tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post8827812555273007244..comments2024-03-07T12:57:35.296-05:00Comments on Varieties of Unreligious Experience: Wagner, gamelan, gozzutiConrad H. Rothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-51814482946908326672007-01-03T15:07:00.000-05:002007-01-03T15:07:00.000-05:00Thanks, Reid. Yes, as I said to Gawain, my use of ...Thanks, Reid. Yes, as I said to Gawain, my use of the word 'random' should be taken with a grain of salt. I am quite aware of how complex gamelan is, and how it is learnt. Part of the problem for us as players, however, was that the version we were playing were so simple as to lose a great deal of the structural complexity (and thus coherence) that I've heard on professional recordings.Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-91941284259091393272007-01-03T11:21:00.000-05:002007-01-03T11:21:00.000-05:00Thank you for your perceptive thoughts. Care shou...Thank you for your perceptive thoughts. Care should be taken in describing music as "random", because all it usually means is lack of familiarity. Early European explorers thought Africans had no sense of rhythm; European music was so rhythmically simple they couldnt comprehend polyrhythms.<br /><br />Modern kecak was derived by Walter Spies from Sanghyang Dedari, a trance posession dance. It is primarily enjoyed by tourists. However, some modern Balinese composers have done interesting things with it. The vocal parts use the same interlocking rhythmic construction as Balinese gamelan.<br /><br />Balinese music tends to be entirely precomposed then learnt by ceaseless repetition. I speak from experience! Javanese music, appears initially chaotic, but is almost entirely composed of formulae ingeniously and subtly recombined. <br /><br />I agree with your comments about the type of people gamelan attracts. I'm part of group of gamelan misfits in Vancouver - and I'm no exception. Our music sounds more random than it should!Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16787248661951842439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-29800544506384656512006-11-06T17:39:00.000-05:002006-11-06T17:39:00.000-05:00Oh, I know it isn't really random... it just sound...Oh, I know it isn't <em>really</em> random... it just sounds that way.Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-53141801269614224982006-11-06T07:02:00.000-05:002006-11-06T07:02:00.000-05:00Conrad, the cak (or kecak) was written for a weste...Conrad, the cak (or kecak) was written for a western audience, and, moreover, western UNCOUTH audience (of no nothing tourists), who were really interested in SPIRIT POSSESSION and nothing else. it is a sort of spirit possession dance and quite unlike the rest of balinese ouvre (however one spells it). it is, by the way, musical accompaniment for a dance which represents a rampaging monkey army (quite like your frat boy neighbors). otherwise, there is nothing random about Balinese music -- all that kebyar you write about is ENTIRELY precomposed (it has to be for orchestras of upwards of 30 instruments).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-42683879994153541032006-10-31T19:23:00.000-05:002006-10-31T19:23:00.000-05:00Eh, you wouldn't have liked it. No, really. Thanks...Eh, you wouldn't have liked it. No, really. Thanks, though. When are we going to read about Tesla?Conrad H. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01916542057749474124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20433842.post-59015399136039694182006-10-31T19:20:00.000-05:002006-10-31T19:20:00.000-05:00Nice blog. Wagner has some stunning horn music. ...Nice blog. Wagner has some stunning horn music. Literally. I tried the Long Call from the Ring Cycle once on a loud party and it worked like a charm. <br /><br />Sorry I missed your gamelan concert.Pretzel Benderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499362737998089533noreply@blogger.com