Indian song

All music from India is produced basically by Bollywood. This I learned from an acquaintance today.

As for the Bollywood song, this Wikipedia article provides more information:

• "Bollywood is the Indian Hindi-language film industry, based in the city of Mumbai[;]


• "Bollywood represents 43% of Indian net box office revenue, while Telugu and Tamil cinema represent 36%, and the rest of the regional cinema constitute 21%[;]


• "Linguistically, Bollywood films tend to use a colloquial dialect of Hindi-Urdu, [called] Hindustani, [which is] mutually intelligible to both Hindi and Urdu speakers[.]"

Regarding the Gujarati, Tamil and Telegu film industries, for example, I found some Wikipedia pages, but they didn't say much about the songs.

However, Wikipedia has a list of Indian "playback singers" (whose performances we actually hear in the films) categorized by language.

These two interesting articles explain the fact that Hindi and Urdu are closely related.

Of course, Bollywood didn't create its music out of whole cloth.

Instead, I suppose that Bollywood merely pasted a relatively thin layer atop an already rich, multifarious, living musical culture—multifarious, because it arose from multiple locations and traditions in India.

My favorite album of Indian music is perhaps "In Concert Vol. 1 (Live)" by Ghulam Ali, who sings accompanied by harmonium.

Most of its numbers can be streamed in full with Amazon Prime.

Copyright (c) 2018 Mark D. Blackwell.

Choirs need electronic temperament keyboard

Choirs which perform early music need, for rehearsal purposes, an electronic keyboard capable of playing in various temperaments. All these temperaments should be adjustable by a simple slider bar, so that the choir's listening experience will fall at a point which lies anywhere (at the director's discretion) from hearing each temperament fully, to hearing merely a barely-detectable taste of the "flavor" of that temperament. This slider bar must range from 100% (for full engagement of the selected temperament) to 0% (for Equal Temperament).

This aspect of the keyboard would thus follow the advice of the best experts on temperament, who generally believe that, in history, always and actually, practice has been to use no temperament only in its pure form: but instead, that the timeline of historical practice constitutes a gradual drift from one temperament to another. Further, they believe it is historically accurate for us to duplicate today these same practices from the past, by means of any degree of alteration from Equal Temperament which we desire, using our own good taste.

Since the last century represents the triumph of Equal Temperament, perhaps our use of other temperaments should remain fairly close to it. The slider would enable this.

In order to perform early music, choirs need these temperaments:

• Bradley Lehman/J.S. Bach
• Equal Temperament
• Meantone
• Pythagorean
• Valotti
• Victorian

Some facility to load in new temperaments would be desirable as well.

Copyright (c) 2015 Mark D. Blackwell.

Essential jQUERY

Recently, I picked up the bare essentials in jQuery from the book, jQUERY Visual Quickstart Guide by Steven Holzner, Peachpit Press, 2009.

However, a word of warning: the book is somewhat badly edited, and there is no corrected edition (still as of this writing).

From the core jQuery source code, this page also is useful. Here are my brief notes:

JQuery refers to a certain syntax $(thing) for any thing as 'jQuery-wrapping'.

The keyword $ is an alias for jquery. Both are used in the following ways:

• $(function)  –  Append a function to the list to be run when the document is ready: a shortcut for $(document).ready(function).


• $(CSS-selector-string)  –  Select some nodes in the document.


• $(HTML-string)  –  Create HTML for insertion.


• $(DOM-node)  –  Like saying simply DOM-node, but change the value of this and set context (an attribute used by jQuery). Examples are:
  •   $(document)  –  The document.
    
  •   $(this)  –  this.


• $.method  –  (This one has a dot and no parentheses.) Run a utility method.

