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June 16, 2011

How Do You Get A Job In Music Production?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 11:52 am

You would imagine that once you have your degree in Music Production you would be well on your way, would you not? But it does not normally work like that. It is false that getting a degree makes acquiring a job easier, because there are more people going for jobs with degrees than ever before and we are in an period when every business is looking for savings. It is true though that you will not ge a decent career with prospects without a degree any more.

So, you have your degree in music production and companies are not falling over themselves to hire you, so what do you do now? Well, one of the things that you should do is put your creative talent to work to unearth ways to get a job in the music industry. Before we get onto the topic of looking for a career, there are a few items that you have to know about music firms.

Most young people dream of acquiring into the music industry and rubbing shoulders with stars even if they do not have any talent. Because of this the music industry as a whole hardly ever has to advertise for vacant jobs although they might be required to by law in some countries.

They will just pay lip service to this law because it is daft, a sop and unenforcable. They will promote from within, use family and hire head-hunters, just like most companies do.

This means that it is at least as much who you know as what you know and this means networking. You will have to learn how to network to get yourself at least an interview. Attempt to get in even if it means on the lowest rung of the ladder, as an intern.

The vast majority of companies that take interns fill vacant positions with the best and most eager interns. The drawback is that interns get paid very little if at all. But if government can get away with it so will industry.

The first step to take after acquiring your degree is to study up on the career you would like and the firm you would like it with. You know how to do that. Learn as much about the career and the firm as you can. Then draw up a list of all the people you know who might be able to help you or vouch for you.

Teachers, lecturers, bands you roadied for, concerts you helped out on – anything – and get in touch with them. Ask if they know of anything going and get their permission to use their name in an interview or career application.

Send out resumes to the precise person by name who has the authority to hire or recommend you. This involves more study. This is a long shot because music production companies are inundated with resumes, but follow yours up with a second letter and enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope. Send a third as well, why not? Then begin following it up by email and phone.

Stay calm, be pleasant, but say that you would like a reply and if you have been rejected with reasons why so that you can correct your short-comings. Try to learn from set-backs and one day it will work out for you.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is currently involved with Bose new wave radios. If you would like to kcurrently more, please visit our website at Bose Digital Radio.

May 14, 2011

Music-Orientated Careers And What They Are About

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 12:51 pm

The United Kingdom has always had a very active music industry and although, or maybe because, we are in recession now, it is still thriving. Many young people are attracted to the music industry and so dream about getting a career in it.

However, we are not all musically gifted and only the very best get anywhere by following that path anyway, but there are other routes to go down if you want a career in the music industry.

There is a colossal raft of support needed to put musicians on the stage, television and radio, because musicians are notoriously too badly organized to get this work done on their own – especially top level musicians who insist that the stage, the lighting, the facilities and the contracts have to be just right.

So, once a musician has proved his or her worth, somebody has to get him bookings and promote his name, get him a record deal and make certain that he is sufficiently paid. This will be the music publicist

The label manager works for the recording firm and liaises between the various departments to make certain that the production and release of the artist’s CD’s are co-ordinated to the nth degree.

Management always has to have assistants and the music industry is no exception. An assistant to a manager in the music industry will have standard administrative duties not dissimilar to office duties in other industries, but the papers, contracts, invoices and cheques will be regarding famous, glamorous people that everyone knows from the Television.

The music industry employs research analysts to track and strive to predict future trends in music tastes. These researchers are sometimes called digital research analysts. This is quite a skilled job and necessitates expertise in the industry, in markets, trends and management.

The Internet plays an ever growing function in the marketing of music and the musicians who make it and so there are now openings for online editorial managers, whereas the career did not exist ten years ago.

The publicists and PR people also require co-ordinating on the Internet and web sites need to be built. Every band needs a Facebook and Twitter account and any other account in an online phenomenon that is up-and-coming.

There are events producers and junior events producers and senior events producers because live music produces more money than record sales since so much of that is pirated these days. Most bands could not continue without live events and most would not want to either, because performers like the limelight quite literally.

The music industry makes use of cheap labour as does even government and there are internships to be had. The pay for an intern is very low and occasionally they do not get paid at all, but they gain a wealth of experience and make very helpful contacts. The most enthusiastic and hard-working interns are normally hired after their internship is over.

There are routes into the music industry that might seem unconventional, but if you strive some of these avenues you will stand a better chance of procuring a career in the music industry.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a range of topics, but is now involved with Bose new wave radios. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Bose Digital Radio.

April 24, 2011

Music For Christmas

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 8:00 am

Christmas is a very extraordinary time of year for Christians and particularly for Christians living in Christian countries. A large part of the atmosphere at Christmas is created by Christmas music. Christmas music has traditionally consisted mainly of carols and hymns, but some pop songs have become firm favourites in the repertoire of music for Christmas.

This special blend of traditional Christmas carols and pop music made especially for Christmas makes the month of December immediately identifiable.

Obviously, the kind of Christmas music that you will hear the most often depends on where you go and what stations you listen to. If you listen to stations that specialize in well-liked music for the young, you will hear very little Christmas music.

If your taste is for so-called ‘easy listening’, you will get to hear ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby a number of times a day, because it is said to be the most well-liked Christmas music of all time. You will also hear many songs by Cliff Richard, who has been bringing out Christmas ‘specials’ for decades.

Christmas specials are records brought out with a Christmas message of peace and goodwill. Artists who release these specials are attempting to be the number one best selling artist over the profitable Christmas period.

The number one record over the Christmas period will be played millions of times over the airwaves and in discotheques making bags of money for the singer and the song writer in royalties.

Classical radio stations will play traditional Christmas music such as Handel’s ‘Messiah’ and choral renditions of popular carols and nativity songs like ‘Away in a Manger’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’. This sort of song is also sung in schools, churches and Christmas parties all over the country – every western Christian country.

Well-liked time-honoured children’s’ Christmas songs are ones like ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’, ‘On the First Day of Christmas’ and ‘Good King Wenseslas’. Then there are songs from the Fifties and Sixties which were sung in renowned Christmas films. Songs like ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ and ‘I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus’.

There is, in fact, a colossal selection of Christmas music available, but many songs are repeated over and over again ad nauseam. On the one hand, most people find it just lovely to hear a couple of Christmas songs every day, but on the other hand, most people are happy when the Christmas music ceases on Boxing Day.

This is because the modern trend has been to start playing Christmas music on December the first or even late November. A month of this music repeated endlessly becomes mind-numbing. Everybody loves the Christmas holiday season and the parties, celebrations and joviality that goes with the season, but the Christmas music goes on for too long for the majority of people.

Everybody ought to have a selection of Christmas music to play over the festive season, but remember, when you have friends visiting, not to over play these records as everybody will have heard them dozens of times already that day.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a range of topics, but is currently involved with Bose Radioss. If you would like to kcurrently more, please go to our web site at Bose Digital Radio.

November 3, 2010

Jobs In The Music Industry Most People Don’t Know About

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 6:41 am

If you like music a great deal, you might be hoping of going into some area of the music industry yourself. Undoubtedly, you will have been told that this is notoriously hard and I am not trying to insinuate that it is not, but perhaps most people who are trying to get into the music industry are going for the same jobs.

The list of jobs available in the music industry must include teachers, songwriters, doctors, therapists and many others, not only singers and musicians, so it pays to think laterally if you want to go in this direction, because traffic on the main highway is usually at a stand-still. Anyway, here is a list of other jobs in the music industry and I hope that it is of some help to you.

There are jobs with music and record businesses for staff song-writers, that is, for people who write songs for the artists who are contracted to that label. Find a couple of artists that you respect working for the same label, compose some songs for them and apply.

If you cannot find a solitary label that suits you, you could do the same job as a freelance song-writer. This way you are not restricted and can compose for all the artists that you like.

If you are good with words but not such a great musician, you could become a lyricist. A lyricist might or may not team up with a musician to create a song. Like Gilbert & Sullivan or Rogers & Hammerstein.

Jingle-writers are forever in demand, at least good ones are. Jingles need to be short but catchy. Writing jingles pays good money, but it will perhaps not make you famous outside the music industry.

A music publisher searches the market for freelance songs and buys up the copyright or license to publish those songs or to sell or license them to singers and musicians.

A music editor might work with a composer or song-writer to make sure that the timing and the cues for the musicians and singers are feasible.

Notesetters have to have a good ear for music as their job is to write down in musical form what untrained musicians play for them. There are many, many modern musicians who cannot write a note of music but who can produce very good songs. These songs have to be written down by someone and that someone is a notesetter.

