EXPLO.TV - Webcasts, Video Clips, and Podcasts from the Exploratorium

Speaking of Music Rewind: Najma Ahktar Part 1 (Podcast)

Running Time:
00:53:03

Najma Akhtar is a singer, composer, and actress who has been in heavy rotation in the World Music orbit for over 20 years. She was born and raised in England but sings in the traditional style of India, her ancestral homeland. In this presentation from 1991, she performs many songs with her band, and openly discusses her unique cultural and musical fusions.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: September 17, 2010
Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): art

Keywords: indian music, speaking of music rewind

Alternative content

download MP3 (72.8 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Najma Ahktar Part 2 (Podcast)

Running Time:
55:58:00

Najma Akhtar is a singer, composer, and actress who has been in heavy rotation in the World Music orbit for over 20 years. She was born and raised in England but sings in the traditional style of India, her ancestral homeland. In this presentation from 1991, she performs many songs with her band, and openly discusses her unique cultural and musical fusions.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: September 17, 2010
Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): art

Keywords: indian music, speaking of music rewind

Alternative content

download MP3 (76 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Meredith Monk Part 1 (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:07:18

Meredith Monk has been on the vanguard of interdisciplinary performance for 45 years. In this conversation from 1984, she discusses her works of that era, reflects on her process and aspirations for her work, takes questions, and performs excerpts from Education of the Girlchild.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: August 20, 2010
Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): art

Keywords: meredith monk, opera, speaking of music

Alternative content

download MP3 (92 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Meredith Monk Part 2 (Podcast)

Running Time:
00:53:35

Meredith Monk has been on the vanguard of interdisciplinary performance for 45 years. In this conversation from 1984, she discusses her works of that era, reflects on her process and aspirations for her work, takes questions, and performs excerpts from Education of the Girlchild.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: August 20, 2010
Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): art

Keywords: meredith monk, opera, speaking of music

Alternative content

download MP3 (73 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Ali Akbar Khan part 1 (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:03:00

This presentation, originally recorded in 1992, is a meditation on a lifetime dedicated to music. The renowned Hindustani classical music master Ali Akbar Khan recounts the earliest days of his musical study with his father (including his 18-hour practice days); how he chose to play and master his instrument, the sarod (maybe it chose him); and how music can be a healing force. He plays the instrument and explains how it works and how it’s different from the more well-known sitar. Khan also discusses the founding of his music school in San Rafael, California, a manifestation of his philosophy that knowledge of music should be shared with others.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: June 18, 2010
Format: Demonstration / Activity
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Art

Keywords: ali akbar khan, speaking of music

Alternative content

download MP3 (114 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Ali Akbar Khan part 2 (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:03:00

A concert performed by the renowned Hindustani classical music master Ali Akbar Khan on sarod, recorded in 1992.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: June 18, 2010
Format: Demonstration / Activity
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): art

Keywords: ali akbar khan, speaking of music

Alternative content

download MP3 (87.3 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: John Cage (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:28:01

John Cage was one of the most influential composers in modern American music. He raised fundamental questions about the nature of music, and invigorated, provoked, and perplexed audiences throughout his long career. In this lecture from 1987, excerpts of his work are played and discussed. Afterwards, Cage takes questions and shares his thoughts on subjects ranging from the origins of his impulse to make music-"Many composers hear music before they write it, but I write music in order to hear it"-to using chance to create without ego or intention. He asks why we should listen to music instead of just listening to the sounds around us, and answers: "There's no reason."

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: May 20, 2010
Format: Interview
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Art

Keywords: john cage, music, speaking of music,

Alternative content

download MP3 (120.08 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Pauline Oliveros (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:34:04

Composer and performer Pauline Oliveros has been a pioneering figure in American music for over four decades. In this intimate talk recorded at the Exploratorium on February 21, 1985, Oliveros discusses her decision to quit teaching and flee to Italy with her accordion, her appreciation of the Grateful Dead's concert sound system, and the perils of the squeezebox. She also takes audience questions and performs "Rattlesnake Mountain" live.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: April 16, 2010
Format: Lecture
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Art

Keywords: speaking of music, pauline oliveros, accordian

Alternative content

download MP3 (131.1 MB)

Speaking of Music Rewind: Anthony Braxton (Podcast)

Running Time:
01:54:49

In this extensive talk from 1985, prolific American composer, musician, and self-proclaimed 'student' Anthony Braxton discusses many elements of his musical work. Because Braxton sees his musical output as part of larger constellations of culture, politics, and spirituality, his talk is huge in scope, and his language sometimes dizzies while it dazzles. He discusses his personal rejection of music for entertainment, and considers instead what music might do to further universal values. He also takes audience questions and plays excerpts of some of his recordings. This talk will amuse, awe, challenge, and inspire interested parties old and new.

Project: Speaking of Music Rewind | Browse All

Date: March 18, 2010
Format: Lecture
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Music

Keywords: music braxton

Alternative content

download MP3 (105.1 MB)

After Dark: Distortion: Thee Oh Sees and Harry Smith Film (Clip)

Running Time:
00:01:49

A highlight of this After Dark evening was Thee Oh Sees, one of the Bay Area’s best underground bands, who created a playful aural disorientation while playing in front of “visual music” by the late experimental filmmaker and musicologist Harry Smith.

Project: After Dark | Browse All

Date: March 4, 2010
Format: Event
Category: Popular Culture
Subject(s): Art

Keywords: music, band, concert, thee oh sees, harry smith, experimental, art, film, after dark


		Streaming Technology provided by: Digital Rapids	Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation,.and the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).