Below are the 13 most recent journal entries recorded in archi1978's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, April 26th, 2006
2:40 pm	.PSD and .PNG Overlays in FCP Not too long ago I imported a .PSD overlay into Final Cut Pro. The overlay was made of "drawn" elements--I mean stuff like circles or rectangles or things you make in Photoshop using the paint bucket. This was basically a graphic where the solid black background was cutout in different places, each cutout shaped like a letter (the letters together spelled "Mystique"). I played the video clip, with overlay, in FCP and everything was fine. The other day I tried importing another .PSD overlay into FCP, this time the graphic contained a "real" element--by this I mean a cutout an image of a musical instrument and placed it in the graphic. These "real" elements (from photographs) of course have far more detail than the "drawn" elements made from a single or few colors. But when I played the "real" elements overlay in FCP, the cutout of the musical instrument was all blurry. Arrg!! Was it the extra detail? Fudging with Photoshop I found out that .PNG (with a high resolution...this time I used 300 ppi instead of 72 ppi) did the trick and the playback in FCP of the overlay wasn't blurry! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 25th, 2006
8:47 pm	MAC/PC compatibility for hard drives Hi ya'all! Okay, I'm sorry I found out about this too late (several weeks ago). If you have a PC computer at home and you want to format your hard drive so it works with Mactia MAC's and your PC, format your drive as FAT32. You will be able to read/write plugged into a MAC at the lab and read/write files when plugged into a PC. The catch is that formatting your hard drive to FAT32 shrinks your 250GB hard drive into a 65GB hard drive. Not cool. What I did was format my drive into 35GB FAT32 for MAC and left the rest open for PC. I can always "read" from the PC side and save to the MAC side when I'm plugged into a Macintosh. When the MAC side gets too big, I can plug into a PC at home and move files to the standard NTFS side (I use this "PC" friendly side as an archive for files since I can always retrieve them from a MAC). In a nutshell, I made a smaller FAT32 MAC partition for working with files, and I store them at home on the NTFS partition...whenever I need them for FCP I can pull them off the NTFS side no prob (of course, I can't write to that side using a MAC...I have to save to the FAT32 side). In a bigger nutshell, yes you can use your hard drive for both PC and MAC. Joey (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, March 27th, 2006
3:52 pm	FCP and the Internet When I fire up FCP I always switch the location to "FCP". I've forgotten to do that before and FCP wouldn't be able to start. But I've noticed that AFTER FCP is running I can go back and switch the Location to "automatic" letting me search the internet and work in FCP. Can I always do this or does this happen because there are so few people using FCP in the lab during the break and this is way I'm not conflicting with anyone else using the software? (Comment on this)
3:45 pm	Crazy Flash/FCP It's just getting better!! I tried doing a "text" fade over a moving texture "masked" into a box in Flash. All went well in flash and the movie exported just fine into .MOV format. But when I did the green screen in FCP the text fade became uneven, where the text inside the box (with the moving texture) seemed to become solid faster than the text overlapping outside the box. Adjusting levels in the green screen filter seemed to reveal that the outside-box text was being seen as green by the program and this somehow delayed its appearance in the clip. So I went back and did two flash movies: one for the texture in the box and another for just static text. I brought them into FCP (they were made in Flash so as to overlap as desired). I green-screened both clips and all was well. This time I used the pen tool to fade the text movie (layered over the moving texture box and the video clip. It worked flawless, though it did take almost 8 minutes to render. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
2:40 pm	Fancy Transparent Flash Fancy Transparent Flash Works! I basically made the same flash movie except this time stuck a circle (with a crosshairs) underneath the text and set it to rotate twice in 3 seconds. It rendered nicely in FCP! Tricks like fades of the actual rendered graphic I'm gonna leave for FCP. What would be a cool "graphicized" tagline to use in the Cuban/Caribbean music film? Maybe a moving texture inside a long, thin rectangle and overlap (and offset) large text over the rectangle? (Comment on this)
