THWOMP Interview: On Video Game Bands and Niches

In Part Two of this exclusive interview, Brad Stanton and Dave Marshall of the Nintendo® cover band THWOMP discuss band names and niches.

Inspired by the music of video game composers Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros) and more, Nintendo® cover band THWOMP share their music with a growing fan base of gamers young and old.

Brad Stanton (lead guitar) and Dave Marshall (keyboards/percussion) from THWOMP take a break from their Animethon 17 preparations to chat with Suite 101. In the first part of their interview with Suite 101, Brad and Dave discussed THWOMP's origins. In this installment, they discuss Nintendo® bands, names and niches.

THWOMP on Naming the Band

It took the band a long time to settle on a name."I don’t even remember any of the iterations before we figured out THWOMP", said Brad. "We tried to have some “Legend of Zelda” reference for a while. We could never find one we liked."

By then, the band was starting to get gigs, making it necessary to name the band. "I don’t remember who came up with it," said Brad. "We should just attribute it to the drummer. It was probably him. I remember we were all standing there out in the parking lot of our jam space, drinking beer and smoking; and somebody said, “THWOMP”. We all just looked at him and we were all like, “Yeah!” It was definitely one of those "light shining from the clouds" moments. On the parking lot of our shitty jam space."

Nintendo® Bands and MAGFest

There are several Nintendo® cover bands out there, such as The Advantage, The Minibosses, Armcannon and NESkimos. Some have carved a niche for themselves in the realm of video game music. One of the top groups is Powerglove, a metal group. Another band, The OneUps, performs jazz interpretations of video game music.

Some of these bands perform at anime conventions and comic cons. The popular Nintendo® bands perform at MAGFest, a video game festival and conference in New Jersey. "Everybody but us, pretty much," said Brad. Their time will come.

On THWOMP’s Musical Niche

The members of the band are involved in other music groups and projects, ranging from jazz to rock and from bar gigs to workshops. THWOMP's focus, however, will forever be video game music. "It will never be anything other than that," said Brad. "It will never be watered down. It will never be compromised."

Their musical background and training, along with their love for the original music influences their philosophy. "We’re all purists about it, really," said Brad. "We really try to make everything absolutely note-for-note. Absolutely exact. We have really high standards for each other." They admit to holding some "good natured but fierce" cutting contests at rehearsals and putting each other in his place on occasion.

Giving others the same nostalgia factor they experience when playing classic Nintendo® music is not only important to them, it's their favorite part about playing this style of music. "We really want it to be fast, punchy, everything you remember," said Brad. "Every show we play, there’s some 30-year old guy in the audience who has no idea who we are and just stands there agape, staring at us, nearly crying. That happens at every show we play and it’s so gratifying.

The band enjoys watching the audience going through the actions from various Nintendo® video gameswhile they perform. "Tetris is always amusing because people try to become Tetris pieces," recalled Dave. "I don’t know if anyone’s come very close to being a Tetris piece yet but we’re interested to see people keep trying."

THWOMP is a Nintendo® band comprised of Calgarians Brad Stanton (lead guitar), Colin Mitchel (lead guitar), Scott Munro (bass), Scott Moffat (drums), David Marshall (keyboards/percussion) and Kirk McVean (keyboards). For more information about THWOMP, the band or to listen to audio clips, visit their website, BandCamp and Myspace page.

The full interview series:

Full interview series: Part 1 – THWOMP’s Origins | Part 2 – Band Names & Niches | Part 3 – Songwriting | Part 4 - Hey! Listen! CD Release | Part 5 - On Gigs | Part 6 - Convention Gigs | Part 7 - Video Games | Part 8 - Fun & Food

Hey! Listen! Album Review

Originally published on Suite101.com on July 27, 2010. Updated on March 22, 2013. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Popular Portable Keyboards

Last week, I posted about Choosing a Digital Piano or Electric Keyboard. To follow up, I thought I'd check out what some of the popular portable keyboards are currently in the market. Plus, I'm a little curious to see where mine are on the list. Here goes:

Portable Keyboards with 61 Keys

1. Yamaha YPT-230 Premium Keyboard Pack with Headphones, Power Supply, and Stand

2. Yamaha PSR Series PSRE233 61-Key Portable Keyboard

3. Huntington KB61 61-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard, Black

4. Casio LK165 Lighted Key Premium Keyboard Pack with Headphones, Power Supply, and Stand

5. Casio CTK-2300 61-Key Premium Portable Keyboard Package with Headphones, Stand and Power Supply

Digital Pianos with 76 Keys

1. Yamaha YPG-235 76-key Portable Grand Graded-Action USB Keyboard

2. Casio WK-225 76-Key Premium Portable Keyboard Package with Headphones, Stand and Power Supply

3. Yamaha DGX-230 Keyboard Bundle, 76 Keys - Includes Professional Headphones, Keyboard Stand, and Power Supply

4. Casio WK6500 76 Key Touch Sensitive Workstation Keyboard Package with Power Supply, Stand and Headphones

Digital Pianos with 88 Keys

1. Yamaha YPG-535 88-key Portable Grand Graded-Action USB Keyboard with Matching Stand and Sustain Pedal

2. Casio AP220 Celviano Digital Piano with Bench

3. Yamaha DGX640W Digital Piano (Walnut)

4. Casio PX750 BK 88-Key Touch Sensitive Privia Digital Piano with USB Connectivity

5. Yamaha P Series P105B 88-Key Digital Piano

I limited the list to digital keyboards with 61 full-sized keys or more. It isn't bad to start with 61 and it's perfectly fine when you're composing or jamming, although 76 keys would be better. However, if you're taking piano lessons, ideally, you want the full 88 keys.

