Future Music

Welcome to Future Music. The best place for your audio needs.

2010-01-18T17:53:00.009+05:30

Dedicated to music making, this site will have tutorials of the latest and oldest techniques of music production.
From recording live to midi, this is the best place to get the right stuff you need to get started in making your own beats and instrumentals.
Also for former producers who need some new vst's and more.
See the Downloads Section now !

This is a link exchange site, the software and any other data on this site is owned by the parent link.
This sites takes no responsibility whatsoever.

Information/E-Books

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The History Of Music
The Virtual Studio Technology

Vst Instruments and Plug Ins

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Edirol HQ Orchestral
Amazing sounds VST-plugin. Solo strings and orchestra, brass and other stuff.

ToonTrack EZ Drummer VSTi RTAS v1 15 UPDATE Incl Keygen-AiR
Click Here To Get Torrent File

EZdrummer® is a multi-microphone drum sampler designed for musicians and producers in need of a compact, affordable, easy to handle plug-in without compromising sound quality or control. The visualized drums in the interface combine auditioning of sounds and drumkit construction. The extensive drag and drop MIDI library (featuring 8000+ MIDI files) enables users to create a great drum track in just a few clicks. For more advanced handling, users can control microphone bleeding and levels between drums using the internal mixer.

The mixer also allows stereo and multitrack routing into the host through one single plug-in, and thanks to the second generation Toontrack® Percussive Compression (TPC), system requirements are kept to a minimum.

The drums for EZdrummer® were recorded, produced and played with the best in the business. From our pro Superior Drummer® line we’ve adopted the humanizing features that are instrumental in making our drum samplers the pinnacle in digital drum production.

Tassman

Filterscape
z3ta+
PolyIblit
Reaktor

Drumatic 3/Drumatic VE
µTonic

Also check out the free vst Crystal: http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/about.html Try out the wavesequencing and 'Blend' function.

If you need a bass/lead synth you have to check out MiniMogueVA. It's free also but one of the best Moog vst's out there. http://glenstegner.com/softsynths.html

Korg Legacy, Absynth, NI's Pro-53, NI's FM7, Kontakt, and Sonik Synth all get a good work out in my studio as well. You get a ton of sounds to fool with in Sonik Synth: http://www.soniksynth.com/Main.html?prod_SS

stylus rmx and ewql stormdrum for drums, spectrasonics trilogy for bass

Sonic Reality (the people that make Sonik Synth) make things called Expansion Tanks. These are basically specialized libraries deidicated to a specific 'genre' of sounds (it comes with a 'light' version of Sampletank). They've got some of the best strings and guitars I've heard and they're not too expensive.

* drums: Spectrasonics Stylus
* bass: Spectrasonics Trilogy (only adjustable presets) or the Arturia VSTi's
* analog-like synth sounds: the Arturia VSTi's, Superwave P8

=> links:

http://www.spectrasonics.net

http://www.arturia.com

http://home.btconnect.com/christopherg/main.htm (freeware !!!)

PS: a few less known but very underrated outsiders are the G-Media impOSCar ( http://www.gmediamusic.com/gforce/im.../impOSCar.html ) and the EMS Synthi-VST ( http://www.emsrehberg.de/SYNTHI__s/S...vs_plugin.html )

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for Windows PCs (or Intel Mac/ Bootcamp)

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1> Fl Studio :

FL Studio is a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for Windows PCs (or Intel Mac/ Bootcamp). With a full feature-set and aggressive pricing (inc. lifetime free updates), FL Studio may be your ideal DAW!

FL Studio can be used as a scratchpad for your ideas or to produce completely mastered tracks ready for publication. It's up to you!
FL Studio XXL Producer Edition v8 0 2 Autotune v5 UN-LOCKER :

Download Link
Official Website : http://flstudio.image-line.com/

2> Cubase :
Download Link

Cubase LE 4.

x32/x64 Vista/Xp

_install everything on iSo_
_reg the software via syncrosoft controlpanel/wizard/download license_
_needs an account at steiney (free)_

and again:
-30 day trial :An unique serial "hardware locked" (think mac:adress) will be generated by syncrosoft manager. Theres your key.
_______________________________
updates for this iSo here:
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4603228.

