| Vol.
I, No. 3 | Winter
Solstice & Holidays | Dec.
15th, 2000 |
Links
to Music & Sound On-Line The
amount of info on the web is enormous, as anyone who's ever tried to run a
search can attest to. And, to put it all in context, best estimates say
that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's out there is actually making its
way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So each issue, we
post a few links in Music & Sound to sites that might interest you.
Sometimes the links will be related to one another ... sometimes
we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In either case, we think
we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've been looking for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link we provide will be
of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the noise and the
bustle. ...
We hope you enjoy the following sites. Christmas
and Chanukah Music On-Line ... Stuck for the words to
the second chorus of Angels We Have Heard On High? Need the sheet music
for What Child Is This? Want to hear some midi music files of Christmas
tunes? Then check out this month's links to Christmas Music On-Line.
The actual music files at these sites, mostly midi when available, are not the
best. But if you need to know the tune or the lyrics, here they are.
... An
Online Christmas Songbook This link actually
takes you to a domain called rememberjosie.org. We're not sure who
Josie was, but this we are sure of: The Christmas Carols section here
contains the sheet music & lyrics to 106 songs -- from traditional
carols and wassails, through Bach and the more popular ones from the
Victorian era. Each link from the main page takes you to
a page with the sheet music and lyrics, which is downloadable. The
page will also begin to play the tune with a sound quality like a somewhat
older midi version ... which, if you're not familiar, sounds a little like
one of those musical greeting cards that first hit the market some years
back. But the arrangements, while not terribly complicated, are
harmonized nicely enough. {You can stop the music by clicking on the
stop button of your browser. Just make sure you give the page a chance
to finish loading.}
An Online Christmas Song Bok is an obvious work
of love and care. The site's proprietor also has an FAQ, appendix,
book list, and links to other Christmas music resources.
Rating: **** [4
stars]
Jewish
Community Online: Chanukah Songs The Jewish Community
Online site is an extensive one. This section provides the most
comprehensive listing of lyrics of Chanukah songs we found. The
lyrics are in English and transliterated Hebrew.
The List? Rock
of Ages / Maoz Tzur ... Mi Y'mallel? / Who can Retell? ... My Little
Dreidl ... O Chanukah ... Chanukah ... S'vivon {Top or Dreidl} ... Al
haNissim {For the Miracles} ... HaNerot haLálu {These Candles} ...
and Ner li {Little Candle}. There was no audio with these songs.
Curiously, however, the Catholic.net site's midi offerings {see below} had 3
different versions of Dreidl available.
There was also a link to the
Jewish Community Online Radio station, which normally broadcasts 24-hours
each day. {We thought we might have heard some music for Chanukah as
the holiday approached. Unfortunately, there was nothing but a sign on
the page that said they were experiencing technical problems and expected to
be back on air by November 20th. But that was more than 3 weeks before
our visit.} Nonetheless, this site's Chanukah music section is worth a
visit.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
Christmas
Songs (lyrics)
Christmas
Songs (midi music files) Both of these sites are
hosted by Catholic.net, part of a comprehensive site that bills itself under
its registered TM as the Catholic Information Center on Internet. ...
These
two links are pretty self-explanatory. The lyrics site takes you to a
simple long-page listing of 25 Christmas songs -- from Angels from the
Realms of Glory and Angels we have Heard on High to We Wish You a
Merry Christmas and What Child is This? ... The second, midi
music site {scroll down the page to the the words Midi Files} lists over 150
Christmas songs, plus the 3 versions of the Dreidl song mentioned
above. In fact, they seem a little obsessed with different versions,
including Away In The Manger & Deck The Halls (4 versions each, as many
of the more common songs seem to have), Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem &
Jingle Bell Rock (5 versions each), and the hands-down winner, Jingle
Bells in 9 different versions.
These sites are not going to help you
make your way through Bach's Christmas Oratorio. But if you're out to
remember the chestnuts and some light pop, check them out.
Rating:
***1/2 [3-1/2 stars]
*******
******* If you know of any
links that you think are worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
... If we agree, we'll be happy to include
them in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks. *******
******* .
|
