Inspiration Behind These Posts: July 2019 – December 2019

Disclosure: Millennium River is an independent website that uses hyperlinks. Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click and purchase a product(s) through these links, I may earn a commission on qualifying sales. This is done at no extra expense to you. You may also support this website via PayPal. Unless it is clearly stated, the content is not sponsored.

Continuation

The previous compilation post covered writings that were posted between March 15, 2018 to May 03, 2019. It also touched on why the “Inspiration Behind This Post” section has since disappeared. As you can tell from the title, this compilation will cover the posts that were uploaded between July 2019 – December 2019. For the 2020 posts, I will either wait until it is close to the 2021 New Year, or shortly after that date.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Are Record Labels Necessary?

When I received a message of details about a position on music, particularly the record industry, I decided to create my own article on it. Much of my previous works on music had to do with musical instruments, so I thought this would be a nice thing to have in my portfolio. It still revolves around music, but in a different way. I did not get any responses back, but if I must be completely honest, I did not expect to. Not because the article was substandard, but because the music record world, is clearly not my area of expertise.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Corning Gorilla Glass

I wrote this article for the same reason why I wrote Are Record Labels Necessary?: to have more content in my portfolio related to a potential client’s needs. Because smartphones and similar technology is something I already naturally write about, this write-up was more natural and enjoyable to do. Still, I did not end up hearing anything back, because the client’s needed someone that was specifically an expert on glass manufacturing and the like. After completing Are Record Labels Necessary? and Corning Gorilla Glass, I stopped writing articles solely for the purpose of trying to get hired with a client. After all, the purpose of Millennium Creek is to write about things I enjoy writing about. Not to impress. Not to chase. Not to sensationalize.

Inspiration Behind This Article: 2019 Battery Electric Vehicles Canada

If neither my Tweets or previous write-ups are obvious enough, I love battery electric vehicles! Legacy automakers really need to stop with the excuses and heel-dragging, and go full-electric already! I know that cannot just happen in a day, but you know what I mean. For this article specifically, I was inspired to do it because I wanted to focus on Canada’s infrastructure for electric cars, incentives that have arrived, disappeared, or remained the same, battery electric vehicles coming that year, and more. I am admittedly uncertain about the 2020 version, due the whole slowdown with COVID-19. Time will tell.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Exploring 2019 Massacres: What Is The Solution?

The frequent mass shootings that took place in the United States Of America, inspired me to create this article. 2019 in general, saw a lot of massacres in the developed world. For that reason, I decided to go into details about the problem, and type what I believe is the solution. Hint: it is not a one-size-fits-all fix.

Inspiration Behind This Article: National Flex Day

Were you aware that such a day existed? Neither was I. Because I am really into remote living, it was only natural that I dedicated an article to that day. As you can expect, it discusses the day and nature of remote work.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Support Millennium Creek

Out of every single write-up I have done on this website, this one by far was the most personal and awkward to do. As noted in the blog post itself, I did not want anybody to see it as weak, and desperate. At the same time, I really felt the need to come out with the truth about how it has been going with the financial state of the website. My inspiration for this post came after I failed to get a single client to buy my services, even after weeks and months passed. Definitely recommend reading the post, and supporting my website while you are at it.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Mobile Device Restriction In Ontarian Classrooms

While I was in school, teachers were always annoyed with mobile devices in the classroom. As such, they would take them away or order students to put them away. So when I saw an official law come into place for restricting them, it made me very curious as to how different it would be from policies already in place. I honestly cannot blame officials for wanting to restrict mobile devices. They are often too distracting, and hinder the purpose of learning.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Electric Vehicle Startup Predictions (2019)

Probably one of the longest write-ups I have written in 2019. I felt inspired to write this article when it was getting fairly close to the Tesla Cybertruck unveiling. There are so many all-electric startups that have emerged, who are trying to challenge Tesla. Will they succeed? The only way to find out was to pick 7 of the ones who I thought are most relevant, then research them, their goals, and such.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Tesla Cybertruck

My inspiration behind this article is none other than the Unveiling of the Tesla Cybertruck which happened on November 22, 2019. Now with a vehicle like this from such an internationally recognized company, the Internet was flooded with journalists discussing the same thing. With this in mind, I went into areas that others either did not touch, or covered poorly.

Feeling Inspired?

Which of the write-ups listed within this time frame did you like the most? If you enjoyed reading my stories behind the inspiration for those writings, I encourage you to read and leave engaging comments on them. Think other people might like them, too? Responsibly share the links to the write-ups that they are interested in.

Are Record Labels Necessary?

Disclosure: Millennium River is an independent website that uses hyperlinks. Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click and purchase a product(s) through these links, I may earn a commission on qualifying sales. This is done at no extra expense to you. You may also support this website via PayPal. Unless it is clearly stated, the content is not sponsored.

Introduction

What is a music or record label? Why does it appear that every musician has one, or tries to get signed to one? Is that true? Are they really as glamorous as they seem? Are they still necessary in 2019 and the going forward? All of these questions plus more will explored within this article.

What Is A Record Label?

As the name suggests, record labels are companies that produce, record, and market the recorded music videos and songs of artists. Record companies not only produce and record, but also deal with artists and repertoire (also known as A&R), publish media, marketing, and copyright enforcement. Marketing and A&R are some of the most important departments within a record company.

The artists and repertoire department is in charge of discovering new creators. A&R staff work interpersonally with the musicians that they sign. Signing is when an artist makes an exclusive contract with their record company. The company will perform a variety actions, including song selection, selecting the people that will create the album, the location of where the album will be recorded, and more. A&R staff can be seen as the link between the recording musician, and the other departments within the company.

Knowing when an album, song or music video released from an artist is available, is extremely important to the success of both the artist and record. This is where the marketing department comes into action. The marketing power of both major and independent labels is crucial. It can make all the difference for artists finding new fans, and exploring areas, they may not have been able to reach.

Major Versus Independent Labels

Ownership

There are many labels, but there are only 3 that own virtually everything else: Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Warner Music Group (WMG), and Universal Music Group (UMG).  In turn, all of these are ultimately owned by the multinational conglomerates: Sony Corporation, Access Industries, and Vivendi SA respectively. These conglomerates are where the long chain of label ownership traces back to. Subsidiaries do have their own staff, can sign their own artists, and make most of their financial decisions, but their parent companies are responsible for ultimate decisions. Unprofitable performance can cause a subsidiary to go defunct. This would then have their artists distributed among other labels under their major label.

Why Go Major

The number one reason why an artist will try to get signed with a major label, is because of money and grand exposure. After all, major labels have hundreds of millions, and can easily handle the costs of signing, developing, recording, promoting, publicizing, and selling music in ways that an independent label would not be able to. All that purchasing power and spending does come at cost: competition and control. Record labels usually set the terms and conditions of an artist’s contract in their favour. This can include anything to the way the music sounds, lyrics, location settings, and others. The relationship between a musician and record label is supposed to be mutually beneficial. This is certainly not always the case. Relationships can become sour, especially when labels renegotiate contracts to make it more beneficial to the label, and not the artist.

