Sunday, May 27, 2007

Instrument Amplifiers

Instrument amplifiers differ from Hi-Fi ie. high fidelity stereo amplifiers in design and intent. Hi-Fi amplifiers are designed to accurately reproduce the source sound signals at very high fidelity.In contrast, instrument amplifiers are often designed to add additional tonal coloration to the original signal or emphasize certain frequencies. For electric instruments such as electric guitar, the amplifier has a major role in the creation of the instrument's tone which is used by all instruments.

Instrument amplifiers that provide distortion or dissimilarities between the input and output signals are sought out by musicians in many genres. Many instrument amplifiers for electric guitar and bass allow performers to add distortion by boosting the input signal gain.The two exceptions are keyboard amplifiers and acoustic amplifiers which are used for amplifying acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, etc.Acoustic amplifiers typically aim for a relatively flat response which is needed by all instruments.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Collateral damage

Collateral damage is a military euphemism that was made popular at the time of Vietnam War (Army Technology). The euphemism has now been in use so long that it is an accepted term within military forces, meaning "unintentional damage or incidental damage affecting facilities, equipment or personnel, happening as a result of military actions directed against targeted enemy forces or facilities. Such damage can occur to friendly, neutral, and even enemy forces."

Etymologically, the expression "collateral damage" probably was originally used as military doublespeak rather than a euphemism, as the adjective "collateral" doesn't seem to have been used as a synonym for "unintentional" or "accidental" earlier. However, "collateral" may also sometimes mean "additional but subordinate," i.e. "secondary", and that specific meaning of a rather obscure word in the English language seems to have been picked up and broadened by the military in the expression "collateral damage."