2:12 pm	Simple Transparent Flash Transparent Flash Works! So far I’ve been able to make a simple movie in Flash and remove the background in FCP. 1. Make Flash movie with green background and put some text in the visible stage. 2. Export as QuickTime movie; make settings high (note: I had sound disabled). 3. Import in FCP. Place clip above another clip you want to words to show up on. 4. Apply the Blue/Green Screen filter. When I first applied the filter it looked like some of the black text was fringed by bits of green background. When I played the clip none of those issues were there and only smooth, black text remained on top of the lower video clip. I used these settings to remove the green background, leaving behind black text: View: Final Key Mode: Green Color Level: 90 Color Tolerance: 54 Edge Thin: 100 Edge Feather: 0 5. I then rendered the filtered sequence. Any additions of this sequence have to be rendered too. It took about 3 minutes to render 3 seconds of the text clip. The end result was black text overlaid on top of a video clip. This isn't anything different from what can be done with LiveType. But the next step: do the same thing with an animation! (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 23rd, 2006
7:34 pm	Video effects: filters and photoshop cutouts Great news--some of the video-filter tricks are working! First trick: having a video play behind cut-outs of letters. This worked easily using transparency properties from Photoshop PSD files (thanks Ruth!). 1. Create a new blank image in Photoshop and give it some background color you like (I used black) and make its dimensions (width: 720) and (height: 480) 2. Using the text tool, type something (preferable using a large font) onto your image 3. Flatten the image 4. Go "Edit" and "Select All", selecting the entire image; after you've done that go "Edit" and "copy" (we're going to paste the image in a new "blank" image) 5. Go "File" and "New" to create a new blank image (it will automatically be the size of the image you copied from before) 6. Go "Edit" and "Paste" 7. In the "Layers" window (if it's not there go "Window" and "Layers") select the "background" layer and press (and hold) the Control key. A pop-up window should appear with "delete" as on option...click delete 8. Go "Layer" and "New" to create a new blank layer. You may have to reposition the new layer so its underneath the pasted layer (do this in the Layers window) 9. Now, select the "wand" tool and make sure its tolerance is set close to zero 10. With the wand tool, click a letter of your text (highlight it) and press the "delete" key and do this with all of the remaining letters. You should see the a gray and white checker background showing through your letter "holes" 11. After all the letters are removed, hit "file" and "save as" and save the image as a .PSD (DO NOT FLATTEN IT!!) 12. In Final Cut Pro, go "File" and "Import" and "files" and select the image; it should appear in the clips tab with your video clips 13. From the clips tab, click and drag the image onto the timeline where your assembled sequences are and place it on a layer above your video sequence 14. In the bottom left corner, click the button that looks like a stock market graph and then click the pen tool button located on the far right side of the screen 15. Using the pen tool, click on the "line" that runs through the "clip" representation of your image to place a "pen point" on the line. At the end of the clip click the line again and drag it down to the bottom of the clip representation; this will cause the image to fade out to zero beginning from the pen point As you play the sequence, you can see the video clips playing underneath the image through the letter holes; when the play head reaches the pen point you will see the "holey" image fade away revealing the entire video behind! I'm still trying to get flash to "import" into FCP and clear the background of the cartoon, leaving only the animated elements behind to play on top of a video sequence. So far I've been able to import a .mov video and apply the green-screen video filter to remove a blue background. Unfortunately, this only appears when I work with the single import clip in the viewer screen. When I place the clip on the time line, I have to use a different procedure (via multiple visits to the Effects tab). Finally, the result will not play back unless I render the import video first and the rendering really seems to take forever. More on that later for sure! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006
12:18 pm	Current story board ideas... 1. History of Instruments/Cultural -Bata Drums: Yoruba, West Africa -Maracas: Taino, Cuba -Cornet: Chinese laborers 2. Religious Influence -Catholicism (communes) -Santeria 3. 20th Century Artists and Diaspora -making of a popular music in Cuba? -influence in Latin America -influence worldwide 4. New Developments in Cuban Music -influence from American hip-hop? -other sources of change in the music (1 Comment |Comment on this)
