This is four books in one. Its a terrific children's story book, a nice bit of speculation on robots and artificial intelligence, an introduction to myrmicology, and a biography of a (fictional) eccentric genius. That all of this is packaged so well and so completely into such a small package is just incredible. The cover design and illustrations are gorgeous, as well. This book has something for just about everyone. It is a perfect gift for science fiction readers, children with an insect fascination, or computer geeks.

I'll never forget the excitement of buying my first real ride cymbal. I had to cut a lot of lawns in order to afford it. I tested out a good many cymbals that afternoon in the drum store, and I came home with a 24" Avedis Zildjian medium ride. I remember the smile of approval on my drum teacher's face when told him what I had purchased and also the look of astonishment on my friend's face (who was also a drummer) when he asked, "How big is that thing?" That was over twenty years ago, and I still love playing that cymbal today. For me, a drum is just a drum, but a cymbal evokes a stong passion in me--especially a good ride cymbal. This is a book for percussionists, like myself, who love their cymbals!

The first chapter tells about the history of cymbals, going all the way back to Bible times. It also discusses trends in modern music. For instance, in the early twentieth century, drummers played snare rhythms with straight quarter notes on the bass drum, while cymbals were mainly used for choked accents. Eventually, the low-hat was developed, and it was the precursor to today's hi-hat. Drumming styles changed greatly with the advent of the hi-hat, as it became widely used in timekeeping. This book explains how cymbals began to be categorized as either ride or crash cymbals and how drumming styles evolved even further with the invention of the ride cymbal.

Chapter two contains an excellent overview of the major cymbal categories: ride, crash, hi-hat, crash/ride, medium, Chinese, and splash. There are a lot of interesting viewpoints expressed. Andy Newmark said, "I don't use the ride cymbal a lot because there's so much more definition in the hi-hat as far as keeping a rhythm section locked into something. If I do play the ride cymbal, I very rarely play in the middle or on the edge. I always play on the bell, because the bell cuts through."(p. 27) Varying viewpoints are also presented. Marvin "Smitty" Smith said, "I like to look at my ride cymbal sound as a wave on the ocean; it doesn't have to be loud. It just coats the entire area. It surrounds you." (p. 25) It is very helpful to hear the different viewpoints on cymbal artistry.

Chapter three contains good, sound advice on selecting a cymbal, with special tips for each cymbal type. Chapter four is devoted to composing a setup. It shows diagrams of the setups of many famous artists, including their comments. Many representative styles are included. Pheeroan Ak Laff said, "People figure, 'big crash, big sound,' but it doesn't work that way. If you want a powerful crash, you're better off with smaller, lighter cymbals, because they're faster, they cut like glass breaking and then they're gone. Big crashes tend to be lower pitched, which means that most of the sound is going to get lost in the low frequencies of the electric guitar and bass, while in acoustic music it'll be too overpowering. But big crashes can be very effective in a controlled environment like the recording studio." (p. 48) I agree with Laff, and I play hard rock. I'll never forget the time I asked my guitar friend to rate my crash cymbals. He preferred my 16" thin crash over thicker, larger and louder ones. He replied that it cut through better and didn't sustain too long. I had also come to that same conclusion myself. It is interesting that at the time of purchase, I had considered it to be experimental, as I wasn't sure if it could get the job done. Now, I am a believer in thin crashes!

Chapter five is all on cymbal acoustics. It tells about the anatomy of a cymbal. There is a very helpful chart on the influence of dimensions on the sound of a cymbal. It tells how hammering, lathing, buffing, and aging affect the sound properties.

Chapter six is about developing your own cymbal artistry. This information was very helpful to me recently. I had been experimenting with changing the locations of my two ride cymbals in my setup. But, I found that they didn't sound the same to me anymore! I figured it must be my ears playing tricks on me. I tried it again a couple weeks later and the same thing happened. Finally, the light from this book dawned on me: "Varying the angle at which the cymbal is played will have a direct influence...." (p. 87). I realized that the angle I was striking the cymbals had changed in my new setup. After I compensated for it, my ride cymbals sounded like normal in my new setup. Now, I have also learned to change my stick angle as part of my ride cymbal artistry to get more sounds out!

Chapter seven is all about cymbal care. It talks about mounting, cleaning; transporting, repairing. It tells you how to drill your own holes for installing rivets. Chapter eight is on the manufacturing processes of Turkish, Swiss/German, Italian, and Chinese Cymbals. Chapter nine is all about the different cymbal companies. There are lots of neat color photos at the end, as well as a chronology and an index.

There are some books that help you learn how to keep time on a drum set or do a solo. But these books usually fall short in terms of helping you develop your own style. You will get out of this book what you put in to it. It's an instruction manual of a different approach--a book on how to develop your artistry and touch.

As novice birdwatchers, this book was indispensable for planning our birdwatching trip to SE Arizona. It gave specific locations to visit for birds that you could expect to see there. Directions were clear and concise. With help from this book, we saw nearly every bird species we had hoped to see. This book is a must for this region!

I read the first Rick and Rosie mystery years ago, and was delighted to discover a sequel. The Caseare/Ramsey menage is not your traditional husband-and-wife sleuthing team, and The Disenchanted Diva is not your standard whodunit. The West Villqage/Soho settings offer a delightful peek into some of the more secluded enclaves of the Big Apple, while the foray into the downtown club scene is eye-opening--and downright chilling. Let's not forget the compelling story, either. As Rick and Rosie try to avoid a tragedy in clubland, you'll be racing along behind them, page after page.

My theater group performed this fantastic musical in collaboration with the lesser "Dracula Spectacula" it was truly remarkable. The manner in which it was written and all. I still today recieve comments on our performance. As julie would say, "It was crummy" ha ha. It was sort of an inside joke if you know what i mean. But anyway more about the show. This artistic interpretation of a classic story was truly worthy. Our audience laughed, cried and needless to say they were on the edge of their seat all the way through. I would recommend this musical to anyone who wishes to put on a show which will captivate their audience for the duration of the show. Thank you amazon.com!

I bought a number of books on using final cut pro and found this book to be the clearest, best-written of them all. When I have questions, I always turn to this book first. It's a fairly short book (130 pages), but it's all great info with very good images.

This book was the book i needed to learn about chickens. It tells you so much Info its amazing. It's the best book i ever read on birds. Read this Book!

This book is data source for H-D line-up from 1903 to 1996. Included are year-by-year listings ,black and white photographs. (listings:"Main Models","Specialty Models","Retail Prices", "Production Totals","Options","Paint Colors","First-year", "Only-year","Motor Company Minutes","Racing Notes")

...Good book!

The famous feud involving two mountain clans is more than an American frontier legend, it is an historical episode that echoed through the mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. Superbly narrated by Bennie Shipley and Rick Schulman, This Toy Box Productions audiobook is the accurate and chronologically unfolding story of what really happened, who was involved, and the generational aftermath that lingers to this very day. Superbly recorded, the historical narration is enhanced with vocal talents of Joe Loesch and Carol Battle, and "The Code of the Mountains", an original song sung by Wayne Salveson and written by Lonnie Bell -- who is a descendant of the Hatfields. The Hatfield-McCoy Feud is as thrilling a true life adventure as American history has to offer.