Why Go Independent

The term “Independent” may suggest that it means an artist produces and sells without the backing of a company. Truth is, it does not. An independent (also called indie) recording label is a label that functions without the funding of major organizations from major labels. This alone spells out much of the negatives associated with independent labels: far less influence, spending power, marketing, low tour support, no big advances,  and some, not all, are disorganized.

The major upside to independent labels is that they do not have the pressure to chase and focus on mass appeal music. Artists have more creative freedom, can form closer relationships with label staff since they are smaller, and contracts are usually not as complex and demanding as major label contracts.

Lion’s Share

An obvious downfault to recording labels is the lion’s share of money they take from artist’s works. This is also why some consumers criticize labels for being greedy, and not prioritizing their artist.

21st Century And The Internet

The major reason why so many musicians felt the need to be on a label was because of the exposure, money and marketing they offered them. The 20th century and earlier, did not have all the tools and equipment enjoyed today. Enter the 21st century now, where Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, Napster, Google Music, Shazam, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter exists. In addition to this, artists can even create their own websites and sell directly, without the use of any middle grounds. With the existence of these platforms, aspiring musicians no longer need to have the urge to be on any label of the sort to make it. All of these platforms can be used to either sell or promote their music. Instagram and Twitter particularly, stand out as powerful tools that allow people to promote and spread the word about the existence of their music at zero cost.

Best of all, they will own all their rights, no complex contracts, they keep all their money or pay small fees for some platforms, and make their own terms. This begs two important questions: Why do labels still exist? Why are artists still sticking with them in 2019? The short answer is because it works for them. For others, it may be because of pressure or lengthy contracts they have been locked into. As the disadvantages of being a musician that is 100% self-published are explored below, it easier to understand how remaining signed to label is the preferred way of business for some artists.

No Financial Backing

A major reason why a lot of aspiring artists want a record deal, is because they want money behind their release. Major record labels can bring advances, and even independent labels are willing to deal with many of the costs related to releasing a record. Self-releasing means that all the financial burden is placed upon the artist themselves. This means that if such artist does not sell their product well, they risk facing heavy debt.

Lack Of Contacts

Record companies have a plethora of contacts in place that make it easier and smoother to promote their releases. This includes the media, agents, promoters, and more. Artists that are new to the music industry, will have to spend time building up their contacts to go further. As expected, this can take a long time.

Potentially Steep Learning Curve

Yet another notable problem with being new to the music industry, is the learning curve that it comes with. Releasing music and discovering what does, or does not work can take time. Research or even attending a school dedicated to musical careers can significantly help to negate this problem. This will not be the case for individuals that decided to enter the field out of passion, and had zero former music exposure.

Full-Time Commitment

Any artist that wishes to pursue music for a living, must give it full-time commitment. Writing, recording, editing, arranging, promoting, and booking are things that require quality commitment. It is a lot of work, that can sometimes result in burn out, without proper planning and organization.

More Choice Than Ever Before

Whether an aspiring artist pursues a major label, independent label, or goes the 100% self-published route, there is one thing certain: more choice than ever before. More labels and online websites exist now than what has been available, especially when comparing the 20th and 21st centuries. Even the numbers of songs within genres, whether they be classical, country, ethnic, ambient, soundtrack, or instrumental, have increased.

Inspiration Behind This Post: Compilation And Explanation March 2018 – May 2019

Disclosure: Millennium River is an independent website that uses hyperlinks. Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click and purchase a product(s) through these links, I may earn a commission on qualifying sales. This is done at no extra expense to you. You may also support this website via PayPal. Unless it is clearly stated, the content is not sponsored.

What Happened?

Between Uropygial Gland: What is it? and up to Webpages: Laurentian Wirelessthey all originally had an “Inspiration Behind This Post” section. From Webpages: Red Maple Greater Toronto Area Home Renovation Group and onward I stopped putting it in. Now, I have decided to remove it from all of my writings. Why? As time went on, it began to look increasingly unprofessional in my eyes. This was especially true for articles. I was originally going to officially launch my services back in January or February this year, with the latest being March. I then put it off to take a little more time to properly finish the remaining parts of the portfolio project. Also, to get a few additional blog posts done.

With me planning to finally launch my services this month, I need the website to reflect the professionalism my brand touts. Having that section in articles, webpages, and other categories, detracts from the nature of the post. Maybe some might disagree, and think that it was a nice, unique touch. Either way, I have now decided to compile them all into this post from the first to the latest published on May 03, 2019. For the ones that did not have any, I will create it here. For all posts published after May 03, 2019, I will not post their inspirational sections here, but probably within another compilation. No guarantee, though. For now, enjoy my source of motivation for 40+ writings.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Welcome to Millennium Creek!

Ah, this was my very first post on the website. The creek had been silent and lifeless for two years, before it started flowing with life. How things have changed between then and now! I posted this as a sign of interest towards developing the website, but was not exactly sure when do it. This leads right up to the next post: Rediscovering its Purpose

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Rediscovering its Purpose

This post was created as an affirmation to turning Millennium Creek into a professional website focused on various types of write-ups. It goes into detail about why I came back to it, what I planned to do it, and more.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Uropygial Gland: What is it?

I have been aware of the basic functions of a bird’s oil gland for quite some time. However, I have not really thought much about this subtle gland. This has changed when I had handled a budgerigar some time this year (2018), and noticed that its gland looked odd for a small bird. This then prompted me to go and learn more about this seemingly simple orifice. I wanted to learn more about the function, appearance, and diseases of the uropygial gland.

Inspiration Behind This Article: 2018 All-electric Cars Canada

For this blog entry, my motivation stems from my love for vehicles, particularly all-electric ones. Electric car offerings are truly getting more exciting, as we go further into the future.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Alto Clef: Does it Have Any Real Use?

As anyone would be able to tell from the way I went into such passionate detail with parts of this post, I am really into band instruments. So much, that it was only natural that I would create this post as part of the Millennium Creek restoration effort for this week. Why the alto clef? It is an underrated clef that it grossly misunderstood.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Will America Eventually Ban All Chinese Smartphones?

I wanted to do a post on smartphones, but could not decide what exactly I wanted to write about. The latest flagship available? iOSLG’s plummeting smartphone sales? I then thought about Huawei and ZTE with the legal troubles they are going through. I thought that this would make an excellent, interesting, informative, provocative subject matter to discuss. Do I personally think that the United States will eventually ban all Chinese smartphones? If by ban, we are talking about a total ban as in no importation, forbidding sales, and blocking them off from American cellular towers, then no.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Racism in Canada 2018: Getting Better or Worse?