3:15 am	Assignment 2, Milestone 3 Joey A. Coburn Anthropology 136J Professor Ruth Trigham 21 February 2006 "Assignment 2: Milestone 3" Basic Layout of Film The film would either follow two musicians, switching between scenes of musician interviews and the musicians playing. As they talk details could be used to segway into historical "flashbacks" to explore where instruments and themes in Cuban music came from. For example, as a musician talks about playing a bata drum, the film could segway to West Africa. Here, using still drawings, sound effects, background music, and a narrator voice over, the film explores Yoruba music and how it was taken to Cuba by enslaved people. We can then quickly follow the story of the bata drum in Cuba: Catholic influence and Santeria. Then we return to the music and the musicians. Each instrument can be treated this way. The maracas came from the Taino people. A cornet comes from Chinese immigrants to Cuba. Also, Santeria plays a central role to the music's development. After the instruments the film would look at the origins of Santeria and how it continues to be practiced today. The film will highlight places in Cuban music where we can see this influence still. Finally, the film looks abroad showing how popular genres like Salsa are throughout the world. The goal of the film is to show that the music we hear today from Cuba is the tip of a vast cultural iceberg, massive in space and in time; the diverse group people who authored and nurtured it for so long continue to influence people all over the world. A. What is the theme/topic of your research? My project topic is the origins of Cuban music and its contemporary influence. The film treats Cuban music from historical and contemporary sources: still images and documents from the distant past and recent filmings of music performances. The cultural origins of Cuban music include West Africa, native Cuba, the Spain, and China. The music developed in two primary places: Catholic collective communities and in the Santeria religion. Cuban music's many forms (such as Salsa, Son, and Rumba) are popular outside the island country--it has influenced not only Latin American music but has found popularity worldwide. The theme of the video is the music's diverse origins in history and how it has spread throughout the world; hopefully this will urge viewers to consider the origins of many other contemporary music genres. B. What "message" would you like the video to convey? The message of the film is founded on the music's diverse cultural origins and its popularity over the world, crossing different cultural lines. Cuban music compiles musical instruments and musical techniques from three continents, two religions shaped the music we can hear today, and people from all over the world listen and dance to it. I want viewers to discover the vast cultural resources coming together behind a song or an album you can buy online or pick-up in music stores. I want to broaden viewers awareness of cultural diversity in music and challenge ideas that musical genres are assembled from silence overnight. The music we listen to comes from a history of cultural interplay and exchange, and this music can be shaped by religion or historical events. I want listeners to grow suspicious that the music they hear on the radio or in their headphones may have origins deeper than the recording studio's release date. I want listeners to question their knowledge of cultural depth in time and through space and wonder "where did this come from"? C. What is the theoretical basis of your topic, i.e. how will your movie contribute to what has already been discovered or discussed about this theme (cultural heritage, archeology); what stories is it related to? The film will show how African and indigenous American culture birthed musical genres, such as Salsa, which today is associated with Latin America and not so much West Africa or native peoples of the wester hemisphere. The film illustrates how these two cultural regions have shaped culture in Cuba and beyond. Famous modern performers such as Gloria Esteban have been influenced by the Yoruba and Taino peoples. This film contributes evidence of the ongoing influence of West African and Taino culture, along with Spanish and Chinese, on Latin American culture and American popular culture. It is related to stories of multicultural heritage; the film reflects that our culture is no historical monolith but the end sum of many cultures. American culture is shaped not only by European influence, but by native and African cultures that continue to shape it today. The film will deconstruct the music as it follows a performance and a story of a musician. The goal of the film is to leave impressions of depth and diversity behind Cuban music--what we hear and experience today is really just a tip of a huge cultural iceberg covering space and time. D. What genre do you want this movie to be? Have you been inspired by any movies or other media in thinking about