response 125 of 231:

Apr 29 03:38 UTC 1998

  then he was criticized again, later, when it turned out he wanted to
  use it in *every* song..  :-)   I like the sound of the sitar but it
  doesn't work for everything..

  Having been raised on western music I find Indian music hard to
  appreciate -- I'm willing to believe that it has just as much depth
  and variety as the musical styles with which I am familiar but I just
  don't pick up on the right elements.  I have the same problem with other
  Asian musical traditions.  African and South American musical forms are
  much easier for me to appreciate, as they have introduced elements from,
  and contributed elements to, western music as I know it, but traditional
  Asian forms sound very alien to me, no matter how much I wish I could
  appreciate them.  

response 127 of 231:

Apr 29 07:20 UTC 1998

Hello to everybody,
"who am I?" I'm a 23 years italian boy.
I love Beatles, Simon&Garfunkel, the last U2, dIRE sTRAITS, R.E.M.
and, obviously the fabolous
Pink Floyd :-)
luca_

response 129 of 231:

Apr 29 23:50 UTC 1998

No one has mentioned yet that the scale systems of non-Western countries are
very, very, different.  I'm sure African music forms are easy to digest
because we've been literally exposed to them for years.  The blues scale, for
example, comes from an African scale.  A lot of the merging of Western music
and African music through the crossroads of folk, blues, and classical styles
are what created jazz, rock n' roll, etc.  I'd say ditto on South American
styles.  For many years, it was shaped by the influence of the conquistadors.
The Peruvian/Bolivian charango, for example, is a ten-stringed native
instrument based on the Spanish guitar.  Granted, there are some elements that
remained untouched, but, the styles continue to mix (German accordion in
Mexican tejano {tex-mex} and banda music, from the immigration of Nazi
sympathizers-- importance of Spanish guitar in Mexico and South America, etc.,
etc., etc.)

I've seen just a smidgeon of Indian influence in some new Brit pop acts
(Indian-British musicians).  I'm sure it's late in coming, but the New Brits
seem a little more tolerant than earlier generations of foreign culture.

You have to remember, too, that Western music was based on the honing of only
two of the 12 modes in 12-tone system.  Those modes would be major and minor,
or Ionian and Aeolian.  We often hear Myxolidian in jazz and blues-based
music, but otherwise, that's all we usually hear.  Occasionally, some of us
music students will play pieces in the Dorian mode, but that's about it. 
These modes, also called the 'church modes,' were once used quite frequently
in music before the 17th century.

I am supposing other countries and cultures use modal systems quite freely,
and so their interpretation of mood in music can be quite different from
ours-- or perhaps different in shade, to use a visual correlation.

I'd explain modes and why we chose to move to major, minor, and the two
variations of minor, but I'd waste more time and move out of my capability
to explain in fully and effectively.

response 131 of 231:

May 1 00:34 UTC 1998

I wouldn't doubt it.

response 133 of 231:

May 6 23:04 UTC 1998

I wouldn't doubt it.  I remember reading a technobass tune was popular in
India a few years back.

response 135 of 231:

May 7 22:23 UTC 1998

So it would seem.  We've been discussing in other items how the explosion of
multimedia is rapidly changing the world's music.

response 137 of 231:

May 9 00:49 UTC 1998

Well, it's not just that technology is shaping music-- it's that many people
suddenly have access to hear more and more of the diversity of musical styles
throughout the world and throughout history.  Because musicians are exposed
to musical styles they might not have heard otherwise, they can implement
those other ideas in their music.

response 139 of 231:

May 26 03:26 UTC 1998

Hey there... I think I'm back... *again*.  Can't promisse how long it will
last, or that I'll actually have anything interesting to contribute, but at
least I'm functioning in the real (well, kind of) world again. :/

response 141 of 231:

May 28 03:26 UTC 1998

decidedly 'nobody home' :)  (In fact, i think that's the lyrics that are
currently hiding in my .plan if anyone cares! :)

response 143 of 231:

Jun 3 03:57 UTC 1998

Leslie and I are back after our Big Trip.  (see  item:agora,116 )
Thanks to everyone for keeping things perking along while we 
were gone.

response 145 of 231:

Jun 6 13:49 UTC 1998

And, from what I understand, India's cinematic industry rivals Hollywood. 

response 147 of 231:

Jun 7 07:19 UTC 1998

How come I haven't seen any of these movies, then, or heard about them?

response 149 of 231:

Jun 7 21:27 UTC 1998

  Have you tried looking at a specialty video store?  Often Indian grocery
  stores will have a video rental section -- of course their selection is
  usually not very large and given the huge number of films that are produced
  your chances of finding a specific movie may be small..  

  The Indian movies I've seen have seemed very strange to me, accustomed
  as I am to Hollywood-style movies.  I suspect that may have a lot to do
  with their lack of distribution in this country, too, since at least some
  of the foremost films of many other countries make it into circulation here.
  (in recent years I can think of lots of movies from all of Europe, China,
  Japan, even a few from Iran and Viet Nam..  Except for the Apu movies,
  which were made years ago, I can only recall one Indian film which made
  it to theaters in Ann Arbor ("Bandit Queen"))