Blog Archives - Mendon-Upton Music

May 14, 2020: Week 9, Volume 4

5/14/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 11 (due Monday, 5/18).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/11/2020).

Click here to access the Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert.
Click here to read the Boston Globe article.

Listening Recommendation: ACDA Playlist

Watch the Vancouver Youth Choir perform "Fire" from Elements, by Katerina Gimon. This piece seeks to depict the sounds, sights, and smells of a fire using the wide range of sounds that can be produced by the human voice.

Click here for the full playlist, which includes high quality choral music from a variety of time periods, genres, and ensembles.

Just for Fun: 2 Truths & 1 Lie - Music Edition

For each of the three questions below, two statements are true and one is a lie - can you guess which one is false?

1. Singing Disney Princesses:

Lilo has at least one sister

Ariel has at least one sister

Merida has at least one sister

Which one is the lie?

2. Strange State Laws:

In New York, it's illegal to whistle at a pigeon.

In Massachusetts, it's illegal to play a remixed version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as dance music in a public place.

In Florida, it's illegal to sing in public while wearing a bathing suit.

Which one is the lie?

3. Music Trivia:

Leo Fender, the founder of the iconic electric guitar and bass brand and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, never learned to play either instrument.

Not a single member of the Beatles could read music.

Prince played over 30 instruments on his debut album.

Which one is the lie?

Take Me To The Answers!

May 13, 2020: Week 9, Volume 3

5/13/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 11 (due Monday, 5/18).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/11/2020).

Click here to access the Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert.
Click here to read the Boston Globe article.

Recommended Resource: Folk Cloud

FolkCloud.com is a free website that collects original and traditional folk music from around the world. You can click on different countries or regions to listen to specific music, or get a Random Playlist.

Just for Fun: ExplainAFilmPlotBadly

See if you can figure out each movie that's being described (badly) below.
Click here for the answers.

1. A guy learns to love a girl without her Instagram filter.

2. Umm ... I forget.

3. A dude steals some bread and then things escalate quickly.

4. Hamlet with animals, but better than Hamlet. Also singing.

5. This girl turns everything to ice and you will NEVER GET THAT SONG OUT OF YOUR HEAD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.

6. Woman cleans all day. Still has mice.

7. Loveable cook and colleage repeatedly violate health code regulations.

8. Girl signs contract and then apparently forgets she can write.

9. Dancing llama. Also, spinach puffs.

10. Girl sings daily mean song about her neighbors and then gets kidnapped.

Have something to share or a suggestion for something you'd like to see? Email me!

May 12, 2020: Week 9, Volume 2

5/12/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 11 (due Monday, 5/18).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/11/2020).

Click here to access the Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert.
Click here to read the Boston Globe article.

Student Submissions

Members of Vocal Ensemble helped surprise Jenna's brother for his 14th birthday!

Have something to share? Email me!

Music Brainteasers

Can you identify the following songs and their artists?

1. Refrain from halting, the first person, immediately.
by Female monarch.

2. Multiple timepieces.
by Low temperature, stage production.

3. Unbleached, natural sweetener.
by Perpetual motion of small rock.

4).Sugary infant, belonging to me.
by Firearms & thorny plants.

5. Refrain from remaining, on your feet, near myself.
by Poisoned insect injection.

Take me to the Answers!

May 11, 2020: Week 9, Volume 1

5/11/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 11 (due Monday, 5/18).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/11/2020).

Click here to access the Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert.
Click here to read the Boston Globe article.

Student Submissions

MORE MEMES!!
(and better than the ones I found)

Have something to share? Email me!

Musical Phenomena

Check out this great infographic from TakeLessons about some well-known Music Phenomena, and then click here to learn more!

Source: TakeLessons

May 8, 2020: Week 8, Volume 5

5/8/2020

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 4 (due Monday, 5/11).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/4/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).
NEW: Click here to read the Boston Globe article about the concert.