A talent scout in the music industry has the official title of Artist & Repertoire Co-ordinator or A&R Co-ordinator for short. A step up from this position is the A&R Administrator, who co-ordinates the co-ordinators and sets and monitors their budgets – a sort of a musical accountant.

Then there are the jobs in public relations. These people usually work for record labels. They promote the artists who have signed onto a record company’s label. There are quite a few levels of responsibility in this department.

An agent or an relations representative, is aperson who promotes his client and finds him or her work. They check the contracts and give business advice. They are well-|known as ‘Mr. Ten Percent’ although in practice it is usually double this unless you are famous.

Campus representatives advertise records to students and promotional staffers promote wherever they can – radio channels, shops, musical directors.

Music teachers teach music to groups from pre-school through to college level. Their responsibilities vary with the age of the student and the purpose of the class.

A music director has the job of supervising policy in school or college or setting the entertainment for a cruise or a holiday camp, hotel or holiday complex.

Then there are organists in churches all over the country, who often double in other musical careers.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is currently concerned with Bose new wave radios. If you would like to kcurrently more, please go to our website at Bose Digital Radio.

October 20, 2010

How To Make Fancy Dress Costumes

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 5:46 am

People all over the world like watching films and films often reflect local traditional stories and folklore. The fascination with ghosts, ghouls and witches is a global phenomenon, but there are more local ones too.

One of the most well-known in Europe is the so-called vampire, Vlad the Impaler, who certainly did exist but almost certainly not in the form of the vampire that we all know of today from books and films.

Then there are the witches and warlocks who have been both respected and feared throughout history. Think of Merlin the Magician from the court of King Arthur and the witches of Salem in the United States, who were persecuted and murdered along with thousands of others in Europe at that same time.

There are also tree nymphs or dryads, believed in by the ancient druids and many peoples in other continents as well such as Asia and Africa. Fairies and goblins are or at least were widely feared all over the world and there were the little people in Ireland, the Leprechauns. However, these characters did not only live on land. The ancient Greeks believed in Poseidon the god of the sea and many sailors believed in mermaids.

Some would argue that angels,cherubim, seraphim and the like come into the same category. Some would even say that Satan and God do as well. All of the above characters, with the possible exception of God, have been represented by human beings at parties that we call fancy dress parties many, many times.

Many movies have been made which include some of the above characters. The most famous of these in recent years being the Harry Potter series and the Lord of the Rings. Just imagine the work that must have gone into making the costumes for those films.

What if you could create your own costume on that level of excellence for your next fancy dress party? Well, the costume designers working on those films are professionals, obviously, and they have big budgets and ample of resources to work with. You will be much more restricted, but you can still realize very decent results.

The first thing to do is select the character that you want to dress up as. Let’s say a vampire. Then you ought to do a bit of research to find out what the character looked like. This is very simple on the Internet or you may have films and books on the topic. Then you make a list of the things you will require in order to dress yourself the same and maybe the make-up you will need as well.

So, for a vampire, you will need long black trousers or a long black dress; a black jacket, shirt or blouse; black shoes and a black cape (or blanket). Some white make-up or talcum powder will give you a ghouls complexion and some red or dark-red lipstick will emphasize your deathly pale complexion. A set of long white or yellowish fangs finishes the identity. Then all you need to do is practice a few hypnotic stares in the mirror and a few weird stares and you are finished.

If you find it difficult to get hold of any piece of the fancy dress, you could either rent a costume locally or purchase one from the Internet.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with costumes for kids parties. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Costumes For Kids Parties.

June 19, 2010

Home Theater Set-Up And Top Speakers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 4:28 am

Home theaters are very popular in the West now for many reasons, but partly due to the recession. However, I forecast that after the downturn is over, home theaters will take off like a rocket. In my opinion, this is because, the recession has forced people to examine their spending, which usually means cutting back. Going out, eating out and movies are all in the front line of these cuts. However, the recession is upsetting and people have to get some enjoyment from somewhere.

In the medium to long term, it is cheaper to build a home theater for a family than take them to a proper movie theater every week. Taking a family of four to the movies costs $50-$100, whereas a decent home theater might cost $1,000. It does not take long to recoup those costs. And it saves you the hassle of travelling there and back, the din and mobile phones during the film and high prices for candy and snacks.

OK, maybe people at the moment are buying cheap packages of home theaters, but one of the first things they will replace when they get a bit of money again will be the speakers, I bet. Evidently, you need a good quality, large screen, but after that, it is the sound and the bulwark to good sound is usually poor speakers.

The most important consideration in the design of your home theater is the dimensions of your room. If the room is small, you will not require so many speakers. Perhaps three speakers will be enough, if the room is small. However, if you only need three speakers and a sub-woofer, get high-quality ones.

If you have a bigger room however, the basic three home theater speakers may not be enough. You may need to put up to six speakers and a sub-woofer around the room. The position of these speakers is up to you and can depend on the shape or and size of the room anyway, but typical layouts are:

3.1 system: one speaker to the left of the screen, one to the right and one underneath it. You can put the sub-woofer on top of the central speaker or at the back of the room. Try it and see.

5.1 system: as 3.1, but with two speakers at the back of the room too.

6.1 system: as 5.1, but with another speaker between the rear speakers, as in the front.

7.1 system: as 6.1, but with two speakers central rear, slightly away from each other. You can move the existing rear speakers around to the sides too.

This set-up requires a lot of wires as you can envisage. Now, you could staple the wires to the skirting board, but you should only do that after you are dead sure that you have the speakers in the right positions. Or you could hang the speakers on the walls. However, although that sounds good for music, it does not always sound all right for a movie.

The best choice is wireless speakers. Wireless speakers can be moved around to suit the number of people watching the movie or moved out for cleaning or redecorating purposes. You do not want to bash your nice, new, expensive speakers with the vacuum cleaner, do you?

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with wireless home theater systems. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

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June 10, 2010

Making A Home Theater

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 5:22 am

Shoppers in this new millennium are much more knowledgeable about electronic goods than people were at any time earlier. The older generation of today grew up in the 1960′s and 1970′s when everyone in the West had a television set and a stereo. Previous generations were not so fortunate for financial and technological reasons. Therefore, most shoppers nowadays have no compunctions about going shopping for complex electronic equipment like a home theater.

It is in the shoppers’ best interest to research and comprehend about the components that go into making up a good home theater. It is not particularly exacting and many if not all of the components involved have been around for at least a few years now. Consider what goes into a home theater:

a screen – can be a television screen, a canvas screen for a projector or a modern plasma or LCD screen. Stop thinking about the modern types of screen, they are still fundamentally TV screens and they have been around for 80 years or so. Same with a projector.

a player – a DVD player is just an enhanced CD player and they have been out for 20-30 years. You have probably had one for most of that time. (You can add another dimension to your home theater here by switching an Xbox for the DVD player, but games machines are not new).

speakers – they are nothing new either. Speakers have been about as long as the television set.

So you see, there is nothing in that package which you should feel uncomfortable about buying. Fair enough, you will be buying state of the art examples of what I listed above, but they are essentially the same. You attach them all together with their special plugs and wires and then plug them into the mains. Switch on and it will work.

So the next issue is: do you buy a package or do you buy the elements and build your own home theater? The answer to that question really depends on your level of competency. A package is easy and may work out less expensive too, but will it have the flexibility that you want? If you have a standard sized and standard shaped room, then I am convinced that you will be able to buy a package that will suit you. If you think that the speakers are sub-requirement, you could always sell them on and upgrade after a while.

if you want to be sure of getting precisely what you want, I think that most people will have to buy the components separately: that is screen, player and speakers.

The size of the screen depends on the size of the room and how close you are sitting to it: a distance of between three times and five times the diagonal of the screen is about correct. However, some people like to be dominated by the screen and others do not want to wear their glasses, so it is up to personal choice.

The DVD player is a matter of personal choice too. They are all much of a muchness, but some people prefer Sanyo while others prefer Philips. If you want gaming functionality too, use an Xbox instead of an regular DVD player.

Most rooms will require at least a 5.1 surround sound speaker set. These should be bought as one package to ensure that they are all compatible. That is five normal speakers and a sub-woofer.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

June 4, 2010

Home Tinseltown Movie Theater

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 6:00 am

Everyone would agree that the cinema or movie theater is a good location to watch movies and get away from it all – that is the magic of a Tinseltown movie theater.

Surely, the reason for this is because you watch the movie on a extra-wide screen with quadraphonic sound that can easily make you be transported away by the storyline of the film

The high quality of the Tinseltown film and the real-life sound system are without doubt the most entertaining part of the cinema-going experience. It definitely is not being in the movie theater itself! They are often full of stalls vying for your money before you take your seat and full of irritating kids after you’ve sat down!