This week, I knew that I wanted to do a post on racism/multiculturalism on Friday. In fact, I had that determined before I even knew which topics I precisely wanted to cover for the previous blog posts. Racism is a serious issue that must not be ignored and swept under a rug. It is a problem that prohibits prosperity and safety. We must acknowledge that it exists, talk about it, and seek to eradicate it whenever we can. Canada may fare better than many other places in the world, but there is still much work and improvement that needs to be done.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Keystroke logging

Cybersecurity is not a glamorous topic, but is very important. I felt that this article deserved to be resurfaced, since it contains enough valuable information in a manageable format.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Encrypting Your Smartphone’s MicroSD Card

Despite being originally written in 2016, microSD card slots are still a valuable component in phones that support them. This article contains a lot of valuable information, majority of which is still relevant in 2018. For this reason, it deserved to be polished, reformatted and uploaded onto Millennium Creek, giving it a far better chance to flow and get the views it deserves.

Inspiration Behind This Article: China Dress: Simply a Dress or More Than That?

Keziah Daum. Who is that you may ask? Perhaps you are well informed about this story already, but maybe not. Keziah is a regular 18-year-old, American citizen from Woods Cross High School, Utah, United States of America. She is a Caucasian person that decided to wear a qipao for her 2018 prom. Why? She personally thought it would be a beautiful, unique dress to wear for the special event. Unfortunately, after posting photographs on social media, a Twitter user tweeted, “My culture is NOT your ****amn prom dress” Now based on what you already might know, or what you have recently read from this blog post: are there any restrictions for foreigners wearing a qipao? No, none at all. There is a reason why YesStyleModern Qipao, and Chinese Clothing Online ship to plenty of non-Asian countries. Even Amazon. This story has since caused a debate on whether or not, it was really cultural appropriation. Most have sensibly agreed that it was not. Even though the criticism was uncalled for, this story inspired me to research and learn more about what I simply always called the “China dress“.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Starbucks Anti-bias Training Day

I did not have plans to write such a blog post today. But when the headlines came up about Starbuck’s official anti-bias training taking place across over 8,000 American outlets, it inspired me to do another blog post on racism. Though the incident was very unfortunate and should have never happened, the story, follow-ups behind it, and all the media surrounding it, have been very interesting. It has sparked a lot of debate over the lingering presence of racial profiling, especially towards Black people.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Fiat Chrysler Automotobiles: June 2018 Discussion

When I heard that Fiat Chrysler was announcing a new five-year plan on June 1st, I knew that I was definitely going to do a blog post on it. I wanted to take a look at what was said, the rumors, and of course my opinions on this. The latter, not-so-surprisingly, ended up being the longest section of this entry. Which Fiat Chrysler brand is your favourite? How do you feel about their new five-year plan? The departure of Sergio Marchionne in April 2019? Comment down below and share your thoughts.

Inspiration Behind This Article: The Tokay Gecko

This post was originally supposed to be my unpublished 200-worded piece “Are Tokay Geckos Too Violent For Beginners?” But it did not happen. The original piece was not complete garbage, but was also not up to Millennium Creek standards and quality. I figured that if I were going to put up an information piece on tokay geckos, that I should expand it and include much more useful information. Why tokay geckos in particular? I wanted to do an article on an exotic animal of the sort. The tokay gecko’s stunning colours and feisty personality made it a good choice.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Indigenous Peoples of Canada

A little bit back, I created a rough notepad titled “Millennium Creek Upcoming Topics May-June 2018” There, I brainstormed a list of topics and types of writings I wanted to do over the summer. It has since been moved to a word file titled, “Ultimate Millennium Creek Writing Plan For June-July-August 2018” On this word file, I have laid out all the posts and different types of writing styles I plan to do. Since I had the topic of Indigenous Canadians in the notepad for some time, I decided to go with it. Writing about Indigenous Canadians has been an interesting, eye-opening, refresher about the people I live among. The people that have inhabited this country long before foreign settlers from other continents have arrived.

Inspiration Behind This Article: Health Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

As mentioned in the previous post, a summer plan was created for the types of writings and topics I wanted to do. While it did not explicitly state which topics or types of writing I was going to do, extra virgin olive oil was one that was planned for quite some time. Why this topic? I was searching around the Internet one day, and stumbled across a post that went into the lengthy health benefits of extra virgin olive oil. I then decided that I definitely wanted to do my own post on this topic. I wanted to add my take on it, and include information and tidbits that the others have failed to mention.

Inspiration Behind This Article: What is SaaS?

While I have been seeing the term “SaaS” for quite some time, it was not until more recently that I would do something more about it. I decided to add it to my writing plan of future topics. Now here it is on the Internet. Writing and researching it has given me a much better understanding of what it is, and more awareness of the companies that use or offer it. It probably should not come as a surprise, that I do prefer one-time purchases over subscription models when it comes onto computer software. I can see why businesses go with SaaS for the benefits discussed earlier. For me, one-time purchases suit my needs. What about you? Do you prefer subscription models or one-time purchases?

Inspiration Behind This Article: The Difference Between Nationality Versus Ethnicity

Aside from it being a planned summer article, I wanted to do this post to clarify the difference of these terms. There are many articles on the Internet that either have them mixed up, or written entirely inaccurately. This is not to say that mine is the best, and only one worth of reading. It is not. But, at the same time, it was thoughtfully and factually put together to give it credibility and quality. Found this article helpful, informative or interesting? Drop a comment below or share it with your friends and relatives.

Inspiration Behind This Critique: Royal Bank of Canada Website Critique

A continuation of the plan summer plan to put up various categories of writings on Millennium Creek. If you read the beginning of this critique, you will know that Canadian Tire and Havelaar Canada will be appearing on Millennium Creek to join RBC as part of the portfolio for non-endorsed website critiques.

Inspiration Behind This Critique: Canadian Tire Website Critique

This write-up is the second out of the three non-endorsed website critiques, being done for a portfolio project. Why did I choose Canadian Tire of all online retailers? Well, there were a lot of other online retailers that I could have went with. For the second critique, I wanted to choose an online retail that was based in Canada, that also has a physical store. For those two reasons, it should be no surprise that Canadian Tire was one of the first places that came to mind, so I went with it. Readers, what are your impressions of these critiques so far? Comment and share your thoughts.

