Animusic: Computer-animated music videos

I’d never heard of Animusic videos until my old high school classmate Joyce sent me a link to the one above.

Click on Animusic for the home page of the company that makes the videos.

Click on Animusic for a Wikepedia article.

More videos below.

A deaf percussionist shows how to truly listen

Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie demonstrates that listening is done with your whole body and all your senses, and not just by letting sound waves hit your ear drums.   Her TED talk is a lesson in how to appreciate music and a lesson in why you should not judge people by their apparent physical limitations.

Hat tip to fleurmach | beyond your peripheral vision.

Paraguayan kids create beauty out of trash

This video is a trailer for a documentary to be released next year about the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra, whose 20 or so members are Paraguayan teenagers who play instruments made from recycled garbage.

They live in Cateura, a suburb of Asuncio, where reclaiming and recycling material from a landfill is a major industry.  Favio Chavez, a musician, had a youth orchestra perform in Cateura, and local teenagers wanted to learn to play musical instruments themselves.  But nobody in Catuera could afford to buy musical instruments.  A violin would cost more than one of the shacks the people live in.

So Chavez teamed up with Nicolas Gomez, a garbage picker, and they figured out how to make musical instruments out of reclaimed trash.   A saxophone was made from tin water pipes, bottle caps and spoon and fork handles.  A cello was made from an old oil can, recycled wood and a tool used for tenderizing pasta.  Juan Manuel Chavez is show in the video playing part of the Prelude to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 on that cello.

Click on Their Instruments May Be Garbage, But Their Music Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes to read more in Mother Jones magazine.   It’s quite a story.

Hat tip to Obsidian Wings.

Starships: a musical SF fanvid mashup

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Good fun!

I didn’t even know there was a genre called “fanvid” until I came across this a couple of days ago on Obsidian Wings.

Click on bironic for details and background information.

The beauty of Bach

I’m fortunate to live in Rochester, New York, home of the Eastman School of Music and a city of rich musical culture.  The church I attend, First Universalist Church, has wonderful church music because our music directors are recruited from the Eastman School.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t take advantage of my opportunities to hear great music, nor do I listen with the attention it deserves, but even a tone-deaf Philistine like me can appreciate Johann Sebastian Bach.

Hat tip to The Hairpin.

Syncopated Sleigh Ride

I like traditional Christmas carols best, but this is delightful.

Hat tip to Obsidian Wings.

Are there any popular songs more beautiful?

Are there any more beautiful songs, known and sung by almost everyone, than the traditional Christmas carols?

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

The performers are certified nurse anesthesiologists based in the Twin Cities who often perform at medical conventions.

Click on The Laryngospasms for their web page.

I thank my friend Jack Kashinsky for the link.