this movie? I want the genre of the movie to be impressionistic. The layout of the film would be non-linear and centered on a scene where contemporary Cuban music is being performed, or the film may center one or two musicians. As a musician describes his or her thoughts and feelings on the music they play, different details that come up in the interview can instigate a "flash back" to an origin story of an instrument or to a time when a particular institution (such as the Catholic Church, or Santeria ritual) actively shaped the music. I enjoy the "Ken Burns" technique I have seen used in documentaries before. The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups on images will be critical for topics in the film where only still pictures or drawings are available to illustrate a place or a people for viewers. For example, there are no films or photographs of the ancient Taino people--only images made by hand (drawings and possibly paintings). The Ken Burns technique enlivens these images when accompanied by either a narrator's voice giving facts to the audience, or by quotes from persons contemporary to those distant times (i.e. quotes from a journal); someone who is interviewed, such as a professor or cultural expert on the Taino could lend their voice to accompany the image. Growing up I used to watch a documentary on the history and authenticity debates of the Shroud of Turin. The film was from the 70s and it too used close-ups of drawings to make them feel more kinetic. Voice overs were not the only audio element accompanying the drawings and paintings: sound effects were used too. An image of a siege would have ambient sounds of hand-to-hand battle with swords and clanging metal and battle cries; when the sound track produced a cannon firing, a close-up of siege cannon belching out fire might follow. The use of sound with still images could aid the impressionistic effect of the film. E. What kind of assets will you use: still images (that need to be scanned), interviews to be shot, existing video footage, video footage to be created, documents, animations? Still images will be critical for depicting historical times before film was available, which will probably include still photos, drawings, and paintings. I found a an image database containing drawings travelers and missionaries made of first contacts with the Yoruba and other West African peoples. There is also a drawing of the some Taino people paddling a canoe. Interviews of a least one or two musicians could be what the film is built around. I would have to find a couple musicians and schedule an interview as soon as possible, so there is a large window of time for any rescheduling that may have to happen. As for existing video footage, I found a clip of a salsa performance from the 40s and 50s that is copyrighted Creative Commons. It could be used to show people playing maracas (there is a clear shot in the clip) or for connecting historically old still images and paintings from the early twentieth century to Cuban music closer to our time. Ideally I'd like to create a lot of video footage on my own of a performance of Cuban music. Different camera angles can highlight different details of the performance such as instruments used and dancing. Documents, such as diaries or reports, could provide quotes from eye-witnesses to an event or a culture. Also, quotes add to the impression the film is making: I found some quotes describing bata drums "talking" as the musician played them. As for animations, I could produce some simple ones using JPEGs/GIFs and sound effects using Flash MX. F. Do you have any idea yet what kind of sound media you will use? Background music certainly will be in the film. Sound samples from the different instruments and sound effects clips that can be used to enhance still images will be important also. Voice-overs informing viewers of the significance of different still images need to be recorded. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 18th, 2006
12:28 pm	Assignment 2, Milestone 1 Joey A. Coburn Anthropology 136J Professor Ruth Tringham 8 February 2006 “Assignment #2, Milestone 1” Source 1: “Cuba and its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo” This title gives an overview of Cuban music history. This can be a valuable source for informatin on indigenous cultural contributions to Cuban music development, a subject that, so far, has not shown up in too many articles in the Melvyl and Pathfinder databases. Information on instruments, occasions when music was performed, and what remains of this music in contemporary compositions could establish a rich context. Also, the book explores the contributions of West African music.This book could help in pointing what critical events occurred in the history of Cuba's music, events that the documentary on Cuban music can highlight. In short, this book can serve as an introduction to the events