in the coming years.

source:rollingstoneindia.com