These portable keyboards made Amazon's Best Sellers in Musical Instrument Keyboards. The list contains more items than keyboards, so I pulled the most popular keyboards on the list.

Now, how did mine do?

My Yamaha DGX-230 Keyboard ranked #57 on the list. Considering that the list contains everything from accessories as well as keyboards, that's not too shabby at all.

As for my Yamaha CP33 Stage Piano, it's not one that a beginner student would get. As the name implies ("stage piano"), it's geared for performance. It ranked #45 under Digital Pianos.

Five Free Music Websites to Improve Note Reading

A guide to some free music websites available on the Internet to help music students improve their note reading skills.

Two common challenges faced by beginning music students are note learning and identifying a note's location on their instrument (geography). Until note reading fluency is achieved, this can lead to some frustrating practice sessions at home.

It is important to develop note fluency at an early stage. The process of learning new music will become easier. Sight-reading and sight-playing will be less stressful. Students will be able to read through music more quickly and play more expressively.

Online Note Reading Websites & Note Reading Games

The following list is a compilation of some of the sites available on the Internet to help with practicing and improve note reading.

musictheory.net

Musictheory.net has quite a few music drills. Under the "Trainer" section, click on "Note Trainer". Users can specify whether to be drilled on reading in the treble clef, bass clef, tenor clef and alto clef. Hints are available and Note Trainer keeps score. Users can also do ear training drills, watch flash presentations of various topics of music theory and print off blank manuscript paper. Note that the Note Trainer may be too advanced for young beginners as it tests students' reading of the entire Grand Staff plus ledger lines.

Funbrain.com – The Piano Player

Students drill their note reading and keyboard geography in this online game. Four levels of play are available: Beginner (one octave with labels), Intermediate (one octave, no labels), Expert (four octaves with labels) and Virtuoso (four octaves, no labels).  The Piano Player is best suited for younger piano students (12 and under).

musicards.net

Eight sets of online flashcards are available on Musiccards.net: Note Names, Key Signatures, Intervals, Triads, Piano Note Names, Reading Piano Notes, Guitar Note Names and Reading Guitar Notes. Reading Piano Notes and Reading Guitar Notes are instrument location/geography drills. Students try to identify the note. To get the correct answer, scroll over the card. Several "decks" are available – no ledger lines, staff and ledger lines, naturals and accidentals.

Piano Pedagogy Plus

Online flash games are available on the Games page. Users can practice note reading on all four clefs. The games are timed and points are deducted for each incorrect answer. Students can also practice their interval reading.

emusictheory.com

Five note naming games are available on emusictheory.com: Note Names, Paced Note Names, C-Clef Note Names, Piano Keys and Guitar Frets. The first three are straight note identification exercises while the last two are instrument geography drills.

Online Note Reading Resources – Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Each of these websites listed contain a variety of drills and tools to help music students improve their note reading. There are other sites out there. Explore the many sites available and choose what sites work best for the student and his music practice needs.

For more information on practicing music, read Five Free Music Websites to Improve Ear Training, Free Websites to Help with Music Theory or Rudiments, and Reasons to Practice Daily.

Originally published on Suite101.com on November 22, 2009. Updated March 24, 2013. All rights reserved by Rhona-Mae Arca.

Popular Back Massagers

Last week, I reviewed the Travel Roller, which is a self-myofascial release (SMR) tool for back pain relief. We live in a sedentary society, after all. Between sitting at my instrument, sitting at my desk and sitting (sometimes) when I teach, I do get back aches. Even with all my attempts to have ergonomic seating, I still get backaches, especially lower back pain.

As much as I like my Travel Roller, I'm always on the lookout for other massagers that offer back pain relief. Since I'm self-employed (TL: not the health benefits plan), I try to solve as much as I can on my own before calling a medical professional.

I have done some digging and found these 10 popular back massagers. Sure, you can order them from Amazon. However, if you want to buy local, do check your local medical supply store or exercise equipment store. Here's the Top Ten Best Sellers in Back Massagers:

1. Trigger Point Performance The Grid Revolutionary Foam Roller, Black

2. The Stick Travel Stick

3. Body Back Buddy

4. Spine-Worx Back Realignment Device

5. Trigger Point Performance Grid 2.0 Revolutionary EVA Foam Roller (Black)

6. Trigger Point Performance The Grid Revolutionary Foam Roller with SMRT-CORE Level 1 DVD (Black)

7. Original Massage Stick

8. The Original Backnobber II by The Pressure Positive Company

9. Trigger Point Performance Self Myofascial Release and Deep Tissue Massage Starter Set

10. Body Back Buddy Trigger Point Massager

Alas, my Travel Roller is not in the Top 100 List. In fact, it's actually found under "Sports & Outdoors". Methinks it's in the wrong category.

Now, I do own back massager that IS on the Top 10 List: The Originial Backnobber. What I tend to do is use the Travel Roller to loosen up the knots a bit so that the Original Backnobber can get into a knot and finish the job.

In Search of J-Blogs

A quick post today. Here is a list of some blogs that I've come across to help with studying Japanese:

All Japanese All the Time: The layout is a bit busy, but it's full of useful information.

Japanalicious: An active blog about Japanese Language, Culture and Travel.

Learn Japanese Blog: Lessons, characters, counters and more.

Lingualift Japanese: Check out the Top 100 Resources for Learning Japanese. Sugoi!

Wired in Japan: a blog about learning the Japanese language and the blogger's experiences living and studying in Japan.