ryan@thesatellitetvguide.com asked:


Satellite TV Programming

With more than 375 channels to choose from, satellite TV programming offers far more TV listings and viewing options than cable or over-the-air TV.

Satellite TV also gives you access to music channels, pay-per-view movies, sports packages, adult channels, and international programming.

DISH Network Satellite TV Programming

DISH Network programming packages start at $19.99 per month.

They also offer pay-per-view movies and events, adult programming, and sports packages. International programming includes: African, Arabic, Armenian, Asian, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Israeli, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, South Asian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu channels.

DISH Network has the biggest variety of movies, music, and shows and the most HD (high definition) programming of the two satellite TV providers.

Here are DISH Network’s current satellite TV programming packages:

Dish Family Pak

This package includes the following program channels:

Angel One, Animal Planet, Biography Channel, Bloomberg Television, Boomerang, BYUTV, CCT-9, CCT-E&F, CNN Headline News, Colours TV, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, CSTV, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times, DIY, EWTN, Fine Living, Food Network, FOX News Channel, Great American Country (GAC), Hallmark, Hallmark Movie Channel, HSN, Kids Tunes, NASA, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite (East), Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite (West), Nicdelodeon Games & Sports, Nicktoons, QVD, RFDTV, Shop at Home, Shop NBC, TBN, The Outdoor Channel, The Science Channel, The Weather Channel, TV Land.

America’s Top 60 ($29.99 per month)

This package includes the following program channels:

ABC Family, America’s Prevue TV, Angel One, Arts & Entertainment (A&E), Beauty & Fashion Channel, BYUTV, Cable News Network (CNN), Cartoon Network, CCTV-9, Classic Arts Showcase, CNBC, Colours TV, Comedy Central, Country Music Television, Court TV, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, Daystar, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel (East), Disney Channel (West), Documentary Channel, Drive TV, E! Entertainment Television, ESPN Alternate, ESPN2 Alternate, ESPNews, ESPN, Eternal Word Television Network, FEC/PAEC, Food Network, Free Speech TV, Good Samaritan Network, Headline News Network, Healthy Living Channel, The History Channel, HITN, Holistic Television Network, Home & Garden Television, The Home Shopping Network, Horseracing TV, iSHOP, Jewelry Television, The Learning Channel, Lifetime, Link TV, Men’s Channel, Music Television (MTV), Music Television 2 (MTV2), NASA, Nickelodeon/Nick At Nite (East), Nickelodeon/Nick At Nite (West), Northern Arizona University/University House, Pentagon Channel, QVC Shopping Network, Research Channel, RFDTV, The Sci-Fi Channel, Shop At Home, Shop NBC, Spike TV, The Travel Channel, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Turner Broadcast System (TBS), Turner Network Television (TNT), TV Games Network, TV Guide Channel, TV Land, TV Outlet Mall, University Of California, University Of Washington, USA Network, VH1, The Weather Channel.

America’s Top 120 ($39.99 per month)

This package includes all of the channels in the America’s Top 60 package, plus the following program channels:

Altitude Sports & Entertainment, American Movie Classics (AMC), Animal Planet, BBC America, Black Entertainment Television (BET), Bravo, CD-70S Songbook, CD-Acoustic Crossroads, CD-Adult Alternative, CD-Adult Contemporary, CD-Adult Favorites, CD-Big Band Era, CD-Blues, CD-BYU Radio Network, CD-Classic Rock, CD Classic Ambience, CD-Contemporary Christian, CD-Contemporary Instrumentals, CD-Contemporary Jazz Flavors, CD-Country Classics, CD-Country Currents, CD-Easy