3> Reason 4:

Download link

4> Ableton Live 7.0.3:

Download Link

Ableton Live 7.0.3

Ableton Live 7 is your companion during every stage
of the musical process, from creation to production
to performance.

Version 7 renews the core of Live:

The enhanced audio engine improves fidelity with 64
-bit mix summing, POW-r dithering, optimized sample
-rate conversion and other advances.

The new compressor device integrates three
compression models, one of which is based on a
feedback design commonly found in the most praised
vintage compressors.

Fully integrated side-chaining capability is
available for the new Compressor as well as Gate and
Auto Filter.

High-Quality modes have been added to Operator,
Dynamic Tube and Saturator for anti-aliased
processing, reducing typical "digital" artifacts.

EQ Eight has an improved user interface and a 64 bit
mode for increased accuracy.

The new Spectrum analyzer provides visual feedback
for any audio signals within Live.

The MIDI engine has been reworked to minimize timing
error (jitter) of recorded MIDI.

Hardware integration has been streamlined+hardware
synthesizers and effects can now be inserted into
device chains just like software plug-ins.

New memory management technology allows users of
large sample libraries, such as Ableton's new sampled
instruments or third-party libraries imported via
Sampler, to run an impressive number of instruments
at the same time. This happens automatically, with no
setup changes required.

New Audio and MIDI fact sheets explain exactly how
signals are (or are not) being modified when using
specific features in Live and provide tips for
achieving the highest quality results.

Live 7 brings the features most frequently requested
by Live's users:

Time signature changes can be inserted in the
Arrangement timeline and tied to Session scenes.

Warped and unwarped video can be exported to files.

Multiple automation lanes per track can be displayed
and edited at the same time.

A new "tempo nudge" function makes it easier to
synchronize to live musicians or DJs.

REX files can be dragged, dropped and played just
like WAV or AIFF files.

Live, Operator and Sampler have received many small
improvements and additions based on users' requests.

The new "Drum Rack" streamlines beat production via
an easy drag-and-drop interface and brings endless
creative possibilities:

A familiar drum pad interface allows dragging and
dropping of samples, instruments and effects.

Every pad can have its own Sampler, Simpler,
Operator, or any other virtual instrument or plug-in,
and its own individual effects chain.

The slicing feature fills a Drum Rack with the
individual hits from REX or audio loops. The original
sequence is represented as a MIDI clip, making it
easy to replace, reshuffle or re-record the events
and process them individually.

A Drum Rack can have its own sends, returns and sub
-mixes.

Every pad can be shown as a mixer channel in the
Session View.

Each drum can be dragged out of its rack for isolated
pattern control and editing.

New Ableton Instruments

The new add-on instruments are the result of
Ableton's collaboration with leading industry
partners. The palette covers physical models of
electric pianos, analog synthesizers and string
instruments as well as multi-mic/multi-layer sampled
acoustic drums, and drum machines. The instruments
integrate tightly with Live, both in terms of
workflow and resource management.

Tension is a physical modeling string synthesizer
based on the advanced technology found in String
Studio from Applied Acoustics Systems (AAS). Through
the use of mathematical models, Tension simulates
each component of a stringed instrument. Tweak
everything from how the string is played+with a pick,
bow or hammer+to the size and type of instrument body
used. Create incredibly accurate reproductions of
real instruments or design otherworldly hybrids, all
within Live's familiar working environment.

Electric offers the much sought-after sounds of
classic electric pianos. Based on AAS' acclaimed
Lounge Lizard, Electric uses the same advanced
physical modeling synthesis technology and integrates
perfectly into Live's workflow. Because Electric uses
synthesis, users can dive inside and play with the
guts of the instrument+the hammers, tines, pickups
and more+to achieve just that right amount of
melancholy or bark and bite.