But, what if you brought this high-tech system home with you? And what if it worked out less costly too? Without doubt, this would definitely be something you would enjoy more. Just think about it for a minute – a real Tinseltown Movie Theater at home – in your home!

Until fairly recently, only a small number of American families had bought a Tinseltown movie theater to be used in their own homes. In recent years, however, a large percentage of American households are starting to become far less interested in travelling to watch Tinseltown movies in a movie theater.

Without doubt, this is due to the development of the home movie theater system.

A simple home movie theater is quite easy to install. All you need is a television with a screen that measures wider than 27 inches, a DVD player and three everyday speakers. And voila the basic components of a Tinseltown movie theater. This could be suppicient to give you the level of home movie entertainment that suits you.

But, I have no doubt that you would rather have the real feeling of sitting in a full-sized Tinseltown movie theater, but without the distractions or maybe it is you, who would like to sing along, shout out loud or otherwise get involved in the picture, but doesn’t like to upset the other viewers. Its possible, you know.

Any how, the reason why I am saying this is because there are other pieces of kit you might add in order to complete the home Tinseltown movie theater experience. A few additions, over time, say, which would ensure an authentic Tinseltown movie theater experience right in your very own living room.

For instance, you could supplement the above mentioned three vital pieces of equipment by putting in specialist home movie entertainment recliners a refrigerated drinks cabinet; a table for snacks; adjustable lighting on remote control; air conditioning or fans; an usherette with a torch – OK, maybe that’s going a little too far Nevertheless, everything is determined by the budget you set for your home Tinseltown movie theater. The size of the room is another consideration which determines how resplendent your home Tinseltown movie theater is.

A handy recommendation from home theater enthusiasts is that you need to find the correct size television set for your Tinseltown home movie theater. The right size does not necessarily mean the largest you can find in the store. The right size television depends on the place in your house where you have decided to set up the home movie theater. Big is not always the best choice for your home movie entertainment system. It is, nevertheless, recommended that the television set should not be smaller than 27 inches, because the picture on a smaller screen could be too inferior for a Tinseltown home movie theater. A reliable principle is that the seating should be roughly 5-8 times the diameter of the TV screen away for normal vision.

Another piece of advice is that you buy speakers that will give you high fidelity surround sound from a high quality make of speakers. Furthermore, you need to make certain that if the speakers you bought do not give enough surround sound, then you are able to swap them. There are speakers that sound fabulous in the store but when you put them in a room, they sound inadequate. If the store allows returns, then that is all is well and good.

Furthermore, you may need to choose a DVD player. Again, quality counts. It is a belief of many home theater experts that all DVD players deliver clear and crisp images. Although some DVD players guarantee a flicker-free picture, almost all DVD players provide this feature, so I shouldn’t be too much swayed by this assertion.

Therefore, size is important, in this case. Knowing what the size of the location is where you will set up your home Tinseltown movie theater, will be the basis of how big the TV has to be. The size of the room is also the basis for considering the number of speakers. If the location is of a size, you may need more than the basic three speakers. The addition of a subwoofer can go a long way too, to achieve a good surround sound if your home Tinseltown movie theater is situated in a larger room again.

All of these factors will afford you such a home Tinseltown movie theater experience as, not long ago, only a few could experience. A professional home movie theater expert may be a big help in ensuring you have the best home Tinseltown movie theater installation to give you the best possible home movie theater experience right there in your very own home.

Are you considering installing a Custom Home Movie Theater? Then visit our site at Home Theater Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

May 29, 2010

Cinema Quality Sound At Home

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 4:37 am

Do you love going to the movie theater and get lost in the realism that their superior sound systems create? If you do, then I bet you are also one of those people who dislikes going there, only to have a potentially wonderful evening ruined by irresponsible people talking through the movie or letting their cell phones ring.

I used to love the movie theater, but that was in the time when people respected the rights of others to listen to a movie in silence. There were no crying babies, ringing mobile phones or noisy youths in cinemas and if they got in they were soon kicked out if there was any noise.

Nowadays, cinema managers seem to take the easy route of letting these people spoil it for others. As a result, more and more quiet people are staying at home and the cinemas are becoming even noisier. If you are one of the stay-at-homes, but miss the cinema, why not recreate one in your home?

Build yourself a home movie theater with surround sound. You will never be sorry for installing surround sound in your home, because you will be able to play your favourite films, the TV and your music through it. The distinction between surround sound and stereo or even quadraphonics is breath-taking.

Different people have different requirements, aspirations, finances and even hearing ability, so it is tricky to recommend a system to a mass audience, but there are strategies for going about the purchase of your own home theater system. A lot of people buy a kit home theater. This is fine, if funds are limited, but you will want to upgrade the screen and the speakers before very long. If you just want to put a home theater in a small spare bedroom and do it quickly and easily, then this approach is for you.

If, however, you want a bit more, then you might prefer to get a bigger screen and make do with the speakers that came with the kit. These can easily be renewed later. If you want to get everything part by part, you will need a screen, speakers and DVD player. If you want to play games too, replace the DVD player with an Xbox.

But back to the speakers, whether you are upgrading or putting your own system together, the strategy I suggest hold true. Write down the dimensions of your room or better still do a little plan of it to scale. Take this around the shops and malls and try to listen to a few installations in a room similar to your own. This could be difficult, but you might be lucky.

Decide whether you need a 3.1; 4.1; 5.1; 6.1 or even 7.1 set of compatible surround sound speakers. Basically, it all depends on the size of your room, but the shop assistant will be able to demonstrate and advise you. As a rule, a 5.1 surround sound set will be adequate for most rooms. The figures stand for normal speakers and sub-woofers: ie 5.1 means five normal speakers and one sub-woofer.

The arrangement of the speakers depends on the size and shape of the room and on your personal preference, but the standard layout would be: one speaker the far left and far right of the screen and one beneath it with two more speakers a little apart from each other at the rear of the audience. The sub-woofer can go at the front or the rear.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with wireless home theater systems. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

May 28, 2010

Common Home Theater Mistakes

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 3:45 am

A home theater takes a sizable investment of money, thought and installation, especially if you have a high quality home theater. Therefore, it is a shame that so may people just connect all the pieces in a room without giving any thought to what other things they should be doing to improve it. Unless you hire a professional consultant, you might not achieve the full potential of your home cinema system. However, it is not necessary to hire an adviser, if you just pay attention to a few common mistakes made by a lot of home cinema owners

The lighting in any cinema is very important, as I am sure you already know. Why is it then that many people do not treat it as important in their own home cinema? You never see external light – sun light – in a professional movie theater and you should not want any in yours either. Hang heavy curtains over every window in the room and let them extend beyond the window by a good margin.

Heavy curtains will not only keep exterior light out, but they will also dampen street sounds, something else you never hear in a real movie theater. If you have neighbours close by, it will also help to preclude them from being bothered by your loud films or music.

Do not try to save money by buying poor quality speakers. Do not mix and try to match speakers either, unless you are sure you know what you are doing. If you need five speakers and a sub-woofer, but can only afford three and the sub-woofer, buy speakers from a well-known brand that you know you can get hold of again.

Do not buy end of line speakers, as you will find upgrading hard. The best approach for the novice is to get a 5.1 surround sound set of speakers. Then, if at some point in the future you want to upgrade, you can quite easily, either by buying more or exchanging the lot in one go. One thing is for certain, a lot of the magic of going to the theater these days lies in the surround sound and you need to reproduce it at home.

It is not rocket science to put a home theater together whether it comes in kit form or not. However, if you do not feel happy setting it up, you would be better off having it done for you. Clearly, it is up to you how you go about this, but you could ask a relative or friend or neighbour or hire someone from the shop where you bought it. My guess is though that any reasonably competent eighteen year old has already seen one set up before and can do it for you.

Your movie theater, if it came in a kit, will or should have thorough instructions for you to follow. Please read the handbook before you start plugging things into each other. Read the handbook and inspect the parts until you are well acquainted with the installation procedure and the suggested positioning of the equipment.

Make sure that the voltage is adjusted appropriately before you plug it into the mains. Most equipment is made abroad for sale to many countries, so they usually have some sort of selector for the voltage. Get it wrong and you could blow a part of the equipment, probably the amplifier, the DVD player or the screen. that could mean replacement of the module or poor reproduction of sound or picture.