Instrumentals CD-Euro Style, CD-Fiesta Mexicana, CD-Hawaiian Music, CD-Hot Hits, CD-Jazz Traditions, CD-JukeBox Gold, CD-Kid Tunes, CD-Latin Styles, CD-Light Classical, CD-Modern Rock Alternative, CD-New Age, CD-New Country, CD-NUJAZZ, CD-Power Rock, CD-Reggae, CD-Urban Beat, College Sports Television, Comcast Sports Net Chicago, Comcast Sports Net West, Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic, Discovery Health, ESPN Classic, FOX News Channel, FOX Pittsburgh 2, FOX Sports, FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports Bay Area, FOX Sports Cincinnati, FOX Sports Detroit, FOX Sports Florida, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports New England, FOX Sports New York, FOX Sports Northwest, FOX Sports North, FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports Pittsburgh, FOX Sports Rocky Mountain, FOX Sports South West, FOX Sports South, FOX Sports West, FOX Sports West 2, FOX Soccer Channel, Fuse, FX, G4, Galavison, Game Show Network, Independent Film Channel, International Music Feed, Madison Square Garden, MSNBC, New England Sports Network (NESN), NFL Network, Noggin, Oxygen, Pax TV, Sirius BBC Radio 1, Sirius Boombox, Sirius Elcis, Sirius Love Songs, Sirius Margaritaville, Sirius Underground Garage, Sirius 60’s Vibration – 60’s Hits, Sirius Alt Nation – Alternative Rock, Sirius Area 63, Sirius Back Spin – Old Skool Rap, Sirius Big 80’s – 80’s Hits, Sirius Bluegrass – Bluegrass Music, Sirius Blues – Classic Blues, Sirius Broadway’s Best – Broadway Musicals, Sirius Buzzsaw – Classic Hard Rock, Sirius Classic Rewind – Recent Rock, Sirius Classic Vinyl – Early Rock, Sirius Classical Voices – Opera, Sirius Disorder – Free Form Rock, Sirius Faction – Rock/Hip Hop/Punk, Sirius First Wave – Classic Alternative, Sirius Hair Nation – 80’s Hair Bands, Sirius Hard Attack – Heavy Metal, Sirius Heart & Soul – R&B Hits, Sirius Hip Hop Nation – Uncut Hip Hop, Sirius Hot Jamz – Jam Bands, Sirius Jazz Cafe – Smooth Jazz, Sirius Left of Center – College Rock, Sirius Mexicana – Refional Mexican, Sirius Moving Easy – Easy Listening Hits, Sirius Octand – Pure Hard Rock, Sirius Outlaw Country, Sirius Planet Jazz – Contemporary Jazz, Sirius Pops – Classical Favorites, Sirius Praise – Gospel Music, Sirius Prime Country – 80’s & 90’s Country, Sirius Pure Jazz – Classic Jazz, Sirius Remiz – Dance Club Mix, Sirius Revolution – Christian Rock, Sirius Runbon – Reggae & Tropical, Sirius Shade 45, Sirius Gold 50’s & 60’s Hits, Sirius Hits One – Top 40 Hits, Sirius Soul Revue – Classical Soul, Sirius Spa 73 – New Age, Sirius Spectrum – Worls Class Rock, Sirius Spirit – Christian Hits, Sirius Standard Time – Standards, Sirius Symphony Hall – Symphonies, Sirius Super Shuffle, Sirius The Bridge – Mellow Rock, Sirius The Coffee House, Sirius The Globe, Sirius The Pulse – The 90’s & Now, Sirius The Roadhouse – Classic Country, Sirius The Strobe – Classic Disco, Sirius The Vault – Deep Cuts Classic Rock, Sirius Totally 70’s – 70’s Hits, Sirius Universo Latino – Latin Pop Mix, SiTV, Soap Net, The Speed Channel, Sports Alternate 1, Sports Alternate 2, Sports Alternate 3, Sports Alternate 4, Sunshine Network, Telefutura East, Telefutura West, Toon Disney, Turner Classic Movies, Turner South, Univision, Univision West, WE: Women’s Entertainment, WGN Superstation.

