For electricity-free speakers, this design might be the most interesting. Artist and maker Christopher Locke used old broken trumpets and a few spare machine parts to build a sculpture that serves as both decoration and functional speakers for your iPhone or iPod. Check out the video and listen to the incredible difference this broken trumpet makes in the sound of the music.
The speakers are make from salvaged trumpets and machine parts. Comprised of brass, steel and stainless steel, the Analog Tele-Phonographer pieces are going to for $400.
These clever designs are more than just steampunk-style speakers -- they're also functional. Just listen:
No power source is needed as the trumpet simply amplifies the sound. It is similar to the Phonophone design, only with more personality.
There’s no doubt that Star Wars has the best movie soundtracks of all time. There’s really no debating that actually. But if you were to burn a Star Wars “mix tape” CD to listen to in your car, what are the ten tracks that absolutely should go on it? Below we’ve collected the ten pieces of Star Wars music that are an absolute must on such a CD.
Star Wars Main Title
Um, duh? Does this really need an explanation? The only real decision is which track version of it to use as on the soundtracks each movie has a different ending to the main theme as it transitions into the first scene. Personally, I always use the one from A New Hope, but the decision on this one is up to you.
The Imperial March (The Empire Strikes Back)
No Star Wars CD would be complete without what has become Vader’s theme. It’s one of the best things to come out of the amazing Empire Strikes Back soundtrack, and with it Williams gave the Star Wars saga yet another classic theme that will last for all eternity.
The Throne Room (A New Hope)
When I die, this is one of the pieces that will be played at my funeral. The finale to A New Hope is an amazingly powerful piece and another one of the themes that Williams crafted for the saga that will be immortal. As with the Main Title and the Imperial March, this is one of those themes that you see popping up in unexpected places; such as NFL highlight reels.
Clash of Lightsabers/Escape from Cloud City (The Empire Strikes Back)
The entire finale to Empire is epic, and is probably the best of all six movies; the Endor battle included. There are two tracks on the soundtracks that are specifically good. The first is this one which covers the Luke/Vader battle and the escape by Lando, Leia, Chewie, and the Droids. The second one is…
Rebel Fleet/End Title (The Empire Strikes Back)
Anyone who played Star Wars Galaxies at beta and launch will have this track burned into their head as the first part is what is used on the character select screen of that game. This is the finale of Empire with Luke & Leia on the medical frigate, and then the end credits. The Empire credits are great as they give you the major themes of the movie from Vader’s to Leia’s and Yoda’s.
The Forest Battle (Concert Suite)
This one isn’t actually in Return of the Jedi. It’s a concert version of the Endor forest battle that was done just for the soundtrack, but it’s by far the best version of it. Lucasfilm likes to use pieces of this a lot in trailers, specifically the last bit of it, and it was used in trailers and commercials for Episode II.
Leia’s News/Light of the Force (Return of the Jedi)
This is the part where Leia tells Han that she is really Luke’s sister, thus Han’s confused look as to why they were sucking face on Hoth. The awesome part of this track is actually the Vader funeral pyre. The bit from the movie is there, but the official soundtrack actually has an extended version of it where the Force theme flares up to full.
A New Hope & End Credits (Revenge of the Sith)
While the track above is just a fraction of it; the full version of this on the soundtrack CD is an epic 13-minute goodbye to Star Wars that was seriously cut down in the actual film’s end credits. Yes, Williams revisits the Throne Room here, but that’s his way of saying goodbye to Star Wars. This track is also the only time in the prequels where we heard Princess Leia’s theme, but the epic Throne Room finale (with the Force theme in there) is what makes it amazing.
Anakin’s Betrayal (Revenge of the Sith)
The only Prequel track on this list, and while some may have wanted me to include Duel of the Fates or Battle of the Heroes, if I had to pick only one Prequel track; this would be it. The Order 66 scene in Revenge of the Sith is where that movie set itself apart from the Prequels that people thought were somewhat childish as the Jedi Purge began.
Yoda’s Theme (The Empire Strikes Back)
Finally, I had to include Yoda’s theme on the list. After the Imperial March, it’s one of the more memorable themes in the entire saga and it also came from Empire. Williams made Yoda’s theme the perfect fit for an aging Jedi Master who saw the time generations ago when the Jedi were at their prime. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.
If you've watched five seconds of the World Cup so far you're sure to be totally annoyed by the vuvuzela, a plastic horn that sounds like a mosquito near your ear. Or 15,000 of them all at once.
The vuvuzela is an important part of South African tradition, and even as loudly as everyone complains, FIFA might not get around to banning it before the end of the cup. There are a few things you can do to your TV though to minimize the sound or drown it out completely.
1. Change Your EQ This suggestion comes from the U.K.'s Telegraph. If your TV is smart enough to have a programmable equalizer setting, you can reduce the 300 Hz channel down to zero, then up the channels nearest to it.
Does It Work? A few folks on Twitter have reported that not only does EQ reprogramming not work, but the sound becomes more annoying. We tested it using a sound file on our laptop, and it definitely dampened the sound but didn't remove it completely.
2. Cancel the Phase This is a cool solution because it relies on a little physics. If you take a sound, then invert its phase (but keep the amplitude), the inverted phase sound will cancel out the original sound. The quickest way to do this is to buy it: Go to the Anti Vuvuzela Filter, pay about $3.60 and get a 45-minute mp3 download. You load that mp3 and pipe it into your sound system, preferably with your speakers right next to those of your TV, and that should reduce the sound.
If you want to save the cash, you can use a sound-editing tool like Audacity to roll your own phase-canceling mp3. To do that, you first get a sample of the sound: Do a search on any video site showing parts of the soccer game, then convert it to mp3 using a site like Video2mp3. You then import your mp3 file into Audacity, then make a copy of it. You select the entire length of your copied track, then invert it (screenshot below). Then you delete the source track and export your inverted track as mp3. You put your inverted track on, setting it to replay continuously and it should reduce the irritating hum.
Does It Work? Since the fans aren't playing the same exact notes on the plastic trumpets, there will be some variation in sound so the phase inversion won't match exactly. Which is when you mute the TV and put on the theme from "Chariots of Fire."
The next thing we need is a way to mute the irritating hum coming from the American soccer announcers. The very simple "invert" feature in Audacity's free music-editing software.
We got a lot of positive feedback on our “Can You Hear Like a Teenager?” article, and it inspired us to take it just a little bit further.
Here is a list of tones that go from 8Hz all the way up to 22,000Hz. It’s fairly common for people who are over 25 years of age to not be able to hear above 15Hz, so this will help you find out where your high frequency hearing cuts off.
Musicians have a much higher risk of hearing loss that most people do, and many of us don’t really wear proper hearing protection. Even just listening to an ipod for an extended period of time can permanently damage your hearing. We also gradually lose our high-frequency hearing as we age.
Take our unscientific hearing test: listen to each of these tones and let us know at where your hearing cuts out:
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
If you've watched five seconds of the World Cup so far you're sure to be totally annoyed by the vuvuzela, a plastic horn that sounds like a mosquito near your ear. Or 15,000 of them all at once.
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