It is not hard to get the installation of your home theater right, but you do have to pay some attention to detail, if you want to get the best out of it.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

May 20, 2010

Wireless Speakers For Your Home Theaters

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 8:57 am

Wireless speakers are not the height of technology that they were not so long ago, but they are still fairly new. The good news is though that the price of good quality wireless speakers has come down to an affordable level for most people. However, the incessant march of technology continues and it is almost impossible to be on the forefront of it for more than six months before something new comes out.

So, I have come to a deliberate decision not to be on the forefront of technology any more. Twelve months behind is good enough for me these days. It can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars to make that decision. I am sure that you are already aware how much items like computers, in particular laptops, and plasma TV screens have come down in recent times.

So, now is the time to get into wireless speakers. They are a good idea in any situation, because you can move speakers around without needing extension leads, but they are particularly useful in a home theater because people will not be able to trip over the wires in the dark.

Wireless speakers have come down in price because there are more manufacturers making them, which is the normal reason why this happens. Many of the newer manufacturers are in the Far East, which is also nothing new, but the quality is just as good. They are just less expensive.

Wireless speakers are one of the first up-grades you should think about if your system is a couple of years old. Wireless speakers allow so much more freedom to move your speakers around to get the best sound out of your home theater set-up.

One suggestion if you want to try to save a bit on your purchase of wireless speakers is to buy online. However, do not rush into it. First of all do the round of the shopping malls and find out which wireless speaker systems you like. Take a note of three brands or models. Then go online and check the prices for these models.

You should note down the models, the online prices and the URL of the shop where you saw them online. Then, go back to the shops where you first saw those models and ask if they are willing to match, or better, the price. If they are willing to price match, all well and good. You have won because, if there is a problem you can return them locally. If they will not, you must weigh up the value of a local purchase to you.

You can easily end up with a top quality home theater system with wireless speakers by going about purchasing your up-grades in this way. You really ought to go the way of wireless speakers and if you do not believe me, just walk around the shopping mall one Saturday afternoon, you will soon be persuaded.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with wireless home theater systems. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

May 15, 2010

Ten Film Idol Obituaries From Ten Years Ago.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 7:35 am

It is common to hear people say that time flies and it is true. I have put together a list of screen idols who died ten years ago. When I began researching this list of screen idols’ obituaries, I was surprised to read who had died and how old they had been when they died. I have sorted them by date. Doesn’t time fly?

Hedy Lamarr: 86, Viennese born picture star, whose seductive beauty tempted all the male stars of the 1920′s and 30′s. Credited as co-inventor (with composer George Antheil) of a patented device for radio-controlled missiles. Old age, Orlando, Fla., Jan 19, 2000.

Durwood Kirby: 88, Kentucky born TV personality, announcer and foil to Garry Moore. Host of ‘Candid Camera’. Cause undisclosed, Fort Myers, Fla., March 15, 2000.

Claire Trevor: 91, Brooklyn-born movie actress. The brash moll in ‘Stagecoach’ and the Oscar-winning alcoholic singer in ‘Key Largo’. She played in nearly 70 films. Of respiratory disease, Newport Beach, Calif., April 8, 2000.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr: 90, U.S. actor and producer. He created a movie career despite being under his father’s shadow. Best known for ‘Gunga Din’ and ‘The Prisoner Of Zenda’ in the 1930′s. Cause undisclosed. New York, May 7, 2000.

Sir John Gielgud: 96, legendary British actor. Long time star of stage and screen in the UK and US. Remarkable Shakespearean actor. Won an Oscar for ‘Arthur’. Old age, Aylesbury, UK, May 21, 2000.

Walter Matthau: 79, U.S. actor. Best known as Oscar Madison in the ‘Odd Couple’. He was everybody’s favourite grumpy old man. Of a heart attack, Santa Monica, Calif., July 1, 2000

Sir Alec Guinness: 86, renowned British actor. Best known for Oscar-winning performance as the mad colonel in ‘Bridge Over The River Kwai’ and Obi-Wan Kanobi in ‘Star Wars’. Very versatile actor. Old age, West Sussex, UK, Aug. 5, 2000.

Loretta Young: 87, U.S. picture star from Hollywood’s golden age of the 1930′s and 40′s. Oscar winner for ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ (1947). Emmy winner for ‘The Loretta Young Show’ (1954-63) on TV. Of ovarian cancer, Los Angeles, Aug. 12, 2000.

Richard Farnsworth: 80, U.S. actor. In films for 60 years, first as a stunt man, then at 57 as an actor. Twice nominated for an Academy Award including ‘The Straight Story’. Suicide, Lincoln, N. Mexico, Oct. 6, 2000.

Steve Allen: 78, U.S. comedian, entertainer and songwriter, who pioneered the late-night TV show format of the. He wrote over 5,000 songs, including ‘This Could Be The Start Of Something Big’ and ‘Impossible’. An apparent heart attack in Los Angeles, Calif. Oct. 31, 2000.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with custom wall calendars If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

May 1, 2010

Home Theater Kits

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 8:05 am

If you want to get a home theater system, there are a few basic principles that you should bear in mind. However, no matter how much guidance you are given, if your level of competency is inadequate to understand it, it is a waste of time. Therefore, you have to be honest with yourself and admit to yourself how much you know.

Fortunately for most of us, the Baby Boomers are the most electronically wise older generation ever, because many of today’s older generation grew up in the 70′s when everyone had a TV and a stereo.

Music and sound quality is important to Baby Boomers. However, if you were one of those who was not interested in electronics, a home theater kit is probably for you. On the other hand, if you feel competent to take on the task, you will be better served by a system that you compile yourself.

This is not to say that kits are not much good, it is just that there are several variables that must be taken into account before purchasing a home theater system.

Sound or acoustics depends on the dimensions of the room where the home theater system is installed, most of us realize that, but because we are unlikely to want to remodel the room to suit the theater, we have to choose a speaker system to fit the room.

Likewise with the screen. Bigger is not always better. There is a ratio that can be used to help you work out the size of the screen you should be thinking about, but even this proportion depends on individual predilection.

The formula says that you should sit 9-15 feet away from a 36 inch screen, but you might have weak eyesight and prefer to have a 48 inch screen. This is where kit fall down.

In general, home theater packages suit regular shaped, smallish rooms. By that, I mean 12 – 20 feet in length and combinations thereof. Then, depending on the room again, you will have to consider the sound system. Stereo is not up to the job, if you want to replicate the sound of a full size movie theater. In order to do that, you will need surround sound with at least three speakers and probably five or more.

All in all, you will get the best system for your home movie theater if you buy the elements separately, especially if you have an odd or oblong shaped room or certain personal preferences. However, a standard package offers a quick and easy, reasonable solution for many modern, ‘standard’ sized rooms.

One last piece of advice though, if you do buy a package, make sure it is one that you can upgrade, particularly in the sound department. A TV screen is just a matter of a connection and they are all the same, but if your home theater package comes with three or five speakers, maybe you will want to add some more one day. You may also want to think about adding games functionality to your system too.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

April 21, 2010

Deciding On A Screen For Your Home Theater

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 6:39 am

If you are considering setting up a home theater system, then there are three basic components to consider. They are the screen, the speakers and the player. Two of these components are directly linked to the dimensions of the room in which you will be sitting and where you will be seated.

All DVD players over a certain price are fairly good and you ought to listen to a couple to make up your mind. The same with speakers, although how many you will need is dependent on the dimensions of the room. The screen is more important and that is what I want to talk about here.

It will not actually be of very much help to you to just go into a department store which stocks fifty or sixty television sets all in rows. You may find that you have a preference for one screen’s colour display over another, but the colours are controllable anyway by brightness, contrast and colour mix. You need to view the screen as it will be seen in your home theater.

In order to do this, I always recommend getting a pen, paper, preferably graph paper, and a rule. Draw in the dimensions of the room to the largest scale that the sheet of paper allows, maybe one inch for two feet or there abouts. Then draw a line to symbolize the screen against whichever wall you choose and finally add a few squares for the seats. Now measure the space between them and write that figure down, because it is very important.

Using our scale above, if the gap on paper between the screen and the seating is five inches, the distance in the room will be ten feet and ten feet is 120 inches. A good rule of thumb, when trying to work out screen size is the same one used for paintings, which is that the ideal viewing distance of a picture is between three and five times its diagonal measurement. Therefore, in our illustration, the ideal screen size should be between 40 and 24 inches. However, many experts put a minimum screen size for a home theater at 28 inches.

That may come as a bit of a surprise to many of you, because a lot of people think that the answer is the bigger the better. However, primed with this information, now go to the TV store and look at the TV’s again. You will find that if you get up too close to some sorts of screen the picture becomes rather poor, particularly with conventional television screens. Plasma and HDTV allow you to get a little closer without losing quality.