The jQuery methods selected for explanation in the book are:

• Methods on jQuery-wrapped collections of HTML elements:
  
• addClass,  after,  alt,  animate,  append,  attr,  before,  bind,  clone,  css,  each,  (event binder methods),  fadeIn,  fadeOut,  fadeTo,  height,  hide,  hover,  html,  is,  (jQuery-UI methods),  length,  load,  one,  serializeArray,  show,  size,  slice,  slideDown,  slideToggle,  slideUp,  text,  toggle,  toggleClass,  unbind,  val,  width,  wrap


• Event binder methods:
  
• Keyboard   –   keydown,  keypress,  keyup


• Mouse   –   mousedown,  mouseenter,  mouseleave,  mousemove,  mouseout,  mouseover,  mouseup


• The rest   –   beforeunload,  blur,  change,  click,  dblclick,  error,  focus,  load,  resize,  scroll,  select,  submit,  unload


• jQuery-UI methods:
  
• accordian,  datepicker,  dialog,  progressbar,  slider,  tabs


• Methods on jQuery-wrapped HTML strings:
  
• insertAfter,  insertBefore


• Utility methods:
  
• ajax,  browser,  each,  get,  grep,  inArray,  isArray,  isFunction,  makeArray,  map,  post,  support,  trim,  unique

Copyright (c) 2013 Mark D. Blackwell.

StackExchange family (including Stackoverflow) doesn't care about signout

I again registered a test account for 'Log in with Stack Exchange'.

Disappointingly, after logging out of every (SE family) site, it still lets me log in again merely by button clicks, while I type nothing.

After more than a year, clearly the managers of the Stack Exchange network family of websites don't give a hoot about protecting users of shared computers with a truly effective signout.

What if some rude person at a party click-logged into and deleted someone's account, thus trashing their vast accumulation of reputation?

Copyright (c) 2013 Mark D. Blackwell.

Bach-Lehman (and Young #1) using electronic tuner, howto

Here's how to use an electronic tuner to tune a harpsichord in Bradley Lehman's Bach temperament, as well as Thomas Young's. They sound so much better than equal temperament (even better than Vallotti)--everyone should try them!

I found Lehman-Bach instructions (taking Vallotti as a starting point) in the section, `Easy way to tune it accurately and mostly electronically' (search for it) of his homepage.

Yet, there is another way. His section, `Electronic device instructions for the Bach' at the bottom
of `Practical temperament instructions by ear' also recommends we, `See the interesting method by David Hitchin', who says his method is useful if one has the `Korg-OT12 or a similar tuner which provides for ET and the Pythagorean, Werkmeister III and Vallotti temperaments.'

Dr. Lehman says the Thomas Young temperament he recommends (Young #1) `is not the more familiar "Young #2"; it is his first and better one...entirely symmetrical, and very simple...Young's #2 [the worse one] is technically [just] a transposition of the entire VALLOTTI temperament upward by a 5th.'

I found these instructions in the `YOUNG #1 1799/1800' section of his `Practical temperament instructions by ear':

1. Tune all of VALLOTTI first.
2. Nick F downward slightly so it's equally tempered between C and Bb.
3. Nick B upward slightly so it's equally tempered between E and F#.

Copyright (c) 2011 Mark D. Blackwell.

Unfamiliar Windows keyboard shortcuts

I like to open folders sometimes in a new window, sometimes the same window. It's difficult to right-click my particular computer mouse. Also, generally I prefer keyboard shortcuts.

First I tried using Microsoft Windows Explorer's option which always opens a new window; soon I was frustrated, closing the many resulting windows. (See Windows Explorer-Menu-Tools-Folder Options-General-Browse Folders.)

To open the other view (folder or explorer) in a new window, I was motivated to find a shortcut: either with the keyboard or a left mouse click. Some research found many that were unfamiliar and quite useful.

Here are my select keyboard and mouse shortcuts for Windows XP and later. You might not know all of them—I think you will find at least one excitingly useful!

Abbreviations:
App = Application key (AKA Menu key, context menu key)
Win = Windows key (AKA Flag key, Meta key, MOD4, Start key, Super key, Windows logo key, WinKey)

General:
Alt+ Esc: Cycle programs in starting order
Alt+ F6: Cycle windows of active program
Alt+ PrintScreen: Capture program window (paste into Paint)
Alt+ Shift+ Esc: Cycle programs in starting order, backward
Alt+ Spacebar M Arrow: Move active window
Alt+ Spacebar S Arrow: Resize active window
App: Show context menu
Ctrl+ Shift+ Esc: Task manager
F6: Cycle screen elements (e.g., in SeaMonkey, go to address bar)
Win: Show start menu
Win+ Break: Show system properties
Win+ D: Show desktop (toggle)
Win+ E: Explore My Computer
Win+ L: Lock/logon screen (switch user)
Win+ M: Minimize all windows
Win+ R: Run
Win+ Shift+ M: Undo minimize all windows (also undo show desktop)
Win+ Shift+ Tab Enter: Cycle programs in taskbar, backward
Win+ Tab Enter: Cycle programs in taskbar
Win+ U: Utility manager (accessibility)
(Shift+ F10: same as App)

