Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Sheila Chandra

Hindi Irish Folk Devotionals


There are Irish Folk Song structures in her songs, interesting to note.

As a teenager she formed the band Monsoon, and created a fusion of Western Synthpop and Indian pop styles. She married Steve Coe, who became the band's producer, and along with Martin Smith, the band evolved into this talented trio. They made a lone album Third Eye in 1982 from which they had a surprise hit single "Ever So Lonely". Monsoon recorded a varied selection of songs. Chandra and Monsoon covered The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows in this period.)

However, resenting pressure from their record company over musical direction, Monsoon as a band dissolved and Coe and Smith set about promoting Chandra as a solo artist on an independent label. Chandra went on to release a number of albums in the 1980s, at times experimenting with her voice as an instrument through a range of techniques. In the 1990s she released three albums on Peter Gabriel's Real World label, although Martin Smith ceased to be actively involved.



Since 1992 she has shifted from the Indian-Western fusion of synthesizer-centered pop to styles that draw on British and Irish traditional singing traditions. Chandra is a much-respected performer on the world music scene and remains active into the 21st Century.

Discography

Albums

With Monsoon:
Third Eye (1982)
Solo
Out on My Own (1984)
Quiet (1984)
Nada Brahma (1985)
The Struggle (1985)
Roots and Wings (1990)
Weaving My Ancestors' Voices (1992)
The Zen Kiss (1994)
ABoneCroneDrone (1996)
Moonsung: A Real World Retrospective (1999)
This Sentence Is True (The Previous Sentence Is False) (2001)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers soundtrack (2002)
The Indipop Retrospective (2003)
[edit]Singles
"Ever So Lonely" (1982)
"Shakti (The Meaning of Within)" (1982)
"Tomorrow Never Knows" (1982)
"Wings of the Dawn" (1983)
"Ever So Lonely" (Remix by Ben Chapman) (1990)
"Breath of Life" in The Two Towers (2003)

Vieux Farka Toure



His father rest in peace.

The Last Emperor

The Last Emperor
Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, and Cong Su

Awards

Golden Globes: Best Original Score 1987
Oscars: Best Music, Original Score 1987

Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto
First Coronation (1:46)
Open the Door (2:54)
Where is Armo? (2:26)
Picking Up Brides (2:39)
The Last Emperor - Theme Variation 1 (2:19)
Rain (I Want a Divorce) (1:49)
The Baby (was born dead) (0:55)
The Last Emperor - Theme Variation 2 (4:28)
The Last Emperor - Theme (5:54)

Composed by David Byrne
Main Title Theme (The Last Emperor) (4:01)
Picking a Bride (2:00)
Bed (5:00)
Wind, Rain and Water (2:18)

Composed by Cong Su
Paper Emperor (1:47)

Born 1957 in Tianjin, China, Cong Su studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, then in Germany. He has lectured on music theory, music analysis, film music and ballet music at the Musikhochschule in Munich. Since 1991 he is professor of film and media composition at the newly founded State Film Academy in the Stuttgart area.



Source Music
Lunch (4:54)
Performed by the Red Guard Accordion Band
Red Guard (1:20)
Performed by the Ball Orchestra of Vienna
The Emperor's Waltz (3:06)
The Girls Red Guard Dancers
The Red Guard Dance (0:39)

Total Time ~ 50:24

Monday, January 29, 2007

World Nature?




by Scott Camazine

New ways of looking at the world help explain the development of complex and beautiful patterns in nature

A hike in the woods or a walk along the beach reveal an endless variety of forms. Nature abounds in spectral colors and intricate shapes — the rainbow mosaic of a butterfly's wing, the delicate curlicue of a grape tendril, the undulating ripples of a desert dune. But these miraculous creations not only delight the imagination, they also challenge our understanding. How do these patterns develop? What sorts of rules and guidelines shape the patterns in the world around us?

Some patterns are molded with a strict regularity. At least superficially, the origin of regular patterns often seems easy to explain. Thousands of times over, the cells of a honeycomb repeat their hexagonal symmetry. The honeybee is a skilled and tireless artisan with an innate ability to measure the width and to gauge the thickness of the honeycomb it builds. Although the workings of an insect's mind may baffle biologists, the regularity of the honeycomb attests to the honey bee's remarkable architectural abilities.

Although some of nature's artistry is no longer a mystery, other patterns are more subtle and perplexing. They may possess a mathematical regularity, but that does not help explain how they form. Consider the Fibonacci sequence, named after the medieval Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. Begin with 0 and 1. To obtain each succeeding number in the series, simply take the sum of the previous two numbers. The result is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89,....and so on. The sequence seems to be nothing more than the idle doodling of a mathematician in a daydream. Yet for reasons not fully known, nature has incorporated Fibonacci's sequence into many of her botanical blueprints. Look at a daisy and notice the pattern of the florets. They are arranged as two sets of logarithmic spirals, intertwined. Each floret belongs to both a right-handed and a left-handed spiral. Now, carefully count the number of clockwise and counter-clockwise spirals and you will find that they are consecutive Fibonacci numbers. Though scientific controversies still exist over why such a scheme is found in daisies, pine cones, pineapples and other whorling botanical structures, their artistic beauty remains unquestioned.