America’s Top 180 ($39.99 per month)

This package includes all the channels in the America’s Top 120 package, plus the following:

7890 – 4 Decades of Music, Biography, Bloomberg Television, Boomerang, CNBC World, Discovery Health, Discovery Home, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times Channel, Dish Music – 50’s & 60’s Hits, Dish Music – 70’s Hits, Dish Music – 80’s Hits, Dish Music- All That Jazz, Dish Music – Beach Party, Dish Music – Classic Soul, Dish Music – Country Music One, Dish Music – Expressions, Dish Music – Hitline, Dish Music – Hot FM, Dish Music – Italia, Dish Music – Love Songs, Dish Music – Moodscapes, Dish Music – New Orleans Jazz, Dish Music – Piano & Guitar, Dish Music – Roadhouse, Dish Music – Tropical Breezes, Dish Music – Urban Adult, Do It Yourself Network, Encore

(West), Encore Action, Encore Love, Encore Mysteries, Encore Wam, Encore Westerns, ESPNNU, Fine Living, FOX Movie Channel, FOX Reality TV, FOX Soccer Channel, The Golf Channel, GOL TV, Great American Country, Hallmark Channel, History Channel International, Lifetime Movie Network, Military Channel, The Movie Channel (West), MUN2, National Geographic Channel, Nick Toons, Nickelodeon Games & Sports, The Outdoor Channel, The Science Channel, TMC Extra West, VH1 Classic, Wisdom Television.

America’s Everything Pak ($74.99)

This package includes all the channels in the America’s Top 180 package, plus the following movie channels (31 movie channels in all):

Showtime Unlimited Package, Starz! Super Pak, HBO Package, Cinemax Package.

Note: For more programming information, ordering information, and the latest bonuses and free offers from DISH Network, click on the links below.

DIRECTV Satellite TV Programming

DIRECTV satellite TV programming starts at $41.99 per month.

They also offer pay-per-view movies and events, adult programming, and sports packages. International programming includes Chinese, Filipino, Italian, South Asian, Spanish, and Vietnamese channels.

DIRECTV has the most sports program packages of the two satellite TV providers, including the popular NFL Sunday Ticket.

Here are DIRECTV’s current satellite TV programming packages:

Total Choice ($41.99 per month)

This package includes the following program channels:

A&E Network, ABC Family, America’s Store, American Movie Classics (AMC), Animal Planet, BBC America, Black Entertainment Television(BET), Bloomberg Television, Bravo, BYU TV, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, Cartoon Network, The Church Channel, CNBC, CNBC World, CNN, Comedy Central, Country Music Television (CMT), Court TV, Current TV, Daystar, DIRECTV FREEVIEW Events, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Disney Channel (East), Disney Channel (West), E! Entertainment Television, ESPN, ESPN CLASSIC, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, EWTN, FINE LIVING, Fit TV, Food Network, Fox Movie Channel, Fox News Channel, Fuse, FX, G4 Videogame TV, Galavisión, Game Show Network, Hallmark Channel, Headline News, HITN TV, Home & Garden Television, i Independent Television, Independent Film Channel, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Link TV, MSNBC, MTV, MTV2, National Geographic Channel, NFL Network, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite (East), Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite (West), Noggin/The N, Outdoor Life Network (OLN), Oxygen, PBS You, QVC, RFD TV, SCI FI Channel, Shop At Home, ShopNBC, SOAPnet, Speed Channel, Spike TV, Superstation WGN, TBS Superstation, The Church Channel, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, The Weather Channel, The Word, TNT, Toon Disney, TRAVEL CHANNEL, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner South, TV Guide Channel, TV Land, TV One, Univision, USA Network, VH1, WE: Women’s Entertainment, World Harvest Television, XM: America, XM: Audio Visions, XM: Beyond Jazz, XM: Bluegrass Junction, XM: Bluesville, XM: BPM, XM: Chrome, XM: Cinemagic, XM: Deep Tracks, XM: Ethel, XM: Frank’s Place, XM: Hank’s Place, XM: Highway 16, XM: KISS, XM: Lucy, XM: MIX, XM: Nashville!, XM: RAW – XL, XM: Real Jazz, XM: Soul Street, XM: Special X, XM: Spirit, XM: Squizz – XL, XM: Suite 62, XM: Sunny, XM: The 40s, XM: The 50s, XM: The 60s, XM: The 70s, XM: The 80s, XM: The 90s, XM: The Blend, XM: The City, XM: The Fish, XM: The Flow, XM: The Heart, XM: The Joint, XM: The Loft, XM: The Move, XM: The Rhyme – XL, XM: The System, XM: Top 20 on 20, XM: Top Tracks, XM: VOX, XM: Watercolors, XM: World Zone, XM: X Country, XM: XM Café, XM: XM Classics, XM: XM Pops

Total Choice Plus ($46.99 per month)

This package includes all the Total Choice programs, plus the following channels:

The Biography Channel, Boomerang, Discovery Home & Leisure, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times Channel, Discovery Wings, DIY – Do It Yourself Network, Fuel, History International, PBS KIDS, The Science Channel, SOAPNet.

