Artful, Tuneful, Beatful

Those of us who teach music are well aware of the power to transform an individual. I have seen music keep children in school and out of trouble over and over. Billy Bragg is taking that effect outside the schools by using guitars as a tool to rehabilitate prison inmates in the UK.

I love this idea. People who break the law do need to be punished, but I think we are over-focused on punishment in this society (not only in the justice system but in the education system as well.) We need to be more focused on creative ways to help children and adults stay OUT of trouble in the future. It is painfully clear that we have a damaging cycle that is difficult for our students and inmates to break.

The short video available on the guardian.uk site is well worth watching.

Wynton Marsalis did an interview with Colbert recently. I think Colbert is really, really funny (I just love his deadpan schtick) and I love Marsalis’s understated way of putting things that are really quite wise. My favorite parts of this clip are the “duet” at the end and also what Marsalis has to say about “winning” at jazz.

Marsalis on Colbert

Did anyone else catch this news item about a robot conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra? It seems Honda has created an innovative robot that keeps impeccable time.  Of course its not really intended to be a conductor, the performance (of “Impossible Dream”, by the way… is that a commentary on robotics? ) was essentially a publicity stunt.  While the robot keeps perfect time it is of course no substitute for a human conductor when it comes to emotion, interaction or improvisation.  Ironically Yo Yo Ma, possible one of the least robotic musicians I’m aware of, played on the same concert.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxh9QHfT4JmEgddKQjckerAf-RmAD90LD61O6

DETROIT (AP) — The lights dimmed, the sold-out hall grew hushed and out walked the conductor — shiny, white and 4 feet, 3 inches tall.

ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., met its latest challenge Tuesday evening: Conducting the Detroit Symphony in a performance of “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha.”

“Hello, everyone,” ASIMO said to the audience in a childlike voice, then waved to the orchestra.

As it conducted, it perfectly mimicked the actions of a conductor, nodding its head at various sections and gesturing with one or both hands. ASIMO took a final bow to enthusiastic shouts from the audience.

“It is absolutely thrilling to perform with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This is a magnificent concert hall,” ASIMO said.

Later, cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined ASIMO onstage to receive an award for his efforts in music education. Ma bent to ASIMO’s height and shook the robot’s hand. Ma performed later on the program but didn’t take questions from the media about ASIMO.

Honda spokeswoman Alicia Jones said it was the first time ASIMO has conducted an orchestra, and it may be the first time any robot has conducted a live performance. ASIMO stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility.

ASIMO has its limits. ASIMO’s engineers programmed the robot to mimic Charles Burke, the Detroit Symphony’s education director, as he conducted the piece in front of a pianist about six months ago. But it can’t respond to the musicians.

During the first rehearsal, the orchestra lost its place when ASIMO began to slow the tempo, something a human conductor would have sensed and corrected, said bassist Larry Hutchinson.

“It’s not a communicative device. It simply is programmed to do a sense of gestures,” said Leonard Slatkin, the orchestra’s musical director. “If the orchestra decides to go faster, there’s nothing the robot can do about it. Hopefully, I keep that under control.”

But several musicians also said ASIMO was more realistic than they expected.

“The movements are still a little stiff, but very humanlike, much more fluid than I thought,” Hutchinson said.

Honda has been developing walking robots since 1986. The latest version of ASIMO debuted last year. Honda eventually intends its robots to be companions for the elderly and others in need, such as schoolchildren navigating crosswalks. ASIMO can run, walk on uneven slopes and respond to simple voice commands. It can also recognize faces with its camera eyes.

Honda brought the robot to Detroit to highlight its recent $1 million gift to the orchestra for a music education fund.

I enjoyed this story on NPR the other day about a village in China where singing is an important part of every day life, and every individual is able to do it.  Author Amy Tan traveled to the village of Dimen and learned how music and song are integral to the traditional culture of the Dong people who live there.  In the audio story there is an amazing recording of the village people imitating the voices of the cicadas.

As an early childhood music educator I was moved by this story because that is just how I would like our culture to be.  I would like for the ability to sing to be as common as the ability to read and for us to recognize it as an important way to remember the past, express the present and simply process the world around us.  How amazing would it be if an entire generation of children was brought up to truly believe that everyone has both the ability to sing and the ability to benefit from musical expression.  Instead we seem to focus on singing as a talent held by just a few.

Here is a short excerpt from the NPR piece including a song the children of Dimen learn about Spring:

“Entering into the village I had little girls singing those songs — those dong songs, the welcoming songs — one at each elbow,” Tan says. “However, the singing isn’t just to welcome tourists, it’s how the culture communicates with each other.”

While these “gate-barring songs” are reserved mainly for tourists and official guests, the Dong song-style is a form of communication every child learns from the age of 5. “And they sing on key, on rhythm, perfectly a capella, in tune with one another,” Tan says.

Young children not only sing to greet but also talk about community and the changing of seasons. The song “Spring Is Here, Swallows Fly” talks about the shortness of childhood, using birds as a metaphor:

After winter we get spring / Swallows fly amidst green leaves / Cicadas sing on top of berry trees / High and low sounds fill the mountains / Cicadas’ songs are so beautiful, let’s stop and listen / You can hear the mountains and forests resounding / Even the birds would stop and listen / There is music, there is love / All four seasons are filled with happiness / We are happy in our hearts