Luau Party – Here Are Some Great Ideas about Luau Party

A Luau celebration can be a lot of fun for a set of adults that want to get together for a festive, tropical-island themed affair. The Luau party makes a good subject for birthday parties. Here are some good luau party ideas including suggestions for games, food, invitations and decorations.

Invitations

Decide first whether you want to buy pre-made invitations or if you want to make your own. If you are using pre-made invitations, be sure to choose designs with bright colors, or large flowers. Some recognizable Hawaiian icons are hula dancers, leis, and palm trees. Personalize the envelopes with a custom designed postage stamp! If you want to get creative, try to find some Hawaiian postcards and mail to your guests and write all of the details of the party on the blank side.

You can also try to bring an image of airline tickets and write on the outside “You’ve just won 2 free tickets!” and fill in the material like this: destination: YOUR HOUSE arrival time: PARTY START TIME departure time: PARTY END TIME.

Another creative idea is to write the party details on a beach ball, deflate the ball, and mail to your guests with instructions to blow up the ball for more details.

You can also attach an index card to lei with party information written on it, and mail the lei to your guests with instructions to wear it to the party!

Decorations

Alternative for decorations at a luau are endless. For an outdoor party, set tiki torches around the party area. It is convenient to get torches that burn citronella oil to keep mosquitoes at bay. Purchase real or silk orchids and hibiscus flowers and scatter them around the locale. Make your own surfboards from Styrofoam board.

Trim tables with grass skirts and place shell candles and coconuts on them. Try to find an old surfboard to use as a table. Be absolutely certain there are enough leis at the party for everyone. Find real, cardboard, or inflatable palm trees. Blow up some beach balls and place them around the room or patio. Whatever it is, think bright and bountiful color!

Games

The first game anybody thinks about at a luau is the limbo. You can procure inflatable limbo sets or real bamboo sets, but it’s simple enough to find a long flat stick or board and two people keen to hold up either end. Crank up the Don Ho and see how low you can go!

Another inexpensive yet fun and hilarious game is who can “hula” the longest. Hula HOOPING of course! Without authentic hula dancers at the party, engage your guests with this timeless contest and see who still has it. Offer prizes for the longest hula-er and the guest who can hula with the most hoops.

Pineapple bowling will be a favorite. Use coconuts to knock down pineapple “pins”. Ula Maika is a traditional Hawaiian game similar to horseshoes with two sticks as the posts and small stones as the horseshoes. See who can make it closer to the sticks with the stones. If room permits, set up volleyball net and play some beach volleyball.

Food

Luau in Hawaiian means “great feast.” Set up the food at the party in buffet style. You can ask your local butcher to butterfly a whole pig, and just throw it on the barbeque. Serve pineapple ham. Fresh tropical fruit salad with pineapple, mango, papaya and watermelon in a large hollowed out watermelon with be pleasing to the palate as well as the eyes. Haupia, a coconut pudding is a tantalizing sweet treat. Serve tropical drinks out of coconuts halves. Try Mai Tai, Pina Coladas, or a tropical punch with fresh fruit pieces in it.

Cake

The cake can be as simple or magnificent as you like. Bake a round cake and decorate it like a beach ball. You can also try your hand at carving out a cake by baking a rectangular cake and cutting it down to look like a ukulele. Utilize decorators icing to finish the picture. A simple pineapple upside down cake will tantalize your guests. Add a colorful splash with cherries on top.

To go for the wow ingredient, make a “Volcano” cake by making a simple chocolate Bundt cake and carefully placing a piece of dry ice in the middle to simulate the smoke. Mix orange and red food coloring with white icing and drizzle along the sides to look like lava.

