Sonic Seasoning

"I'll have a fish with a side of big band."

In The Guardian's Word of Mouth Blog, Amy Fleming writes "sound is the final frontier in food presentation."  According to research, sound affects the taste of food:  tastes are intensified or lessened based on sound.  Specifically, low-pitched sounds heighten bitter flavors and high-pitched sounds heighten sweet flavors.

The article provides a link to Condiment Junkie where you can try it out for yourself.  You can play bitter - or sweet-enhancing sounds and see if you notice a change in the way your food tastes.  Companies are betting it does - so much so that Ben & Jerry's is considering ice cream flavors with QR codes that "will allow eaters to access complementary sounds via their phones."

This raises important questions.  Could high pitch sounds replace sugar?  What food does big band music compliment?  And, most importantly, if BBE were an ice cream flavor, what flavor would it be?

Meet the Trumpet

The Trumpet? Oh, it’s terrific!

A while back we met the trombone, and today we’re going to meet another member of the brass
family, the trumpet. The trumpet is the smallest member of this family. Because of this, you
might expect the trumpet to feel badly about itself, but don’t worry: The trumpet is also the
highest member of the brass family, so it has that going for it.

The trumpet also gains a bit of clout by having been around for a long time—at least since 1500
BC. To put things into perspective, the earliest remains of domesticated ferrets have been dated
to 1500 BC. Wikipedia seems to think that’s important, so you should too. 

The earliest trumpets were used as signaling devices for military and religious purposes—
not for music. Which is to say, Jeff Carver better stick with the musician thing as the military and
religious signaling industry isn't exactly flourishing. 

Today’s trumpets usually have three valves; however, valves weren't added to the trumpet until
the 1800s. When a valve is pressed down, it lengthens the tubing, which, as we learned from our
lesson on the trombone, lowers the pitch of the instrument.

Speaking of the trombone, we lied a little when we said the trombone is the only instrument with
a slide. There is such a thing as a slide trumpet that has....you guessed it, a slide instead of or in
addition to, valves.


Some other fun facts about the trumpet:
1. Two trumpets were found in King Tut’s tomb.
2. Famous trumpet players include Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie.
3. There’s about 148 cm of tubing in a B-flat trumpet. That’s almost 5 feet.


Photo credit: oddsock

Beats By Dre Giveaway: Official Rules

Three Steps to Win The Beats By Dre Bluetooth Speaker
 

1. Subscribe

Subscribe to Shaun Johnson BBE's YouTube Channel. To do so, click here and then click the red "Subscribe" button. 

2. Watch 

Watch for two new video uploads per week. Complete step 1 and you will receive an e-mail each time we upload a new video.

3. Tweet 

Once you see that we've uploaded a new video, tweet it from YouTube within 24 hours. For each video you tweet, you will receive one entry in the Beats By Dre Bluetooth Speaker drawing!

How to tweet from YouTube:

That's it, good luck!

Shaun says, "Good luck...and may the tweets be ever in your favor."

Extra Details for the Curious People 
The Beats By Dre Giveaway will run four weeks: April 7 - May 4, 2014. All you need is one entry to win, so you can enter at any time during the four weeks. Remember though, you can enter as many times as you want! One winner will be announced on May 5, 2014 on BBE's Facebook and Twitter pages. 

Shaun Johnson BBE's YouTube channel will upload two videos per week. These videos will feature BBE's performances on PBS television. In addition to the two video uploads per week, three bonus videos will be uploaded at separate, unannounced times during the four weeks. If you tweet a bonus video within 24 hours of it's upload, you will receive three additional entries. 

Subscribing to the BBE YouTube channel will give you the best chance to submit as many entries as possible. Follow BBE on twitter and like the BBE Facebook page for hints as to when videos will be uploaded! 

Click here to watch the contest launch video that was posted on April 7! Please comment on this blog if you have any questions.  

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Big Band Experience!

No matter what stage of love you’re in—from the doe-eyed beginnings to the happy and/or bitter end—the Big Band Experience’s “What’ll I Do” album has a song for you.

Things are just getting started…
Are you lusting after your sweetheart, trying to convince your sweetie that you’re the one? The perfect song for this stage in your hoped-for-relationship? “Can I Steal a Little Love.” Taking into consideration that stealing is technically illegal in all 50 states, the song promises that if the object of desire can prove the theft was wrong, the singer will give it back (but not before begging to be hugged, squeezed, and walked down the aisle).

Things are perfect…
You’re in love and things are going great? Well, that’s…. great! “My Girl Tonight” is the song for you. Don’t be fooled by the insinuation that this is just for tonight. This song takes you from your first kiss to your wedding to beyond. And who doesn't want a devotee who will follow “blindly where you go?” Put this one on repeat. Go ahead, swoon to the croon.