Another factor is your age, or at least, the quality of your eyesight. Would you rather watch the film with your glasses on or off? Off for me, so I would tend towards the higher end of our scale or maybe even go above it. My eyes are not going to get any better, but I can always put my glasses on when the time comes that I cannot see my screen properly anymore. However, I want to put that time off for a while yet, so I would go for a 48 inch screen in this example for my home theater. Plasma, if I could afford it.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

April 14, 2010

Which Screen Is Best For Your Home Theater?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 7:09 am

If you do not buy your home theater in one box, as many people do, then you will have to select a screen at some stage or another. However, not only that, but you may be faced with choosing between a TV-cum-monitor unit and a drop down canvas screen.

It really all depends on the size of the room you want to use as your home theater. If you are going to convert the box bedroom into a movie theater, then a 28 inch TV screen might be enough for you, but if you are going to use a long room and people might be quite a few yards from the screen, then a projector and drop-down screen would almost certainly be the right answer.

However, for most people, a normal TV screen would be sufficient. There are several kinds of television sets on the market at the moment, so we will take a look at them in turn later. Firstly, I would like to talk about the dimensions. It has been standard practice for hundreds of years to hang a painting five times the diagonal of that painting from the viewer’s eyes. In other words, if a painting or a screen or a window, is two feet diagonally, then the best place to view it from is ten feet away.

This is a general rule, it is not written in stone. Personal preference and eyesight come into it too. Therefore, if you used a 28 inch television set, the optimum viewing distance would be about 12 feet away. So, 28 inches would be plenty for most spare bedrooms, but perhaps not for a converted attic or basement. This relationship between screen and room size is the most important to get correct, otherwise the rest is a waste of money.

It all boils down to: do you like to sit in the front of the movie house or at the back? [We are only discussing viewing the film here]. If you like to be dominated by a huge screen, then the proportions I gave you must be decreased, otherwise they should be about accurate. Assess yourself: how far do you like to sit from your TV? Is it more or less than 5:1?

There are basically three kinds of view screens and they are: plasma, rear projection and front projection screens. The first is the modern flat screen TV, the second the conventional TV and the third a system with a projector.

Plasma Televisions

These televisions give the best quality, especially for watching movies that are formatted for wide screen viewing. They have a much larger viewing area than traditional televisions and they also come in a wide variety of sizes in order to adapt to many types of home theater needs. The biggest problem with these beauties is the price, but that is dropping every month too.

Rear Projection Televisions

This is the standard cathode ray tube TV that we have all been watching since were born. Their major problem is that they are big and deep, but that was not a problem for decades, so if it suits your room, do not let it be a problem to you now,

Front Projectors

This is what you see at the movies or on old Cine 8mm – the drop-down projection screen. But, do not write it off. It still produces high-quality images and for larger rooms, it is basically the only screen for your home theater.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

April 6, 2010

Speakers For Home Theater

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 11:53 am

When most people are looking for a sound system, they usually go directly to the speakers. This is not necessarily wrong, but you must not stop there. The speakers are an important element of a sound system, but they are not the be all and end all.

It also essential to think about the player and the amplifier, because any sound system is only as good as its weakest constituent. Another important topic is the positioning of those speakers. It is just as important to position your speakers correctly as it is not to buy cheap speakers. There are also misconceptions about size. Bigger is not always better.

In the past, it was often the rule that bigger meant better, but now often the reverse is often the case. Technological development has been concentrated on producing smaller speakers, that will take up less room in our smaller houses and smaller cars. Therefore, the smaller speakers are often the most technologically advanced.

If you are opting for surround sound, which is the best available today, then you will also have to think carefully about placement. That is the positioning of the speakers. In a typical 5.1 surround sound home theater, you will have six speakers: five ordinary speakers and one sub-woofer.

These speakers would be set out one to the far right of the screen and one to the far left of it and one underneath it. The other two speakers would be at the rear of the audience, but not so far apart as the front speakers. The sub-woofer can go in the centre at the front or the rear.

For smaller rooms, a 3.1 surround sound system might be adequate, that is you leave out the rear speakers. For a larger room, you may want either a 6.1 or 7.1 system. The 6.1 has the rear row of speakers matching the front row, while the 7.1 has an additional middle rear speaker.

It is better if you can buy all your speakers at the same time from the same manufacturer. Obviously, they all have to match each other and the amplifier. The output from the amplifier has to match the capabilities of the speakers or you risk blowing them. That is, sending them more power than they can cope with, which causes too much vibration and permanent damage to the speaker’s internal components. Everyone has heard blown speakers, they sound awful.

If you can not afford to obtain all your speakers at the same time, buy a famous brand and a late-ish model, so that you can get more of them when you can afford to. Do not go for end of line speakers, because they are discounted, unless you can buy all the speakers that you will ever require for your system.

Buy your speakers online, if that gets you the best deal, but you really ought to hear speakers like the ones you are buying in action, before you make up your mind. You could also take your Internet price to the local dealers and ask them to match it. They might, you never know and it will save you postage too.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

March 29, 2010

Home Theater Luxury Seating

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 6:22 am

Many people like to relax after a hard day at work by going to the movie theater. However, if you go straight from work, you are apt to get caught in a traffic jam and you will not have had the chance to freshen up. However, if you go home first to have a shower and get changed, sometimes you can not be bothered to go out again. That is how it works with me in any case.

So, would it not be nice to be able to reproduce that authentic movie going experience in your own home? Not only can getting to the cinema be a nuisance, you can be hassled once you are there too. People talking through the film or giggling right behind you, someone with his feet up on the back of the chair next to you, mobile phones ringing, babies crying… It is enough to put you off. And it is not even as if it is a cheap experience anymore.

If you fall into this group, home theater was made for you. It is not essential to have a spare room in which to set up your home theater, you could just as easily use the living room. The size of the screen is critical, but that is a function of the size of your room or, more accurately put, a function of how far away from the screen you will sit.

If you need a very large screen, you could go for a projector, although for most people a 36 – 60 inch screen should be adequate. Then speakers. You must have surround sound or you will miss out on a lot of the authenticity of a true movie theater experience. Again, the number of speakers depends on the size of the room. A 5.1 configuration will do for most rooms. That means quadraphonic sound, plus one extra speaker under the screen and a sub-woofer.

If you like to play games, then you could replace the standard DVD player with an Xbox for a truly awesome experience. Those are the basics of a medium to excellent home theater with possible games functionality, but there are other things you can do as well.

A set of heavy curtains is a good idea. They will not only stop light coming in, but the will muffle sound getting out Seating is a requirement and I would add a few occasional tables too for drinks and snacks. If the room is not near the kitchen, a small fridge would be handy as well.

The seating arrangements are important too. Some people just put a few couches in the room and that works well enough. Others rather a few armchairs. If it is to be used mainly by kids, half a dozen bean bags is all they need to have fun. However, if you or you and your spouse want to make the experience really something else, why not get a couple of recliners or even better still electric massage chairs? You could be sitting there watching a film with a drink and some snacks on a near-by table while having all your problems and stress from work being soothingly massaged away.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

March 28, 2010

What Is A Good Ergonomic Chair?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 5:43 am

It is more important to use an ergonomic chair whenever you can nowadays than ever before. This is because our bodies were not designed to sit for hours at a time in front of a desk or TV, and yet more and more people are finding themselves doing it.

Sitting continuously for hours puts strain on the muscles in the back and can eventually cause the body to suffer work-related injuries. The use of an ergonomic chair minimizes the strain that the body experiences while sitting for prolonged periods.

However, not all chairs are what they say they are and this is especially true of ergonomic chairs. Some manufacturers call their products ergonomic chairs just to capture a share in a premium market, where people are suffering from pain caused by strain on the lower back, the neck, the arms, the legs and on the shoulders. A real ergonomic chair is designed to minimize this pain.

So, how can you tell if an ergonomic chair is really an ergonomic chair? A true ergonomic chair has the following elements:

Seat height: An ergonomic chair should be fitted with a mechanism that allows you to adjust its height while you are sitting on it. If your knees are level and your feet are flat on the floor, while you are sitting on the ergonomic chair, it means that its height is right for you. Also, you should be able to reach the adjusting mechanism of the seat and operate it even if you are sitting down.

Foot rest: Ergonomic chairs do not need a foot rest. If the height of the chair can be adjusted easily and allow you to put your feet flat on the ground while you are seated, then a foot rest is not necessary. However, if your table is too high in relation to your chair and if having your feet flat on the floor means you have to strain your arms, then a foot rest is required so you can rest your feet comfortably without causing strain to your legs.