Inspiration Behind This Critique: Havelaar Canada Website Critique

This write-up is the third and final out of the three non-endorsed website critiques, being done for a portfolio project. If you have read my previous articles pertained to automobiles, then my inspiration behind this post should be very clear: my love all-electric cars. As such, I originally thought about doing a critique for Tesla. But then, I thought that the Tesla already has enough press and attention surrounding them, so I thought about doing Jaguar. Now Jaguar may only have one all-electric vehicle in the lineup, but the company as whole was attractive enough to make me consider it. I was then torn between Tesla and Jaguar. I then decided to do neither of those two, and went with the lesser known, Canada-based, Havelaar Canada. Turned out to be a good choice. If it does make it to production, I hope there will be a 4-door crew cab option.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Is It Acceptable For Women To Breastfeed In Public? Yes

Upon finishing the articles and website critiques for the Summer Project, now Autumn Portfolio 2018 Project, the next part of it is argumentative essays. Seeing as though I had already done this particular topic originally on May 30, 2016, I figured that it made lots of sense to upload it as the first choice for this part of the project. For the argumentative essays I cover in this project, I do plan to cover both “For” and “Against” *insert topic*. I plan to do three topics, bringing it to six essays, or six sides depending on how you look at it. For those of you that hated doing argumentative essay in school, you would probably think this is madness. Truth is, as long as the subject matter is not complex, and you understand the format of argumentative essays, they are actually quite easy to do. Or am I just saying that because I am an experienced writer? Either way, drop a comment on this topic and let me know what you think of public nursing.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Is it acceptable for women to breastfeed in public? No

This essay serves as the voice against public nursing. For the side that supports public nursing, click here. Now that both sides of this subject matter have been explored, I am almost certain that you must be wondering how do I, Millennium Creek, feel about women breastfeeding in public? Well, it should not come as a surprise, but it surprises me that this is even a debate in the first place. As far as I am concerned, I do not know of any mother that would flagrantly expose their entire chest with the intention of creating shock and disgust. Virtually nobody would want to put themselves and their child in unnecessary danger. A mother nursing her infant should be treated as casually as somebody drinking from a water bottle to satisfy their thirst.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Should Canadians Be Required To Know Both French And English Upon High School Graduation? Yes

I honestly do not remember why I chose this as one of the subjects I wanted to cover for the essays part of the portfolio. I do remember going through lists of good topics to do for an argumentative essay. I do not recall specifically seeing anything titled “Should Canadians Be Required to Know Both French and English Upon High School Graduation?” I believe that I did run into something that had to do with language and bilingualism. From there, I decided to go with this one. Do you also agree that Canadians should know both languages by the time they graduate? Type your comments and let me know.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Should Canadians Be Required To Know Both French And English Upon High School Graduation? No

This essay serves as the voice that is against forced bilingualism on high school students. For the voice that supports it, click here. Do you agree with the points in this essay? I strongly suspect that most people would side with this voice, but I might be wrong? Let me know by leaving a comment. “Should Bilingualism Be A Graduation Requirement In Canada?” Perhaps would have been a nicer sounding title for these essays.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Is Technology Limiting Creativity? Yes

This is the 3rd and final topic for the argumentative essay part of the portfolio project of 2018. I came around to choosing this topic by browsing a list of good essay topics. Why this one in particular? Though you may very well know at this point that I am into electronics, it is also because of how interesting and thought-provocative it is. In fact, I honestly feared that I would not know how to go about writing this. Thankfully, it came through and I managed to get this side of the topic done. Do you agree that technology is limiting creativity? Comment and let me know.

Inspiration Behind This Essay: Is Technology Limiting Creativity? No

Now that the “No” voice of this essay topic is complete, this marks the completion of the essay part of my 2018 portfolio project. As explained on the “Yes” voice, my inspiration behind choosing this topic for an argument, was the result of two things:

  1. Browsing through a list of topics to do for an argumentative essay
  2. My love for technology

With that said, it is obvious that I believe technology is not limiting creativity. The problem is people themselves not knowing how to be creative, and where to draw their sources of inspiration. My own website, Millennium Creek, is a good example of creativity that would not have been possible without the appropriate technology in place. Do you also agree that technology is not limiting creativity? Or have you sided with the “Yes” voice? Comment and let me know. While some people would love a world without smartphones, computers and televisions, our lives would be significantly harder in too many ways.

Inspiration Behind This Creative Piece: Speech: Let It Become A Legal Requirement To Label Genetically Modified Organisms In Canada

I do not think I have ever written any speech of the sort before. Whether it be intended for school, work or business. The idea of writing a speech definitely brought feelings of uncertainty, but I still did not cancel the idea. The completion of this speech marks the first write-up of the Creative Writing part of my portfolio part. Why a speech? Why this topic? As to why I would want a speech, it is because I thought it would be a valuable, challenging write-up to have in my portfolio. As for my topic of choice, I simply searched around for good speech topics. Interestingly, what happens to be a good topic for persuasive essays, also happens to be an excellent topic for speeches. For that reason, it is no wonder I have seen some people go as far to call speeches “spoken essays”. What do you think? How do you feel about this topic? Comment and let me know.

Inspiration Behind This Creative Piece: Beautiful Blue Creek (Haiku)

A Haiku was originally going to be the first write-up for the Creative Writing part of my portfolio project. Instead, I opted to write a speech first, making this the 2nd writing in the category. Why a Haiku? The last time I have written a Haiku probably dates back to elementary school. Yes, that is indeed a frighteningly long time!

Much of the content on Millennium Creek tends to be articles or writings that often tip 1,000 words. Doing a short Haiku on creeks, felt refreshing and very different. I am quite a fan of the simplicity and beauty of Haiku. I may create more of them in 2019. For now, I will proceed to working on the next creative piece.

For those of you that absolutely love Haiku, I recommend you have a look at Basho: The Complete Haiku, On Haiku, and maybe this mug? Have you ever written a Haiku? Perhaps you frequently write Haiku? Comment and let me know.

Inspiration Behind This Creative Piece: Walk of the Wilderness

Is this a story? Or is it a poem? A poetic story? Those are the questions that frequently came up in my mind while I was writing this. Truth be told, this is supposed to be a “long poem”. It probably might not look like it to some, but that was the intention. It is neither a fictional or non-fiction story. Now because poetry admittedly is not my specialty, there may be some debates on how good it is, or how you might personally disagree with my classification of it this work. Walk of the Wilderness marks the 3rd creation of the Creative Writing part of my portfolio project. It was supposed to be the 2nd, but if you already read the “Inspirational” section of my Haiku, you will have the answer to why it is not.

So aside from creating this as a “look what I can do” sort of thing, you must be wondering about what the actual inspiration of this particular poem is, right? It happened when I tasked myself with the objective to complete a third Creative Writing piece. It was originally going to be a write-up of one of my real dreams. I could not decide which dream to write about. I did not want to waste too much time on it, because 2018 was coming to an end very soon. I wanted to get the Creative Writings done before Christmas. I then decided to just write one massive, story-like poem about a brief dream belonging to no one, themed around walking through the wilderness. I did not plan, nor even look at other poems for inspiration. I just threw myself in front of the keyboard, brainstormed the title, and wrote whatever came to my mind.

As anyone can tell, it is advisable to plan and get inspiration when writing poetry. It makes it more organized and refined. Or at least I think so. Well, I suppose writing whatever floats up also has its perks, too. Particularly, if you are trying to really flex that originality muscle. What did you think about this long poem? Think it does not deserved to be called such? Feels more like a story?

Inspiration Behind This Creative Piece: What Love is This?