Analog emulates the unique circuitry and irresistible
tweakability of vintage analog synthesizers,
employing the renowned physical modeling technology
of AAS' Ultra Analog. Analog is a creative workhorse
that features versatile alias-free oscillators,
multi-mode filters, syncable LFOs, looping envelope
generators and much more. Able to produce everything
from silky pad sweeps to earth-shaking bass, Analog
is also completely integrated in Live's familiar
interface.
this also includes...
Live Tips&Triks PDF (nitro PDF Portable Included)
ReWire LiVe Tips TXt (Pro Tools7, Reason, FL Studio and More)
Live Packs
install
-----------
this is very hard to do... so reed carefuly
just d-click on Setup.exe!!!!!
enjoY!!!!!

A free software

Free music studio software

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Music Studio Producer:

Download Now

Music Studio Producer is free MIDI sequencer, DAW which can host VST(i), supports ASIO. Music Studio Producer has a great number of functions for every music scene, such as composition, arrangement, recording, mixing and mastering.

You can create music with various ways such as real-time recording, step recording and editing with just using a mouse. You can edit music just as you want by using four kinds of windows ; Track, Piano Roll, Score Roll, Event List and Mixer.

Features

MIDI

-Change playback speed
-Loop play
-Solo and mute
-Real-time recording
-Step recording
-Recording in a piano roll and a score roll by using a mouse
-Step recording in the event list
-Quantize
-Create control curves
-Tempo, Meter and Key track
-Instrument list
-Insert event to initialise track
-Detailed midi data display
-Input quantize
-Software keyboard
-Change velocity and key

Audio

-Auto punch out
-Internal Routing
-Offline mix
-Non destructive editing
-Edit time as a measure
-Various realtime effects
-256 phases of volume
-Invert phase
-8 stereo busses
-32bit audio processing
-192kHz, 24bit
-Audio Effect Plug-In
-Audio spectrum
-Signal and level meter
-Synchronize with MIDI

Download

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Digital Audio Workstations ( Full Versions )

Vst Instruments and plug ins

Please note that we do not host any copyrighted content on this website. The torrent (metadata) files that we host do not contain data that might be copyrighted in any way.

Contact me

2009-01-18T16:35:00.000+05:30

Virtual Studio Technology

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Steinberg's Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an interface for integrating software audio synthesizer and effect plugins with audio editors and hard-disk recording systems. VST and similar technologies use Digital Signal Processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware with software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and VST is supported by a large number of audio applications. The technology can be licensed from its creator, Steinberg.
VST plugins are generally run within a Digital Audio Workstation, providing the host application with additional functionality. Most VST plugins can be classified as either instruments (VSTi) or effects, although other categories exist. VST plugins generally provide a custom GUI, displaying controls similar to the physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their UI.

VST instruments include software emulations of well-known hardware synthesizer devices and samplers, emulating the look of the original equipment and its sonic characteristics. This enables VSTi users to use virtual versions of devices that may be otherwise difficult to obtain.

VST instruments require notes to be sent via MIDI in order to output audio, while effect plugins process audio data. MIDI messages can often also be used to control parameters of both instrument and effect plugins. Most host applications allow the audio output from one VST to be routed to the audio input of another VST (known as chaining). For example, output of a VST synthesizer can be sent to a VST reverb effect for further processing.

With appropriate hardware and drivers, such as a sound card that supports ASIO, VST plugins can be used in real-time. ASIO bypasses Windows' slower audio engine, offering much lower latency.
VST instruments generate audio. They are generally either virtual synthesizers or samplers. One of the first VST instruments was the Neon VSTi (see SCREENSHOT), which was included in Steinberg's Cubase. Some, such as Native Instruments' Pro-53, specifically recreate the look and sound of famous synthesizers from years past (in this case, the Prophet-5).

VST effects, such as reverb and phaser effects, process audio input. Other monitoring effects provide visual feedback of the input signal without processing the audio. Most hosts allow multiple effects to be chained.

VST MIDI effects process MIDI messages prior to routing the MIDI data to other VST instruments or hardware devices; for example, to transpose or create arpeggios.

