The Assad Brothers: Music While You Work

These guys are pretty good.

The BigDog Via Andrew Sullivan Via Wired

Really, you’ve got to take a look at this.

How do you create a robot that can respond anywhere near as well to a complex environment as a living organism does?

I’m reminded of Searle’s Chinese Room, and Deep Blue (really smart and really dumb), and Shakey.  

Do you aim for emotional attachment like the Japanese do?

See Also:  The BigDog promotional video set to Herbie Hancock’s Rock It.  You remember that video?  An Introduction to Artifical Intelligence to which someone will undoubtedly bring up Skynet.

Addition:  From Military.com: ‘This is the upgraded “Big Dog” from Boston Dynamics. The unit is gas powered, weighs 235 pounds, has a payload of 345 pounds, and can traverse a wide variety of terrain.’

Andres Segovia Plays El Noi De La Mare

Andres Segovia is the father of the classical guitar.  If you like a nice story, take a look at his life.

This is a Catalonian folk song, more like a lullaby. 

Visualizing Music: From Maps To Stars

Strange Maps has a map of the world with the borders of countries and landforms arranged as musical notes.  In the comments there’s a link to someone who’s played it.

Do you remember the comedian Steven Wright; balding with a monotone delivery, deep and off the wall insights?

Watch the 1st minute of this video as he plays the stars.

In the spirit of Steven Wright, I’d like to point out that women often use music to connect with men; for intimacy and to get them to open up.  This often bothered me because I felt I was inside the creative imagination and achievement of some other guy.  Jealousy? 

See Also:  The Music Animation Machine’s visualization of Bach.

Mike Oldfield’s To France: By A Spanish Pianist…and Plato?

Mike Oldfield wrote tubular bells, the eerie background music for the Exorcist.  He also wrote To France, a tribute to Mary Queen of Scots escape from England which is covered in the video above.  The song catches some of the spirit of English ballad and traditional folk while dealing with Protestant/Catholic subject matter.

Spaniards have a real interest in Oldfield, and I can’t help but wonder if there aren’t some shared Catholic traditions that spark the Spanish interest in Oldfield’s music (besides all the shared history).

………. 

On a related note, an emailer wrote me wondering why I had posts about music, when many other posts contain arguments which are contradicted by an indulgence in music.  I’d say there certainly is a lot of naivete and danger in seeking transcendance through music, which is so easily used by politicans, armies on the march, churches, dictators, …even witch doctors… to soften the mind rather than sharpen it, to incite the passions, and even perhaps to corrupt the spirit.

It’s not anything you won’t find in Plato, or in this essay on Plato, frankly:

This also meant that the artist is two steps removed from knowledge, and, indeed, Plato’s frequent criticism of the artists is that they lack genuine knowledge of what they are doing. Artistic creation, Plato observed, seems to be rooted in a kind of inspired madness.

So, good point, dear emailer. 

Saturday Break-Dave Brubeck: Take Five

Yeah, everyone’s posted it and it’ll probably be removed due to copyright issues, but…

such a strange and mysterious song…even yo-yo ma wonders at it.

Herbie Hancock: Rock It

The singularly most creepy music video of my childhood;  playing with time and motion in music.  Still creepy…

Bach: Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor

I’m sure you’ve probably heard it before, but have you seen it before?

Different colors represent different voices, the length of each bar/spaces between bars represent the duration of notes in time.

Is this kind of visualization helpful for players? for you as a listener?

Addition:  Music Animation Machine webpage here.

Bobby McFerrin: Drive

That’s the high end of vocal talent.

Naudo: Annie’s Song By John Denver

Here’s a nice acoustic cover of Annie’s song.  I’d call it a popular American hymn.  Some folk, some country, but very deep and sincere.  Thanks Naudo.