Total Choice Premier ($96.99 per month)

This package includes all the channels in the Total Choice Plus package, plus the following program channels:

Action, BLACK STARZ!, Cinemax (East), Cinemax (West), Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic), CSTV: College Sports Television, Empire Sports Network, Encore® (West), Encore® (East), FLIX, Fox Sports World, The Golf Channel, HBO, HBO (West), HBO Family, HBO Family (West), HBO HDTV, HBO Latino, HBO Signature, HBO2, HBO2 (West), Love Stories, Madison Square Garden (MSG), MoreMAX, The Movie Channel, The Movie Channel West, Mystery, NBA TV, New England Sports Network, The Outdoor Channel, SHOWTIME East, SHOWTIME Extreme, SHOWTIME HDTV, SHOWTIME Showcase, SHOWTIME TOO, SHOWTIME West, STARZ! (East), STARZ! (West), STARZ! Theater (East), Sundance Channel, Sunshine Network, True Stories, VH1 Classic, WAM!, Westerns, YES Network.

Note: For more programming information, ordering information, and the latest bonuses and free offers from DIRECTV, click on the links below.

Click on the following link for more information on free satellite TV systems and service, or these links for programming information, ordering information, and the latest special offers from DISH Network satellite TV or DIRECTV satellite TV.



Brent

Davion W asked:


Downloading music online can be fun and simple after a while. Whether you are a newbie or expert in online music downloads looking for some useful music download tips, this article is for you. We will look at 5 useful tips you can use immediately to make downloading online music a great experience for you.

The whole music community seems to be buzzing about online music downloads, and there seems to be endless choices of online music download sites. You even have the choice of downloading music online for free. There are many ways you can listen to these online music downloads, such as downloading them to your computer and blasting them with a speaker, or burning them to a CD and listening to the captivating tunes using your home theater system. If you are an outdoor person, you can even play them on your CD player or MP3 player such as iPod when you are working out or on the move. The choices are practically limitless. Wow! Are you ready for some hot tips on downloading online music?

1. Compatibility of Download Files

Make sure to check the music file format of the download site, ie MP3 or other formats. Compare that with your digital portable player. MP3 format is the safest to go with. Forget about those sites that require you to convert them before they are playable on your media player.

2. Multi-Genre Selection

There are a lot of places where downloading online music of all genres is possible. This is important because whether you are particularly interested in selected music types such as pop, or jazz, with a multi-genre selection, it is easy to find what you are looking for.

3. Broadband Internet Connection

Downloading online music can be extremely slow if you are running on dial-up connection. In fact, for some folks, it feels like eternity. Listening to your downloaded music should be an instant enjoyment, and not a long-suffering pain. It’s meaningless to have access to unlimited online music downloads when it takes you forever to transfer a few files.

4. Secured Downloading

Internet security is a bigger issue nowadays than it was years back. Many hackers have intruded our online space, making the internet a huge hot bed for viruses, spyware, adware and the like. Avoid dubious sites that can potentially open the floodgates, allowing malicious applications to harm our computers. The download sites must be secured and safe for downloading online music. Many folks have fallen prey to virus and adware attacks, while downloading online music from Kazaa style websites. One important tip to note is to avoid download sites which proliferate our browser with advertisement pop-ups.

5. Quality of Online Music Downloads

The online music download audio files should be of a high quality and must not be edited. Did you know that there are some sad stories of how poor the quality of some downloaded music files are? People are looking for crystal-clear digital quality music downloads and not distorted unclear songs and music that have been shortened in length.

Imagine the disappointment with downloading online music of such standards!