VST hosts

Software

A VST host is a software application or hardware device that allows VST plugins to be loaded and controlled. The host application is responsible for handling the routing of digital audio and MIDI to and from the VST plugins. There are a wide range of VST-compatible hosts available; some of the most popular include Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, REAPER and Sonar. Savihost is a stand-alone executable that runs a single VST instrument.

VST plugins can be hosted in incompatible environments using a translation layer, or shim. For example, FXpansion offers a VST to RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) wrapper (allowing VST plugins to be hosted in the popular Pro Tools digital audio workstation), and a VST to Audio Units wrapper (allowing VST plugins to be hosted in Apple Logic Pro Digital Audio Workstation).

[edit] Hardware

Hardware VST hosts (e.g. Muse Receptor and SM Pro Audio's V-Machines) can load special versions of VST plugins. These units are portable and usable without a computer, although all editing is done on a computer. Other hardware options include PCI/PCIe cards designed for audio processing, which take over audio processing from the computer's CPU and free up RAM.

Audio data can also be sent over a network using appropriate software, allowing the main host to run on one computer and VST plugins to run on peripheral computers.

VST plugin standard

The VST plugin standard is the audio plugin standard created by Steinberg to allow any third party developers to create VST plugins for use within VST host applications. VST requires separate installations for Windows/Mac/Linux. The majority of VST plugins are available for Windows.

The History Of Music

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Classical music can be organized in a variety of ways. There are six historical periods:
Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque,Classical, Romantic and the Contemporary.

Music is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places. Scientists now believe that modern humans emerged from Africa 160,000 years ago.
Around 50,000 years ago these humans began to disperse from Africa reaching all the habitable continents.
Since all people of the world, including the most isolated tribal groups, have a form of music, scientists conclude that music must have been present in the ancestral population prior to the dispersal of humans around the world.
Consequently music must have been in existence for at least 50,000 years and the first music must have been invented in Africa and then evolved to become a fundamental constituent of human life.

A culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that culture, including social and economic organization and experience, climate, and access to technology. The emotions and ideas that music expresses, the situations in which music is played and listened to, and the attitudes toward music players and composers all vary between regions and periods.
"Music history" is the distinct sub field of musicology and history which studies music (particularly western art music) from a chronological perspective.

Antiquity (a.k.A.) Medieval Period
0-1400 A.D.

When we explore Medieval music, we are dealing with the longest and
most distant period of musical history. Saint Gregory is credited with
organizing the huge repertory of chant that developed during the first
centuries of the Christian church, hence the term Gregorian chant. He was
pope from 590 to 604, and the Medieval era continued into the 1400s,
so this period consists of almost a millennium's worth of music.

One of the principal difficulties in studying Medieval music is that a system
for notating music developed only gradually. The first examples of musical
notation date from around 900. For several centuries, notation only
indicated what pitch (or note) to sing. The system for notating rhythm
started in the 12th or 13th century.

Gregorian chant is monophonic, meaning music that consists of only one
melodic line without accompaniment. The beauty of chant lies in the
serene, undulating shapes of its melody. We do not know who wrote the
melodies of Gregorian chant. Like folk melodies, the music probably
mutated as it was passed down through generations and eventually
reached its notated form.

Polyphony, music where two or more melodic lines are heard
simultaneously, did not exist (or was not notated) until the 11th century.
Unlike chant, polyphony required the participation of a composer to
combine the melodic lines in a pleasing manner. Although most Medieval
polyphonic music is anonymous--the names of the composers were either
lost or never written down at all--there are composers whose work was
so important that their names were preserved along with their music.

Sound
-voices only
-no instruments
-no women
-no kids

no kids

Texture
-Thin
-Doesn’t change a lot.
-monophonic- all parts in unison

Harmony
-none
-no chords
-no harmonic rhythm (speed of chord changes)
-No chord progressions

Melody
-small intervals between notes
-modal (follows modes)
-limited range
-big phrases
-limited contour
-3 Types of Chant Music:
1. syllabic- each syllable gets its own note
2. neumatic- small groups of notes per syllable
3. melismatic-extended group of notes per syllable
-Melisma- different end melody. (Amen)

Form
-Through Composed (No theme or motive)