Simple computer models yield elegant patterns

Next consider seashells, so often decorated with bold patterns of stripes and dots. Biologists seldom gave much thought to how these mollusks create the beautiful designs that decorate their calcified homes. Perhaps they simply assumed that the patterns were precisely specified in the genetic blueprint contained in the mollusk's DNA. But some years ago, scientists, skilled in both biology and computer science, began to look at pattern formation in an exciting new way. One of the first things they realized was that two individuals of the same species were similar, but not identical. Like the fingerprints on one's hand, they are alike yet not alike. This simple observation led them to hypothesize that the patterns on shells, the stripes on a zebra, and the ridges on our fingertips are not rigidly predetermined by the genetic information inside the cell's nucleus. Organisms are not built as a house is built, by meticulously following an architect's plans.




Instead, genes appear to take a more generalized approach, specifying sets of basic rules whose implementation results in organized form and pattern. Tackling the problem of how markings develop on shells, these scientists proposed a few simple rules for how pigment precursors in cells might diffuse along the snail's mantle at the growing edge of the shell. Then, by repetitively implementing these simple rules in a series of computer simulations, they "created" shell patterns with a startling similarity to real shells. These scientists readily admit that this similarity does not prove that shell patterns develop in the manner they hypothesize, but it does suggest that simple mechanisms could account for some of the complex and varied patterns observed in nature.



Over the years, these same ideas have been applied to many questions in developmental biology concerning how structures become organized. One of the greatest biological mysteries yet to be solved is how a single egg --— apparently devoid of structure — becomes a child. The human cell does not contain enough information to specify the location and connections of every neuron in the brain. Therefore, much of the body's organization must arise by means of more simple developmental rules. In nature many systems display extreme complexity, yet their fundamental components may be rather simple. The brain is an organ of unfathomable complexity, but an isolated neuron cannot think. Complexity results from interactions between large numbers of simpler components. With the advent of powerful computers, mathematicians, chemists, physicists, biologists and even high school computer hackers began to discover how simple interactions between large numbers of subunits could yield intricate and beautiful patterns. Suddenly people were studying all sorts of phenomena both mundane and bizarre — piles of sand, dripping water faucets, slime molds, leopard's spots, forest fires, flocking birds and visual hallucinations. Though these various phenomena have little in common, they are all fertile subject matter for those who study nature's complexity. And this emerging field has given us a new vocabulary including such terms as chaos, fractals and strange attractors.


Some patterns self-organize

The study of complexity provides new insights into how patterns develop in nature. One exciting finding is that order often arises spontaneously from disorder; patterns can emerge through a process of self-organization. One of the best ways to visualize how patterns self-organize is to employ simple computer programs that simulate a natural process. One such category of computer programs are called cellular automata. They are simulations played on the equivalent of a computer checkerboard. In the simplest version, one starts with a single row of cells. In the example above, concerning shells, each square of the checkerboard represents a hypothetical cell along the edge of the snail's mantle. The cell could either produce a color pigment, or none at all. The future state of the cell (whether it produces pigment or not) is determined by the cell's present state and the state of its nearest neighbor cells on either side. One rule for pigment production might be as simple as this: if the cell currently produces pigment and at least one of its adjoining neighbor cells produces pigment, then the cell will continue to produce pigment in the future. The state of the cells changes over time and each row of the checkerboard displays the next step in the process, just as the growing shell displays its developmental history. What is remarkable is that even if one starts out with a completely random array of cells at the beginning, a remarkably organized pattern emerges — order arises from disorder. More complicated cellular automata models have been developed to explain the stripes on zebras, the mottled patterns on fish, the growth of snowflakes, and even clustering of neurons in the brain.

Fractal patterns in nature



Of course, not all patterns in nature are regular. Billowy clouds, flickering flames, lightning bolts, the pattern of veins on a leaf, the architecture of the lung's passageways — these are examples of patterns without obvious regularity. But looks can be deceiving. Many irregular patterns are not simply random. They often display an underlying structure, a kind of regular irregularity that can be mathematically described. Such objects have been called fractals, a term coined by Benoit B. Mandelbrot of IBM's Watson research center meaning broken or fragmented. Fractals are intricate structures that continue to show rich detail no matter how closely one zooms in for a look. England's meandering coastline looks wiggly whether viewed from a plane, while walking along the coast, or up close with a magnifying glass. In contrast, think of a circle. When smaller and smaller portions of a circle are magnified, the segments become straighter and straighter. At higher magnifications, the circle loses detail. But fractals keep on going, repeating similar intricate patterns at many different scales of magnification.

