Activism at Gaia.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by a. siranjan kulatilake on November 11, 2009 at 12:04pm

i like this idea

Permalink Reply by T. A. Zook on November 10, 2009 at 7:27pm

Hopefully, the following is responsive:

The great Andrés Segovia's insight into the essence of music is revealed in the following:
". . . sonority and its infinite shadings are not the result of stubborn will power but spring from the innate excellence of the spirit."

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David Darling:

"Music is the only source of energy that I have known in my life that gives humans a chance to be instantly transformed into spirit."

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"The Spiritual Significance of Music: I believe that the the spiritual significance of music is an intelligence, and consciousness that we are all given by our life. Babies in the womb respond to music and as our ears our emptied of the water at birth sounds/music begin their profound influence on our life. Music is the highest spiritual entity that I know about in my life. Music transforms our daily life moment by moment. We walk, run, dance, sing, chant. whistle, hum, groove to music our entire life. We are moved to tears by music and of course it is the key element in all rituals of the human experience. We are born into musical sound, and we pass to the next dimension with music as our friend and guide.

One of the sadness I feel about modern civilization is that the birth right to be musical has been taken away from many humans who have suffered from very narrow minded and uninformed teachers of music as well as society in general when there is criticism of any human of failing to sing or groove to some artificial standard.

What we know about music is that it comes to each individual in a personal way and when our outpouring of singing or grooving is approved of and encouraged great things happen for each individual. All of us succeed when we are surrounded by love rather than negative action."

— David Darling, October 2008

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Alberto Ludwig Urquieta: "El universo es tremendamente creativo, lo que nos obliga a abrirnos a lo desconocido…" (The universe is tremendously creative, which obliges us to open ourselves to the unknown . . .)

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A Bill of Musical Rights --- Developed by David Darling/Music for People

-Human beings need to express themselves daily in a way that invites physical and emotional release.

-Musical self-expression is a joyful and healthy means of communication available to absolutely everyone.

-There are as many different ways to make music as there are people.

-The human voice is the most natural and powerful vehicle for musical self-expression. The differences in our voices add richness and depth to music.

-Sincerely expressed emotion is at the root of meaningful musical expression.

-Your music is more authentically expressed when your body is involved in your musical expression.

-The European tradition of music is only one sound. All other cultures and traditions deserve equal attention.

-Any combination of people and instruments can make music together.

-There are no "unmusical" people, only those with no musical experience.

-Music improvisation is a unique and positive way to build skills for life-expression.

-In improvisation as in life, we must be responsible for the vibrations we send one another.

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A very thought-provoking observation shared by Renato Ciunfrini: "Life is more ancient than death".

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LaDonna Smith: "Every human being should have a musical instrument."

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From "The New Atlantis" by Sir Francis Bacon (written in 1624!)(http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/bacon/atlantis.html) with thanks to Sound on Sound's April 2008 issue and in tribute to the late Daphne Oram of BBC's The Radiophonic Workshop:

"We have also sound-houses, where we practise and demonstrate all sounds and their generation. We have harmony which you have not, of quarter-sounds and lesser slides of sounds. Divers instruments of music likewise to you unknown, some sweeter than any you have; with bells and rings that are dainty and sweet. We represent small sounds as great and deep, likewise great sounds extenuate and sharp; we make divers tremblings and warblings of sounds, which in their original are entire. We represent and imitate all articulate sounds and letters, and the voices and notes of beasts and birds. We have certain helps which, set to the ear, do further the hearing greatly; we have also divers strange and artificial echoes, reflecting the voice many times, and, as it were, tossing it; and some that give back the voice louder than it came, some shriller and some deeper; yea, some rendering the voice, differing in the letters or articulate sound from that they receive. We have all means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes, in strange lines and distances."

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An excerpt from address to parents of the incoming freshman class at Boston Conservatory, given by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of the music division at Boston Conservatory (brought to my attention by the incomparable oboist, english horn player and singer-songwriter Marianne Oisel):

"The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us."