Composers
-Pope Gregory- Gregorian Chants
-Saint Augustine
-Boethius- Important Theorist
-Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
-Perotin (c. 1155-1377)
-Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377)
-John Dunstable (c. 1385-1453)
-Guillaume Dufay (c. 1400-1474)

Rhythm
-No meter
-free rhythm
-rhythm comes from text
-slow tempo
-sung slow because of echoes in big churches
-sung for God. They sung slow so God could hear them. They didn’t want to make God mad.
-Rhythmic Modes

-This is the closest they had to meters. All in groups of three

Miscellaneous
-Ars. Antiqua- This is Latin for Old Art. This period is sometimes called Ars. Antiqua.
-Gregorian Chants were the main thing.
-Neumatic Notation- Different noatation system. They called their notes, neums. This was their type of writing music.
It developed throughout this whole period.
-No titles to any pieces.

For More Information, please refer :
Credits

Prehistoric music

Prehistoric music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history. Traditional Native American and Australian Aboriginal music could be called prehistoric, but the term is commonly used to refer to the music in Europe before the development of writing there. It is more common to call the "prehistoric" music of non-European continents – especially that which still survives – folk, indigenous, or traditional music.

Ancient music

The prehistoric era is considered to have ended with the development of writing, and with it, by definition, prehistoric music. "Ancient music" is the name given to the music that followed. The "oldest known song" was written in cuneiform, dating to 4,000 years ago from Ur. It was deciphered by Prof. Anne Draffkorn Kilmer (University of Calif. at Berkeley), and was demonstrated to be composed in harmonies of thirds, like ancient gymel (Kilmer, Crocker, Brown, Sounds from Silence, 1976, Bit Enki, Berkeley, Calif., LCC 76-16729), and also was written using a Pythagorean tuning of the diatonic scale.

Double pipes, such as used by the ancient Greeks, and ancient bagpipes, as well as a review of ancient drawings on vases and walls, etc., and ancient writings (such as in Aristotle, Problems, Book XIX.12) which described musical techniques of the time, indicate polyphony. One pipe in the aulos pairs (double flutes) likely served as a drone or "keynote," while the other played melodic passages. Instruments, such as the seven holed flute and various types of stringed instruments have been recovered from the Indus valley civilization archaeological sites.[2]

Indian classical music (marga) can be found from the scriptures of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. Samaveda, one of the four vedas describes music at length. The history of musical development in Iran [Persia] Persian music, dates back to the prehistoric era. The great legendary king, Jamshid, is credited with the invention of music. Music in Iran can be traced back to the days of the Elamite Empire (2,500-644 B.C). Fragmentary documents from various periods of the country's history establish that the ancient Persians possessed an elaborate musical culture. The Sassanian period (A.D. 226-651), in particular, has left us ample evidence pointing to the existence of a lively musical life in Persia. The names of some important musicians such as Barbod, Nakissa and Ramtin, and titles of some of their works have survived.

The term Early music era may also refer to contemporary but traditional or folk music, including Asian music, Persian music, music of India, Jewish music, Greek music, Roman music, the music of Mesopotamia, the music of Egypt, and Muslim music.

Early music

Early music is a general term used to describe music in the European classical tradition from after the fall of the Roman Empire, in 476 CE, until the end of the Baroque era in the middle of the 18th century. Music within this enormous span of time was extremely diverse, encompassing multiple cultural traditions within a wide geographic area; many of the cultural groups out of which medieval Europe developed already had musical traditions, about which little is known. What unified these cultures in the Middle Ages was the Roman Catholic Church, and its music served as the focal point for musical development for the first thousand years of this period. Very little non-Christian music from this period survived, due to its suppression by the Church and the absence of music notation; however, folk music of modern Europe probably has roots at least as far back as the Middle Ages.

Western Art Music

Medieval music

Main article: Medieval music

While musical life was undoubtedly rich in the early Medieval era, as attested by artistic depictions of instruments, writings about music, and other records, the only repertory of music which has survived from before 800 to the present day is the plainsong liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest part of which is called Gregorian chant. Pope Gregory I, who gave his name to the musical repertory and may himself have been a composer, is usually claimed to be the originator of the musical portion of the liturgy in its present form, though the sources giving details on his contribution date from more than a hundred years after his death. Many scholars believe that his reputation has been exaggerated by legend. Most of the chant repertory was composed anonymously in the centuries between the time of Gregory and Charlemagne.