After hearing these tips on how to download online music, you are better prepared to find a safe music download site for some nice online music. Nevertheless, I know how tedious it can be to surf around for good online music downloads especially when we want to download them quickly. You may wish to visit my blog for specific quick tips to sniff out your perfect place to download online music safely and instantly. Learn from my blog which are the hottest online music download sites that offers unlimited music downloads ready to be fed to your iPod or MP3 players at a few mouse clicks away.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.



Dwight

John Belthoff asked:


In part 1; we discussed various metronome techniques to advance our awareness, concentration, feeling, and broaden our minds while practicing. This article will go into what we should be practicing and, more importantly, thinking when using those techniques.

Music is made up of three basic elements, Melody, Harmony and Rhythm. All are interrelated and we should not try to isolate them because this will not take us where we want to be. We instead want to understand each of them in a unique way so when eventually combined they make a more poignant whole. Melody was first on my list so let’s start there.

Our melodies will make or break our playing – Period!

When we practice melodies we must remember that for each tune we work on there are probably lyrics for it. If you do not know the lyrics, stop and get a copy. Read them, speak them out loud, sing them and learn them until they become part of you.

Next, listen to the greatest vocalists sing these tunes. Listen to their phrasing, their articulation, how they use their mouths, tongues, teeth, lips, lungs, body posture or whatever they do to produce the sounds. Think about the ways we can incorporate all of those things into our guitar playing.

Unfortunately, the guitar is an instrument that has no air blowing through it so we have to improvise. Also the patterns of scales and chord fingerings we were taught when we started don’t help our creativity. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t learn them but many times practicing only these will leave us stale and stiff.

Case in point, did you ever transcribe a great jazz guitar solo only to realize that the fingerings needed to play it are no were near what we were taught about standard fingerings for guitar scales?

So what do we do?

Start off basic and I mean so basic that we’re probably way ahead of ourselves already. Be aware of the endless possibilities of making each note and then break it down to the point where we are left with only the rudimentary elements of producing a single tone on the guitar. The atomic tone so to speak.

For instance, if we play with only the thumb of our picking hand as opposed to a plectrum we get one type of sound. If we play only down strokes with our thumb we get a different sound again.

Let’s delve into this further as it is important.

If we play with our index finger, middle finger, a plectrum on the pointy end, on the fat corner, on the fat end, upstrokes, down strokes, whatever, we can make all kinds of sounds. In fact, there are so many possibilities we may never get to them all in our lifetime.

Hopefully you see where I am getting at and we haven’t even discussed the fingering hand yet nor have we discussed any particular notes, pitches, dynamics etc…

Don’t let that stop you. Start learning this now and you will be happy you did.

Ok what’s next?

Select 3 notes and work with only them while thinking about the spoken voice and how you would convey three words in a sentence. Think about how by changing the phrasing and articulation of our three words, or notes, we can change the meaning of them entirely. In fact pick an actual 3 word sentence and speak it with your guitar rather than using your voice. This is where we truly start learning melody.

If we were to find someone we don’t know and say to them; “What is your name?” We would get a response. Don’t forget that a non response is also a response. We must realize the actual response we get is dependent on how we phrase and/or articulate our words and realize that we can control this response only if we understand its relationship to our actual question.

I’ll explain. If we were to say those exact words in a teasing, tormenting and antagonistic manner we would get one response. If on the other hand we were to use an openly friendly demeanor we get an entirely different response all together.

By doing this simple thought exercise we realize that using the exact same words spoken in different ways produces vastly different responses.

By observing, understanding, and practicing this behavior we can learn to exploit and utilize this technique to our advantage to allow the full potential in our guitar playing that invokes the response were seeking, whatever that may happen to be.

The human voice is of particular concern to us because our ultimate goal is to emulate what it does with our instrument. We want to be able to communicate with our guitars the way people communicate when they speak to each other – which is not unlike melodies.

As babies, we were only able to make rudimentary noises to communicate. Years later, hopefully, we are able to form intelligent rational thoughts and convey them with our words using articulation and phrasing and word combinations to mean many things. We want to apply this to our guitar playing.