of music history in Cuba. This book can help guide the documentary through the genres of music in Cuba. Ned Sublette 2004 “Cuba and its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo” http://pathfinder.berkeley.edu (type of search: “subjects begins with”; search words: music cuba history and criticism”) Date Accessed: 8 February 2006 Search Results URL: http://sunsite5.berkeley.edu:8000/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:entitycountDisplay=0:next=NEXTCMD%22/WebZ/CheckIndexCombined?next=html/openingframe.html:entityactive=search:bad=error/badsearchframeStatic.html:entitydbgroup=Glad:entitydbname=Glad:format=B:numrecs=20:entitycountWhere=0:entitycountAvail=0:entityCurrentPage=Search:entityCurrentSearchScreen=html/search.html:entitytoprecno=1:format=B:entityCurrentSearchPage=html/search.html:entitytempjds=TRUE:entitycurrecno=1 Source 2: “Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion” Santeria influenced a lot of Cuba's music, as did the Catholic Church. I hope to find out whether or not the rituals in Santeria were the sources of influence in Cuban music. Were there other sources of influence from the religion? Do many of these influences continue to be as apparent today in the music as before? This book could help point out scenes, or images, that can be place in the documentary to show the audience Santeria rituals as well as where in the rituals the music plays a role. David H. Brown, Ph.D. 2003 “Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion” http://pathfinder.berkeley.edu (type of search: “and and religion Cuba History”; search words: music cuba history and criticism”) Date Accessed: 8 February 2006 Search Results URL: http://sunsite5.berkeley.edu:8000/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:entitycountDisplay=0:next=NEXTCMD%22/WebZ/CheckIndexCombined?next=html/openingframe.html:entityactive=search:bad=error/badsearchframeStatic.html:entitydbgroup=Glad:entitydbname=Glad:format=B:numrecs=20:entitycountWhere=0:entitycountAvail=0:entityCurrentPage=Search:entityCurrentSearchScreen=html/search.html:entitytoprecno=1:format=B:entityCurrentSearchPage=html/search.html:entitytempjds=TRUE:entitycurrecno=1 Source 3: “Cuban Fire: the Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz” This book contains a discography that could help highlight influential Cuba artists who effected Salsa and Latin Jazz. This book highlights how something as widespread as Salsa has ultimately Cuban origins and when we dance to Salsa we dance to the herritage inherent in Cuban music. We could use this book to help illustrate how Cuban music has spread out from its geographical cultural origins and into other cultures. Scenes of Salsa performances from other cultures could help illustrate the global influence of Cuban music. Isabelle Leymarie 2002 “Cuban Fire: the Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz” http://pathfinder.berkeley.edu (type of search: “subjects begins with”; search words: folk music cuba history and criticism”) Date Accessed: 8 February 2006 Search Results URL: http://sunsite5.berkeley.edu:8000/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:entitycountDisplay=0:next=NEXTCMD%22/WebZ/CheckIndexCombined?next=html/openingframe.html:entityactive=search:bad=error/badsearchframeStatic.html:entitydbgroup=Glad:entitydbname=Glad:format=B:numrecs=20:entitycountWhere=0:entitycountAvail=0:entityCurrentPage=Search:entityCurrentSearchScreen=html/search.html:entitytoprecno=1:format=B:entityCurrentSearchPage=html/search.html:entitytempjds=TRUE:entitycurrecno=1 Source 4: “Afro-Cuban Drumming: a Comprehensive Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Styles” Part of looking at the material legacy of Cuban music is figuring out how the instruments are used to make sound. There is also tremendous influence of West African musical tradition in Cuban music. This book not only highlights this influence but it also describes how to play the instruments from this tradition, in the context of Cuban music. We can use this book to illustrate in the documentary just what kind of drumming there is in Cuban music and how this style of drumming—and style of drums—might differ from what is familiar in popular North American music. Scenes of drums and drummers performing can give the audience and image and sounds of Afro-Cuban drum performances that we can place in the documentary. Glen Caruba 1995 “Afro-Cuban Drumming: a Comprehensive Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Styles” http://melvyl.cdlib.org (search words: “african cuba music”) Date Accessed: 8 February 2006 Search Results URL: http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/NS2TMQ8GV7G7VK43XMU9SDSKVF5FBA5FVFSR587JVR9CVHSC8F-00447?func=full-set-set&set_number=000224&set_entry=000018&format=999 Source 5: “Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, and National Identity” The goal with this book is to