During the 9th century several important developments took place. First, there was a major effort by the Church to unify the many chant traditions, and suppress many of them in favor of the Gregorian liturgy. Second, the earliest polyphonic music was sung, a form of parallel singing known as organum. Third, and of greatest significance for music history, notation was reinvented after a lapse of about five hundred years, though it would be several more centuries before a system of pitch and rhythm notation evolved having the precision and flexibility that modern musicians take for granted.

Several schools of polyphony flourished in the period after 1100: the St. Martial school of organum, the music of which was often characterized by a swiftly moving part over a single sustained line; the Notre Dame school of polyphony, which included the composers Léonin and Pérotin, and which produced the first music for more than two parts around 1200; the musical melting-pot of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, a pilgrimage destination and site where musicians from many traditions came together in the late Middle Ages, the music of whom survives in the Codex Calixtinus; and the English school, the music of which survives in the Worchester Fragments and the Old Hall Manuscript. Alongside these schools of sacred music a vibrant tradition of secular song developed, as exemplified in the music of the troubadours, trouvères and Minnesänger. Much of the later secular music of the early Renaissance evolved from the forms, ideas, and the musical aesthetic of the troubadours, courtly poets and itinerant musicians, whose culture was largely exterminated during the Albigensian Crusade in the early 13th century.

Forms of sacred music which developed during the late 13th century included the motet, conductus, discant, and clausulae. One unusual development was the Geisslerlieder, the music of wandering bands of flagellants during two periods: the middle of the 13th century (until they were suppressed by the Church); and the period during and immediately following the Black Death, around 1350, when their activities were vividly recorded and well-documented with notated music. Their music mixed folk song styles with penitential or apocalyptic texts. The 14th century in European music history is dominated by the style of the ars nova, which by convention is grouped with the medieval era in music, even though it had much in common with early Renaissance ideals and aesthetics. Much of the surviving music of the time is secular, and tends to use the formes fixes: the ballade, the virelai, the lai, the rondeau, which correspond to poetic forms of the same names. Most pieces in these forms are for one to three voices, likely with instrumental accompaniment: famous composers include Guillaume de Machaut and Francesco Landini.

[edit] Renaissance music

Main article: Renaissance music

The beginning of the Renaissance in music is not as clearly marked as the beginning of the Renaissance in the other arts, and unlike the Renaissance in the other arts, it did not begin in Italy, but in northern Europe, specifically in the area currently comprising central and northern France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The style of the Burgundian composers, as the first generation of the Franco-Flemish school is known, was at first a reaction against the excessive complexity and mannered style of the late 14th century ars subtilior, and contained clear, singable melody and balanced polyphony in all voices. The most famous composers of the Burgundian school in the mid-15th century are Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois, and Antoine Busnois.

By the middle of the 15th century, composers and singers from the Low Countries and adjacent areas began to overspread Europe, moving especially into Italy where they were employed by the papal chapel and the aristocratic patrons of the arts, such as the Medici, the Este family in Ferrara, and the Sforza family in Milan. They carried their style with them: smooth polyphony which could be adapted for sacred or secular use as appropriate. Principal forms of sacred musical composition at the time were the mass, the motet, and the laude; secular forms included the chanson, the frottola, and later the madrigal.

The invention of printing had an immense influence on the dissemination of musical styles, and along with the movement of the Franco-Flemish musicians throughout Europe, contributed to the establishment of the first truly international style in European music since the unification of Gregorian chant under Charlemagne seven hundred years before. Composers of the middle generation of the Franco-Flemish school included Johannes Ockeghem, who wrote music in a contrapuntally complex style, with varied texture and an elaborate use of canonical devices; Jacob Obrecht, one of the most famous composers of masses in the last decades of the 15th century; and Josquin Desprez, probably the most famous composer in Europe before Palestrina, and who during the 16th century was renowned as one of the greatest artists in any form.