This long piece falls into the same category of my previous Walk of the Wilderness, classifying as a long poem. If you view it as a series of short poetic stories, I will not blame you for seeing it that way. Now that aside, What Love Is This? is the 4th and final creation of the Creative Writing part of my portfolio project. What you will not know about this write-up, is the fact that it was not supposed to even come into being. In fact, I was originally going to stop the Creative Writing portfolio after writing #3. But suddenly, I felt a strong desire to create just one more long poem, before calling it complete. I am quite glad I did.

Why love? I figured that if I was going to write poems, that I had to do at least one love theme. Sounds like such a cliché thing to do, but the urge was strong. Very strong. Like Walk of the Wilderness, What Love Is This? was written in the same manner: placed myself in front of the keyboard, brainstormed a little, and just let my fingers do the rest. As a result, you may either find the poem adorable or creative, or very uncool.

Inspiration Behind The Product Descriptions From an Old Portfolio

I was originally going to start the 2019 portfolio project with the following writing categories: Blog posts and copywriting. I then had a change of heart and revised it to be product descriptions and copywriting, while making the blog posts optional. The reason is because I am going to be officially selling my services in the coming weeks. Likely in February, but possibly March. While my services have already been available for some time, I have never posted them officially and openly on social media.

Back in 2018, I completed articles, website critiques, argumentative essays, creative pieces, and the occasional blog post. Blog posts are nice and all, but they have not been a focus on Millennium Creek. I believe that getting product descriptions and copywriting into my portfolio sooner, would make it look far more attractive than common, regular blogs posts.

Seeing as though  I had already completed a write-up of original descriptions a few years ago, it made sense to tidy them up, and publish them as the first for this category. And yes, I am aware that writing product descriptions is a form of copywriting. By “copywriting” I have web pages in mind for the next category.

Inspiration Behind The 2019 Product Descriptions: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and iPhone XS Max Accessories

The completion of this makes it the 2nd write-up of the Product Descriptions part of the portfolio project. The 1st was Product Descriptions From an Old Portfolio. Creating these names and descriptions from scratch was no easy task. I took a look at Google Maps and other products to get an idea for names and certain technical details. Even then, it still took some work. Nevertheless, completing this gave me some valuable experience and insight about product copy.

Why the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and iPhone XS Max? Those two are among the most recognizable high-end devices in the world, making them a sensible choice to write portfolio descriptions for. Of course, there are many other fantastic devices out there. Some of which you can argue are even better. And finally, I would love to know what your top three picks would be if these products were real. Comment down below.

Inspiration Behind The 2019 Product Descriptions: Kaskawulsh Men’s Fashion

Fashion is a big deal because you have to wear clothes. You have to protect your body from the elements of the outdoors. And most obviously, you do not want to violate laws of indecency. Some people care greatly about looking stylish. Others value comfort, while some prefer to just buy whatever is affordable and necessary. The world of fashion is truly, very broad. I could have done men’s luxury fashion, women’s fashion, children’s fashion, ethnic fashion, and many more. For this portfolio piece, I decided to go with an imaginary, upscale brand that is not too expensive for the masses, but is not very cheap either.

Which of these products would you buy if they were real? Comment down below and share your interests.

Inspiration Behind The 2019 Product Descriptions: Cielistellati Fine Musical Instruments

My love for musical instruments. That is the driving reason behind choosing this as the 4th and final subject for the Product Descriptions category of the portfolio project. Woodwinds, brass, orchestral strings, percussion, keyboards — they all have their unique strengths and voices. If Cielistellati instruments were real, and money were no barrier, which of these instruments would you buy? I have a deep feeling that 95% of population would pick piano or violin. Prove me wrong by commenting on what your choice would be. Even if it is piano and violin, there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Both are beautiful when played by musicians who have been trained properly.

For those of you who are Italian, or at least understand the language, Cielistellati comes from the Italian words “cieli stellati” meaning starry skies. Your eyes would indeed be starry with the craftsmanship and sound quality of these instruments, if they were real.

Inspiration Behind The Webpages Of Laurentian Wireless

Every website obviously has webpages. Does every website have good pages? Unfortunately, they do not. I wanted to have a knack at writing webpages. I went ahead to test my webpage content writing skills with this category of the portfolio project. The reason why I chose a wireless carrier, will not be a surprise to any readers who have read most of my write-ups. (Love for smartphones and other electronics!)

Now finally, if Laurentian Wireless were a real company, would you subscribe to them? Or would you prefer to stick to Telus, Koodo, Rogers, Fido, Bell, Virgin Mobile or Freedom Mobile? Comment down below and let me know. I would also like to know what you think of this write-up. Should I have included certain details within pages that I missed? Your constructive feedback is very important to me.

Inspiration Behind The Webpages Red Maple Greater Toronto Area Home Renovation Group

Red Maple Greater Toronto Area Home Renovation Group (Red Maple GTA HRG) is the second write-up within the webpages category of the portfolio project. We all need a good, clean, peaceful house to dwell in. Therefore, this makes home renovation an extremely big industry. So big, that it was only natural that I would include it as one of the 5 webpage topics to go with. And because I am based in Ontario, I chose to go with an Ontarian-themed, imaginary example company.

Inspiration Behind The Webpages Of Wonder Food of 6 Worlds Restaurant

Wonder Food of 6 Worlds Restaurant (WF6WR) is the third write-up within the webpages category of the portfolio project. Not only is the hospitality and tourism industry interesting, it is a huge sector of commerce. When coming up with an imaginary example company, I knew I wanted to include a restaurant, but was not too sure of which theme to go with. Thinking of all the ethnic restaurants around me, I decided to go with a unique, multi-ethnic theme. A little challenging, but I like how it turned out.

Inspiration Behind The Webpages Of Seaforth Serpents

Seaforth Serpents is the fourth write-up within the webpages category of the portfolio project. People love their pets, particularly cats and dogs. While cats and dogs are popular and all, I wanted to go with something a little more niche for the 4th write-up of this area: reptiles, particularly snakes. I originally expected this piece to be quick and easy to type, but it proved me wrong. Animal shop websites actually have a lot of important text that needs to be on their webpages, or you risk numerous complications. Still, I personally love reptiles, so writing this was not uninteresting.

Inspiration Behind The Webpages Of Thunder Things Automotive Group

Thunder Things Automotive Group (TTAG) is the fifth and final write-up within the webpages category of the portfolio project. As mentioned in earlier automotive writings, I love all-electric vehicles, making this a very alluring choice to go with. TTAG may be an imaginary example company, but I really would like to see Canada create its own home-grown brand soon.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: “Maseromeo” What If Maserati And Alfa Romeo Merged Into One Brand?

As mentioned within the first paragraph of this post, this was originally intended to be a blog post written shortly after completing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: June 2018 Discussion. Why did I still bother with it? Because it was too interesting of a discussion to throw off. Both Maserati and Alfa Romeo are internationally recognized brands that can stir up a variety of emotions.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: The Truth About Alfa Romeo’s Logo Surprised Me Greatly

My inspiration for this blog post is summed up perfectly within the first paragraph of this post: stumbled across an image with text about the logo, thus leading to me creating an entry all about it.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Do I Believe There Is Life On Other Planets?