get information on influence from the Catholic Church. After emancipation many former slaves were forced socialize in communal groups established by the Catholic Church. The Church, as with Santeria, effected Cuba's music. This book can help supply information for illustrating this influence in the documentary as well as help supply scenes (or historical pictures) of life in the Cuban Church just after emancipation. Christine Ayorinde 2004 “Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, and National Identity” http://melvyl.cdlib.org (search words: “religion history cuba”) Date Accessed: 8 February 2006 Search Results URL: http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/NS2TMQ8GV7G7VK43XMU9SDSKVF5FBA5FVFSR587JVR9CVHSC8F-04905?func=full-set-set&set_number=000862&set_entry=000004&format=999 (Comment on this)
Friday, February 17th, 2006
10:59 pm	Alex-- I tried plugging in my hard drive after it was formated on the Mac and it did not show up on my PC computer. A friend of mine told I should be able to change the permissions on the Mac computer to allow me to write to my drive. So I've gone and reformatted my drive using the PC and I'm going to try again to get the computers in the Mactia to read it. Don't buy anything just yet, let me see if I can get a Mac to grant write-permissions to my hard drive. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
12:23 pm	Assignment 2, Milestone 2 Joey A. Coburn Anthropology 136J Professor Ruth Tringham 15 February 2006 "Assignment 2: Milestone 2" Asset 1: http://www.eijkhout.net/rad/dance_specific/salsa7.html Value of asset: We can use quotes from this text about the clave. Specifically we can quote the author regarding the emotional value of the clave in music making: "Aside from its rhythmic importance in musical practice, the Cuban clave is itself, by virtue of its simplicity and striking timbre, a melodic exclamation filled with emotion. . . There is something about [the clave] which eludes the typically opaque sound of wood." Citation: "The Clave: Creole Cuban Instrument," excerpted from Masters Thesis by Rebeca Mauleón entitled "The Cuban Clave: Its Origins and Development in World Musics," © 1997 by Rebeca Mauleón-Santana. (Un-published). Contact: victor@eijkhout.net Asset 2: http://www.lpmusic.com/Play_Like_A_Pro/Lessons_From_Pros/images/clave.jpg Value of asset: We can use this image to show what a "clave" looks like. Citation: © Latin Percussion, 2004, A Division of Kaman Music Corporation, All Rights Reserved Contact: 160 Belmont Avenue, Garfield, NJ 07026 USA; (973) 478 - 6903 web_coordinator@lpmusic.com Asset 3: http://www.batadrums.com/understanding_rhythms/talk.htm Value of asset: This asset describes how bata drums "talk" using tone: "Yoruba speakers use three basic tones, or pitches, and glides between them, as an essential part of how words are pronounced. Since tone is a critical part of meaning, the same word pronounced with a different melody means something entirely different. In fact, tone is such an important part of meaning that a fluent speaker can recognize and understand spoken Yoruba from the pitches alone, without hearing the spoken consonants and vowels, especially if they know the context and are listening to a familiar text, such as a common phrase or prayer. This is how the hourglass-shaped "talking drums" (called dundun in Yoruba) are able to speak Yoruba praises and sayings. This is also how bata and other drums can talk." There are parts of this piece that we could paraphrase and attribute to the author. Citation: Copyright 2001-2006 BATADRUMS.COM - all text and other content (audio, photos) on website is copyrighted Contact: info@batadrums.com or feedback@batadrums.com Asset 4: http://www.batadrums.com/background/bata_drums.htm Value of asset: We can use this image to show what a bata drum looks like. Citation: Copyright 2001-2006 BATADRUMS.COM - all text and other content (audio, photos) on website is copyrighted Contact: info@batadrums.com or feedback@batadrums.com Asset 5: http://www.archive.org/details/Havana-Madri_2 Value of asset: This is a video clip showing a man playing maracas (similar to an instrument used by the native Cuban people's living on the island when Columbus arrived). The video also shows people dancing. Citation: Soundie - Havana-Madrid Show (1941), Soundie Distributing Corporation of America Contact: This video clip was found through the www.creativecommons.org web page (specifically, through the Prelinger Archive); info@archive.org Asset 6: http://www.worldandi.com/peoples/2002/2_jan/Html/page5.asp Value of asset: This quote describes the inclusion of Chinese culture into Cuban music and could be used in a voice over, attributing the author: "Chinese immigrants, who first arrived in Cuba in 1847, introduced the Chinese cornet (corneta China in Spanish), a shrill-sounding, double-reed instrument used in the pentatonic music of