PBS Music Instinct on Indaba Music

Sweet new program launching on Indaba Music today:

The Music Instinct: Science and Song, premiering Wednesday, June 24 at 9:00pm (check local listings), is a ground-breaking program that offers viewers a new understanding of the power of music. Music is found all over the natural world and in everyday life experiences. The documentary follows visionary researchers and accomplished musicians, such as Bobby McFerrin, Yo-Yo Ma, Jarvis Cocker, Evelyn Glennie, and Daniel Barenboim, to the crossroads of science and culture in search of answers to music’s deep and abiding mysteries.

This is a rare opportunity to interact with an exceptionally creative and well-produced program from a respected organization months before its launch. PBS, Thirteen, and the producers of The Music Instinct invite you to interact with this yet-to-be-released program and create your own dynamic musical language from sound effects found in different natural and urban environments around the world.

To help you explore this world of sound, PBS and Thirteen are providing you with 207 sounds from their own library, each recorded in pristine quality. To qualify for the contest, you must use a minimum of four of the sounds provided (although we encourage you to use more). While original recorded melodies or other material can be used in generating a composition for the contest, all compositions will be judged on the originality and expressiveness of the rhythmic and harmonic use of the sound clips provided.

Head over to Indaba and check it out!

The Irony is AMAZING

Check out this  screenshot of Stephen Colbert’s interview with Larry Lessig  embedded in Lessig’s blog. According to Lessig, the interview is CC-licensed. As such, the irony of the phrase “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Viacom International Inc.” is astounding. It’s particularly inexplicable when you consider the value to Viacom here; the viral, organic promotion of Colbert that’s happened on Indaba Music and other places as a result has been amazing…

Colbert Report Remix on Indaba Music

While interviewing Larry Lessig (founder of Creative Commons), Steven Colbert issued a challenge to his audience in his usual sarcastic fashion…DO NOT REMIX THIS INTERVIEW. Our community over at Indaba Music has taken this challenge to heart and a bevy of different mixes have been springing up. Check them out and join in on the fun here!

more about "Remix Challenge from Stephen Colbert!…", posted with vodpod

Revisting My Youth

I don’t think many Indabans are aware of this fact, but I was a child actor. Not a child actor like Gary Coleman or anything, but I did some small things when I was really young and then I had a major role in a series called Brooklyn Bridge (the part of Nathaniel Silver) that aired on CBS for 2 years when I was 8 (ok, still pretty young).

I don’t talk about this much, but I bring it up today because of an event I attended at the Paley Center for Media last night. Gary David Goldberg, the creator of Brooklyn Bridge (and Family Ties, Spin City, and many other notable shows and films) just wrote a book titled Sit Ubu Sit, and the event celebrated Gary and his latest artistic creation. In addition to all the usual components of an event like this, there was a really interesting panel featuring many stars from Gary’s various shows, including Michael J. Fox, Marion Ross, Richard Kind, Michael Boatman, Meredith Baxter, and Michael Gross. Much of the discussion focused on the changing nature of TV programming, and the departure from entertainment that once spoke to family values and thoughtful commentary. I found it particularly moving when Gary spoke about TV having been a “national campfire” – certainly something that is hard to argue in today’s world of reality shows and shallow sitcoms.Although the evening was thought-provoking, I really decided to write about it today because of what it meant to me personally. As I said I don’t often talk about my experience on Brooklyn Bridge – it was a long ways away – both in time (I was and in geography (L.A. is very different from N.Y.). However, rare events like this bring me back into contact with people who were so central to one of the most formative experiences of my life, and I cherish the opportunity to reconnect with people like Marion, Gary, and Sam Weisman (the director of Brooklyn Bridge, and a long-time collaborator of Gary’s). I signed my first autographs in about 14 years, and was even asked to take photos with some fans of the show. Not a big deal to some of the other famous folks that were in attendance, but hey, I haven’t been “that guy” in a long time.Since the event was a celebration of Gary, much of the discussion focused on his ability to create familes – both on and off screen. The on-screen families he created on shows like Family Ties and Brooklyn Bridge were mirrored in the behind-the-scences worlds of TV production he developed to creates these show – everyone universally agreed that in a difficult, often negative business Gary created the most positive, comfortable, and meaningful environments to work in one could hope for. My perspective now is obviously very different than it was when I was 10 (when BB was cancelled), and last night reminded me that I wouldn’t be the person I am today had I not been afforded the opportunity to live and work within the world Gary created so many years ago.Anyway, I wanted to share this trip down memory lane. Also, for all you Indabans, you’ll be interested to know that one of the characters on Brooklyn Bridge was played by Jenny Lewis – yes, that’s right, Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins Jenny Lewis. And check out Gary’s book!

South Park Guitar Hero

Two weeks ago, Streeter raised some really interesting questions in the Indablog about Guitar Hero, like, why do people spend so much time mastering this video game when they could actually be learning to play the real guitar? I just wanted to point out that in case you haven’t seen it, the new South Park this week examined the exact same issue. Absolutely hysterical. They parodied Guitar Hero, and even threw in a That Thing You Do moment (cmon – you know you like that movie). I can’t find any longer clips on YouTube anymore since the copyright stuff heated up, but here’s a short one of the guys wailing on their plastic axes.