Remember, it took us years to be able speak in this manner and we should approach practicing melody with the same realization and not try to run before we can walk.

We should also remember that even babies can communicate in a very compelling manner without using words at all! So don’t be afraid if this practice routine seems too simple. It’s not the notes you use, it’s what they are actually communicating that is important.

What can we deduce from all of this?

When you start finding yourself practicing or playing those blazing fast cool scalar riffs, stop and think about how many times you hear actual people speak like that.

Now – ask yourself how long you would stay and listen to them if they did.

That’s it for now but look for new articles in the future and remember; have fun, practice hard and always play your heart out!



Jo

Stig Kristoffersen asked:


The boy’s name Stian \s-tian\ is of Old Norse origin, and its meaning is “voyager, pilgrim”. The name is popular in Scandinavia. The different-sounding Stig is from the same source.

Stian has 3 variant forms: Stig, Styg and Stygge. Stian is a male first name and a very rare surname. Stian is a short form of the Old Norse Stigandr “wanderer”, which is derived from the root stig “step, mounting upward”

There are found 87 Old Norse baby names for boys.

We know about 9 Voyager baby names for boys. Brendan and Ferdinand are popular Voyager baby names. Arvad, Beattie, Farold, Farr, Hernando, Stian and Viator are uncommon Voyager baby names.

There are 5 Pilgrim baby names found for boys. Christian, Miles and Palmer are popular Pilgrim baby names. Standish and Stian are uncommon Pilgrim baby names.

Stians name day is September 13th .

In the end of 1980’s the name was used amongst 2% of male Norwegians were called Stian, this was the peak usage of this name. At the present around 0.5% of the male Norwegian population is called Stian.

Around 15.000 norwegians are called Stian at the moment.

Stian is known as a first name in Norway since the 12th century. The name is most used in Norway with Sweden and Denmark as the runner ups using this name. Rarely, but occationally we find the name used in other countries such as in the US.

Some known people called Stian.

Stian Lindaas Kristoffersen (born December 24, 1976 in Porsgrunn, Norway) is a heavy metal drummer. His main band is the progressive metal band Pagan’s Mind, who he helped form in 2000.

Stian has also played drums for Jorn Lande, Firewind, and Dimension F3H and is currently part of the project band Kinrick.

Nagash or Lex Icon (born Stian Arnesen, May 7, 1978) is a Norwegian black metal musician. He plays guitar, bass, drums and keyboards.

He began writing music in 1992, together with Fafnir and Glaurung for a project called Troll. Fafnir and Glaurung soon left the band, but Nagash continued Troll as a solo project, playing guitar and keyboard. Wanting to be in a band and “express himself on all levels”, he founded the band Covenant together with Blackheart in 1993. (However, after having released two albums, they had to change the name to The Kovenant due to a Swedish band already called Covenant.)

Gaining a good reputation in the black metal scene, Nagash was recruited as bass player for Dimmu Borgir in 1996. In 1999, he left Dimmu Borgir to concentrate on his career with The Kovenant. At the same time, he changed his stage name to Lex Icon in order to reflect the artistic direction The Kovenant had taken.

In 2004, now known as Lex Icon, he teamed up with Shagrath and formed a new stoner rock band called Chrome Division. In this band he played drums.

Lex has reported that he was fired from Chrome Division and is now 100% dedicated working on the next Kovenant album. He also now currently reported to have joined one of his favorite bands, Crowhead.

He has also been involved in Nocturnal Breed (as a session drummer, under the name of Rick Hellraiser) and Carpe Tenebrum.

Stian Grimseth (born July 24, 1972) is a world-known weightlifter from Naustdal in Norway. He won the European Championship in 1996 and at some time held the 6th position in the world ranking.

He has competed many times in the Olympics, World Cup, European Cup, and in Norway. Stian Grimseth is currently retired.

Stian Aarstad is a Norwegian pianist and keyboard player best known for his four-year (1993-97) stint with the black metal band Dimmu Borgir during which he played keyboards and synthesizers while engendering criticism and controversy for appearing onstage and performing in an infamous top-hat-and-cape outfit reminiscent of Jack the Ripper, while wearing minimal corpse makeup.

