Sample designers Garritan Library, the folks behind the popular orchestral library Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO), have begun releasing portions of their free guide to orchestration (see my previous story). The full text and examples are straight out of the classic Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration text, the landmark guide to orchestration that has taught many master composers. The Rimsky-Korsakov is a must-read for composers, but it’s still one perspective and hardly perfect, so it’s even better to discover the text has been fully annotated in this version.Neat!
The result is a community-driven guide to orchestration that’s really unlike anything I’ve seen before. The whole course is designed for self-study, with plenty of examples and illustrations. The professors who edited and annotated the text are discussing the results, turning the Garritan forums into a kind of interactive classroom. When the whole set of lessons are done, they’re even holding an orchestration contest. (Now that’s something I never got in my orchestration classes — not just grades, but genuine competition.)
Here's a Jewish Week article on outgoing JTS chancellor Rabbi Ismar Schorsch's farewell address.
In his commencement remarks, Rabbi Schorsch told the 144 graduates (20 of whom were ordained by the rabbinical school): “As opposed to the dense and demanding discourse of scholarship, students crave instant gratification. The way to the heart is not through the circuitous and arduous route of the mind but the rhythmic beat of the drums. …That darn rap music! In addition to promoting misogyny, degrading Black people, and promting various vices, it's also affecting the scholarship level of the Conservative community. Via Jewschool.
“The primitiveness of rap and the consumerism of the mall threaten to trivialize the literary culture that is the pride of Judaism. Kitsch has become kosher. A synagogue out of sync is deemed bereft of spirituality. … Our addiction to instant gratification has stripped us of the patience to appreciate any discourse whose rhetoric is ddense and demanding. Mindlessly, we grasp for the quick spiritual fix.”
In the mood for some oldies? Check out these rare 78s.
YCT Rabbinical student Drew Kaplan writes about why he doesn't blog about music.
A Different Derech asks:
why is it that the only "jewish dance" is walking around in a circle... *sigh*Canonist writes about a fake Vatican organist.
Jewfork reviews Etan G's "South Side of the Synagogue. Mordy comments:
As much as I love snarky reviews of Jewish music - isn’t there an expiration date on most of these albums? Plus, can mocking a Shlock Rock sideproject be called edgy?Meet "Hatebeak"; a death metal parrot.
Say hi to the Sasregen Boys Choir too.
Glenn Reynolds is saying nice things about Sweetwater. I've only had good experiences with them too.
The Town Crier emails a link to a video produced by the CFJF, "Oy! Did he? Oh!" Incidentally, in both the Yehuda! version used in this video and the Ohad/Kinderlach version we linked to previously, the melody in bar two is sung wrong. Compare with Neshama Carlebach's version. In Cm, the third to last note of the bar should be an Ab, not a G. Let's nip this one in the bud guys, m'kay?