Investigators began to wonder how these fractals form. Two scientists, Thomas A. Witten III and Leonard M. Sander have proposed a very simple mechanism for certain fractal forms. They call the process diffusion-limited aggregation. Imagine sticky particles coming into contact with each other and aggregating to form a cluster. Start with one particle in the center and release another sticky particle which randomly diffuses inward. When the particle finds the one in the center it sticks and stays put. Now repeat the process over and over, thousands of times. A meandering, tenuous cluster will grow. It will be a fractal. With such simple growth rules, these fractals are easy to create on a personal computer, and they resemble examples in nature such as the buildup of soot in a chimney, the path of a lightning bolt as it tears through the sky, or the sprawling radial growth of lichen on the surface of a stone.

............


Whether regular or irregular, patterns in nature have always delighted naturalists, photographers, and artists. And for those with an inquisitive mind — not content merely to gaze in wonder — nature's complex patterns provide the added attraction of mystery surrounding artistry.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

African Influence in Modern Dance

(and everything else in music)

Barbara Glass.
"Introduction, The Africanization of American Movement"
When the Spirit Moves You

African Movement Vocabulary.
African dance moves all parts of the body, in contrast to many European forms that rely mostly on arm and leg movement. Angular bending of arms, legs and torso; shoulder and hip movement; scuffing, stamping, and hopping steps; asummetrical use of the body; and fluid movement are all part of African dance.

Orientation Toward the Earth.
The African dancer often bends slightly toward the earth and flattens the feet against it in a wide, solid stance. Compare this to traditional European ballet's upright posture, with arms lifted upward and feet raised up onto the toes.

Improvisation.
Within the patterns and traditions of age-old dance forms, an African felt free to be creative. A dancer could make an individual statement or give a new interpretation to a familiar gesture.

Circle and Line Formations.
Many African dances are performed by lines or circles of dancers. Traditional European dance also incorporated lines and circles, and this commonality may have been important in dance exchange.

Importance of the Community.
Africans danced mainly with and for the community. Solo performers were supported and affirmed by the group through singing, hand clapping, and shouted encouragement.

Polyrhythms.
African music included several rhythms at the same time, and Africans often danced to more than one beat at once. Dancers could move their shoulders to one beat, hips to another, and knees to another. This rhythmic complexity, with basic ground beat and counterbeats played against it, formed the basis for later music such as ragtime, jazz, and rock'n'roll.

Percussion.
In much of Africa, percussion often dominates music and in many cases the drum is the leading instrument. In America, enslaved African created a broad range of percussive instruments. Hand clapping, foot tapping, and body patting were also important percussive sounds.

Pantomine. Many African dances reflect the motions of life. Dance movement may imitate animal behavior like the flight of the egret, enact human tasks like pounding rice, or express the power of spirits in whirling and strong forward steps.

Something in the Hand.
African ritual dance makes use of special objects, including masks and costumes. In this country, African Americans continued to use sticks or staffs, cloth, and other objects in dance. Handkerchiefs, canes, and top hats became part of the dance, as did other objects in stage routines.

Competitive Dance. 
Competing through dance is a widespread custom in West and Central Africa. In America, this tradition continued in "cutting" contests, challenge dances, Cakewalk contests, Break Dance rivalries, Jitterbug competitions, Step Dance shows, and other events.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Step Dancing


A step is a collection of rhythms made by using the hands and feet, and occasionally props. Responding to chants or calls, a team stomps their feet or claps hands to a base beat along with moving into different formations.

Step dancing has a rich history.
Stepping has its beginnings in the early African American slave community as a means of communication and keeping hold of traditional aspects of their denied culture. It served mainly as a link back to African tribal dance, which in many areas was prohibited. Call-and-response folk songs helped the slaves to survive culturally and to spread word about important matters, such as the Underground Railroad. Several generations later, Black World War II veterans added in a military march theme to the sounds, while Motown grooves and Hip-Hop energy added more entertainment and increased the appeal of the art form.

In the late 1960s, historically Black fraternities and sororities began embracing stepping at college campuses. Previously using step shows as a rite of passage for pledges, the Black Greek letter system has a strong role in the college step scene. There are often specific steps to each chapter and sometimes the groups playfully mock each other's styles during competitions and benefits - originally derived from the African Welly boot dance.

Stepping always involves clapping and stomping, sometimes done at the same time. There are many well known stepping dances such as the James Brown, Stomp The Yard, and most commonly, The Tok.
Stepping has been popularized by National Pan-Hellenic Council member organizations who perform at local and national competitions. It is featured in films and shows such as School Daze (1988) Drumline (2002) Stomp the Yard (2007) and the TV series A Different World.