Review for exam 2

The review for exam 2 is now posted under Course Documents at right. I apologize for the delay.

Suffolk students: This exam will have some material from the North American music we study this week. I will add terms from this material to the review in the next few days.

YouTube links for Africa

Jali performing on the kora at a festival in England
Mbira performers
1932 film of so-called "Pygmies": good example of the "bad old days" of colonialism and racism
Batwa of Uganda: current situation
San of the Kalahari Desert

Suffolk: exam 2 postponed

Suffolk students:

I have postponed exam 2 until Monday, November 5. I should have a review guide posted by tomorrow afternoon.

Please note that this change means your next short assignment is due on Friday, November 2.

BC: Major syllabus update

BC students:

I discovered a major mistake in the syllabus: I had scheduled one week more of classes than exist in the semester! The new syllabus posted under Course Documents corrects this problem. If you printed out the previous syllabus, be certain to update your copy.

Away at conference

I am currently at the Society for Ethnomusicology conference in Columbus, Ohio. I can check e-mail but it may take longer than usual for a response.

Suffolk students: Remember that the next short assignment is due by 11:00 am tomorrow (Friday). Please do not expect an immediate acknowledgment message. I will try to have them graded by Monday.

Syllabus update 10/24/07

I have finalized the listening and writing assignments for all classes up to the Thanksgiving break. If you have printed a copy of the syllabus, be sure to update your copy.

Upcoming concerts at MFA

The Museum of Fine Arts is hosting two events that would both be excellent sites for the fieldwork project:

1. Demonstration of Japanese noh theater (the predecessor to kabuki). Sunday, November 18, 12:30-2:00. I believe this is free.
   
2. Tinariwen (west African rock band). Sunday, November 25, 7:30. $30.
   

BC students: Arts careers workshop

CAREER NIGHT FOR THE ARTS
Tuesday, October 30
7:00-9:00 PM
McMullen Museum of Art, Devlin Hall
Informal night of networking with alumni working in the performing, visual, and literary arts
www.bc.edu/artscareers

Indian music at Suffolk

There will be an excellent opportunity for those of you who are interested in Indian music. Shahid Parvez will perform on the sitar on Tuesday, October 30, 4:00-6:00, at the C. Walsh Theater.

(BC students: this is at 55 Temple St., Beacon Hill, behind the State House).

Admission is free.

Malaysia and Indonesia

NPR ran an interesting story this morning that underlines the musical similarities between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Suffolk: syllabus update 10/12/07

Suffolk students only:
My apologies for the confusion. When I revised the syllabus to account for my day away at a conference, I changed the wrong day. The syllabus currently posted is correct.

Syllabus change: Absence on Oct 25-26

I will be attending the Society for Ethnomusicology conference on Thursday, October 25, and Friday, October 26. The absence requires small adjustments in both syllabuses. Please update your copy if you have printed it.

BC: You will have a class meeting on Thursday. You will watch a film that day, and one of my colleagues will show the film.

Suffolk: You will not have a class meeting on Friday, but you have a writing assignment to be turned in by e-mail by 11:00 on Friday morning.

BC: Updated Javanese gamelan PowerPoint

BC students:
I prematurely uploaded the PowerPoint presentation for Javanese gamelan to the WebCT site. I have just uploaded the latest version of the file. Please be sure to update your copy.

Repost: Javanese gamelan video

I thought I would repost the Javanese gamelan video with additional explanation, since it is such a rich source.

0:21 - gender (left foreground) plays rapid, high notes, while slenthem (right foreground) plays the skeleton slowly, one note at a time
1:50 - closeup of bonangs (kettle gongs)
2:57 - closeup of rebab (vertical spike fiddle)
3:30 - closeup of kenongs (large kettle gongs) and kethuk (in red frame)

Suffolk: Balinese gamelan not on exam 1

Suffolk students only:

So that we are not rushed on Wednesday, I have decided to concentrate on reinforcing the material on Javanese gamelan that we introduced today. We will have a brief introduction to Balinese gamelan on Wednesday as well, so please do the indicated preparation on the syllabus. However, the Balinese gamelan material will be tested on Exam 2, not on Friday.

YouTube links for Indonesia

Javanese gamelan - soft style with singers
Suling player - notice that he is not able to perform the circular breathing technique that many suling players use to produce a continuous tone
Bali and Beyond Gamelan - excellent Balinese gamelan examples. See 2:27 and 6:35 for good examples of kotekan (interlocking).