It's all about the BASSES
(I know, that was bad. Please don't stop reading)

Weekly Feature: Unique Instruments

Zeusaphone
- a.k.a -
Thoramin
- a.k.a -
Singing Tesla Coils

Made of “singing” Tesla coils, the Zeusaphone or Thoramin works off of musical lightning. It’s essentially a plasma speaker that works by modulating the spark output of a Tesla coil. With the help of a constant current to create a magnetic field, the build-up of energy through controlled and timed surges, and air heated by plasma, high voltage sparks are discharged from a Tesla coil. As each spark moves through the air, it creates unusual square waves. Of course, there’s a lot more to explain, but you get the idea…

Happy Birthday: JUNE!!

I know it's not June. Social distancing has not made me that out-of-it just yet.
But since this is our last month all together (we say goodbye to the seniors at the end of May) we will be featuring a new set of birthdays each Friday.

So, Happy Early Birthday, June babies!

May 7, 2020: Week 8, Volume 4

5/7/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 4 (due Monday, 5/11).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/4/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).

Virtual Concert featured in Boston Globe

Click here for the full article.

TENORS!!

Weekly Feature: Unique Instruments

Singing Ringing Tree

The "Singing Ringing Tree" is part sculpture, part musical instrument, part feat of engineering. Located in Lancashire, England, it was designed by Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu and made from galvanized steel pipes cut to different lengths and stacked on top of one another. Placed not too far from part of the country’s Forest of Burnley Reforestation program, the tree converts wind energy into low pitched sounds thanks to its tubular, tree-like shape. The Singing Ringing Tree was completed in 2006 and rises about 10 feet in the air. In March 2017 a sister singing ringing tree was constructed outside of Austin, Texas.

Send me some pictures?

We've officially reached the point in the week where I shamelessly beg you to send me some stuff to post!

I keep hearing from people who say they enjoy it when I post stuff about what people are doing, pictures, etc. But you see that can only keep happening if you send me things! Otherwise, you're stuck looking at repeated pictures of my cat. Like this one, where she brought me all of her favorite toys, played for about 30 seconds, and then abruptly decided it was time for a nap.

Click here to email me anything you think people would like to see! Song recommendations, internet time wasters, weird pictures, a video where you dress up and yell compliments at passing cars (I stole that one from Some Good News). Seriously. Anything. Or if you're really not into this whole Ms.Simmonds-keeps-begging-us-to-email-her-and-now-it's-getting-awkward thing ... it's cool. I can take a hint. Consider this an open invitation to send me stuff anytime - but I'll also stop harassing you about it :)

May 6, 2020: Week 8, Volume 3

5/6/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 4 (due Monday, 5/11).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/4/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).

Yay, Altos!

Weekly Feature: Unique Instruments

Pyrophone

Otherwise known as the fire organ or the explosion organ, the Pyrophone Organ is powered by combustion. Patented by the Strasbourg-born musician and scientist Fréderic Kastner in 1873, the pyrophone was a musical instrument in which flames encased in pipes similar to those of a traditional organ were used to produce musical notes. Which means that, to play it, a certain part of it needs to be on fire. Of course, it's all perfectly safe - the organ itself can be powered by propane and gasoline, and the explosions that force exhaust down the pipes to make the sounds can be regulated. But still, it's an explosion organ.

Several modernized versions exist, including this one:

Listening Recommendation:
Boston Pops Virtual Orchestra

BSO and Pops have been putting out some fantastic content and resources - and this one is no exception! For more, click here.

May 5, 2020: Week 8, Volume 2

5/5/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 4 (due Monday, 5/11).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/4/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).

Today, we honor Sopranos:

JK, we love you Sopranos!

Weekly Feature: Unique Instruments

Zadar Sea Organ

Located on the Mediterranean coast of Zadar, Croatia, the sea organ was designed by architect Nikola Bašić and completed in 2005. It is comprised of layers of deep steps reaching from the coast down to the ocean. At around 230 feet wide, it has 35 pipes of various lengths that are attached to whistles reaching from the lowest tide level up through air holes to the surface. Every time the tides change and the sea pushes the air through the pipes, diverse sounds are produced, adding to the natural sounds of the ocean waves. Just behind it is another art installation created by Bašić — the Sun Salutation — which has a pattern of glass panels that capture sunlight to power their own light show (seen in the video below).