All About String Musical Instruments – Things You Should Know as a Pianist

Since stringed musical instruments like viola, bass, cello and violin create music with strings vibrating to a certain pitch; they are known as the cousins of piano. What makes them distinct from each other is that the violinist or other string players pluck the strings with their fingers (which is instructed as pizzicato in music) while the strings of the piano are hit by the hammers to produce sound. Bass, viola cello and violin are not entirely instruments in the orchestra. Country, jazz, bluegrass and other types of music can also be created with the use of these wonderful and flexible instruments.

Piano in a way can be compared similarly to that of hammered dulcimer since the strings of the piano are being hit with the hammers for the tones to be created. Every single string of the hammered dulcimer is easily accessed by the musicians since they are exposed not like the piano. In creating chords, around four strings can be struck all at the same instance. Playing the strings in combination to create chords and melodies, the player makes use of two and at times four shaped hammers made of wood. Popular for its distinct sound, a hammered dulcimer is found widely in folk music.

The harpsichord, having the keyboard and notes produced by plucking (hitting) the strings is even more alike to the piano. Although the sound as well as the style is entirely dissimilar for both instruments, a good deal of music written for the piano can be played on the harpsichord and vice versa.

Harp, ukulele, banjo, mandolin and guitar are also classified as stringed instruments. In similar way and the same key, all of these instruments are tuned just like the piano. Unlike other instruments like the saxophone and trumpet, the pianist needs no transposition at all when using these instruments. Since the range of the piano is over eight octaves, all the notes created by these instruments can be found on it. Just like the guitar, since it only has four and a half octaves, the notes it makes can still be found on the piano’s range.

Loosening or tightening the tension of the particular string is the method of tuning all stringed instruments and piano is included in the group. The string vibrates faster and at a higher frequency as it is tightened and made shorter. The pitch will be higher as the string gets thinner. The brass, bronze and other metals wrapped tightly around the piano core are the components of the lower sounding strings whereas piano wire alone is the component of higher pitched strings. The strings of piano cannot be used as guitar strings and guitar strings cannot also be used on banjo, ukulele and mandolin even though they are created of similar materials.

The strings themselves are not the only ones creating the sound of the stringed instruments, but they also are responsible for making vibrations on other parts of the instrument. A good example is the guitar. More than its back and sides, the guitar’s top makes a lot of contribution to the entire sound. This also proves to be true to mandolin and other stringed instruments. Creating the beautiful melody of the piano is made possible by the important parts which are the soundboard, harp and its basic framework. The tone of the instrument will be of good quality if the components are also great. The biggest contributor to the quality of sound of the instruments is the age and type of wood being used.

All About Ko’olau Ukuleles

Ko’olau Ukuleles manufactures two distinct lines of instruments. The Ko’olau Model CS Ukuleles contain updated features and the Traditional line of Ukuleles for which this company is known will still be manufactured, providing lower-cost options. This company has also branched out where wood selections are concerned, owing to sensitivity to Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific’s diminishing forests.

The Traditional Series manufactured by Ko’olau ukuleles include the Model 1 and Model 100. These models are manufactured to the same standards of quality as are all the company’s products but are characterized by less adornment which makes them among their most affordable selections.

The company offers the CS Contemporary series of instruments, as well, which are more geared toward professional players and which feature more adornment and a wide range of options for other features.

The higher-end models of Ko’olau Ukuleles include the Delux, Premium and Collector’s Series. These instruments are made on the basis of custom orders and are not a stock item. They are priced working from a base figure which increases as features are added to the instruments.

The CS Series features a more modern design, including radiused fret boards. These instruments can be customized according to the client’s wishes. Currently, there are only 4-string models available, though the company is open to expanding the line to include 6- and 8-string models in the future.

Upgrade options for Ko’olau Ukuleles include: different choices in wood and binding materials; gloss finishes for the body and face plate; upgrades in tuners; the addition of electric pickups and specialized cases that control the environment in which the ukulele is stored. The CS Series standard features include bone and nut saddles, a satin finish, ebony faceplate and an ebony bridge. Standard tuners are manufactured by Gotoh and a hard-shell case is included.

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