Seat pan: The seat pan of your ergonomic chair should be wide enough to fit your hips and thighs without pinching you in any way. It should also be contoured so your weight can be spread evenly on it. In addition, the seat pan should be long enough to fit your legs. If it is too long, it will hit the back of your knees and stop you from leaning back comfortably.

Seat cushioning: The cushioning of an ergonomic chair should be sufficient for it not to become misshapen after you have been using it for a while. If the cushioning is not deep enough, the seat of the chair can get malformed permanently and it will become uncomfortable for you to sit on after a while. Later on, it will just lead you to experience pain on your back and thighs.

In addition, you should choose seat covers that breathe freely and are easy to clean. Such seat covers will not feel hot and uncomfortable against your thighs after sitting on the chair for a long time. Airy seat covers also mean that they will not be a breeding ground for dust mites.

Back support: The back rest of a good ergonomic chair should be adjustable to fit the curve of your lower back so that it can provide you with lumbar support. This is very important, especially if you will not be the sole user of the chair. Moreover, the back rest should be wide and tall enough to support your mid-back and your upper back as well.

Armrests: The armrests of a good ergonomic chair should be contoured to fit the arms, broad enough to provide sufficient support, and can be adjusted upward and downward as well as inward or outward. The armrests of the ergonomic chair should let the arms and elbows rest naturally, without making you lean forward or lift your shoulders.

Pedestal base: If mobility in your chair is vital to your work, then you should get an ergonomic chair that has a five pedestal base with casters that can let you glide easily over the floor. A five pedestal base will also give enough balance so that the chair will not tip over when you lean back.

Always look for these features when buying an ergonomic chair for your home or your office. They will prevent your body from incurring injuries brought about by continuous strain to the muscles.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

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March 24, 2010

Electric Massage Home Cinema Chairs

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 9:20 am

After you have finished designing the layout of your home theater, the next step is to decide on the accessories. Things like floor covering, lighting, decoration, curtains, and furnishings, like a small fridge, some small tables and seating. If you are planning your home cinema just for yourself, then maybe you can afford to really splurge out on a really top end home cinema chair.

After a hard day’s work or exercise, your muscles can become taut, especially in your neck and shoulders. The best way of relieving this is some destressing exercise like yoga or a massage, but most people do not want to take up yoga exercises after work, so they would opt for a massage.

This is all well and good, but then you would have to shower, get changed and drive down there and sometimes you just can not be bothered. You could phone a massage parlour and have them send someone round! That sounds great, but no, you are not going to do that either.

So, why not go for the next best thing. Get yourself an electric massage chair for your home theater? You could kill two birds with one stone. You could spend an hour and a half watching a film, while getting all those aches and pains soothingly worked away.

A massage chair can never totally replace a masseur or masseuse, but many regular massage parlour goers say that it is a good second best. The point is though, that you can have a soothing massage every day of the week, which some people say is preferable to one heavy massage once a week. You masseur or masseuse right there in your own home cinema willing to work for pennies a massage any time of the day or night and while you are at the movies too! Think of it!

Using an electric massage chair as your home cinema chair (or one of them) is a fantastic idea. While your mind is being taken off your daily troubles and worries, so your body is being relieved of the tensions that have built up there too. You can recline in your home cinema chair and have the head rest massage your neck, while the back rest massages your lumber region, soothing away those aches and pains in a gentle, but efficient manner.

The vast majority of these electric massage chairs come with a remote control, so it is very easy to toggle cycles on and off or repeat them at will. Some are programmable too, so that you could build up your own massage cycle, once you get used to what your new home cinema massage chair can do.

Imagine having it start at your neck and calves at the same time with the two massage points slowly converging on the small of your back. Or beginning at the small of your back and then radiating up and down your body at the same time. You would need two masseurs to do that and all while you are sitting in your home cinema chair watching a movie.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

March 1, 2010

Our Home Theater System

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 10:15 am

It all started about nine months ago, when my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to modernize our home. It took a lot of talking about because neither of us genuinely wanted to take the job on as we both have active business lives. However, one Sunday afternoon, I took the bull by the horns and started to strip the paper off the walls and the ceiling in the kitchen. My wife soon joined in.

It took us a month to finish it, because we only had Saturday afternoons and Sunday, but we found that we liked the physical work, we both have desk jobs, and we actually enjoyed working and planning together. It was a new but agreeable experience for us.

So, on the day we finished, we prepared a special meal and laid the table properly. After the meal, we sat down to watch a film on TV. But neither of us had been able to do that for a month and we both felt restless. My wife said something like: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have another project to do?’ and I think we both had the same idea at the same time.

The spare bedroom! Well, our kids had families of their own now, so we essentially had three spare bedrooms. We decided to turn one of them into a home theater. Neither of us particularly liked watching TV, but we both liked films which are normally ruined by too much advertising.

We went up to the smallest room, but it was too small so, like Goldilocks we went to the next, but ended up in the largest room, so that we could entertain friends or family too. Neither of knew what to do next about the home movie centre, but we knew that we could clear the room out and measure it, which is what we did. All the furniture went into the garage until the charity shop could take it away and we went to the Internet to get assistance.

There was tons of guidance on websites and in articles and we soon felt confident enough to take the project on. We transferred the dimensions of the room in scale onto a sheet of paper and drew in where the screen would go and where we would be sitting. The space left between us and the screen would be about 15 feet.

We had read that the best viewing distance is between three times and five times the diameter of the screen, so we could choose a screen between sixty inches and 36 inches. Being in our fifties, we though we would make it easier on our eyes and opted for a forty-eight inch plasma screen.

We ordered that from the Internet. We had also read that the Xbox was a first-class double as a DVD player and we knew that our grandson was always on about one, so that was next. We were a bit stuck with the speakers, but my brother could help me on that one. We had about a week before our equipment would arrive, so we determined to redecorate in the evenings.

Once complete, we installed all our equipment with my brother’s assistance and we were away. At first we used a couple of sun loungers as seating, but we pretty soon got two delightfully comfortable reclining chairs and two couches for visitors. We may upgrade those later and put in dimmable lighting too, but for now we are very pleased with our home movie system and so is our grandson.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

February 26, 2010

The Basics Of Home Theater Speakers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 2:36 pm

The second most essential component of a good home theater set-up is its loudspeakers. You simply cannot attain that authentic theater environment, if you do not have good speakers. It goes without saying too, that the amplifier and player must be equally as good, because any system is only as good as its weakest element.

However, if you do it right, you can easily reproduce the sound quality achieved in a full size movie theater. Unfortunately though, many people seem to get baffled about which speakers they need, when they go to buy for their home theater in order to create real surround sound.

The minimum requirements for a good set of surround sound speakers are a left and right channel speaker, a centre channel speaker and a sub-woofer. The following are the basic speakers that are required to complete a good home theater: front left and right speakers, a centre channel speaker, surround sound speakers. Sometimes people try to do without the centre channel speaker, but this speaker provides a good proportion of the soundtrack in a lot of movies as well as adding depth to the dialogue.

The surround sound makes the film sound more realistic. It is what makes the difference between watching TV at home and going to the movie theater. The choice of having this at home has only recently become affordable. The most frequent systems are: 5.1 channel, 6.1 channel, or 7.1 channel surround sound. The first figure refers to the number of normal loud speakers and the second one to the number of sub-woofers. The amount of speakers that is the best for you, depends on the size and shape of the room you are sitting in. The more is not always the merrier.

The sub-woofer is the cause of the deep bass sound that underscores so many movie soundtracks and these are the sounds that are responsible for heightening the drama in a film. A good sub-woofer is an essential part of your home theater speaker package, if you do not have one, you will miss out on this.

There are many makes on the market and some are cheaper than others, but it is essential that you pick speakers that will work well together. They have to be compatible. If you do not know how to make certain that they are, the best choice for this is to purchase all your speakers together in one kit by one maker. It may be tempting to save money by mixing and trying to match speakers, but if you get it wrong, you will not create the true quality of sound you are hoping to achieve in your home theater.

Some speakers are made to stand on the floor and others are made to hang on the wall. Floor standing speakers are the best for home theater, but they also take up the most room and can have wires running everywhere. If this is not a problem to you, then fine, but if it is, you can solve it by buying wireless speakers.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

February 24, 2010

Xbox And The Home Theater

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 3:58 am

There are several video game systems on the market, but if you are looking for a game system that also can be used for home theater entertainment, then the right choice has to be the Xbox game console. Usually, it is the case that children will want to play games in the daytime on holidays and before bed during the week, whereas parents will want to watch films at night before retiring to bed. Therefore, the two age groups need not clash often with their use of the home theater system.

