Music

Bob Moog's synthesizer helped change the sound of modern music. On what would have been his 78th birthday, Google is paying tribute to the man with a virtual version of his famous Moog on their homepage — and it's completely playable. The Moog doodle, a replica of the Minimoog Model D, may not be a highly complex synthesizer but it explores a lot of the realms of synthesis — the sculpting of sound mastered by a synthesizer. "To be able to put all those capabilities in the hands of hundreds of millions of people is just astounding," said Moog's daughter Michelle Moog-Koussa,...

GRISEY'S ‘LE NOIR DE L'ETOILE' A rare outdoor performance of this sweeping percussion work inspired by beating of pulsars as captured by radio telescopes. May 25, 8:16 p.m. (pre-concert discussion at 7:15). Greenwood School, Putney, Vt., 802-387-6637, www.yellowbarn.org CHAMELEON ARTS ENSEMBLE A free family concert with an instrument petting zoo, and works by Strauss, Mozart, Augusta Read Thomas, and many others. 2 p.m., June 2. Hyde Park Branch Library.

From the moment he first stepped in front of the judges and unleashed a folksy take on Michael Jackson's "Thriller," guitar-playing crooner Phillip Phillips seemed preordained to win "American Idol," and not just because he's another white guy with a guitar, the all-too-familiar profile of the previous four "Idol" champions. "I'm just lucky," the former pawn shop worker said Wednesday night in his backstage dressing room after his win. It was more than just luck that helped Phillips easily overcome 16-year-old mini-diva Jessica Sanchez to become the Fox talent competition's 11th...

‘This is not a boohoo record," says Langhorne Slim of his forthcoming release, "The Way We Move," out June 5. "There are boohoo moments," the singer-songwriter allows with a laugh, when discussing some of the topics covered: death, breakups, life assessment. "But, you know, this is what life is. There's ups and downs and struggles and joys and as an artist you try to capture that stuff. " For the Langhorne, Pa., native — real name Sean Scolnick — some of the "stuff" that happened between his last album, 2009's "Be Set Free," and "Move" were milestones about which he was sad and angry (the...

With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor. The catchy songs, with their falsetto vocals and relentless beat, are familiar pop culture mainstays. There are more than 6,000 cover versions of the Bee Gees hits, and they are still heard on dance floors and at wedding receptions, birthday...

When Donna Summer played the Bank of America Pavilion in August 2010, she explained to the audience how much she loved those early iPod commercials. They featured silhouettes of people listening to music and dancing with wild abandon. "That's the way music makes me feel inside," she said. That's the way Summer's music made many of her fans feel, too: safe in a bubble of beats and beauty, and moved to dance like no one was watching. The first record I bought with my own money was "On the Radio," Donna Summer's 1979 double greatest hits album.

Though the Allman Brothers Band has been part of rock royalty and pop culture for more than 40 years, the Gregg Allman dossier isn't particularly overstuffed. Allman has been far more restrained than other musicians of his caliber when it comes to hogging media, which makes his memoir, "My Cross to Bear," a riveting read. Unlike Keith Richards who used his book "Life" to reinforce the persona we have come to appreciate, Allman gives a seemingly honest appraisal of an extraordinary life led by a guy who, by all appearances, would have happily settled for normal; Allman figured he'd...

Matt Savage doesn't like to think of his younger days, when he couldn't stand the sound of music, even his family singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Diagnosed at age 3 with autism, he was hyperactive, engaged in repetitive motions, and lasted two days in preschool before being kicked out. Noise of any sort, including music, was anathema. Now, music is his life. Today, his 20th birthday, Savage will graduate from Berklee College of Music with a 3.99 grade point average. He still has a semester left, but since Berklee has just one graduation ceremony per year, he will collect his...

For all of the vaunted democratizing power that the inception of hip-hop introduced into the world of DIY music, there's been a similar, no less important paradigm shift in recent years, as the proliferation of easy-to-use production techniques have filtered down into the consumer marketplace. Two turntables and a microphone may seem worlds apart from a MacBook and a copy of FruityLoops, but the software revolution has had an enormous impact on the ability of kids at home to jump straight into the game with nothing more than an omnivorous appetite for records, an...

ORLANDO — The books and movies have long since wrapped up the epic tale, with Voldemort vanquished, Snape lionized, and the young heroes sending their own children off to Hogwarts. But the specter of Harry Potter will continue to dominate the landscape of central Florida for years to come. "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter brought millions of new visitors to Orlando," said Robert Niles, editor of the consumer website Theme Park Insider. "What we're seeing now is a competitive moment, and the Orlando parks are all trying to take advantage of the momentum.