Command-line window:
Alt+ Spacebar E K (make selection) Enter: Select text
Alt+ Spacebar E L Arrow: Scroll
Alt+ Spacebar E P: Paste text

Desktop:
Alt+ Double-click: Show properties (single folder or file)
Alt+ Enter: Show properties (multiple folders & files)
Enter: Open single selection in folder view (or last-selected)
Shift+ Enter: Explore single selection (or last-selected)
(App O: same as Enter; App X: same as Shift+ Enter)

Multi-document program:
Ctrl+ F4: Close active document

... Icon of non-maximized document:
Double-click: Close

Windows Explorer (file chooser in other programs):
Alt+ Double-click: Show properties (of single folder or file; except explore-view navigation pane)
Alt+ Enter: Show properties (multiple folders & files)
Alt F W Enter: Create new folder
Alt V E O: Show navigation pane (toggle)
Ctrl+ Keypad '+': Fit columns
F4: Show folder trail (toggle)
Shift+ Click: Select from top to pointer

Finally, to avoid right-clicking, here are the shortcuts I was looking for:

... In explore view:
App O: New folder-view window(s)
Enter: Change to single selection; explore (some of) multiple selection in new windows
(App X, Click Shift+ Double-click: same as Enter)

... In folder view:
Ctrl+ Enter: Open single (or some of multiple) selection in new window(s)
Enter: Change to first-selected
Shift+ Enter: Explore in new window(s)
(App X, Click Shift+ Double-click: same as Shift+ Enter)

Sources:
http://www.computerhope.com/shortcut/windows.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301583
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_key
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menu_key

Bach Well-Tempered Clavier in Bach-Lehman temperament

You might enjoy both books of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on harpsichord in Bach/Lehman 1722 temperament (from Bradley Lehman, A.Mus.D.), which feels to me like what Bach really used. You might like this temperament, too!

If there is an immediate emotional difference between the following two versions of Prelude in C major from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach then, good!

Bach in equal temperament

Bach in Bach-Lehman temperament

Otherwise, your MIDI setup is not right somehow. You shouldn't bother to download books I and II in their entirety.

Available zip formats:

the major keys (the order is F C G Bb D Eb Ab F# A C# B E)

the minor keys (the order is D A E G C B F Eb G# F# Bb C#)

To start playing after downloading, just open the folders, select all the MIDI files, and drag them en masse to a RealPlayer window.

Toward answering the question, 'Which keys sound brightest?' here the pieces in the Well-Tempered Clavier are in order of increasing 'brightness': the size of the tonic chord's major third, essentially, after dividing major keys from minor.

For sizes of major thirds and fifths in Bach-Lehman temperament, see this chart.

For the detailed sorting decisions, see 'readme.txt' inside the major and minor key zip files.

I tuned the MIDI files to Bach-Lehman temperament using the program, Scala.

(For this, it is essential to use good wave-table MIDI synthesizer software like the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth (which is based on Roland wavetables). The Creative (SoundBlaster) SoundFont Synth and the QuickTime Music Synthesizer (at least on PC's) somehow blot out temperaments' emotional content, and thus they make meaningless this listening comparison.)

Alan Kennington and Yo Tomita have given me permission to reuse their MIDI realizations.

Copyright (c) 2010 Mark D. Blackwell.

Bach Contrapunctus (Art of Fugue)

I tuned to Bach-Lehman 1722 temperament a MIDI from the Mutopia Project using harpsichord of most of Bach's The Art of Fugue.

To hear, expand this zip file. Drag the files en masse to RealPlayer's window (for example), sort its playlist of movements (perhaps putting inversus before rectus), and enjoy!

Copyright (c) 2010 Mark D. Blackwell.

