djb

I am arranging some music, and writing out some string parts. I am having a cello play a bassline in short, detached notes. Will there be much of a difference between writing eighth notes interspersed with eighth rests, and just putting staccatto dots on quarter notes?

I'm scoring a piece that includes 3 flutes and alto flute. Naturally the alto flute needs its own staff.

Can I put Flutes 1,2,3 on one staff? Should I separate them into 2 staves? If so, should the distribution be 1 and 2/3 or 1/2 and 3?

1. I don't see metronome or other tempo indicators anywhere but at the top of the score, but what about other tempo indications, like ritardandos and accelerandos? Should they be in both the piano and vocal staves?

2. I know that slurs are used to indicate melismas. Can I also use slurs for phrasing, as I would for other instruments? Or would it be confusing?

I am writing a piece that includes guitar and makes heavy use of natural harmonics. What is the best way to notate them? One way I read was to, above the note, put the fret number where the finger should rest. Are there other ways that classically trained guitarists read natural (and, for that matter, artificial) harmonics? Does the note sound an octave lower, as normal notes do, or does it transpose differently?

It seems to be populated by:

a) Atheists who simply want to denounce anything remotely related to God, ridicule religion and religious people, and flaunt their intellect,

b) Religious people of some sort trying to tout their version of reality, whatever it is,

c) completely clueless people who ask completely asinine questions like "is one of God's testicles as big as a planet?"

Either way, this forum seems to be mainly populated by people who have their minds made up, either way (myself included). Does this forum have any positive impact, anywhere, or are we all just masturbating?

I'm a relative beginner on the jazz piano. I'm looking at a few lead sheets.

I have a Dm7b5, going to a G7, then a Cm7. Since the ii-v is resolving to a minor key, should the G7 have a b9 and/or b13? Should the Dm7b5 be voiced with or without a 9? if so, should it be flat? (I notice that I voice the Dmb5 with a b9, it has almost the same notes as a G7b9b13, except the root, which I'm not playing anyway.) This particular example is from Blue Bossa, but I suppose it could be applied anywhere.

Any explanation about this would be appreciated.

Normally dynamics go under a staff, but in choir music I see the dynamics above the notes instead because of the words. Is this the convention for solo vocal parts as well? More importantly, is there a standard position to place directions like "dolce" or "con moto"? Above, or below, or does it matter?

There was a piece I sang a few years back, and I could swear it was by Britten, but I can't find it. It's a setting of a sacred text about the Virgin Mary, but wasn't Ave Maria. It was for two choirs; one large, singing in English, and one small (I think of just one voice per part), singing in Latin. I can't remember what the piece is called. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

In your opinion, what are some of the most amazing, stunning a capella pieces you've heard and why do you like them?

For some reason the date displays as dd/mm/yy in both explorer windows and my mail client, and I want it to display mm/dd/yy. How do I change this in Windows 2000?

Why does this program occasionally start using up 98 or 99% of my processor resources? It almost completely freezes everything else running, I can't end the process with Task Manager, and I'm at it's mercy until it decides to let go of my cpu. I'm running Windows 2000. What gives?

I bought a computer made from old parts from an electronics recycling center. It came with 256MB of RAM. Two sticks, one that says pc100 and the other pc133.

I tried replacing these sticks with some other ones I had. Unlike the sticks that came with the computer, which fit into black slots and had two notches in each chip, the memory sticks I put in myself each had only one notch and fit into the blue slots. Both were 256MB, one says "Corsair VC256MB400" and the other says "Mushkin 256MB PC2100".

First of all, the computer wouldn't boot if I had both types of memory sticks in the motherboard (which is a socket a, I believe, as the processor is a celeron); I could only use the one-notch sticks or the two-notch sticks but not both.

Also, even though my computer has twice as much memory now (512MB as opposed to 256), it doesn't seem to run any faster, and frequently has to enlarge the virtual memory allotment.

Can anyone bring me up to speed on this? Any online resources for info?

Normally I would answer that question with something like: operas are generally through-sung, consist of recits and arias, use "classical"-sounding music, use an orchestra/conductor. Musicals usually alternate spoken dialogue with songs, use a more popular-song style, and can sometimes use smaller ensembles, and often have lighter subject material.

However, I see both musicals and operas that seem to blur these boundaries. There are musicals that are mostly or completely through-sung and there are operas with spoken dialogue. There are operas without a clear aria/recitative distinction. There are musicals that can use very symphonic, even operatic sounds and textures and operas that employ popular-music styles. There are operas that deal with light subject matter and there are some very heavy, dramatic musicals.

Can anyone give me some clear criteria for distinguishing the two? Or is there a blurry line where a work could be called both or either?

Is there a way of cooking pinto or black beans that minimizes their somewhat infamous property of giving one gas?

I just finished installing a hardwood floor. It is a nice 5 inch purpleheart wood from Lumber Liquidators. However, since it was on clearance, there were defects in quite a few of the pieces. I'm trying to figure out what can be used as a patch on the finish, but I imagine that different products are going to come with different finishes. All I can say is that the finish isn't very strong or durable.

Also, we have quite a few screw holes to plug. We were thinking we would take some of the extras back to the shop, plane them down to something like 1/4 inch, and use a plug cutter with a drill press. Is there an easier way to do this? Is there a company that sells dowels in different hardwoods for this purpose? If we do that, we'll have to match the finish, of course, which goes back to my previous question.

Any help in this area would be appreciated.

I often hear "was" used in the conditional voice (tense? case?), e.g. "If I was rich" or "If he wasn't there..." but my understanding of it is that one always uses "were," in the singular or the plural, e.g. "If I were rich," "if he weren't there." The first one sounds right, but the second sounds a little off. What are the rules on this?

Personally, I like to speak the language correctly. I'm all for linguistic diversity, but, let's face it, grammar and spelling are going down the tubes. I certainly don't mind if someone points out a grammatical error I make; I figure they've done me a favor since I take care to speak the language correctly. My reaction is roughly equivalent to when someone tells me I've got spinach in my teeth. But it seems I am in the minority on this one. Most people whose grammar I've corrected, with the exception of a few family members and close friends, get offended and act as if I personally insulted their mother. All hyperboles aside, why is this? What is your experience with this?

I think the avatar thing is fun and interesting, but I notice that it can make some of the women look like empty-headed ditzes. Maybe it's the huge eyes. Anyone else's thoughts on this? Does anyone agree or is it just me that's dumb?

This isn't a sexist question or anything, just the opposite!

I wanted to find out what the criteria for being a "top contributor" were, and Yahoo found several identical questions to mine, except that ALL of them said "what is the criteria..."

Criteria, vertebrae, alumni, phenomena, data... they're all plural. Criterion, vertebra, alumnus, phenomenon, and datum are singular.

Oh, and while I'm on a roll here, why oh why is it so hard for people to remember that plurals do not take apostrophes (unless they're acronyms)?

Don't they teach us anything in grade school?