banner

HowStuffWorks - Entertainment
How It's Made » Science »

Entertainment

“Play: Work that you enjoy doing for nothing.”
— Evan Esar

How It’s Made has its fair share of shows that make sense of the stuff in your daily life. But some of the most fun and highly viewed shows are all about what goes on in our off hours.

Music to Our Ears

The acoustic guitar has been around since the 1500s. And while it has undergone transformations during its history, the quality of craftsmanship and detail has only gotten better. But have you ever thought about how exactly it works? For example, what are frets? Why the big hole in the front of the guitar? Watch How It’s Made for answers to some of these questions, then get detailed info at HowStuffWorks.com.
Electric Guitars: Engineers began experimenting with electrically powered instruments in the 1800s. But the first real attempts didn’t come until the development of electrical amplifiers, developed by the radio industry in the 1920s. See how the guitar itself works, and read how guitar and amplifier together produce an amazing variety of sounds.
Dixieland, swing, bebop, acid jazz, hard bop and fusion -- these are only a few of the variations of jazz that have developed over the past 100 years. So what makes jazz, "jazz"? Is it the instruments or the performers – or both?
So let’s say you’ve got your band together, your songs written and you’re ready to lay down your first track. This is when the need for a recording studio to cut, mix and digitize your music comes into play. Read on …

Related Articles:

How Top 40 Radio Works
How Protools Works
How Rock Band Works
How Hip-hop Works
How Live Sound Engineering Works
9 Fictional Bands with Hit Songs
How Becoming a Roadie Works
How Band Equipment Works

Feeling Lucky?

Not ready for the tables? Start with lotteries. Learn about the machines themselves or ponder this: A $10 million jackpot might net you $2.5 million in the end. How can that be? And what are the odds that you’ll win? Get out the calculator because the equation might look something like this: 50/6 x 49/5 x 48/4 x 47/3 x 46/2 x 45/1 = 15,890,700:1.
Maybe you need a primer on How to Play the Lottery? Get the skinny on the types of games to play, the strategies behind them and even some insider tips.
Perhaps a few drinks and some social activity are needed to get your lucky streak going. Then off to the casinos for you. Start simple with the slot machines then try your hand at games like poker or blackjack.
Sports betting: For some, this is an annual event, such as March Madness or a Superbowl office pool. For others, it’s about horseracing (and can be a good way to lose a lot of cash unless you know what you’re doing).