Hello to all of you, my name is Fotios Koulakos. I am a mastering engineer currently residing and working in Canton, Ohio, U.S.A. If you permit me a moment of your time, I will share a little bit about my background. As a young boy, I had an interest in electronics and Hi-Fi equipment. The latter was an influence from my father, as he was an avid audiophile. The art of “listening” was an invaluable lesson that would serve me in the future. But, I am getting ahead of myself….

Audiophile equipment and electronics weren’t odd bedfellows I suppose, but the real fun began when I picked up my first guitar at age 13. I soon discovered what many a musician before me had known; the joys of sound on sound recording. Not multi tracking mind you…(that would come later)….just the crude method of recording onto one cassette recorder, then playing that back to a second cassette recorder, while simultaneously playing a fresh guitar line over the whole thing! To a fourteen-fifteen year old: MAGIC!

That was it. The moment when all of my interests culminated into one solitary vision: The blend of music, audio, and electronics.
Click to read the rest…

Welcome! I am a freelance musician in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. I have been invited to write a series of articles on ear training for this site. My musical training is fairly formal: I started by taking lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. I went on to complete my undergraduate studies and Masters degree in music theory at the University of British Columbia. I also studied classical guitar with Michael Strutt during my time at U.B.C. While I was a graduate student, I coordinated and taught the first and second year ear training program at the university. I currently teach and play locally, as well as write about music.

I am one of those people that have multiple projects on the go, including the development of study aids for the Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) theory and history program. You can find out more about this project at http://evdokimoff.net.

Feel free to drop me a line if you like by visiting my main site at http://evdokimoff.com. You can follow me on twitter as well: @thomasevd.

The following series of articles develops an approach to ear training that would be familiar to classically trained musicians. The articles explore scales, intervals, triads, and seventh chords. My focus is to encourage students to sing back what they hear, so they can learn to produce with their voices different musical elements like intervals and chords. For dedicated students, this approach helps them develop a strong inner ear, the ability to accurately hear and even produce music in their head.

We’re delighted to have Thomas join us here on the site – he’s got a great series lined up, and a wealth of experience to back it up with. Make sure you come back tomorrow for his first article on the importance of ear training for musicians.

An intermedia composer, percussionist, author, and obsessive sci-fi buff, I create mind-bending electroacoustic works that have been heard throughout Australia, Asia, North America, and Europe in media festivals, radio, film, dance clubs, random boom boxes in France, and as not-so-pleasant background music.

Critics describe my music as “daunting,” “marvelously abstract,” and “robotic babbles.” Various multimedia works have been performed globally at venues such as the Beijing Conservatory, the International Computer Music Conference, Miramax’s Project Greenlight, the New York International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, Turkey’s Cinema for Peace, and Pulsefield International Exhibition of Sound Art.

Recent projects include World Order #5, an apocalyptic tale about the decimation of the human race by a viral mutation written for the Kansas State University percussion ensemble, 3D animation, and electronic music, and the Creation, a CGI multimedia oratorio composed for the Millikin University Women’s Chorus and percussion ensemble.

The world premier of Creation will take place April 17th, 2010, at the Albert Taylor Theater in Decator, Illinois. Montana State University’s The Electric Monster Laptop Ensemble will be performing RE: The Destruction of Planet #61366 (Earth), a work written for unlimited computer laptops and PowerPoint.

Origins, a riveting album of cinematic soundscapes, pulsating rhythms and enigmatic vocals, was released on CD Baby and iTunes in 2008. Origins includes World Order #1, a pounding dance piece about nuclear war and Looking Glass, a nightmarish musical poem about the ravages of innocence lost. Other works on the album, such as Metamorph, Origins, and Valley of the Shadow, take the listener on a sonic journey to an imaginary audio landscape of forgotten memories, twisted vocals, and otherworldly electronica.

Before I had a passion for composition, I had a passion for writing. In 2009 I published The Feminine Musique: Multimedia and Women Today, available at Amazon.com. The Feminine Musique traces the intersection of experimental music and new media through the works of innovative composers and artists who embraced social change, technology, and music to create compelling and sometimes controversial works. I have also written for the Kapralova Society Journal, Percussive Notes, Panpipes, the IAWM Music Journal, the SEAMUS Music Journal, and various fine arts websites.

In my limited spare time, I enjoy jamming on the congas, playing Rock Band II on my PS3, watching cheesy science fiction movies, composing on my iMac, and attempting to insert random Star Wars quotes into every conversation.

The Force is strong with this one…

As you may have guessed from her bio, Sabrina will be writing about all sorts of things here at EasyEarTraining.com! Her first post is tomorrow – “Get Your Groove On: Beat Basics”. Please welcome her to the site and the forums, and be sure to check back tomorrow for some fundamentals of rhythm and tempo!