Good conversation is music to the ears; on the topic of music, even better. TED is a website that has an abundance of both. Their mission is simply to spread ideas. Not just ordinary ideas, but ideas that emanate from what the website refers to as “the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers.” Their moniker, TED, stands for technology, entertainment, design. There are loads of information on how they operate on their website www.ted.com, which is worth reading, but for now let me gently push you in the direction of music. From the main page, you type in music in the search bar; then be prepared to be blown away.
Your first stop should be Vushi Mahlasela. Hisvideo performance will make you want to get up, do a little jig around the room, and sing in tongues. You may want to make sure that others in near sight of you are capable of watching you go multilingual crazy without judging. In fact, try to surround yourself with nonjudgmental people anyway.
Mahlasela combines traditional acoustic blues styling with an amazing array of multilingual vocals. The melodies feel familiar, like a conversation in which you are included. Truly—truly—original with roots in scat, Mahlasela’s vocals reveal just how beautiful language can be. The words and sounds seem indecipherable on the surface, but Mahlasela speaks to your heart, which in turn informs your head. Dangerous and vulnerable territory, I know, but don’t we all crave a little unsafe behavior?
Mahlasela is a genre bender and, like fellow South African Nelson Mandela, he has transcended oppression with a brilliant sense of self. There is much to be learned from those who conquer the worst in mankind with optimism and soul. Mahlasela’s music is activism—not a slap across the wrist but a welcoming embrace.
Mahlasela’s TED musical performance is proceeded by a story of how his grandmother stood against the forces of domination in turbulent South Africa. His tale illuminates for us how powerful music is a vehicle of healing, a mechanism for truth, and an invitation to be filled with joy. Make sure you also navigate your way to his encore video.
Another must-see is Evelyn Glennie’s talk on how to listen to music. Glennie is a world-renowned percussionist who also happens to have lost almost all of her hearing by age 12. She leads us to a better understanding of music as an expression of human experience. She discusses how understanding emotion and the intent of the musician informs what we hear. “Who we are informs how we interpret written music,” says Glennie. “I need time with people to interpret them. The same is true for music.”
Her demonstration of the difference between the interpretations of music versus the notated version reveals how musical performance is human and dynamic. “Who we are, how we hold a drum stick, or how we even think of ourselves informs and deepens how we hear and perform,” she says. For Glennie, musicians have to take written music and bring everything to the piece that is not on the page. Experiencing the translation and interpretation are different. There are a multitude of choices the performer makes to bring music to life and give feeling to the written page.
Another interesting detail she highlights by her is the complex role that physical space plays in how we hear. She uses the example of a child sitting under a xylophone to illustrate. The child’s experience from beneath the instrument is different from that of the person in the front row or the musician who is experiencing sound from above. The character of a concert hall, the timbre of different instruments, even the bones and body cavities of musician and listener, all play a part in how we hear, according to Glennie. Her video is the perfect combination of lecture and musical performance.
There are many more people of music who can be seen, heard, and learned from within the pages of the TED website. Again the internet has shown itself to be in the driver’s seat in the race to broaden musical horizons. Today conglomerates like Clear Channel Radio and the confused record labels muddle up the airways and stock the shelves of Wal-Marts with the same-same artist of the month, poll tested, censored warble. Haven’t we heard enough from artists whose producers are choreographers in disguise, for whom dance moves take precedence over authentic musicianship?
Are you sensing a soapbox here? I am here to say there is a galaxy not so far far away where there are fascinating thinkers and doers creating and talking about music. The frontier is the internet, and the galaxy is www.ted.com. Put the pedal to warp and get yourself beamed up.