(source: http://amandamichellewhite.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/speech-by-karl-...)

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Snæfellsjökull

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David Darling:

http://www.daviddarling.com

http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003038/David-Darling.html

http://www.darlingconversations.com/

http://www.pandora.com/music/artist/david+darling


http://www.windovertheearth.com/Mdarling.html

http://www.windovertheearth.com/Movie/Chi%20Web%20Short%204-2.mov

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0201350/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy8TL6yPz9g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlekWKfdfjg

http://www.kientalerhof.ch/cms01/index.php?option=com_content&t...

http://www.starsend.org/daviddarling.html




http://rv-films.com/projects/salim.html

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Sophocles Papas:

http://comusco.com/sophocles_papas.en.html

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Frank Mullen:

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/learn.html

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/sounds.html

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/sounds/TapsMiller.mp3

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/sounds/OutofNowhere.mp3

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/sounds/Prelude.mp3

http://www.bluelinejazz.com/mullen/sounds/Goodbye.mp3

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Andrés Segovia:

http://www.classicalguitar.net/artists/segovia

http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Articles/Transcriptions/Segovia/Segovi...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG7y_CD9rMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8EDpJ-aIM8

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Chantal Drapeau -- Musique du Coeur:

http://www.musiqueducoeur.com/

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Antonin

http://www.antoninisnow.com

http://thetaheals.com/

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Suzann Kole:

http://www.suzannkole.com/

http://suzannkole.com/music.html

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Music for People:

http://www.musicforpeople.org

http://www.musicforpeople.org/rights.html

http://classicalimprov.blogspot.com/2006/05/music-for-people-part-i...

http://www.innergameofmusic.com/inspiration/artists-darling.html

http://www.innergameofmusic.com/articles/ac-inspiration-silence.html

http://www.returntochild.com/

http://www.returntochild.com/rtc_reviews_plain.htm

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Bang on a Can:

http://www.bangonacan.org

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The Improviser:

http://www.the-improvisor.com/

http://www.the-improvisor.com/ladprop1.html

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LaDonna Smith:

http://www.the-improvisor.com/transmuseq/ladonna/" target="_blank">http://www.the-improvisor.com/transmuseq/ladonna/" target="_blank">http://www.the-improvisor.com/transmuseq/ladonna/

http://www.furious.com/perfect/ladonnasmith.html

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Loopers Delight:

http://www.loopersdelight.com

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An absolute goldmine of samples: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/

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Sky Orchestra:

http://lukejerram.com/skyorchestra/Sky_Orchestra.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX_poZdHsQE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCjaYqymtII

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYAaZSozj4o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrKlhUH5WTQ

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Andy Goldsworthy/Rivers and Tides:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TWBSMc47bw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy

http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&vi...

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/60027273?trkid=73

http://www.documentaryfilms.net/Reviews/RiversAndTides/

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/goldsworthyinfo.shtm

http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/AndyGoldsworthy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/31/art.art

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Gregory Colbert/Ashes and Snow :

http://www.ashesandsnow.com

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/newsounds/episodes/2006/06/28

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Soundmuseum:

http://www.soundmuseum.fm/Home/

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Silophone:

http://www.silophone.net

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SODRE-FM:

I had the privilege of living in Uruguay in the 1960s, and thus became acquainted with its magnificent radio network, SODRE (http://www.sodre.gub.uy.asp1-4.websitetestlink.com/Sodre/). SODRE is now on the Internet, and I would recommend these two stations in particular to non-Spanish speakers:

http://66.231.176.184:9170/listen.pls (SODRE Babel)

http://66.231.176.184:9090/listen.pls (Clásica AM)

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Giovanni Sollima (http://www.giovannisollima.it/):

Sogno ad Occhi Aperti (Daydream) -- an incredibly beautiful work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldPf3yqq3-8&NR=1 (this is "Part 1");

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3NkQ00_ZbI&mode=related&sea... (this is "Part 2" of the same work))

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Alfred James Goodrich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYY5KHalnCg

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Flash Synthesizers available on the Internet:

http://www.ctrlaltdel.org

http://www.eye4u.com/showroom/websynth/websynth.htm

http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~nesson/sequencer.html

(I ignore the graphics and enjoy fooling around with the sequencer controls);

http://www.andkon.com/arcade/other/simsynthesizer/

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/vdrums.html

http://lab.andre-michelle.com has a phenomenal collection of synths - which can be opened up in separate windows simultaneously to great effect.