China.As testimony to the high level of acculturation present in Cuba, this exotic instrument has become widely associated with seasonal folkloric events and a signature sound of the annual carnival celebration in Santiago." Citation: "Cuba's 'Music City': Wellspring of an Island's Culture", The World and I Magazine (January 2002) Holston, Mark, 2002 Contact: http://www.worldandi.com/contactus/reprint.asp The World & I Online 3600 New York Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002 Asset 7: http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/228/APWW%20Seminar%20in%20Cuba,%20March%202003,%20Final%20Dispatch%20&%20Photographs Value of asset: This page has pictures of a performance using familiar Cuban music instruments (like the clave and bata drums). The images also provide an idea of the costumes and dress used in the performances. Citation: APWW (Afropop World Wide) Seminar in Cuba, March 2003, Final Dispatch & Photographs; contributed by: Sean Barlow, Copyright © 2001-2003 World Music Productions. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form without permission Contact: http://www.afropop.org/contact_us.php Afropop Worldwide 688 Union Street, storefront Brooklyn NY 11215 Asset 8: http://www.folkcuba.com/stores/photos/CoronetachinaSantiagoLgW.jpg Value of asset: This is a picture of a man playing a Chinese cornet. We can use this image to show viewers what the instrument looks like. Citation: www.folkcuba.com; ©Copyright 2000 David H. Brown. All rights reserved. Any Form of Reproduction is Strictly Prohibited Contact: store@folkcuba.com Asset 9: http://afropop.org/img/cuba/01_2002_cubaconnection16_feature/9.jpg Value of asset: This is another picture of a man playing a Chinese cornet. We can use this image to show viewers what the instrument looks like. Citation: APWW (Afropop World Wide) Copyright © World Music Productions. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form without permission Contact: http://www.afropop.org/contact_us.php Afropop Worldwide 688 Union Street, storefront Brooklyn NY 11215 Asset 10: http://www.soundclick.com/genres/cc_license.cfm?id=9&CurrentPage=2 Value of asset: This is a contemporary song from the Cuban genre. The drums are very distinct and we could use this song for background sound while, for example, showing images of modern Cuba. Citation: Esta Acabando, El Soldado Contact: http://www.soundclick.com/pro/view/03/default.cfm?bandid=336566&content=mail http://www.soundclick.com/elsoldado (713) 542-5281 Asset 11: http://www.batadrums.com/background/yoruba.htm Value of asset: This page has images of people with bata drums (these images can show viewers that the drums look like). Also this page has links to sound clips of playing bata drums that could be used for background sound in our movie. Citation: Copyright 2001-2006 BATADRUMS.COM - all text and other content (audio, photos) on website is copyrighted Contact: info@batadrums.com or feedback@batadrums.com Asset 12: http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/details.php?categorynum=8&categoryName=Plantation%20Scenes,%20Slave%20Settlements%20and%20Houses&theRecord=22&recordCount=71 http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/search.html Value of asset: This is an image made in the early- to mid-1800s of a timbre estate in the "West Indies". The image depicts a moment of slave life in the Americas. Much of Cub's music heritage came from African men and women taken captive and sold into slavery in the Americas. This image can be used to illustrate what life was like on the Caribbean estates. The database contains many other images that can be used to illustrate slavery in the New World. Citation: Thomas Staunton St. Clair, A Residence in the West Indies and America (London, 1834), vol. 2, facing p. 187. (Copy in Library Company of Philadelphia) Jerome S. Handler (senior fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Black American Studies, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale)) Michael L. Tuite Jr. (Head of Digital Media Lab and Assistant Director, Robertson Media Center at the University of Virginia Library) Contact: Jerome S. Handler (jh3v@virginia.edu), Michael L. Tuite Jr. (mlt3a@virginia.edu) Asset 13: http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/return.php?categorynum=2&categoryName=Pre-Colonial%20Africa:%20Society,%20Polity,%20Culture http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/search.html Value of asset: This page contains images of pre-Colonial Africa, illustrating the culture that was probably has the largest influence on Cuban music's development. These images can be used with voice overs to illustrate the specific cultural origins of African influence in Cuban music. Citation: Jerome S. Handler (senior fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Black American Studies, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale)) