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Twiddly Bits
''Twiddly Bits'' is an English slang term. From the word twiddly (sometimes spelled Twiddley); curly or decorative, esp. in an unnecessary way ''Cambridge International Dictionary of English''; Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.1573. and bit; a small piece or amount of something, a twiddly bit is anything that is relatively small and trifling or elaborately decorative. Twiddly is a commonly used word in British English, as in Roald Dahl’s ''The BFG'', where the giant’s large ears allow him to ''hear absolutely every single twiddly little thing''. The term twiddly bit is applicable in almost any context and is commonly used to describe aspects of architecture, art, music, literature, fashion, etc. Music The term "Twiddly Bits" is commonly used in the music industry to describe a short improvised part that is technically advanced and/or musically interesting. In music, a Twiddly Bit is similar to a solo though it is typically shorter and lacks the structure typical of a solo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and usage (language), linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular In-group and out-group, in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception. Etymology of the word ''slang'' In its earliest attested use (1756), the word ''slang'' referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". Dahl was born in Wales to affluent Norwegian immigrant parents, and spent most of his life in England. He served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He became a fighter pilot and, subsequently, an intelligence officer, rising to the rank of acting wing commander. He rose to prominence as a writer in the 1940s with works for children and for adults, and he became one of the world's best-selling authors. His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. Dahl and his work have been criticised for racial stereotypes, misogyn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The BFG
''The BFG'' (short for ''The Big Friendly Giant'') is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 book '' Danny, the Champion of the World''. The book is dedicated to Dahl's late daughter, Olivia, who died of measles encephalitis at the age of seven in 1962. An animated adaptation was released in 1989 with David Jason providing the voice of the BFG and Amanda Root as the voice of Sophie. It has also been adapted as a theatre performance. A theatrical Disney live-action adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg was released in 2016. As of 2009, the novel has sold 37 million copies, with more than 1 million copies sold around the world every year. In 2003, ''The BFG'' was listed at number 56 in ''The Big Read'', a BBC survey of the British public. In 2012, the novel was ranked number 88 among all-time best children's novels in a survey published by ''School Library Journal' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solo (music)
In music, a solo (from the Spanish and Italian based-word: ''Solo'', meaning ''alone'' or ''by yourself'') is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an accompanying instrument such as a piano or organ, a continuo group (in Baroque music), or the rest of a choir, orchestra, band, or other ensemble. Performing a solo is "to solo", and the performer is known as a ''soloist''. The plural is soli or the anglicised form solos. In some contexts these are interchangeable, but ''soli'' tends to be restricted to classical music, and mostly either the solo performers or the solo passages in a single piece. Furthermore, the word ''soli'' can be used to refer to a small number of simultaneous parts assigned to single players in an orchestral composition. In the Baroque concerto grosso, the term for such a group of soloists was '' concertino''. An instrumental solo is often used in popular music duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victorian Era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the ''Belle Époque'' era of Continental Europe. There was a strong religious drive for higher moral standards led by the nonconformist churches, such as the Methodists and the evangelical wing of the established Church of England. Ideologically, the Victorian era witnessed resistance to the rationalism that defined the Georgian period, and an increasing turn towards romanticism and even mysticism in religion, social values, and arts. This era saw a staggering amount of technological innovations that proved key to Britain's power and prosperity. Doctors started moving away from tradition and mysticism towards a science-based approach; medicine advanced thanks to the adopti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parlour Music
Parlour music is a type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of houses, usually by amateur singers and pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th century, as a result of a steady increase in the number of households with enough resources to purchase musical instruments and instruction in music, and with the leisure time and cultural motivation to engage in recreational music-making. Its popularity faded in the 20th century as the phonograph record and radio replaced sheet music as the most common means for the spread of popular music. History Many of the earliest parlour songs were transcriptions for voice and keyboard of other music. Thomas Moore's ''Irish Melodies'', for instance, were traditional (or "folk") tunes supplied with new lyrics by Moore, and many arias from Italian operas, particularly those of Bellini and Donizetti, became parlour songs, with texts either translated or replaced by new lyri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Steafel
Sheila Frances Steafel (26 May 1935 – 23 August 2019) was a British actress, who was born in Johannesburg, but lived all her adult life in the United Kingdom. Life and career Steafel, who was born in Johannesburg, trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. She appeared in many television series, including ''The Frost Report'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Sykes'', '' Dave Allen at Large'', ''The Kenny Everett Television Show'', ''Minder'', '' The Ghosts of Motley Hall'', '' Oh Brother!'' and ''The Laughter of a Fool''. She was a regular in the BBC One music hall programme '' The Good Old Days'', portraying her comic creation "Miss Popsy Wopsy", who invariably "played up" to chairman Leonard Sachs. She was also a regular on the "Tommy Cooper Hour". In February 2018 she appeared in the daytime comedy drama '' Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators'' Episode 2 as care home resident Dora Bentley. Her film appearances included ''Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' (1966), ''J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. The specification originates in the paper ''Universal Synthesizer Interface'' published by Dave Smith and Chet Wood of Sequential Circuits at the 1981 Audio Engineering Society conference in New York City. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device. Each interaction with a key, button, knob or slider is converted into a MIDI event, which specifies musical instructions, such as a note's pitch, timing and loudness. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Colbeck
Julian Colbeck (born 1952) is CEO of Keyfax NewMedia and partner with Alan Parsons in "Alan Parsons' The Art & Science of Sound Recording". Formerly a professional keyboard player for over 25 years, Julian is also the author of numerous music-related books, the creator of Twiddly.Bits MIDI loops, the concept designer for the PhatBoy MIDI controller, and producer of many music technology videos and websites. As a keyboardist, Julian played with Greep, The New Seekers, Charlie, John Miles, Yes offshoot Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, and ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, amongst others. He also worked as a session player on numerous recordings, including with Charlie, Yes co-founder Jon Anderson, Steve Hackett, and the debut Vitamin Z album, produced by Alan Parsons. Julian continues to work creatively as a studio session musician, songwriter, arranger and producer. He co-wrote “Give ‘Em My Love”, a song included on Alan Parsons’ latest studio release, "From th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keyboard Instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. Today, the term ''keyboard'' often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics, phrasing, shading, articulation, and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Another important use of the word ''keyboard'' is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the early p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Stewart (keyboardist)
David Lloyd Stewart (born 30 December 1950) is an English keyboardist and composer known for his work with the progressive rock bands Uriel, Egg, Khan, Hatfield and the North, National Health, and Bruford. Stewart is the author of two books on music theory and wrote a music column for ''Keyboard'' magazine (USA) for thirteen years. He has also composed music for TV, film and radio, much of it for Victor Lewis-Smith's ARTV production company. He has worked with singer Barbara Gaskin since 1981. History Stewart was born in Waterloo, London. Having joined local covers band The Southsiders while still at school, Stewart's musical career began in earnest at the age of seventeen when he played organ in Uriel with Mont Campbell (bass, vocals), Steve Hillage (guitar, vocals) and Clive Brooks (drums). After a residency on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1968, Hillage left the group to go to university. Uriel continued as a trio, later changed their name to Egg and subsequen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
