Music Factory

In recent years music simulators have become some of the most popular digital games, with franchises like Rock Band and Guitar Hero drawing huge media attention and amassing a significant fan base.  These games are not only fun, but teach people of all ages about music.  While playing the guitar isn’t a whole lot like the real thing, the drumset, bass guitar, and vocals are quite similar to how real music artists do it.  In fact, the drums from Rock Band are so similar to a real drumset, that people have documented being able to transfer their knowledge and skills directly from one to the other.

It’s important to have people, especially younger people, interested in music because the amount of musicians (both professional and simply adept) has been declining.  Though it’s not quite clear what will happen in the future, if current technology continues to advance, in another year you might have people simulating instruments like the flute, tuba, and saxophone in a digital game!

Despite an active time just over a decade, Led Zeppelin is often hailed as the greatest rock band of all time.  Like most bands, Led Zeppelin had a humble beginning, starting out as four friends who wanted to create original music and incorporate different styles like reggae, soul, and funk.  The band’s four members included Jimmy Page on guitar, Robert Plant on vocals, John Paul Jones on bass guitar and keyboard, and John Bonham on the drums.  These four members were true masters of their craft whose musical style is well recognized today.  Led Zeppelin composed dozens of original songs, and sheet music for their more well known ballads, like Stairway to Heaven, remains some of the top selling sheet music of all time. 

In 1980, drummer John Bonham died, and the band subsequently broke up and wouldn’t collaborate again until 2007.  In December of 2007, Led Zeppelin reunited for a benefit honoring music executive Ahmet Ertegun.  Jason Bonham took his father’s place on the drums, and the concert was well received, proving that the legendary band could still perform at the level that made them famous.