Things have gone sour…
Have you just broken up with your paramour? If so, you may be wondering what you’ll do now. Take a listen to “What’ll I Do.” It won’t provide you with any answers, but it will certainly remind you that you’re now stuck pining away after photographs and dreams. That’s tough stuff, but after a break up, do you really want to listen to happy music? Enter “One for My Baby,” where the “end of a brief episode” calls for music that’s “easy and sad.” And also several adult beverages.

Here’s hoping your Valentine’s Day finds you holding hands with the object of your affection. But, if not, console yourself with some good music and some candy hearts. Maybe some chocolate, too.

5 Steps to Embracing Your Nerves

From the time we were young kids to now, people have always told us that when it comes to stage fright, it’s best to try to calm down. Whether it’s deep breathing exercises, being prepared with hours of practice, or avoiding thoughts of self-doubt, getting rid of nerves before performing has always been the goal. A new article published by Scientific American, however, states differently. The overall message of the article is “embrace the stage fright”. 

Why? The articles states that “new research finds that people who try to relax away their performance anxiety actually mess up more than folks who just give in to the excitement.” Believe it or not, from this article, spinning your anxiety and nerves into enthusiasm actually works.

Another theory that goes along with turning nerves into excitement is the idea that nervous energy is necessary. You should be happy to feel anxiety because you are doing something you care about. If you don’t feel some sort of anxiety, you probably don’t care anymore. Even the most skilled public speakers get performance anxiety, but they take this negative and turn it into something positive by putting more enthusiasm and excitement into their work.

Want to try these theories for your next job interview, musical performance, or speech? Here are five steps to follow to try to turn your nerves into excitement!

1. Accept your anxiety
Most people want to cure anxiety or deny they’re feeling it, but fighting it only makes it stronger. Know that it’s natural to have some fear.

2. Take a few deep breaths
Many have heard this step, but how often do you actually do it? Making sure to take deep breaths calms you and gets your mind off of negative thoughts.

3. Tense and relax arms and legs
Doing this releases trapped nerve energy from your body getting rid of the “shakes” that some people experience.

4. Re-frame anxiety into excitement
You’re anxious because you care. This interaction is important to you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This step is to refocus the nervous energy you are feeling and not hide from it. Re-define the feeling as an enthusiasm to do well.

5. Go for it NOW
No matter what you do, if you wait too long, your excitement will turn back into nervousness, so give yourself to the count of three and just go for it while you’re in a positive excited state.

Five Travel Essentials for Touring Bands

Band on the Run? Bring the Five Essentials Below

The "Spirit of the Season" Holiday Tour is here and while Shaun and the gang are enjoying each stop along the way, they find themselves in the middle of a daunting artic road trip. Their Midwestern journey has inspired the following five travel essentials for a band on the road.

1) Tea
Drinking tea in moderation can be a vocalist's best practice. Hot or warm tea loosens the phlegm on a singer's vocal chords and has an overall soothing effect. For a sore throat, try a "throat coat" tea mixed with a small dose of honey. If caffeine intake is a concern, try green tea as an alternative. It's also important to remember that while tea can be a great tool, always stay hydrated with water.

2) An Opposite Genre 
Your band will likely eat, sleep, and breath the same set of songs and same genre of music for the duration of the tour. While this should be a good thing (hopefully you are performing music that you are passionate about), it can be helpful to have a completely different genre to listen to for recreation. For example, according to this article, the opposite genre of big band music is "aggrotech" music.

3) Social Media
Whether you are riding in a top of the line tour bus or something your dad lent you, a road trip is a unique opportunity to build your band's brand on social media. Facebook and Twitter pages are standard platforms, but sites such as Instagram, Pinterest, and even Snapchat are also effective ways to share pictures, video, and anything else that happened during your travels.

What's the inside of your ride look like?

4) Smartphone Apps
The smartphone world provides an ever-growing selection of travel apps that can take the stress out of any road trip. This app tracks gas mileage and this one provides a professional yet inexpensive way to film your band's most memorable encounters. There are also plenty of apps like Urbanspoon to help you find the perfect restaurant in an unfamiliar town.

5) Extra Gear
Packing back-up equipment might seem like an extra burden (and less leg room), but when someone drops a microphone on concrete, breaks a guitar string, or forgets a mic-stand, whoever packed an "extra" will be deemed a hero. In addition to packing back-up equipment, be sure to double and triple-check that you have all the equipment you need.

 

 

shaun johnson Big Band Experience

 website, facebook, twitter