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Story About Mendelssohn

Hey Guys, 

Here is one  about a local orchestra celebrating on of the  greatest  composer of the nineteenth century Felix Mendelssohn

Rock Band Nights at Ye Olde Pub

            Liana Minassian, 23, clutches a microphone stand with both hands as the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” introduction plays in the background. With eyes zeroed in on a TV monitor and her slender figure subtly swaying to George Harrison’s crunchy guitar arpeggios, Minassian confidently waits for the brief silence at the end of the intro before joining Paul, John, George and Ringo’s rooftop performance, shown on the big screen right next to her. It’s Tuesday and it’s another Rock Band Night at Ye Olde Falcon Pub in Davie, Florida.

            Rock Band Nights are an ever-growing facet of the South Florida local bar scene. With an eight hundred songs repertoire ranging from the Beatles to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Killers, MTV and Harmonix have managed to take the system into the home as well as the bars and lounges. The console allows for aspirant singers, drummers, guitarists and bassists to emulate their favorite rock stars.

            Ray San Anton, 35, works for Rock Band Rock Off.com, a company that handles Rock Band entertainment for local bars and clubs, private parties and corporate events. For over a year, San Anton has provided Rock Band to Ye Old Falcon Pub.

             Watching San Anton at work amuses costumers points out Joe Becerra, 31, a regular at the pub. For Becerra it’s like watching two different people: a most competent stage manager when he sets up the drums and microphone stands, and an animated karaoke deejay when he calls people to the stage.

Rock Band deejay Ray San Anton,35, setting up the stage at Ye Olde Falcon Pub

 

  “ It all started with my friend Tony,” said San Anton. “He bought the game and we were just playing it and playing it, and then he came up with the idea to put it out there karaoke style and have people play it in public. We just added a sound system and a big screen TV. It works out great.”

           With Rock Band Nights, a program developed by Rock Band, prospective deejays have access to customizable marketing materials to promote Rock Band Night, use of the official Rock Band logo, inclusion in RockBand.com event listings and forum discussions as well as promotion across Facebook, Twitter and iPhone applications, according to the Rock Band site.

            San Anton however recognizes the rise of Rock Band Nights as an outgrowth of the karaoke. “I figure it’s just a different form of karaoke. As long as karaoke remains popular, we’re going to stay popular.” said San Anton

            Some argue about the limitations of Rock Band in replacing karaoke. Francesco Di Bella, a karaoke deejay from Italy who spends his winters entertaining South Floridian karaoke bars, doesn’t believe Rock Band will ever replace karaoke. “ Suddenly you have a videogame that allows you to play and sing at the same time, which is great.  But there are impairing limitations on the song selection.  For example you can’t play a song that’s just piano and voice,” said Di Bella. “If a song is too high or too low in key, then you can’t sing it with Rock Band,” added Di Bella.

            A Rock Band Night may prove to be fastidious for people who listen to Rock Band participants with musician ears. Because the instrument track cuts off when played incorrectly by its correspondent Rock Band controller, songs lose the musicianship value of the song.

            Lauren Pedic, 23 marred Ringo Starr’s fills in the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” with a smile, as people encouraged her to keep playing. She is new to Rock Band and is still learning which color goes with what drum pad.  “I’ve been playing for two weeks,” confessed Pedic with lighthearted laughter.

 

 

Liana Minassian, 23, and Lauren Pedic, 23, converse shortly before performing the Beatles' "I want you"

 

            Earl Ruwell, 25 is another regular at Ye Olde Pub since it adopted Rock Band Nights. “It’s really just totally for fun, we’re not trying to do anything serious,” said Ruwell. When asked about his popularity projection for Rock Band Nights he said, “I think Rock Band is going to end up being its own platform. It is going to keep expanding. More and more record labels will be okay with the digital distribution of their songs, and it’ll just get bigger and bigger. Every week it gets bigger here.”

            Another issue with Rock Band Nights is mixing alcohol with videogames and controller abuse. San Anton tries to keep alcohol out of his Rock Band stage, but admits having to go through at least ten guitars a year.

            Whether Rock Band Nights will be the reason behind the death of karaoke standards like Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” or anything Elvis is not yet clear. This reporter anxiously awaits the outcome.

Welcome

            This blog is dedicated to all musicians and music lovers in the southern tip of the Sunshine State. With the emptying of newsrooms, journalistic coverage for the ever-busy music scene here in South Florida is spreading thin.

            So if you live in South Florida and music interests you, this is the place to stop by and pick up some information on musical events, music business, reviews and everything else music.

            I chose to write about music because I feel it is the best way that I can contribute to the journalistic and the musical worlds.

            Music and journalism are well interrelated. Journalism can help a musician, composer or musical movement gain recognition, for it can reach the masses with the power of language. Also, journalism offers insight for musicians and composers, who are often inspired by news events. 

            In turn, music helps journalism by allowing itself to be exposed. Many media organizations fare well from musicians’ achievements as well as their misadventures.

           With this blog, I hope to bring different angles and depths to the way we look at music here in South Florida. Stay tuned.