Without a doubt, the other celestial bodies around us are extremely fascinating. Some believe there is, or was life at some point on them. Others, such as myself, believe they never had or will ever be capable of supporting life. As such, I wanted to create a blog post entirely dedicated to this, and why they cannot support life.

Inspiration Behind This Blog Post: Remote Work Is Not Nonsense; It Is The Way

This blog post may very well be the most passionate-driven entry posted on Millennium Creek. Being someone who believes strongly in remote work, I felt as though I was called to do this when I saw someone write remote work off as nonsense on Twitter. Within the post, I go into plenty of detail about what remote work is and is not.

Feeling Inspired?

This was a ton of text to go through, but I do hope that you managed to read it all. And most importantly, I hope it left you feeling inspired to take some action of the sort. Whether it be reading the write-ups they link to, or creating a write-up inspired from them.

2019 Product Descriptions: Cielistellati Fine Musical Instruments

Disclosure: Millennium River is an independent website that uses hyperlinks. Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click and purchase a product(s) through these links, I may earn a commission on qualifying sales. This is done at no extra expense to you. You may also support this website via PayPal. Unless it is clearly stated, the content is not sponsored. Cielistellati Fine Musical Instruments is an original, imaginary business.

Pianos

Cielistellati 97-Keyed Grand Piano $625,000

For far too long, pianos have been limited to A0 – C8. Why do they have to stop at A0? Why have makers not been pushing the grand piano to what it is fully capable of? What could be so scary about C0? Only very few have attempted, and now Cielistellati has joined the niche. Freely allow your fingers to dance across 8 complete octaves with this masterpiece. Go to depths you have never been able to go before! The contrabass range is waiting for a brave, skilled pianist to go down there.

Cielistellati 88-Keyed Piano $365,000

A fine grand piano is a must in the home of any serious pianist. One that sounds, looks, and responds beautifully, is a true keeper. Some people get tired of the bulk of the traditional grand piano, but this is one piano that you do not want to get rid of.

Recorders

Cielistellati Wooden Soprano Recorder in C $2000

Often seen as a disposable children’s toy, but surely it is not. The Cielistellati soprano recorders are made from fine wood, and built with expertise to ensure that sweet, high-pitched sounds are produced. But of course, you will have to play it respectfully to get a respectful sound.

Cielistellati Wooden Tenor Recorder in C $2500

An octave below the more common soprano recorder. This admirable tenor recorder is keyless and made of sublime wood for a responsive, direct, nice sound. This allows it to be used in all sorts of musical styles.

Cielistellati Wooden Great Bass Recorder in C $5000

An octave below the tenor, two octaves below the soprano. Though a “bass” in name, the great bass actually has the voice of a tenor, as evidenced with its lowest note at C3. This exquisite great bass features brass keys to facilitate fingering, and spare you those painful finger stretches. The Cielistellati Great Bass has a lovely, warm timbre in its lower range, and sings in its upper range.

Cielistellati Wooden Alto Recorder in F $2200

An octave above the bass recorder in F. Due to all the soprano recorders being mass produced in plastic, it is easy to come under the impression that they are the main recorder of the recorder family. Truth is, they are not. That place would belong to the alto, also called treble recorder. History proves that the alto was the main recorder of choice, as evidenced by the numerous repertoire written for them. Today, they are still enjoyed by professional recorderists and serious amateurs alike. The Cielistellati Alto is a splendid specimen, suitable for playing in the orchestra and solo pieces.

Cielistellati Wooden Bass Recorder in F $3600

An octave below the treble recorder, an octave above the contrabass recorder in F. Though there are recorders that are far larger, the bass recorder remains the most common large recorder you will encounter. It is a sensible choice for recorderists looking to expand their repertoire. The Cielistellati’s refinement adds the reliability and intonation you would expect from an instrument at this price point. Being smaller than a great bass in C, it is also easier to handle. This instrument is keyed, and comes in three pieces for easy storage and assembly.

Cielistellati Contrabass Recorder in F $9000

Being two octaves below the alto, and octave below the bass, the contrabass recorder is a formidable instrument that requires a disciplined musician to play it. The Cielistellati Contrabasses feature brass keys, a wooden body, and wide bore to allow for a deep, rich sound, as well as to produce glorious harmonics.

Transverse Flutes

Cielistellati Silver Keyed Wooden Piccolo $7000

Handmade from solid wood, and pure silver keys. The Cielistellati Piccolo delivers a lot in its tiny package. The piccolo has been called for by a number of historical composers, and enjoys much use in today’s orchestras and bands.

Cielistellati Pure Silver Concert Flute $17,000

Also called C flute, or Western concert flute. Without a doubt, the concert flute is by far the most commonly encountered member of the transverse flute family. You see them in the orchestra, jazz groups, the military, concert bands, and even in your home? Stand apart from the pack with an exceptional pure silver concert flute from Cielistellati.

Cielistellati Pure Alto Flute $20,000

Need a flute that goes a bit lower than the standard concert flute? Something that has a range like the violin? This is the flute for you. In pure silver, too. Such a sweet package.

Cielistellati Pure Bass Flute $27,000

Pitched in C just like the more common concert flute, only one octave lower. The bass flute serves as the tenor voice of the transverse flute family. Aside from coming in pure silver, the Cielistellati not only offers dazzling looks, but has also offers a stronger sound than your average bass flute. You will not being overpowering the brass horns, but you should not have to be utterly drowned out by them either.

Clarinets

Cielistellati Bb Clarinet $12,000

The Bb clarinet is the most popular and widely used clarinet in its entire family. It is even said that there are more Bb flat clarinets in the world than all the other clarinet voices combined. A stretch? Not surprising, given the instruments big range, impressive dynamics, and suitability for many genres. The Cielistellati takes it further by adding signature refinement to keep your clarinet singing for the long term.

Cielistellati A Clarinet $13,000

The next most common clarinet in the orchestra would be the soprano A clarinet. Outside of classical settings, it is not used as frequently as its Bb counterpart. That said, the Bb and A clarinets are extremely similar, with the A only being slightly lower. Unlike certain other A clarinet models, you can count on the Cielistellati A Clarinet to deliver excellent intonation and first-rate craftsmanship.

Cielistellati Eb Clarinet $11,000

The Eb clarinet is smaller than its larger soprano counterparts Bb and A. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the sopranino of the clarinet family. The Cielistellati is a professional instrument that can be used in orchestral, chamber, and other settings of music. Its intonation, keywork, and leak-resistant pads make it less of nuisance in the upper register.

Cielistellati C Clarinet $11,000

The C clarinet is an interesting breed, being that it is a non-transposing clarinet. This means that you can play with your C flute friends, without worrying about transposing the piece. And because this is a Cielistellati model, bending keys, leaks, and horrible intonation will not plague your playing. You will enjoy a bright, responsive, clear, dynamic tone from your Cielistellati C Clarinet.