Therefore, if you can get a device that fulfills both the roles of playing games and playing films, you can save some money. The Xbox game console fits this role, because the Xbox is one of the new generation of video game consoles that can also play films on DVD or whatever disk format.

The Xbox is actually a very hi-tech piece of equipment, something that non-game players might not have realized. It meshes easily into a home theater system because it has wide screen video capability, HDTV screen resolutions and Dolby Digital and DTS sound support, making it a perfect home theater set-up component.

The Xbox is also a good looking piece of equipment, which will match any existing black home theater equipment you may already own. It does not look like just a plastic toy. It was invented by Microsoft and has a powerful, stylish look. The Xbox’s case is black with an X on it and a green Xbox logo similar to a jewel.

The Xbox is basically a cut-down computer as it has many parts of a personal computer such as an Intel processor, NVidia graphic chips and an internal hard drive among others. PC’s are general purpose tools, whereas the Xbox is designed for playing DVD’s in more ways than one. In other words, it is a dedicated computer. It is dedicated to the task of playing DVD’s and it does it very well.

However, it also has four controller sockets in the front of the box for connections and it has an Ethernet socket for multi player games that allows other gamers on the Internet to take part in the game. The Xbox system includes as standard: the controllers with a 9 ft cable, a standard AV cable, and an AC power cord. It also comes with a DVD loading tray and a multi signal audio-video connector for easy connection to televisions and other home theater systems.

The Xbox will change the way you think about games and how you play them, because it is so committed to making interactive games a reality and as exciting as possible. Games are written especially for it such as the Dead or Alive series and the Halo series too.

However, their are sports games to be had too such as football and Formula 1 motor car racing. The graphics, sound and overall reality are remarkable. Finally, for parents who are worried about what their kids are watching, playing or doing, there are parental controls built into the Xbox.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

categories: home theater,movies,dvds,entertainment,home improvement,hobbies,multimedia,humor,celebrities,happiness,family,music,recreation,other

February 13, 2010

Installing A Home Theater System

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 8:15 am

It is sure that the most important consideration in setting up a home theater system is the size of the room where you will set up the home theater system. Therefore, the size of the most important part of a home theater set-up, which is the screen, is also reliant on the size of the room. Regardless of the size of the room, the minimum suggested size of the screen is 28 inches.

A flat screen television is also suggested, because it will cut down on reflections and glare. Speakers are also dependent on the size of the room. Clearly, you would require more speakers in a very large room than in a small one.

You might want to put a lot of small speakers in a large room or one large speaker in a small room. The acoustics of the room is an important issue in this. Therefore, I recommend that you either get an expert in or get a wireless sound set-up that can be built upon.

The average number of speakers in a starter system in an average sized room would be five or six. The more speakers you use, up to a point, the greater the reality, but lots of speakers also means that you do not need loud volume too. There are many considerations when it comes to the sound – far more than with the screen.

You will want surround sound, with woofers, sub woofers, treble and bass speakers all with the Dolby control system, probably all controlled by a graphic equalizer. All these controls can be confusing, but once you have the sound right, you will know it. It will sound like a full-size movie theater.

Another important component of your home theater system is the DVD player. Your DVD player really must have a progressive scan. This is because a progressive scan produces sharp and flicker-free pictures. However, the progressive scan facility depends on the television unit, because not all television sets support progressive scan signals.

An optional upgrade might be a five-disk carousel DVD player. All of these things also depend on the amount of money you have, of course. However, if money is tight, begin with the best DVD player you can afford and use a few old speakers and the biggest television set you can get hold of. Later, you can upgrade the television or the speakers.

The furniture is crucial too. You have to feel as if you are undergoing a special experience. The goal is to have reclining seats, but you can start with large bean bags. Add air conditioning and a fridge for cool drinks and a few tables for nuts and candy and you are almost there.

My concluding touches would be old movie posters, photos of movie stars, a collection of autographs would be great, a replica Oscar and any other memorabilia you can think of. Then set all this off with some subtle lighting that you can raise or dim as required.

Sound, camera, action!

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Movie Theatre. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

categories: home theater,movies,dvds,entertainment,home improvement,hobbies,multimedia,humor,celebrities,happiness,family,music,recreation,other

January 17, 2010

Tower Home Theater Speakers – The 101 On Tower Speakers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Jessica Lauren @ 7:16 am

Think of yourself in your den or living room listening to your favorite music or possibly you are watching one of those exciting new movies.

If you are not using the right equipment then you may hear rattling or distortion in your speakers. Coming home from work or having a long day dealing with the kids makes you less than enduring and you do not want to hear more noise or deal with another frustration.

When you are setting up an in house theater system you might want to consider investing in some tower home theater speakers. In this article we are going to discuss two of the things that I believe give you a reason to take a second look at tower home theater speakers.

*Tower Speaker’s Style

Even though style may not be a big deal for some people when they are mulling over their next speaker purchase,there are some that may think it’s quite a big deal. Picture the husband that is longing for a great in home theater experience that rivals the cinema but the wife that does not want her den to be cluttered and messy because of bulk and unattractive speakers. Tower home theater speakers are a great way to come to a compromise because of their sleek and attractive design.

*Sound

The tower home theater speakers will allow you to get a great sound out of the attractive speaker. If you want proper lower sounds I would suggest that you add a subwoofer along with your tower speakers. This will help you to get a full experience of the low sounds. Other than that little note the sound get great reviews.

Now you know two things that make tower home theater speakers a good idea for your living room or den. Only you know what you need so now it’s time for you to take a look at some speakers.

Learn more about tower home theater speakers. Stop by Jessica Lauren’s site where you can find out all about cheap speakers and what it can do for you.

December 28, 2009

Halo 3 Modification

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 4:20 am

Generally, a Halo 3 mod is thought of as any software modification that alters the game play in the very popular video game for the Xbox 360, Halo 3. But the terminology also encompasses many other modifications, such as hardware alterations made to the Xbox 360 console to show everybody that you are truly a Halo 3 fan.

However, before someone can create a Halo 3 mod, they must have the right tools, together with some technical expertise. These tools generally include a number of pieces of software that allow people to de-construct, edit, and reconstruct Halo 3 files. It would also involve some hardware to allow the Xbox 360 hard drive to be uploaded into a PC and the files to be restored to that hard drive.

This is necessary because the Xbox 360 is not a unit on which files can be modified. In the past, the hardware developers, in this case Microsoft, would make the tools available to people who paid the licence fee. But over time, especially in the case of Halo 3 mods, the public has developed several tools and techniques to achieve what has to be done for modification.

A Halo 3 mod also encompasses, as stated earlier, physical changes to the Xbox 360 console itself. For instance, some people might take off the casing and actually cut the words ‘Halo 3′ out of it. They might also compliment this by painting the console red, blue or green to match the colour of the armour of their favourite characters in the game.

However, it’s a rather extreme way to say to the world – I love Halo 3 – in that it could result in actual damage that renders the Xbox 360 unplayable. People often display their altered Xbox 360s on photo-sharing sites such as Flickr and when they go toattend live LAN events.

One of the things that people who are interested in the world of the Halo 3 mod try to focus on is that the mods should not be created for the purpose of cheating. Modifications are fun to get a new twist on Halo 3 play or a new feel for certain levels. But if they’re used to make the game unfair in favour of one person or team, they destroy the overall game experience for everyone.

One website where a person can find many a Halo 3 mod is H3mod.com. The site calls itself the ‘future of Halo modding’. It seems to me to be a good place to start if you really want to find out more about a certain Halo 3 mod.

If you like Halo 3 and are interested in learning more about it, why not pop over to Halo 3 Mod on our website called Halo 3 Insider Secrets This and other unique content ” articles are available with free reprint rights.

November 22, 2009

Home Theater Screens

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 5:09 pm

When it comes to deciding on a screen, the first consideration is the kind of screen you want or even may need. If the room where you are going to set up your home theater is a big one, then you will need to have a home theater projection screen or maybe you just want one anyway.

I, personally, like the idea of having a drop-down screen, but sometimes you have to have one even in a modestly-sized home movie theater. It would convert your living room into a home movie theater. Imagine: you recline in your chair; click the remote and a screen drops down; click another remote and the lights dim; click another one and the film commences!

However, if you prefer a television screen, then you might consider buying a new one. They say that a 27 inch screen is adequate, but I do not agree. I really think you need 48-60 inches, but then I am a 50 something year old and my eyes are definitely not what they were.

If you are purchasing a new TV for your home movie theater set-up, I think you should get the best you can afford. HDTV is upon us and since February 2009 the United States has been committed to High Definition. So, I would ensure that your new TV is able to receive it. Then I suggest that the new home movie theater screen is a flat one in order to reduce the annoying reflections that could ruin the experience, which is another reason for opting for a drop-down projection screen.

