Craft making for Native Americans is a very diverse and rich aspect of their lives. It is part of traditions and rituals and represents spirituality and power. This article will provide a brief look at Native American dance sticks and how these essential tools are important aspects of the Native American society.

These interesting dance sticks combine culture and craft making. They are traditionally used by the bravest of the tribe, the warriors, who dance in important events like tribal ceremonies to symbolize the strength and power of the brave warrior.

Of the various ways dance sticks are constructed,their symbolism of the mighty warrior is often portrayed through an animal form. Often, the thunderbird, horses, bears, elks and deer are used. Dance sticks are normally made using feathers, leather fringe, beautiful beadwork and animal hide.

The Native American dance stick is a good representation of the skilled craftmanship of these tribal people. They represent a lot of work. A genuine artifact of this type can often sell for over a hundred dollars. How wonderful it is to be a part of the Native American people and to understand how connected they are to their environment.

Nothing shows the kinship of the Native American warrior and nature any better than the use of an animal figure. By applying the dimensions of animals to exemplify the ability and courage of the warrior, one could ascertain the extreme link of Native American civilization to the day by day lives, routines and processes of the people. Many elements representing the environment are used and fall into catagories of plant, animal and mineral kingdoms. How the warrior is connected to the environment and his surroundings, is shown by the harmony and spiritual energy of the three kingdoms.

As time passes, the Native American dance stick has grown in popularity. There is a lot that can be learned about the Native American tribes when one stops to observe the carving, structure, use of color and materials on these unique dance sticks.

When buying a dance stick, one should pay close attention to the details to ensure authenticity. Sometimes, because of the continuous commercialization and mass production, fake Native American dance sticks with low quality materials are being sold as authentic. Purchasing an authentic dance stick requires one to be cautious or enlisting the help of a professional in the field.

Making beats has never been easier; with a Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), anyone can learn how to use music making software to create dance music. It only requires a few things.

Desktop Computer or Laptop – Music files take up quite a bit of space therefore a hard drive with a minimum of 120 Gigabytes is recommended. For smooth operation, the system should have at least 1 Gig of RAM. A quality sound card is going to give you better playback and sound. A CD burner is necessary if you want to save music on disk. To add personalised vocals to tracks you need a microphone, a cheap one will do to start with. Finally, you must have speakers or a set of headphones to hear sounds.

Music Software or DAW – There are plenty of music making programs to choose from, and most come with help files and tutorials right in the software. Decide what software you will use and either install it from a CD or download it and follow the instructions for installation. Many software companies offer demos of their programs that are functional, some may have limitations, but most allow users the opportunity to try the program.

After installing music software, you will need to set up the sound card and mic to work with the program. This is usually very simple and the software normally guides users through the process.

You are now ready to learn how to use music making software to create dance music. Open the program, choose the instruments and sounds that will be used in the song, set the tempo (bpm), and begin adding tracks.

Drum Tracks – The basic set up for drums in dance music consist of a kick drum, snares, hi-hats and claps or snaps. Software that has a step sequencer makes adding notes easy, but learning to use the piano roll if available is more precise. Put the drum parts on separate tracks so effects and EQ settings will be independent.

Bass & Guitar – Most music has bass, on a new track create a bass line or riff. The guitar should be on its own track, guitars are used to create melodies from scales.

This is a foundation; build the dance music into a song by adding keys, strings, and other sounds. A common beat arrangement has an intro, verse, chorus (hook), bridge, and an out-ro. When using music making software to create dance music you can try different tempos, instruments, sounds and arrangements.