Subsequent stories indicated that during his period with Dimmu Borgir, Stian Aarstad did not even listen to any metal sounds, preferring classical music instead. His departure from the band came as a result of unresolved issues regarding compulsory service in the Norwegian Army. In 1998 to 1999, he produced a demo-EP for the unblack metal band Vaakevandring.

In the 2000s, Stian Aarstad had been the pianist for the band Enthrall, but left his regular position during the recording of the band’s third album. Reports have mentioned that he has also performed as a session player and engineer for the band and, in 2007, has been working as a sound engineer.

Stian Aarstad “adapted” the melody “Sorgens Kammer”, the fourth song on the Stormblåst album, from the Amiga game “Agony”.

Stian Eckhoff, born 3 September 1979 in Trondheim, is a Norwegian biathlete.

Stian Carstensen (born in 1971) at Eidsvoll) is a multi-instrument musical virtuoso.

He started as an accordion player at the age of 9. He first learned from his father, and later from a classical player which he attended for 4 years. During this time he played in Norwegian tv, radio, festivals etc. He also toured in America, playing classical music. At the same time he was also into swing jazz, and his father who also played bass, played standard tunes with him.

When he was 15 he started to play electric guitar in a rock band. After a while he started to get back the interest for jazz again, and formed a trio with some local artists. He lived as a freelancer a year or so and then he began to study in the conservatory in Trondheim, jazz department with the guitar as a main instrument. During his two years of study in Trondheim (91-93) he formed the group Farmers Market. Farmers Market was originally a free jazz quintet, until they one day found a note with a Bulgarian folk tune in 11/16. This was a great experience for the boys,and they practiced day and night to be able to play this asymmetrical music.

After a while Stian bought a ticket to Bulgaria, and went around in the villages there to collect, and study the folk music there. The result of the tour was a live record with singers & musicians from the famous “Le mysteres des voix bulgares” recorded at Molde international jazz festival in Norway. After this Stian was totally dedicated to the Bulgarian music. He toured a lot with musicians from Bulgaria, and Romania, and learned a lot from them.

Besides of being dedicated to this kind of music,he also took lessons in Composition, learned to play the 5-string banjo in bluegrass style, played with various jazz groups (be-bop, and experimental) with Jon Christensen and Bendik Hofseth to mention some.

In 97 Farmers Market made their second album with saxophonist Trifon Trifonov from Bulgaria. This was an extreme album with elements of many different styles and ideas from bluegrass in odd meters, To metallica like versions of traditional balkan tunes,and slick commercial music mixed with Stockhausen. The album got very good rewiews from many contemporary music magazines as well as rock,folk and jazz magazines in Europe.

In 1998 he was asked to write music for a Norwegian festival; Vossajazz. He wrote some music and put together a band consisting of his colleague Jarle Vespestad (one of the most talented young drummers in Norway which also play in Farmers Market), Django Bates from England, and Ernst Reijseger from Holland. The music was performed in April 98, with a great success. The choice of musicians was made by a careful hand, because they each had one thing in common; they were into a lot of styles at the same time. The music was composed in a contemporary spirit, but contained elements from many different styles without being artificial.

This seems to be a highlight in S.C.’s career, and he has been working a lot with that ensemble after this. Another highlight was his release of the new record Farmers Market on the German label Winter & Winter, he toured Europe and Japan with this band in 2000. They got very good rewiews both on the album and the concert in magazines like The Wire, Rolling Stone etc. This year Farmers Market played at the worlds biggest jazz festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Holland.

He also playes with Dutch cello player Ernst Reijseger. They work as a duo playing only self written stuff in various improvisational folk styles.

Last year he studied Bulgarian polyphony in Bulgaria, and rural American Afro-Celtic music in the Appalachians, on a fee from the Norwegian cultural department. He is currently on a two year state fee to study Bulgarian traditional music. His instruments are: Accordion, kaval (Bulgarian flute), bagpipes, guitar, violin, mandolin & banjo.

He recently recorded his solo album, with only his own compositions for Winter & Winter ,it will be released in 26 countries!

