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Cool Stuff Blog #3



Qanun
     This week we have experienced the music and culture of the Arab World and India. These are two of the cultures that I knew the least about. I wasn't even sure where the Arab World was. Now, I have a good idea of how the music sounds there and how the culture is similar and different to ours and others we have already learned. 


     My favorite part of learning about a new culture in this class is getting to listen to the diverse instruments that we hear. We learned about many instruments that are popular in the Arab World and I discovered my new favorite, which was the Qanun. This instrument is a wooden trapezoid shaped that are plucked with plectrums made of turtle shell or plastic. The Qanun has a beautiful sound and it reminds me a lot of the inside of a piano but sounds similar to a harp. It has 78 strings and the strings are made of nylon or traditionally, animal's gut. 

Indian Film Industry
     India has a reputation for their film industry and is one of the largest film producer's in the world. Approximately 1,600 films are produced in multiple languages every year. Bollywood is the largest film producer and sounds similar to what you might know as Hollywood. The B in Bollywood comes from the Bombay, which is a big city in India. Bollywood makes around 800 films a year which is twice as many as Hollywood, surprisingly. These films are really colorful, and usually are made up of a lot of singing, dancing, and costume changes. This video is Bollywood vs. Hollywood's top grossing movies. 

Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar
     Both Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar are daughters of the famous sitar player Ravi Shankar. Anoushka followed in her father's footsteps with the love of the sitar while Norah Jones is a singer/songwriter and pianists. Together, they created a song called "Traces of You." The song is beautiful and I think it is awesome that they play music together. Here is the video of the song "Traces of You." 

Comments

  1. Courtney WhitenerJanuary 23, 2020 at 10:51 AM

    I really like the Qanun as well. It reminded me of a smaller harp and I really like how the pitch can be changed with those little pegs. Also I cannot believe that Bollywood can make that many films in a year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dominique HillJanuary 23, 2020 at 5:16 PM

    I also find the qanun a very beautiful instrument and sound. I never know where the B in Bollywood came from, that is cool. I find it cool siblings finding their own way in the music industry and being great at it and being able to record something together. Every aspect of the song is beautiful.

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  3. Jazmine CamachoJanuary 24, 2020 at 7:13 PM

    I loved your video on the Qanun, I really like the sound, O love how complicated it is and the way it is shaped. It is very cool and it sounds very unique.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joanna NorwoodJanuary 24, 2020 at 8:44 PM

    I always wondered where the B came from in Bollywood. I wonder if Bombay is like the Los Angeles of the US in terms of the movie industry. I don't know a lot about Bollywood, but it seems like music is more important in their films than the ones of Hollywood. In the US, music plays a critical supporting role, but in Bollywood it seems to be the main focus a lot of the time.

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  5. Sarah ButlerJanuary 29, 2020 at 5:23 PM

    I had no idea that the Qanun had so many strings! Nor had I any idea where the B in Bollywood came from. It was one of those questions that I thought of but never asked.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dr. Kelly VanemanJanuary 31, 2020 at 9:24 AM

    Oh, I'm so glad you found the Norah Jones/Anoushka Shankar collaboration! Isn't it beautiful?

    ReplyDelete

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