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/wavepole-synthesizer

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/playing-with-pulse-harmonics

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/karplus-strong-guitar

http://www.hobnox.com/index.1056.en.html

http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/eq-filter

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/particle-explosion

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/jarcase-instant-sampler

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/music-video-with-bitmapfilters

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/scratching

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tb-303

http://www.sfpg.com/animation/spectratone.html (I don't know if this is technically a flash synthesizer, but it's interesting!)

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http://createdigitalmusic.com/

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Eduardo Falú:

http://www.falufilm.com/

http://www.laccs.com/eduardo.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6XZnYlJDes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmS67hKvYqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUsUNMgLLTI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhNY6X75SQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3takCuyF1U4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOI5uzYu1WY

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Jaco Pastorius:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5c3H6LpLZI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxZWvhGE7CM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXOnhzoC-i8&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmUTK6UBeek&feature=related

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Weather Report:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25DXcFg1TFo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQlSSOXU6A

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Eberhard Weber:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8XNztzfWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSGdw0KZoOk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_Weber

http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1900/1920.php?lvredir=712&a...


http://www.last.fm/music/Eberhard+Weber

http://www.pandora.com/stations/b81d67cf895c2cda592570473d136ab73a5...
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Egberto Gismonti:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYkWHWfqXnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRqc_oQ6Y5k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep77ig3vIlw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3onCP23TWFo

Permalink Reply by Nicolas Laget on November 10, 2009 at 9:10pm

Hooooolllly smokes Ted! Thanks!

N

Permalink Reply by T. A. Zook on November 10, 2009 at 10:57pm

You're welcome -- there's even more, which I'll send along when I have a few minutes to focus. I thought that I should let you know that the "Lost Civilizations" experimental music project (http://www.myspace.com/lostcivilizationsmusic) will be appearing at the Galaxy Hut on Sunday, Nov. 15. Details: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4559221.

I also just finished getting somewhat caught-up in posting recent (well, one dates back to July, but it was a tough nugget due to some inadvertent distortion issues (I'm learning, I'm learning . . . )) Lost Civilizations performances:

http://www.myspace.com/lostcivilizationsvii ("Lost Civilizations VII" CDR; a July 5 session)

http://www.myspace.com/lostcivilizationsix; ("Lost Civilizations IX" CDR; an October 13, 2009 performance of the Lost Civilizations experimental music project, joined by Jason Mullinax (aka "Pilesar" (http://www.myspace.com/pilesarmusic ; http://pilesarmusic.com/)) at the Velvet Lounge. (Jason will be opening with a solo performance at the Galaxy Hut gig)

http://www.myspace.com/lostcivilizationsx ("Lost Civilizations X" CDR; an October 25, 2009 performance at the Bossa Bistro & Lounge in Washington, DC, with guest artist Emre Kartari on percussion.)

Enjoy!

Permalink Reply by Nicolas Laget on November 10, 2009 at 1:07pm

Another example:

You just got a shitty text from your stupid boyfriend.
You've been wondering why you stay with him for a while now.
You hold on to your memory of the first few months where he was a totally different animal.
You hope he'll show you that's who he really is. Not the jerk he is now.
Yet something in your gut knows you are fooling yourself.

Sipping on your drink your eyes land on a little monitor across you table.
It says:

"You only lose what you cling on to."
Buddha

You smile.

Permalink Reply by Nicolas Laget on November 10, 2009 at 12:59pm

Example:

You glance at the screen. It reads:

"Did you know huge islands of trash grow in every ocean?
The largest one is the size of Texas."

