Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2007)
2007 Features Students travel to hot spots for summer vacations L exi W elp Staff Reporter This summer many people took time off from their school schedules to take a deep breath, and go on a vacation. Whether they went to a tropical paradise or on a European get away, these people all had one thing in common: they loved their time off. Aaron Osborn, sophomore, flew to Hawaii with his family, which includes his mother, father, and brother. They traveled to Kona and island hopped to Maui as well. "I loved going to the beaches, all the islands were awesome," Osborn said. His favorite part of the whole experience was snorkeling off of Cape Cook in Maui. Osborn and his family stayed at the Hilton hotel on both trips. "We stayed in really expensive hotels, but it was okay because my dad's boss paid for it," Osborn said. They stayed in a regular room, not a suite, but the whole experience was still amazing, according to Osborn. Arlene Inama, freshman, left the country on August 1st to visit family in Panama City, Panama. Inama traveled with her sister, Angela, and her mother, Vielka. The trio stayed in a house with Inama's grandmother for the whole month of August. "The weather was humid and cloudy," Inama said. This weather was perfect for riding bikes because she spent a good part of the month riding her bike along the beaches. "My favorite part was watching the boats on the dock-pass by," Inama said about her visit to the Panama Canal. Her favorite foods were the many cultural meals her family prepared during her stay such as arroz con leche. Also traveling to a distant place to meet family was Nadine MacBale, junior. She traveled to Palestine with her mother and little brother. She stayed there for three weeks with her extended family. spent a lot of time hanging out with friends. During her stay she also attended her Jazz Choir and band members explore the city of Venice while in Italy. The group of 13 traveled in July with an organization called The Oregon Ambassadors of Music, where they performed in several different countries. Third from left are seniors Jessica Johnson, Katelyn Delph and Lauren Woody. Photo submitted by Jessie Johnson Her favorite part of her experience was "being a part of a different culture." According to MacBale, when people go to a place like this, most of the time there is very little to do, so she uncle's wedding and really enjoyed it. In July, Jessica Johnson, senior, received an opportunity to travel all over Europe with a group called The Oregon Ambassador of Music. The group flew to seven countries across Europe, starting with England, followed by France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and finally Liechtenstein. She traveled with 350 people; 150 were in the choir and the rest were in the band. The group performed everywhere they traveled. There were six West Linn choir students including Johnson that went on the trip and seven band students. The group stayed in a hotel to start with, but as the trip progressed from country to country, they started to split up and stay in smaller hotels somewhat like bed and breakfasts. "They were so small but really nice because they were owned by families and they were well kept," Johnson said. She added that the views were "gorgeous." Johnson's favorite things to eat while she was away were crêpes, and she really enjoyed the Nutella. The art of DJing: It's not as complicated as it looks D alton K uepker Columnist You're walking downtown, admiring the Buildings when you hear loud, thumping music coming from one of them. You wonder what is going on in there, so you end up walking inside. Eventually you walk into a huge room with a huge stereo system, lasers, lights, people dancing, and of course, a disc jockey (DJ). You might envision yourself behind the speakers, in control of the music, and making the audience dance. This vision can be a reality. A reality? How? Well it can be quite simple, but remember: You will need a lot of patience and you will find yourself practicing a lot in order to be a good DJ. But what is DJing? A disc jockey or DJ is a person who selects and plays prerecorded music for an audience. There are different types of DJs. First there are radio DJs, who talk, chatter, and play music on the radio. You hear them every day. Like Gustav on 94.7. Then there are hip- hop DJs. They play their records on turntables (and sometimes CDs) and then scratch sounds (or samples) over a beat. It probably takes the most talent due to their extremely impressive scratching skills. Finally there are club DJs, which is what I am going to focus on in this article. They play their music on turntables (record players). mmmammmmmmmm ■■■■■ Sometimes they use what is called a "CDJ" which is like a turntable, only it plays CDs instead of vinyl records They usually play Techno or House. But how exactly do you DJ? It's quite simple. You start out "It's important to watch the crowd and try to get a feel for what mood they're in," he said. That is very true. You don’t want to play elevator music to a bunch of excited teenagers and expect them to dance to it. Practicing with your another record on the other turntable. Then you try to match the beat of the second record to the first record you're playing by changing the pitch and starting the record on time. Finally you try to "mix" in the second song with the first one by fading it in. It does sound complicated at first, but once you practice you'll get the hang of it. It's also good to mess around and fiddle with every knob you see so you know what effect it has on the sound. Who knows, it could make people pound the dance floor! I got the chance to interview Brian Bailey about DJing. I asked Brian what you need to know about when they're spinning vinyl. friends and family and building as large of a collection of music as possible is his advice for people starting out. Maybe you have some spare records/CDs lying around. Use them in your mixes! Then practice as much as possible. Remember, practice makes perfect! It can and will be quite expensive if you're serious about DJing. You'll need to buy a pair of decent turntables, a mixer, headphones, and a microphone. Some DJs argue which is better: CDs or vinyl records. Having only experience with vinyl I am not sure. I do recommend CDs for the beginner. They are cheaper and cost effective. Another plus with CDs is that you can simply bum them to add more songs to your collection. Vinyl is a different story. It is the best choice for people who care about sound quality, and it's the first choice for DJs. Unfortunately records do cost a little more than CDs, and they are rather fragile. But there are a lot of songs that were only released on vinyl that is very hard to find on CD or the internet. The choice is up to you. For the best of the best in VINYL turntables I recommend Technics turntables, due to their long and successful history. On craigslist.com they cost around $500 for a used pair. For CD turntables, I recommend the Pioneer CDJs. They set the club standard for CD turntables, and they're pretty easy to get the hang of. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive, at around $1,000 for a pair. All in all, DJing is a very fun hobby to get into. It can also be very expensive. For more information, check out these web sites: www. dj forums .com Great community for DJs, beginner or experienced! www.dj-tips-and-tricks. com Another website made by a DJ, for DJs. www.craigslist.com Great site to buy equipment at a very low price. Musical to open in November continued from page 1 Other tech opportunities include Lighting and Sound, which take place during the week in preparation for the musicals debut and Running Crew, in w hich students work behind the scenes dur ing performances. "So many people today never have an opportunity to learn to build things by hand, so this is a great way to learn some excellent hands- on skills that will make your parents envious," Jon Ares, technical theatre adviser, said. Tickets for the musical will be available on Oct. 16 both online and in the box office. They will cost $7 for students and $10 for adults. "This is a funny, fabulous fairy tale that all high school students and their families will love— come see what they can do!" Murray said.