Music in the generation after Josquin explored increasing complexity of counterpoint; possibly the most extreme expression of this tendency is in the music of Nicolas Gombert, whose contrapuntal complexities influenced early instrumental music, such as the canzona and the ricercar, ultimately culminating in Baroque fugal forms.
Portrait of Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Domenico Fetti.

By the middle of the 16th century, the international style began to break down, and several highly diverse stylistic trends became evident: a trend towards simplicity in sacred music, as directed by the Counter-Reformation Council of Trent, and as exemplified in the austere perfection of the music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; a trend towards complexity and chromaticism in the madrigal, which reached its extreme expression in the avant-garde style of the Ferrara School of Luzzaschi, and the late century madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo; and the grandiose, sonorous music of the Venetian school, which took advantage of the architecture of the Basilica San Marco di Venezia to create a music of antiphonal contrasts. The music of the Venetian school can be seen on the cusp of the Renaissance and the Baroque eras, and included the development of orchestration, ornamented instrumental parts, and continuo bass parts, all of which occurred within a span of several decades around 1600. Famous composers in Venice included the Gabrielis, Andrea and Giovanni, as well as Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most significant innovators at the end of the era.

Most parts of Europe had active, and well-differentiated, musical traditions by late in the century. In England, composers such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd wrote sacred music in a style similar to that written on the continent, while an active group of home-grown madrigalists adapted the Italian form for English tastes: famous composers included Thomas Morley, John Wilbye and Thomas Weelkes. Spain developed instrumental and vocal styles of its own, with Tomás Luis de Victoria writing refined music similar to that of Palestrina, and numerous other composers writing for a new instrument called the guitar. Germany cultivated polyphonic forms built on the Protestant chorales, which replaced the Roman Catholic Gregorian Chant as a basis for sacred music, and imported wholesale the style of the Venetian school (the appearance of which defined the start of the Baroque era there). In addition, German composers wrote enormous amounts of organ music, establishing the basis for the later spectacular flowering of the Baroque organ style which culminated in the work of J.S. Bach. France developed a unique style of musical diction known as musique mesurée, used in secular chansons, with composers such as Guillaume Costeley and Claude Le Jeune prominent in the movement.

One of the most revolutionary movements in the era took place in Florence in the 1570s and 1580s, with the work of the Florentine Camerata, who ironically had a reactionary intent: dissatisfied with what they saw as contemporary musical depravities, their goal was to restore the music of the ancient Greeks. Chief among them were Vincenzo Galilei, the father of the astronomer, and Giulio Caccini. The fruits of their labors was a declamatory melodic singing style known as monody, and a corresponding dramatic form consisting of staged, acted monody: a form known today as opera. The first operas, written around 1600, also define the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque eras.

Music prior to 1600 was modal rather than tonal. Several theoretical developments late in the 16th century, such as the writings on scales on modes by Gioseffo Zarlino and Franchinus Gaffurius, led directly to the development of common practice tonality. The major and minor scales began to predominate over the old church modes, a feature which was at first most obvious at cadential points in compositions, but gradually became pervasive. Music after 1600, beginning with the tonal music of the Baroque era, is often referred to as belonging to the common practice period.

Here are some samples:

Monteverdi - cruda amarilli : Click here to listen
Pachelbel's Canon : Click here

"Hallelujah" from Messiah:
Click here

to see more
Click here

ONLINE GLOSSARY

Music, like any subject, has its own terminology. At first the many terms that musicians use to describe music can seem daunting. But there is nothing mysterious about these terms; they merely use words to describe something we can all hear with a little bit of practice. This section will introduce you to the terms used most often to talk about music. All the terms are clearly defined and linked to other related terms. In many cases you will be able to listen to an example chosen to illustrate the term.

All sound files require the Real Audio player. If you do not have it installed on your computer you can download a free copy at http://www.real.com.

Click on a letter to look up terms in the online glossary

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Credits go to the web sites, without you this won't be here, thank you.
http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music
http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/history-med.htm
cares
al yoz
~fiazio