Listening Recommendation:

This setting of Ave Maria by living composer Kevin Memley is one of my all-time favorite choir pieces. The harmonies are incredibly beautiful, and it performed very well here by the Concert Choir from Emory University. I recommend listening with headphone for the full experience - I hope it brings you some calm on this Tuesday!

May 4, 2020: Week 8, Volume 1

5/4/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of May 4 (due Monday, 5/11).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 5/4/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).

I sometimes have singers submit their favorite choir meme as a beginning of the year ice-breaker. Enjoy some of these memes from past years, and if you have a current favorite you think we should see, email it to me!

Weekly Feature: Unique Instruments

Great Stalacpipe Organ

Invented by Leland W. Sprinkle in 1956 and situated in an underground cave in Virginia’s Luray Caverns, the Great Stalacpipe Organ works by tapping on ancient stalactites with rubber mallets, all connected to a console that looks like a traditional organ.

Click here to learn more about how the organ's origins and how it works.

Listen to Beethoven's Fur Elise played on the organ (from the album "Midnight in the Caverns with Monte Maxwell"):

Recommended Resource: Incredibox

Incredibox is a fun website where you can create your own beatboxing mixes using pre-recorded sounds and entertaining graphics.
Find the website here, or download the app.

May 1, 2020: Week 7, Volume 5

5/1/2020

Current Assignment(s)

Students should be working on the Remote Learning Assignment for the week of April 27 (due Monday, 5/4).
Details can be found in Google Classroom.

Updates

Click here for parent information about the current Remote Learning Assignment (sent 4/27/2020).

The first-ever Nipmuc Virtual Chorus Concert is available!
Click here for a short message and link to the concert (sent 4/29/2020).

Happy Birthday!

Thanks, Morgann, for keeping the birthday bulletin board alive!

Weekly Feature: Musical Records

This week we highlight a different category of random musical records each day. Friday: "The first..."

The first music video filmed in space: On May 12, 2013, Commander Chris Hadfield (Canada) posted a video to YouTube of him singing a modified version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," recorded during his last mission on board the International Space Station (ISS). The music video – the first filmed entirely in space – shows Hadfield floating around inside the ISS with his guitar, with Earth visible through the station’s cupola window. The vocals and guitar were recorded on the ISS, while piano and other musical accompaniment were added by performers on Earth. The video was mixed with the help of the Canadian Space Agency. David Bowie himself tweeted "Hallo Spaceboy..." (the title of his 1996 hit single) in response to Hadfield's video, which you can watch here:

The first musical act to play a concert on all seven of Earth's continents:

US rock band Metallica set the record after they entertained 120 scientists and competition winners in a transparent dome at Carlini Station in Antarctica on December 8, 2013. The band played a hour-long show, appropriately titled, "Freeze 'Em All."

The first gold record: This one is actually a little controversial. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold, awarded its first official Gold Record on March 14, 1958 to Perry Como for his smash-hit single “Catch A Falling Star.” However, it had previously gifted an "unofficial" gold-sprayed record to Glen Miller in 1942 for Chattanooga Choo Choo ... so it just depends who you ask!

Happy weekend, everyone!
Please enjoy these pictures of my sister's dogs: Patch - who is a very good boy to tolerate being dressed up in such ridiculous outfits, and Luna - who wants nothing to do with your nonsense.

Have anything fun or silly or sweet to share? (Did your attempt to bake banana bread epically fail? Has your boredom and/or stress resulted in a weird new hobby? Did you come across a hilarious video on the youtube? Do you have a tv, movie, music recommendation?)
We could all use more content to make us smile these days, so send your pictures and/or stories of what you've been up to! Email Ms. Simmonds.