Goldberg Variations in Bach-Lehman tuning

I am listening excitedly to Bach's Goldberg Variations in G major (in a file I recently re-tuned) because they sound so good! They are now in the temperament used by Bach himself I believe, Bach-Lehman 1722.

I invite you to listen to:

Variation 25 - Andante espressivo

However, if you try the:

equal temperament version

I believe you shall hear significantly less beauty, even unpleasantness!

For this, it is essential to use some good wave-table MIDI synthesizer software like Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth which is based on Roland wavetables.

The Creative SoundBlaster SoundFont Synth and the QuickTime Music Synthesizer (at least on PC's) somehow blot out temperaments' emotional content, and they make this listening comparison meaningless.

Sometime, feast your ears and emotional system on the:

complete variations

on harpsichord, in Bach-Lehman 1722 temperament. (It may be better if you minimize the treble on your speakers or whatever. Credits:

Goldberg Variations - by J.S. Bach - BWV 988.
MIDI version by David J. Grossman, 1997.
Bach-Lehman 1722 temperament version by Mark D. Blackwell, 2010.

Interesting, from Mr. Grossman's website on the Art of MIDI: 'Listening to a clean sequence of a Bach work, it is possible for the mind to add [its] own interpretation[;] one is able to listen to the work in such a way that [one's] own realization of the work comes through.'

Following immediately at 1:09:21 are Bach's Fourteen Canons on the First Eight Notes of the Goldberg Ground in G major - BWV 1087, which sound better, interestingly, in

equal temperament.

More Bach from David J. Grossman.

(I have emailed David J. Grossman;, he granted permission for this use. His website states, 'All original material is copyrighted ©1999 (unpronounceable) Productions', and also states, 'All of these sequences were created with Cakewalk Pro Audio and are copyrighted ©1997. However, they are freely distributable and modif[i]able for any non-commercial purpose[,] as long as proper credit is given and the textual information in the files remains intact', and also states, 'The original MIDI sequences at this site [are] copyrighted by myself but may be modified and redistributed[,] if: I am asked permission first and have given it, I am given partial credit for my original work, and they are not sold. Redistribution of my sequences in their unmodified form is allowed without explicit permission as long as no money is charged for them.')

Copyright (c) 2010 Mark D. Blackwell.

Chopin mystery

Here is a puzzle, involving a short piece by Chopin: Etude No. 3 in E [major] (Op. 10)

realized by Katsuhiro Oguri.

(For this, it is essential to use good wave-table MIDI synthesizer software like the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth (which is based on Roland wavetables). The Creative (SoundBlaster) SoundFont Synth and the QuickTime Music Synthesizer (at least on PC's) somehow blot out temperaments' emotional content, and thus they make meaningless this listening comparison.)

Etude No. 3, but different

The first was better, right? but just how is it different? That is your problem to solve, ladies and gentlemen!

Especially note the chromatic passage, starting at 1:50.

How is it different? In other words, what makes it better?

You will see the answer in a forthcoming post!

If you still cannot put your finger on it, here is another piece:

Impromptu in Gb [major] (Op. 51)

realized by Robert Finley.

Impromptu in Gb, but different

Especially note the passage (in Bb minor, I think), from 2:11 through 3:26.

(Thanks to the The Classical MIDI Collection for the original Chopin MIDI's.)

Copyright (c) 2010 Mark D. Blackwell.

Bach's Endlessly Rising Canon, using Shepard tones

Shepard tones are notes in multiple octaves, which fade appropriately so that, ultimately, motion goes nowhere: rather resembling a barber pole.

In Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas Hofstadter wrote they could be combined with Bach's 'Modulation' or 'Endlessly Rising' Canon (Canon a 2, per tonos: from The Musical Offering).

With existing musical instruments, this would seem difficult. However, just now on YouTube, I discovered Michael Monroe has (re-) created precisely this combination, using MIDI guitars (in 2008)—and, it's beautiful. :)

Fairly seamlessly, his ending connects through to its beginning, if the file is downloaded and the 'repeat' (or 'loop') option is selected (in one's choice of media player).

In case you missed it, the main musical link above is the word, 'combination'!

A more normal performance (or this one on Spotify) gives a subtly aesthetic experience, as well.

Copyright (c) 2010, 2014 Mark D. Blackwell.