Cielistellati Eb Alto Clarinet $16,000

Torn between a fine soprano clarinet and bass clarinet? Consider the alto clarinet. Both its size and range sits between that of the bass and soprano clarinets. The Cielistellati Alto Clarinet has a responsive sound, and the warm, woody, tenor voice you would expect from the Eb Alto.

Cielistellati Bb Bass Clarinet $20,000

Behold the bass: The big, beautiful, powerful Cielistellati Bb Bass Clarinet! There are clarinets that are even larger and deeper, but the Bb bass is the most common bass voiced clarinet played. Like its Bb soprano sibling, the Bb bass enjoys the privilege of being featured in a wide variety of musical styles and settings. The Cielistellati Bb Bass is bravissimo!

Cielistellati Eb Contralto Clarinet $24,000

The bass clarinet does a fine job at playing the bass line. However, what happens when you start craving the contrabass register? That is where the contralto clarinet comes into play. Though a large instrument, it is more easily handled than the larger contrabass clarinets that go even lower than it does.

Saxophones

Cielistellati Bb Soprillo Saxophone $32,000

The soprillo saxophone, also called the sopranissimo, is the highest, tiniest member of the saxophone family. It is also rather rare. Even rarer, are fine ones made of gold and silver. The Cielistellati Soprillo gives you both beauty and intonation for your performances.

Cielistellati Eb Sopranino Saxophone $42,000

The sopranino is not as common as the larger soprano, but being in the same key as the baritone and alto, makes it a more natural choice for such players. Being very high-pitched, intonation can be an issue with cheap, poorly made models. Not the case with Cielistellati. Your sopranino will sound more like it is singing, as opposed to screaming. Oh, and it is also made of gold and silver, too.

Cielistellati Bb Soprano Saxophone $55,000

The soprano saxophone is a regular member of the common saxophone quartet. Unfortunately, likes its smaller siblings, it too, has a reputation of being painful to stay in tune. While good practicing and embouchure development certainly helps, take it a step further and get a first-rate Cielistellati Soprano. The golden body and silver keys shimmer like a soprano captivating her audience with her powerful voice.

Cielistellati Eb Alto Saxophone $74,000

Though it is not an official statistic by any means, it would be safe to assume that there very well may be more alto saxophones in the world, than all the others combined. Well, perhaps if you were to take the tenor saxophone out of the equation first, as it too, is extremely common. The Cielistellati Alto Saxophone is not common, however. It is a saxophone the represents the class of professional elites with its gold and silver build, and superior craftsmanship.

Cielistellati Bb Tenor Saxophone $95,000

If the Cielistellati Tenor were given a nickname, Tenor Top-notch would be its name. Like its alto counterpart, it is one of the most common, beloved saxophones in the world. Featured in jazz, blues, popular, and sometimes, though not commonly, even the orchestra. The Cielistellati Tenor’s keywork and build allows for amazing intonation, response, and contemporary sounds.

Cielistellati Eb Baritone Saxophone $345,000

The size and breath support of the baritone saxophone, is what causes it to be less chosen than the tenor and alto. That said, it is not a rare instrument, as it has a frequent appearance in jazz, marching bands, concert bands, popular culture, and yes, even some orchestras. Their low characteristic sound is what makes them a popular choice for musicians who must have that lovely low saxophone sound. Like the other Cielistellati saxophones, the Cielistellati Baritone has a golden body, silver keys, and exquisite engravings to keep you impressed for a lifetime. The build also allows for a solid tone, and great ease in producing contemporary harmonics.

Cielistellati Bb Bass Saxophone $420,000

Some say, “It’s too heavy”, “Too expensive”, “Only goes a third lower than baritone saxophone”, “Sounds too much like a baritone” and the list goes on. Are you afraid of the big, bad bass? Perhaps you are actually trying to get a hold of one, but do not know where to find the ultimate bass. Look no further than the Cielisellati Bass Saxophone. Gold, silver, engravings of your choice, and a structural build to allow for on-point tuning, this saxophone’s sound is extraordinarily powerful, yet can also be played exceptionally softly for more emotional music. The Cielistellati Bass is that ultimate bass you have been fantasizing about.

Orchestral Strings

Cielistellati Violin $25,000

Without a doubt, the violin is the most popular member within its family. It has a very rich history, and has expanded into many musical scenes, far beyond classical music. Its beautiful sound does not come naturally, however. It is learned through years of discipline, precision and practice. The same elements are applied to the Cielistellati violin, to result in an admirable instrument. And the best part? You do not have spends millions to get that ultra fine sound, normally found in instruments of that price point.

Cielistellati Viola $30,000

The viola has more jokes than players in a typical orchestra. But the serious musician, does not heed such jokes about it being the inferior counterpart to the violin. The serious violist will seek an instrument that has been made by a serious luthier. The serious violist needs an instrument that has a strong, rich sound, and fantastic build. A Cielisetallti viola will deliver these desired traits, and leave your audience appreciative of your performance.

Cielistellati Violoncello $50,000

The violoncello is well known for its sweet, rich, powerful sound. Traditionally, it has played a major role in classical music, still does, but is also used in other genres as well. Its big, flexible range can be credited to this, being able to play both lower and higher notes. The Cielisetallti Violoncello uses the finest wood and construction to give you a powerful instrument to last for decades. No need to pay millions for that ultra fine violoncello sound and body, when you choose Cielistellati.

Cielistellati Contrabass $90,000

Contrabass, double bass, orchestral string bass, acoustic bass, upright bass, standup bass, bull fiddle — the contrabass has more names than any of the orchestral strings. Despite being the bulkiest bowed string instrument in the modern orchestra, the contrabass enjoys extensive usage in a variety of genres. Its powerful sound and louder pizzicato can be credited to this. The Cielistellati contrabass differs from other basses, in that it comes standard with 5 strings, allowing for a bigger range, and more flexibility with the tuning. Contrabasses, especially fine ones, are far more expensive than their smaller counterparts, so it pays to invest in a Cielistellati bass.

Cielistellati Violoncello da Spalla $35,000

Ah, the elusive violoncello da spalla. Some claim that it was the original instrument of choice for Bach’s Cello Suite Number 6, due to the technicalities that occur. Despite its portability and musical range, the instrument has been largely overshadowed by the larger violoncello played between the legs. It has gotten to the point where it nearly went extinct. Today, almost nobody makes violoncellos da spalla, but Cielistellati does. Professional, beautiful, artful, 5-stringed ones, too. Since the instrument is played across the chest, being held by a strap, it is perfect for people who already play the violin or viola.

Brass

Cielistellati Solid Gold C Trumpet $75,000

Historically, trumpets were made out of various elements: wood, stone, clay, bark, bones and others. Today, brass instruments are almost always made out of brass. Solid gold? Virtually nobody has made a solid gold trumpet. Cielistellati has taken advantage of the missing hole by creating an exceptional solid gold C trumpet. The trumpet has always been a powerful instrument, so it is time to take not only the sound, but also the material of choice to the next level.

