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An introduction to Piyutim (piyut.org.il)
A piyut (piyutim, pl. hebrew) is a sacred musical poem, sung as part of a communal prayer service but just as often after a good meal with friends and family. I was raised with these songs and tunes, learning a new one occasionally while eating as a guest at someone's house, or at a weekend gathering, or in Israel at Yeshiva. I always hoped there was some archive because I was hearing quite a few of the common melodies and worried that there were likely thousands more that were fading into obscurity or limited by geography. (Ever wonder what shabbat tunes are kept in the piyutim of Kurdish Jews?) Then I stumbled on this site, piyut.org, which is just such an archive. I am so thankful. They even have something like a comprehensive collection of musical scales... I'm not certain what is meant by "musical scales" on this page, but I chose one at random and I found some musical expression that was completely new to me. I suspect that the music found on this site would also be appreciated by audionauts of sufi sacred music such as the Qawallis of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But this archive is so diverse, I am still plumbing its depths of ancient sounds and their contemporary echoes.
I don't know when this website was founded but from their about page it seems quite active with a passionate group of musicians, academics, and other scholars working on something they know is unique and essential to preserve and promote. This statement on that page summed it up nicely:
The vast majority of the poetic and musical creativity of the Jews emerged in various Diaspora communities during the past two millennia. Since the founding of the State of Israel and the immigration of the majority of these ancient Diaspora communities to Israel, large sections of the great tradition of piyut have been lost or forgotten. Finding access to the remnants that remain is not easy. The brief history of the modern period created, in many cases, a gap between the tradition of the past and the modern society and culture that developed in Israel. Tradition generally, and the legacy of piyut in particular, has stayed alive and meaningful only among a small portion of the Israeli population.
As time has passed, the need for people to connect with these roots has grown greatly. It is a need to access the voices calling from the depths of time, absorbed in emotion and wisdom of the many generations that sang these piyutim. We will widen and deepen our language and understand ourselves and our nation better as part of understanding our ancestors and their traditions better.
This is an informational post for ipod classic owners out there. The recent firmware update 1.0.3 changed the functionality of the shuffle songs feature. Until you follow the following steps, the menu setting for "Shuffle" will have no effect.
To change the ipod from shuffling songs to shuffling albums follow these steps:
1) Go ahead and shuffle your songs
2) Press the center button three times
3) select the shuffle setting you want ("songs", "albums", or "off")
Once you have done this you will once again be able to change the shuffle setting via the ipod classic Settings.
For regular readers of this blog curious whatever happened to my 100gb Archos Jukebox/Rockbox player (blogged of here) a short note. The Archos is ok but (since soon after the periodic completion of this spaceling's ambient solar orbit) the Archos took to rocking it with the Junkions on Planet Junk (at the bottom of my junk pile).
But looking back all nostalgia like for my tech-Gomi, the Archos Jukebox was an energy whore, that required me to lug around an AC adapter to service it's unquenchable thirst for electrons. And it couldn't shuffle albums.
"Shuffle Albums" was the killer feature I pined for in an mp3 player so when I discovered the ipods were capable of that (and the newer archos' and cowons still could not) I shelled out for my little slice of Apple. (iTunes free thanks to Ubuntu Linux + Floola, I should add).
Why is shuffle albums so important? For the same reason that "Album List 2" is an essential plugin for winamp -- it provides for the ability to listen to a random album (just like those old giant 100 CD jukeboxes could). Industry folks talk about how the revolution of the mp3 was that it liberated tracks from the medium of "Albums." Tracks could be listened to individually, mixed and shuffled at random, and most importantly, sold individually. But the medium of albums is still important for much of the music I listen to, whether it be Beethoven's 9th Symphony or Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians: I want to listen to my tracks sequentially in the order suggested by the composer artist's imagination. Or said differently: context matters, provenance matters, and please don't use tech to manipulate art as a commodity.
The Archos is still accessible and usable and I'll find a place for it in some future project. But aside from random firmware scares (see above shuffle surprise), I'm pretty damn pleased with this little apple unit. Wish Apple'd be more open with their firmware though and less jerky about opening up their tech to 3rd party itunes alternative ipod managers.
Comments
Hi David. The time for lurking is over. I'm enjoying all these new features I've wanted for so long!
if we could only crank out the other 20 we know you want.
next big one is getting everyone every track for FREE .
mark my word.
Pink Floyd fans may know of this series of discs that make available a plethora of rare recordings: radio adverts, interviews, mono edits, alternate versions, etcetera. On disc three, track 20, a very special track, and one which gave me the shivers. You'll understand when you listen to it.
From wikipedia:
Snippets of dialogue between and over the top of the songs are also featured on the recording [of Dark Side of the Moon]. Roger Waters devised a method of interviewing people, whereby questions were printed on flashcards in sequential order and the subject's responses were recorded uninterrupted. The questions related to central themes of the album such as madness, violence, and death. Participants were commandeered from around Abbey Road, placed in the darkened studio in front of a microphone, and told to answer the questions in the order which they were presented. This provoked some surprising responses to subsequent questions. For example, the question "When was the last time you were violent?" was immediately followed by "Were you in the right?" (Henderson, Peter; Surcliffe, Phil; and Bungey, John (1998). The First Men on the Moon Part 2 (html). REG . MOJO Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.)
Recordings of road manager Roger "The Hat" Manifold were the only ones obtained through a conventional sit-down interview because the band members could not find him at the time and his responses (including "give 'em a quick, short, sharp shock..." and "live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me...") had to be taped later when the flashcards had been lost.
From the liner notes of A Tree Full of Secrets (disc 3):
Roger the Hat interview (07:30)
Recorded : 1972
Primary source : Capital Radio broadcast ("Pink Floyd Story"), December 1976 - January 1977
Source for the tree : unknown gen from Capital Radio broadcast
All through "The Dark Side of the Moon" album, you can hear the voices of people interviewed by the band. Here, Roger the Hat (who was a roadie for various rock bands) is interviewed by Roger Waters. On the album, you can hear his voice during "On the Run" ("Live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me, hahaha…") and during "Us And Them" ("Short, sharp shock …").
(UPDATE: Very difficult to find more information on Roger Manifold on the web. The above picture came from this webpage about another band he was a roadie with, The Third World War. Apparently, the Hat monicker derived from Mr. Monicker's recognizable top hat, sported in his daily roadie ministrations. Wish I could find a picture of it. I love top hats, too.)
Comments
He's a right cheap and chippy chopper, 'e is:)
Listening after the show. Thank you. Had no idea of these recordings existence.
Hope all is well!
W: All is well... just the familiar distractions and confusions. This might be obvious but integrating my music player and going out to hear live music -- really help.
W & LJ: These discs were another lovely USENET find from alt.binaries....prog group. Some angel dumped their entire rip of the collection there. There are a few more spoken word pieces I'll be posting in the upcoming weeks. Some Moggers are posting every day and I have trouble keeping up. I'll be providing a steady diet, just less often.
MOG Meter
Comments
What a beautiful find.
A Happy New Anno to you. Hope it's good to you.
Seriously, though, thank you. What a fantastic archive!
Having to play serious catch up, but had to comment on this one.