The next day you go to GaiaDc.com and look for that quote. You click on it and get forwarded to this article:

-------------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?th&emc=th

Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash

By LINDSEY HOSHAW

Published: November 9, 2009

ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.

Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But one research organization estimates that the garbage now actually pervades the Pacific, though most of it is caught in what oceanographers call a gyre like this one — an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.

Scientists say the garbage patch is just one of five that may be caught in giant gyres scattered around the world’s oceans. Abandoned fishing gear like buoys, fishing line and nets account for some of the waste, but other items come from land after washing into storm drains and out to sea.

Plastic is the most common refuse in the patch because it is lightweight, durable and an omnipresent, disposable product in both advanced and developing societies. It can float along for hundreds of miles before being caught in a gyre and then, over time, breaking down.

But once it does split into pieces, the fragments look like confetti in the water. Millions, billions, trillions and more of these particles are floating in the world’s trash-filled gyres.

PCBs, DDT and other toxic chemicals cannot dissolve in water, but the plastic absorbs them like a sponge. Fish that feed on plankton ingest the tiny plastic particles. Scientists from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation say that fish tissues contain some of the same chemicals as the plastic. The scientists speculate that toxic chemicals are leaching into fish tissue from the plastic they eat.

The researchers say that when a predator — a larger fish or a person — eats the fish that eats the plastic, that predator may be transferring toxins to its own tissues, and in greater concentrations since toxins from multiple food sources can accumulate in the body.

Charles Moore found the Pacific garbage patch by accident 12 years ago, when he came upon it on his way back from a sailing race in Hawaii. As captain, Mr. Moore ferried three researchers, his first mate and a journalist here this summer in his 10th scientific trip to the site. He is convinced that several similar garbage patches remain to be discovered.

“Anywhere you really look for it, you’re going to see it,” he said.

Many scientists believe there is a garbage patch off the coast of Japan and another in the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Bonnie Monteleone, a University of North Carolina, Wilmington, graduate student researching a master’s thesis on plastic accumulation in the ocean, visited the Sargasso Sea in late spring and the Pacific garbage patch with Mr. Moore this summer.

“I saw much higher concentrations of trash in the Pacific garbage patch than in the Sargasso,” Ms. Monteleone said, while acknowledging that she might not have found the Atlantic gyre.

Ms. Monteleone, a volunteer crew member on Mr. Moore’s ship, kept hoping she would see at least one sample taken from the Pacific garbage patch without any trash in it. “Just one area — just one,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to see. But everywhere had plastic.”

The Pacific garbage patch gained prominence after three independent marine research organizations visited it this summer. One of them, Project Kaisei, based in San Francisco, is trying to devise ways to clean up the patch by turning plastic into diesel fuel.

Environmentalists and celebrities are using the patch to promote their own causes. The actor Ted Danson’s nonprofit group Oceana designated Mr. Moore a hero for his work on the patch. Another Hollywood figure, Edward Norton, narrated a public-service announcement about plastic bags, which make their way out to the patch.

Mr. Moore, however, is the first person to have pursued serious scientific research by sampling the garbage patch. In 1999, he dedicated the Algalita foundation to studying it. Now the foundation examines plastic debris and takes samples of polluted water off the California coast and across the Pacific Ocean. By dragging a fine mesh net behind his research vessel Alguita, a 50-foot aluminum catamaran, Mr. Moore is able to collect small plastic fragments.

Researchers measure the amount of plastic in each sample and calculate the weight of each fragment. They also test the tissues of any fish caught in the nets to measure for toxic chemicals. One rainbow runner from a previous voyage had 84 pieces of plastic in its stomach.

The research team has not tested the most recent catch for toxic chemicals, but the water samples show that the amount of plastic in the gyre and the larger Pacific is increasing. Water samples from February contained twice as much plastic as samples from a decade ago.

“This is not the garbage patch I knew in 1999,” Mr. Moore said. “This is a totally different animal.”

For the captain’s first mate, Jeffery Ernst, the patch was “just a reminder that there’s nowhere that isn’t affected by humanity.”