maidestone's New Writeups

knitting machine (thing)

2006-04-15T20:29:56Z

There are two major types of industrial knitting machines: the Circular and the Flat-bed. Circular knitting machines produce lightweight fabrics used in garments such as tee shirts and underwear. Flat-bed knitting machines, more versatile and much better developed, make sweaters and other outwear which often call for patterns, designs, and shapes.

Industrial knitting machines use latched needles to produce the interlocking stitches found in knitted fabrics. A latched needle is a hooked needle with a hinged latch that can swing one way to expose the hook or swing the other way to close over the hook.

On a flat-bed knitting machine, the latched needles are placed inside parallel grooves of a needle bed, which is a machined steel plate up to several feet in length. Symmetrical systems of cams, housed in a carriage, raise and then lower the needles in succession as the carriage traverses the length of the…

Cashmere (thing)

2006-03-28T09:30:38Z

it has been said that putting on a cashmere garment is much like savoring fine chocolate: a sensuous experience hinting at softness, warmth, luxury, indulgence, and even a sensation that is vaguely erotic.

Cashmere comes from the thin coats of fine, down-like hair that grow only on the torso areas of cashmere goats. The goats are principally bred and herded in Outer Mongolia and, unlike sheep bred for wool, the goats sport coats of tough hair which suit the harsh environment in which they graze. The coats of fine hair are thermal underwear to the goats, enabling them to survive the severe Siberian climate.

The quality of a cashmere garment is determined by the yarn used in its manufacturing, and the quality of cashmere yarn is determined first of all by the natural color of the fibers used in its production. Natural colors of cashmere fibers range from pure white to medium purple, with pure white being the most desirable…

Pachelbel's Canon (thing)

2006-03-23T00:44:54Z

Pachelbel Canon in D

This Canon in D-Major for Three Violins and Thorough-Bass was composed around 1680 by Johann Pachelbel, a prominent organist and composer from the Baroque Era. For more than 250 years, this piece of music had languished in obscurity until Jean-Francois Paillard decided in the 1970s to arrange it for performance by his own orchestra. Since its revival, the Canon has taken off to become a spectacular musical phenomenon that rivals the celebrated Beethoven Ninth Symphony.

We shall now take a closer look at canons in general and the Pachelbel Canon in particular.

âFrere Jacquesâ (English lyric)

Are you sleeping,-------------(Line 1)
Are you sleeping,-------------(Line 2)
Brother John?------------------(Line 3)
Brother John?------------------(Line 4)
Morning bells are ringing---(Line 5)
Morning bells are ringing---(Line 6)
Ding, dang, dong!-----------(Line 7)
…

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (person)

2006-03-11T21:24:53Z

The Apprentice
(No communication from NBC or from Donald Trump will be considered)

When he was five, his father, a music director and a conductor, introduced him to the piano.

By the time he was seven, his musical ability so astonished Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that Mozart took him into his home and offered him free room and board, on top of free lessons, for two years.

When he was nine, he gave his first public performance as a concert pianist, with resounding success, at one of Mozartâs concerts.

In London, Joseph Haydn dedicated a sonata in A-flat to him; and Muzio Clementi gave him private instructions.

In Vienna, his talent in improvisation dazzled Ludwig van Beethoven, who was then a fellow student studying music composition under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Joseph Haydn.

At age 26, he succeeded Haydn as Kapellmeister to Prince EsterhÃ¡zy's establishment at Eisenstadt.…

Pythagorean comma (thing)

2006-03-09T20:20:21Z

The Pythagorean Comma
(The enigma of tuning keyboard instruments)

On a keyboard instrument, an octave is the interval created by any two notes with 11 successive notes (semi-tones) between them. The frequencies, in Hertz, of the two notes in an octave constitute a ratio of 2:1, and there are 12 notes in an octave. A fifth is the interval created by any two notes with 6 successive notes between them. The frequencies, in Hertz, of the two notes in a fifth constitute a ratio of 3:2 (or 1.5:1), and there are 7 notes in a fifth.

A fifth is arguably the most musically pleasing interval, and its importance in musical composition cannot be over-stated. The sharing of overtones produced by the two notes in a pure fifth (with a true ratio of 3:2) is a main reason but not the only one. An octave must maintain its purity (with a true ratio of 2:1) so that a piece of music can move seamlessly among octaves and can also change key signatures. The octave and…

old stuffed animals (thing)

2006-02-26T00:48:12Z

Ode to Floppy
(My daughter's favourite stuffed toy)

They say I am cute and cuddly
And that my countenance can bring tears
To even the stoniest of individuals
Who has been hardened by passing years

But I am just a stuffed-toy animal
I am made of rags and odd parts
I have neither skin, nor flesh, nor bone
Nor muscle, nor a brain, nor a heart

My plastic eyes give me no sight
My resin nose no sense of smell
Which, even to a pretend-dog
Is certainly a fate from hell

I cannot move, not even to frown
I am incapable of making noise
If they stand me up and leave me
I can but stay. I have no choice

They let me watch TV I cannot see
They play me music I cannot hear
They give me food I cannot eat
But I just needed them to be near

An inanimate toy…