BLOG#1: December 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

MOONDOG

Moondog was the pseudonym of Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), a blind American composer, musician, poet, and inventor of several musical instruments. Moondog removed himself from society through his decision to make his home on the streets of New York for approximately twenty of the thirty years he spent in the city. He could be found on the streets of New York wearing clothes he had created based on his own interpretation of the Norse god Thor. Because of his unconventional outfits, he was known for much of his life as "The Viking of 6th Avenue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog
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In a search for new sounds, Moondog also invented several musical instruments, including a small triangular-shaped harp known as the "Oo", another which he named the "Ooo-ya-tsu", and (perhaps his best known) the "Trimba", a triangular percussion instrument that the composer invented in the late 40s. The original Trimba is still played today by Moondog's friend Stefan Lakatos, a Swedish percussionist, to whom Moondog also explained the methods for building such an instrument.

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ο Hardin στα δέκαεξι του χάνει την όραση του σε ένα ατύχημα και αφού μαθαίνει τις αρχές της μουσικής σε διάφορα σχολεία τυφλών, καλλιεργεί από μόνος του την ικανότητα της ακοής και της σύνθεσης, μετακομίζει στο batesville του arkansas όπου μένει μέχρι το 1942, οπότε παίρνει υποτροφία να σπουδάσει στο memphis. την επόμενη χρονιά μετακομίζει στην νέα υόρκη όπου και γνωρίζει συνθέτες της κλασικής και τζαζ μουσικής που θα τον επηρεάσουν με την σειρά τους.