>> ^legacy0100:
timpani isn't a very well constructed instrument now that I think about it. 3rd world drums play a much clearer, louder, deeper sounds than these behemoths. These bulbous cauldrons sound way too flat to say the least.
Perhaps because western orchestra's always been about the strings and the winds, and not so much on the percussions.


This isn't an example of a good timpani sound, or a particularly wise orchestration. It looks like a college recital, performed by a student who is still learning, so I wouldn't base your judgment of this instrument on one video.

There are many cool sounding low pitched ethnic drums, but none of them allow you to tune to a particular pitch on the fly. If you look closely, you'll see the performer adjusting a pedal - which tightens or loosens the head - at the base of these drums. A nice set of drums, played by a skilled player will give you a huge, clear awesome sound.

I'd recommend you check out a good recording of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Orff's Carmina Burana or Holst's Planets for a good idea of how Timpani are supposed to sound. You hear it quite a bit in film music too.

Percussion was underused in Western art music up until the 20th Century, so while most of the classical chestnuts only have a bit of perc here and there, you see quite a bit in music written over the last 100 years.

I arranged Bach's Passacaglia in Cm for Vibes, Marimba and Bass (with low C extention) for my junior recital, and it worked really well. I should dig that out and do it again somewhere.

1. Beatles - I Wanna Be Your Man
2. Robyn - Eclipse
3. Police - King of Pain
4. Stravinsky - Piano Concerto (mvt 3)
5. A-Ha - Living Daylights (James Bond Theme) (embarrassing)
6. The Statler Brothers - Flowers On The Wall
7. Vaughn Williams - Symphony 5 (mvt 4)
8. Jerry Goldsmith - Carol Ann's Theme from Poltergeist
9. Harry Connick jr. - Just A Boy
10. Malajube - Montreal -40C

Wahahaha! What's wrong with you two? Get a room!

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
So why don't you marry them?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

Little whores. But that's okay; keep 'em. I've moved on. I hollow out apples and fuck them now. I'm sick of the animal kingdom.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
The turtles, although I promised them I'd never tell you.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Who says I didn't?

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
So why don't you marry them?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

The turtles, although I promised them I'd never tell you.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Who says I didn't?

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
So why don't you marry them?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

Who says I didn't?

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
So why don't you marry them?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

So why don't you marry them?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

I like turtles.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

Rite of Spring is my favorite piece of all time.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

Because I'm a Democrat. I can't wait for Obama to win the election so that we can promptly surrender to the terrorists.

BTW, I'm currently watching your Stravinsky video. God that's such good music.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
^ Why do you hate our freedom kp?

"A good composer borrows, a great composer steals" -Igor Stravinsky (a great composer)

I actually stole it from a show that a couple of friends of mine wrote, who may have stolen it from SNL, who may have stolen it from somewhere else.....

Wow, great! Well found! Thank you.

In reply to this comment by phlogiston:
Some of the story of the choreography can be found by Google. Looks like this performance was in the 2001/2002 time frame and the clip ends before one of the dancers is stripped completely naked.

Quotes from the choreographer, Angelin Preljocaj, from the web site for his ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj.
“ Whenever I listen to Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" - veritable ground-swell of music of the 20th century - what I feel transpires through this work is as much a matter of fascination as of a feeling of ancestral terror.
This music unceasingly carries along with it a slowly rising force of desire, and at the same time, a kind of controlled panic.
A blend of madness at the thought of perpetrating an act literally dictated by the very molecules of our being and at the same time of jubilation stimulated by our senses ? a leap forward imbued here with the power of an irremediable force.
When faced with this ancestral mechanism, the bodies of the dancers, drunk with exhaustion, have no choice but to participate in this ritual.
Bringing the clan together around an impulse that is, in the end, biological, the Rite of Spring reminds us that as long as men and women continue in their spiritual, cultural or intellectual quest, they will unceasingly and inevitably stumble against this weakness.
As Pascal Quignard says in "sex and fright":
"we carry with us the mental disarray of our own conception.
There is no image that shocks us more than that of reminding us of the gestures of our very inception”

More at http://www.preljocaj.org/

Some of the story of the choreography can be found by Google. Looks like this performance was in the 2001/2002 time frame and the clip ends before one of the dancers is stripped completely naked.

Quotes from the choreographer, Angelin Preljocaj, from the web site for his ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj.
“ Whenever I listen to Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" - veritable ground-swell of music of the 20th century - what I feel transpires through this work is as much a matter of fascination as of a feeling of ancestral terror.
This music unceasingly carries along with it a slowly rising force of desire, and at the same time, a kind of controlled panic.
A blend of madness at the thought of perpetrating an act literally dictated by the very molecules of our being and at the same time of jubilation stimulated by our senses ? a leap forward imbued here with the power of an irremediable force.
When faced with this ancestral mechanism, the bodies of the dancers, drunk with exhaustion, have no choice but to participate in this ritual.
Bringing the clan together around an impulse that is, in the end, biological, the Rite of Spring reminds us that as long as men and women continue in their spiritual, cultural or intellectual quest, they will unceasingly and inevitably stumble against this weakness.
As Pascal Quignard says in "sex and fright":
"we carry with us the mental disarray of our own conception.
There is no image that shocks us more than that of reminding us of the gestures of our very inception”

More at http://www.preljocaj.org/

Man, I remember this from my music appreciation class back in college. I guess my professor did a good job teaching us (or maybe I was the only one who was actually being interested. I felt really awkward because I seemed to be the only one enjoying the class )

Paris was full of art connoisseurs who knew a thing or two of art styles. When This ballet was first shown, the idea of sacrifice and purposely off-beat tempo made everyone angry and they rioted. If you listen closely, none of the sounds are coordinated and they just seem to be everywhere. Even when the music starts with the 'bom bom bom bom bom' in 3:37 it's purposely accented in random timing to break the rhythmic feel, which was the way Stravinsky intended in order to give it a more 'chaotic' feel. Certainly bizzare and Parisians didn't know what to make of this, so they got angry.

Today we can probably categorize his work as 'expressionist' or something. But back then this was a completely different ballfield. Apparently Starvinsky came up with this "sacrificing virginity" idea based on things he observed when he was growing up back in native Russia. Musta been some kind of local tradition. Some rural villages in Japan still does it even to this day I hear.

I guess closest thing we could relate to is like walking into a comedy club in New York and start rapping about child molestation as you're holding up the finger and and repeating the words " *uck the East Coast!!! " Something like that.

Stravinsky is the best!