Cielistellati Solid Gold Eb Alto Trombone $125,000

Though not anywhere near as common as its larger tenor sibling, the alto trombone is an underappreciated telescopic horn. It has enjoyed much use in classical music, but has fallen heavily into disuse today. Thankfully, not entirely. If you have ever wanted to try something similar to larger trombones, yet is unique in its own right, the alto is the way to go. Cielistellati stands out from the pack by being the only maker to offer it in solid gold.

Cielistellati Solid Gold Bb Tenor Trombone $160,000

The tenor trombone is the most commonly encountered trombone within its family. A golden tenor trombone? No one has ever done that — except Cielistellati. Why buy a gold trombone? Because you can. Cielistellati trombones also come with exquisite engravings, making them even more dazzling than what they already are.

Cielistellati Solid Gold Bb Euphonium $170,000

Most people probably do not know, or care about where the euphonium’s name came from. It was derived from the ancient Greek word “euphonos” meaning sweet sound. Cielistellati takes the sweet factor of the euphonium to the next stage by offering it in solid gold. This effectively makes the instrument both magnificent in sound and appearance.

Cielistellati Solid Gold BBb Tuba $1,000,000

The tuba is largest, lowest, heaviest brass instrument within the orchestra. Oddly enough, such traits usually make an instrument unpopular, but this has not been the case for the tuba. Brass enthusiasts are clearly captivated by the gigantic horn’s subterranean contrabass range. The tuba is used in the orchestra, jazz, military and many other musical scenes. Cielistellati offers the majestic horn in solid gold! No only that, but also a stand, luggage, and guide for your massive, golden beauty. Ease of transport and playing are key to enjoying a horn of this and material.

Alto Clef: Does It Have Any Real Use?

Disclosure: Millennium River is an independent website that uses hyperlinks. Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click and purchase a product(s) through these links, I may earn a commission on qualifying sales. This is done at no extra expense to you. You may also support this website via PayPal. Unless it is clearly stated, the content is not sponsored.

Understanding Clefs

Before determining whether or not the alto clef is redundant in modern music, it is important to go over the reason why there are different clefs in the first place. Music is most commonly notated using a staff in which consists of five horizontal lines. These lines are where the notes are placed. Clefts are used to determine which pitch and notes are placed on the lines. Higher pitched instruments that predominantly play above C4 (also known as middle C) are notated in the treble clef. Instruments that predominantly play well below C4 are notated in the bass clef. Where does this leave C clefs such as the tenor and alto? In the intermediate range of C3 – C4 generally. Why is there not a single clef for this purpose, rather than making matters more complicated with two? Diving further into the nature and history of the clefs is required to find the answer.

Diving Further

Historically, several clefs used to exist: bass, baritone, tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano and soprano. These clefs were used to correspond with the range of various singing voices. As time went on, much of clefs have become obsolete due to their redundancy and complexity not needed for modern music. It would seem reasonable to discard the alto and tenor clefs for the reasons the others were, though they have not faced this fate. The violoncello, tenor trombone and bassoon are three instruments that primarily use the bass clef to notate most of their notes. These three also happen to use the tenor clef a fair bit for their upper ranges. Why? They are commonly used instruments in the modern orchestra. Additionally, composers have continued to stick with using the tenor clef for the tenor ranges of these instruments, even though the modern tenor voice has moved to the treble clef, sounding an octave lower than notated. A similar thing has happened with the alto voice which is now notated in the treble clef, though sounds as written. Today, the only widely recognized instrument that uses the alto clef is the viola. Is that really true though?

Awkward Alto

Many people widely believe that because the viola is seemingly the only instrument that predominately uses alto, that the clef is largely useless, making it a pain to learn for the sake of one instrument. This makes the viola itself overshadowed by its more common counterparts, the violin and violoncello. The truth? The viola is not the only one. Yes, it is the most readily available and familiar instrument that uses it. However, there is another moderately familiar instrument that utilizes it: alto trombone; a brass instrument keyed in e-flat. Then there is the tenor viola da gamba. This partially fretted, bowed, upright instrument is uncommon, and also predominantly uses the alto clef. Though uncommon, it can still be easily bought online, in-store in some locations, or even watched live in some places. The larger bass gamba, though predominately written in bass, utilizes alto for its mid-upper range, as opposed to tenor the way a violoncello would. Why? One would have to ask composers why they insisted on going this route for it. It makes sense considering that the alto saves more ledger lines than tenor within a certain upper range. The mandola, known as tenor mandola in some areas, uses alto clef for concert pitch pieces, especially orchestral works.

Why Not Transpose?

Because all the alto clef instruments are less popular than their treble or bass counterparts, some musicians say that instruments like the viola, could be easily notated in treble sounding an octave down. A similar thing could be done for it in bass, only sounding an octave up, which would allow it to be notated exactly like a violoncello. This would seem like a logical, convenient solution on paper. Doing this would also bring up an obvious problem: notating an instrument with notes other than its sounding pitch causes it to become transposing. Therefore, if a violoncellist and violist wanted to play a sounding C3 in such a setup, the viola part would have to be notated with a written C2, while the violoncellist plays the real note as normal. While there are many instruments that do transpose, transposition has been avoided historically for others. The reason? It was not part of their history and nature to play sheet music that does not sound as written. Truthfully, and ideally, all instruments that currently do transpose, could have been notated in concert pitch to keep music as real as possible. However, many have gone the route of transposing in order to make the fingerings the same for all members of their family. Saxophones and clarinets are an excellent example of this. For some, such as the piccolo or contrabassoon, their extreme ranges would cause much of their notes to be in ledger lines, if they were to be notated exactly the way they sound. However, there is a way to fix the problem with extreme pitched instruments: new, familiarly written clefs. In the case of extraordinarily high-pitched instruments, create a new cleft where the first ledger line below the staff begins on C5. That way, this “sopranino” clef would have the exact same pattern with the note names in the same spaces and throughout. The only difference, of course, is that the clefs are an octave apart. For the “contrabass” clef a similar setup would be used, only the note that has one ledger line going through it below the clef, would be E1 in order to give it the exact same pattern as the bass clef. While this may sound extremely confusing to read through and think about, mapping it out visually on a staff will show the clarity and point with this idea. Would musicians and composers ever embrace this? It is highly unlikely, given that most would rather stay with what the system they are comfortable and familiar with. That could change if the masses unexpectedly find much appeal with such a proposal, however.

Wrap up

The alto clef has plenty of use in modern music. The stigma behind it being useless is the result of people not having enough awareness of the instruments that use it, besides the viola. They may be uncommon, but are far from extinct. In fact, if anyone is looking to broaden their horizon and try something different, an alto instrument may be a good choice for their portfolio. Musician’s FriendWoodwind & BrasswindPro WindsLong & McQuade and The Horn Guys are all excellent examples of online stores that not only offer alto clef-reading instruments, but plenty of others as well.