Shellac, bakelite, vinyl, and paper : Artifacts and representations of North Indian art music

Short songs in dialects of Hindi are the basis for improvisation in all the genres of North Indian classical vocal music. These songs, bandises, constitute a central pillar of North Indian culture, spreading well beyond the geographic frontiers of Hindi itself. Songs are significant as being the only aspect of North Indian music that is "fixed" and handed down via oral tradition relatively intact. They are regarded as the core of Indian art music because they encapsulate the melodic structures upon which improvisation is based. In this paper we aim to look at some issues raised by the idiosyncrasies of written representations of songs as they has occurred within the Indian cultural milieu, and then at issues that have emerged in the course of our own ongoing efforts to represent khyal songs from the perspectives of somewhat "insidish outsiders."Issue title: Performance Literature I

Growing into Music: Childhood music learning in India, Azerbaijan, Mali, Cuba, Venezuela

Gorwing into Music is a 68 minute film that explores how children in diverse cultures from different parts of the world acquire musical skills and knowledge. Shot on location between 2009-12, the film shows children learning and performing within some of the world's most celebrated oral traditions. It explores the contrasting ways that musicianship continues to be orally transmitted between generations in the 21st century. Directed by Lucy Durán, edited by Maya Maffioli