The deal: The Ocean Club starts off its third season with a bang: three nights of music featuring big-name DJs. And with different styles of electronic dance music each night, there's something for everyone. Friday, Grammy-winning producer/DJ Skrillex rocks the 62,000-square-foot venue. "He's arguably the most in-demand DJ in the world right now," says Ocean Club co-owner Sam Sokol. Saturday features Christian Arango, and Nicky Romero arrives on Sunday.

Through many times in which I thought I might lose it the only thing that saved me has always been music. Adam Yauch WWW.REFLECTIONFORTHEDAY.COM. Collected by Tom Fitzpatrick. All rights reserved.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Hingham's Derby Street Shoppes will host a gala event June 10 for the Company Theatre's "Paragon Park — The Musical," with the hope of raising funds to supplement the theater's budget. The musical, which is scheduled to debut in late July, has been a long time coming for those involved, including playwright team Zoe Bradford and Michael Hammond, with songs by composer Adam Brooks. Bradford initially came up with the idea of a musical about the Hull amusement park as a joke, yet when she started talking about it...

Tuning in to Radiohead RADIOHEAD Only lawn seats remain, but that's better than not seeing Radiohead at all. On tour behind last year's "The King of Limbs," the pioneering British band always puts on a show that's sensory overload, equal parts visual spectacle and sonic assault. May 29, 7:30 p.m. $39.50. Comcast Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com JAMES REED POP & ROCK SKRILLEX Seemingly out of nowhere, Skrillex has become one of the most buzzed-about electronic music producers and DJs. His...

Everyone expected Phillip Phillips to win "American Idol" — except Phillips himself. Shortly after cleaning the confetti out of his hair, the folksy guitar-strumming crooner who bested vocal powerhouse Jessica Sanchez on Wednesday still seemed surprised that he'd actually won the whole shebang. "I can't really feel anything," Phillips said sitting on a couch in his backstage dressing room with his legs casually crossed. The 21-year-old from Leesburg, Ga., received the winning share of the record-high 132 million viewer votes cast after Tuesday's final showdown with the...

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of a former graduate student who was sued by the recording industry on charges of illegally downloading music, letting stand a $675,000 judgment against him for violation of copyright laws. It was the first time the high court was asked to weigh in on whether the use of peer-to-peer networks constitutes a violation of copyright laws, and whether the application of those laws in deciding civil penalties is appropriate. But the trials for the defendant, Joel Tenenbaum, are far from...

If you must have your music, but your headphones are a pain in the, well, ear, these lightweight wonders by iFrogz are a great alternative to earbuds. The EarPollution CS40s are comfortable enough for children to wear (they sit on the ears, rather than in or around them). Their flexible band fits securely on everyone, from preschoolers to adults, and the sound quality is great. They come in nine colors and fold into a compact bundle. Find them for $39.99 online at www.iFrogz.com and www.buy.com.

Dan Ellsey, 33, was sitting in his wheelchair in a soulless room at Tewksbury Hospital, his virtually useless arms and weak torso strapped to the chair for safety. Suddenly, as soon as we were introduced, he arched his back, grinned broadly, and aimed the riveting power of his dark brown eyes at me, as if eye contact were his only means of transcending the prison of his body. But it isn't. In the last few years, Ellsey, who was born with cerebral palsy, has discovered another, almost miraculous, way of expressing himself: music.

(Phil Farnsworth/Courtesy Berklee College of Music) Madeleine Steczynski, center, accepts her award from Lynette Gittens, Berklee City Music director of operations and enrollment, and Hebert Labbate, Berklee City Music business operations manager. By Boston.com Berklee College of Music recently presented the leader of an East Boston arts organization with an award for her leadership and empowerment of youth through music. Madeleine Steczynski, co-founder and executive director of Zumix, was honored by the music college's office of community...

After the success of "Bridesmaids," actor Chris O'Dowd was mostly getting scripts for mediocre romantic comedies — "bad versions of 'Bridesmaids,"' he says. "I figured I should go and do something very different, otherwise I'll kind of get stuck," O'Dowd said in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival. "So an Aboriginal musical made sense. " And that could well be the first time such a sentence has been uttered. In the genre of Aboriginal musicals there is but one entry: "The Sapphires," which premiered in Cannes to a lengthy standing ovation and...