Finally, you should ensure that your new television has enough input and output plugs for the peripheral equipment you have in mind and you’re ready. Therefore, to summarize, I recommend you choose:

At least a 27 inch screen

A flat screen

HDTV compatibility

Enough input and output plugs and sockets

Satellite enabled

I recommend satellite compatibility because it is probably the future or near future at least. If you get a satellite TV connection you will have access to HDTV downloads which you can watch whenever you like.

Are you considering installing a Custom Home Movie Theater? Then pop along to our website at: Home Theater Check here for free reprint licence: Home Theater Screens.

categories: home theater,equipment,cinema,films,hollywood,celebrities,interior design,entertainment,family,movies,hobbies,home improvements,home,other

October 20, 2009

Home Theater Lighting

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Marion Jones @ 2:52 pm

Light fixtures are things that not many of us think about very often. However, the way we light a room can cause us to feel a certain way or enhance the atmosphere we want to create in that room. There are many types of light fixtures, fittings, bulbs, shades and stands to suit all areas of the home. That means both indoors and even outdoors where you might want to emphasize some special landscaping design.

Are you planning to redo a room? In this case, I know it concerns a home movie theater room, because my friend, Owen Jones, asked me to give some advice. I definitely think that you should consider light fixtures as one element to change. For instance, you could commence by altering the central, overhead incandescent bulb or tube light for sure.

I suggest that you install four or even six small wall-lights. They are not expensive and come in hundreds of colours and sizes to suit any pocket. The only drawback with wall lighting for your home theater, is that the wires should really be let into the wall so as not to be unsightly.

But, you could get around this by buying standard lamps. These are also available in thousands of designs, but they come with two disadvantages: trailing wires and a higher cost. They are easily moveable though. Small, table lamps is a similar alternative, but you may need more electrical sockets.

Once you have decided on what you want, have each lamp dimmable either in unison or separately, up to you. You should probably keep one fairly powerful light at the business end of things in case the equipment needs seeing to, but it too could be on a dimmer.

The effect can be quite incredible. And all from just changing the pre-existing light fixtures and fittings. You could even increase the level of reality and have an exit sign over the door or a few romantic mood lamps higher up out of line of sight so that they are not distracting, say, a replica 1970s style lunar lamp and a fibre-optic lamp, for amusement or as a talking point while waiting for the film or snacks to be got ready.

So, whatever style home theater lighting you are thinking of, contemporary or old style traditional, you will find many options to pick from – from different colors to different sizes and styles, there are many. You can find them on the Internet or in home improvement stores. I have made a link to one of my online favourites below.

Furthermore, when you do implement the changes, you will notice that your home theater has taken on an ambiance all of its own and it will “definitely” enhance your home movie theater experience. In fact, it may be these subtle changes, room by room, that make you see your home in a very different light.

Do you want to install a Custom Home Movie Theater? Then visit our site at Home Theater Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory

categories: home theater,equipment,cinema,films,hollywood,celebrities,interior design,entertainment,family,movies,hobbies,home improvements,home,other

October 16, 2009

Halo 3 Free Trial

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 4:02 pm

The release of Halo 3 was wildly anticipated, as the video was the third in the original trilogy of the Halo series. Therefore, the Halo 3 trial download was one of the most downloaded game demos in the history of the Xbox 360. What many people don’t remember is that the Halo 3 trial download helped make another game – Crackdown.

What does the Halo 3 trial download have to do with any another video game? Well, it has a great deal to do with the sale and marketing effort for a video that was originally planned for release on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become concerned that Crackdown wouldn’t sell a lot.

So they used a marketing gimmick, the one of bundling Crackdown with an access code to the Halo 3 trial download. And it worked in that Crackdown sold 1.5 million copies within the first six months of its release. Those aren’t Halo 3 numbers, which sold 8.1 million units in just over a year, but for a lesser well-known game that’s terrific.

Microsoft had turned to the Halo 3 trial download tactic because of adverse opinions about the game from the game testers. They thought the unusual nature of the game confusing, often leaving them wondering what they were meant to be doing next.

As a result of this, the powers that be thought that something had to be done or the game would be a dud. It may appear shady practice at first to attempt to force sales of a game that’s expected to be unpopular, but in retrospect people love the game and it was a good thing that they were able to get the chance to play it.

In Crackdown, and that includes the version associated with the Halo 3 trial download, people play as an agent who is assigned to defeat the kingpins, or leaders, of different gangs. To do this they use some superhuman powers such as super strength and super agility. In order to gain these powers, players have to accumulate experience by defeating foes who then release experience orbs. The clever part of the system was that the kind of orbs released was reliant on the manner in which the agent killed the enemy. For example, a firearms orb appears if the enemy was killed with a gun.

So, while at first sight this game bundled with the Halo 3 free download appears to be nothing but a veiled marketing gimmick, in reality it exposed gamers to an exciting gameplay world.

If you like Halo 3 and are interested in learning more about it, why not pop over to Halo 3 Info on our web site called Halo 3 Insider Secrets

categories: halo,halo 3,xbox,super heroes,games,video,microsoft,video games,computer,entertainment,movies,films,happiness,other

October 12, 2009

Your Guide To Home Movie Theater Projectors

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Owen Jones @ 10:25 am
by Owen Jones

Going to the movies is a very popular recreation especially for those young professionals living a considerably stressful life running corporate affairs. However, for those who cannot afford to waste time traveling to and from movie theaters, the answer to this recreational dilemma might be just inside their own house.

You could recreate the audio-visual systems of the movie theaters with your very own custom home theater system. The best custom home theater installation certainly can consist of high quality components that are capable of rendering the complete movie theater experience without having to travel from your residence to the movie theater wasting time and effort queuing in heavy traffic. This modern technology can give you the relaxation and experience that full-sized movie theaters furnish.

The basic components, such as a big screen and speakers with clear and flicker free images from a high quality DVD, can easily provide an almost-authentic movie theater experience. Home theater experts recommend that before you decide on the final set-up and equipment for your custom home theater system, the size of the location must be the first consideration.

Therefore, if you have a small sized room for your home theater system, a television set may be best placed in the center of one wall and three loudspeakers, placed on the left, right and center, might be enough to provide the surround sound you want from a custom movie theater. However, if you have a bigger room, a home theater projector might be the best option for providing that big screen experience.

Home theater projector screens can provide an authentic movie theater experience. If you have a very large room for your home theater system, in combination with your home theater projector and home theater projector screen, you could add more speakers around the room. A further useful recommendation is that a subwoofer may also help to provide the optimum surround sound that will enable you to recreate the true sound of a movie theater in your own living room.

There are a variety of designs and models of home theater projector you could choose from. You will have to get acquainted with the qualities of each one, before you make up your mind which one to purchase. It could also be necessary for you to hire the services of a home theater expert to get the home theater system that will give you optimum entertainment. This will mean not having to spend an unreasonable amount of time and money on your home theater system and home theater projector.

It is so easy to buy equipment with an unnecessarily large capacity for your home theater, especially if you do not know what the possible choices are and the various requirements that your home theater may have due to its dimensions. The size of your home theater projector screen should be a function of the size of your room and the components of your custom home theater. For example, from where you plan to sit to the screen should be between two and five times the diameter of the screen. So, looking at it from the other perspective, if you are going to sit 10 feet (120 inches) from the screen, then the screen should be 24-60 inches, but it is very subjective and depends on the viewers eyesight.

Your home theater designer could also suggest options that do not include a television screen for your home theater. Why? It is because of the technological innovations utilized by computers and home theater projectors. Home theater projectors like InFocus screenplay models, for example can be used in conjunction with a computer in a small room set-up. Home theater projectors are also lightweight and can be moved about easily. Therefore, a projector is very convenient for use in custom home theaters and business presentations.

Home theater projectors and home theater projector screens do help provide an authentic cinematic experience. This kind of installation is particularly handy for business presentations and that is why it is becoming more and more in demand. Combining your custom home and custom office theater systems is a new innovation, which only a couple of intelligent consumers have dreamt up.

I am sure that being aware of all these facts: that is, that a basic television, three speakers and a DVD player can be enough for those people who only want a start-up home theater, you may well come to the conclusion that you do not really require a home theater projector, especially if the room set aside for your custom home theater system is not that big.

Enjoy a cinematographic experience right in your own home by researching your options carefully. Then you can enjoy the exhilaration a movie theater offers you without having to endure boring traffic on the way to and fro from the movie theater.

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