Stian Piene Ohr (born 4 January 1978) is a football midfielder/attacker for Strømsgodset IF. He has formerly played for the clubs Hødd, Start, Vålerenga, Stabæk and Molde.

Stian Johannsen is a Norwegian musician known under the stage name Occultus. He was briefly a vocalist and a bassist for the black metal band Mayhem. Occultus was in the band for a very short time in 1991 after the ******* of Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin).

Stian Theting (born 21 October 1976) is a Norwegian football defender/midfielder who currently plays for F.K. Bodø/Glimt.

He joined Bodø/Glimt in 2004 from Skeid, and stayed there even after their relegation from the Norwegian Premier League in 2005.

Stian Hole (1969–), norwegian graphic designer, illustrator and childrens book writer

Stian Carstensen (1971–), norwegian musician

Stian Bromark (1972–), journalist, critics, translater and chief editor

Stian Heimlund Skjæveland (1973–), norwegian figurative painter

Stian M. Landgaard (1978–), norwegian writer

Stian Barsnes Simonsen (1979–), norwegian acter and TV host

Stian Sørlie (1982–), norwegian car sport driver

Performing a Google search for Stian gives 1,990,000 hits in total.

Performing a Google search for Stian-Andre gives 830 hits in total.

Performing a Google search for Stian-Andre Kristoffersen gives 195 hits in total.

Performing a Google search like “Stian-Andre Kristoffersen” gives only 3 hits.



Marjorie

Chris Chew asked:


The piano is an important musical instrument for jazz bands since the origin of jazz music and it can be played in the style of a solo performance or as part of a band. Like the guitar, the piano is one of the few musical instruments in a jazz band which can play chords as well as notes instead just single notes only instruments such as the saxophone, trombone, trumpet or even the vibraphone (1 or 2 notes together).

Gone were the days when a jazz pianist’s role is just to keep tempo with repetitive chord combinations. Nowadays, the pianist is free to choose any technique or style to accompany a band or a singer using both short and sustained chordal and melodic fragments called comping.

An accomplshed jazz pianist must not only be good at sight-reading as well as good at improvising chord symbols but also must be able to adapt to the different playing styles of various bands he jams with. Jazz pianists must balance this interpretation and improvisation to the musical style the bands are playing.

The jazz pianist is indeed a happy musician because of the extended range of the piano. The piano offers the pianist with a much greater number of choices and techniques for improvisation, much more so than any other instruments in a jazz band.

In a jazz musical style known as “striding”, the left hand of the pianist alternates positions very quickly playing notes in the bass register and chords in the tenor register. The right hand will usually play the melody, but might also play harmonic content, chordally or even in octaves.

Jazz pianists play the solo with 3 basic objectives to fulfill simultaneously. The techniques are as follows :-

a) To provide a clear and swinging rhythm. This style is usually done by striking a beat with the right hand just after a weaker beat with the left hand. The objective of this technique is to mimic the combination of a cymbal ride as well as the walking bass. This technique can also be executed deftly with the left hand alone, by imitating the weaker beat preparatory swing note that is played by a bassist just before he strikes some of the notes of the bass phrasing.

b) Play the melody or solo improvisation with the right hand.

c) Establish the guide tones for chord changes.

One method commonly used by jazz pianists for tackling this triple situation simultaneously is to hold the hands together in a fork-like shape with the index and the third finger joining the thumbs to form a central group, whilst the fourth and fifth fingers are spread outwards.

This is done so that the pianist can use the left branch fingers to play bass notes, the middle fingers to moderate the guide tones and the right branch fingers to play the upper lines of the melody.

It is indeed challenging for the pianist to meet all these demands at the simultaneously. However these skills are inherent in most competent jazz pianists.

What is commonly called the ‘circle of fifths’ is also an important element in playing jazz piano because it provides harmonic diversity through a well guided harmonic phrase. Playing the circle of fifths technique is very much related to chord “planing” techniques which shift a chord, often voiced in fourths, up the scale, while implying a repeated harmonic pattern of tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant.

If you intend to be a good at playing jazz piano, then mastering these styles and techniques is a required skill.



Tom