Seems like a “No, duh” interpretation, but this is still a big deal for music educators and public school IT admins.

That’s what I conclude from today’s New York Times story about declining audiences for late-night talk shows such as The Tonight Show and The Late Show. Writes Bill Carter: “….[T]he median age of [Jay Leno's] viewers has crept up to 55.6 from 46.6. Mr. Letterman’s audience is slightly younger, at 54.7.” The latest findings by the League of American Orchestras, drawing on their own studies as well as the most recent NEA study of arts participation, indicate that the median age for the classical audience is forty-nine. In fact, that’s younger than the median age of the entire prime-time television public.

That no what I would have expected, but I like it.

I like how hard these guys are trying.

McSweeny’s: Rap Lyrics of the (17)90s.

Fingering would be no problem were it not that music notes are preceded and/or followed by other notes.”

Yuichiro Yonebayashi, Hirokazu Kameoka, and Shigeki Sagayama.

Tumblr is blowin’ up with great music posts today. I love it!

You can see it on her post too, but since I can’t seem to stop posting about Lady Gaga, here’s the video in question:

I don’t about all of you, but I certainly have a large number of CDs that are of the non-commercial variety (self recordings and the like). Just this weekend I have been going through a big box of them and noticing significant degradation on some of the older ones. These are only about 5-8 years old, and admittedly I haven’t treated them with the upmost care. More like, I left them in my parent’s garage for a summer, then threw them in a box, moved them 500 miles to Michigan, put them in a closet, and jostled them considerably. Luckily I haven’t found anything that is irreplaceable that I will lose, but it is creating a sense of urgency for me to get going on my full-on digital conversion.

CDs are not forever. Back-up anything valuable.

Neven Mrgan made this really nice chart to show the differences between the two recordings.

This isn’t a “Go Buy This” kind of blog, but seriously, GO BUY THIS! Just do it. If you listen to music, you need to own these two recordings. I’ve posted about them before, and I probably will again because they are so valuable for a listener. Think of it as you text book.

What you will immediately hear is the development of Glen’s interpretation over the 26 years. I doubt the change happened all at once. It’s more likely that Glen slowly discovered new sounds within the piece that warranted slower tempos and more repeats. Although none of us are Glen Gould, we can learn to think like he did, or more importantly, learn to listen like he did through this invaluable double-CD set.

Plan of attack:

1. Tear off the shrink-wrap and enjoy the liner notes. They are extremely well written and deserving of a few readings.
2. Take the 1981 CD out of the package, put it in a different case, and hide it from yourself for one month.
3. For the entire first month, just listen to the 1955 recording. Really get into it and know it. Know it so well you can join in the sing-along.
4. After one month, like a fine wine, break out the 1981 recording. You will notice the differences right away. Try to get over the shock of the slower tempos and really listen into the sounds.

To me, Glen’s piano sounds absolutely majestic in the latter recording. The 1955 recording has a more wooden, earthy, but smaller sound, whereas the 1981 recording sparkles with brilliance. Also, Glen’s reputation clearly preceded him in 1981 and the engineers were ready to deal with his squeaky chair and the dulcimer tones of Glen’s imaginary, extraneous obbligato.

I love them both for so many different reasons but mostly because the fantastic listening challenge the two recordings offer. It’s such a rarity to have two recordings by the same person that are so different, yet each so good in their own ways. Really, just get it.

What a shame.

Full story on Sequenza21.

At first I smiled at the novelty, but the more I think about it, it’s a really great idea, and he does a really good job.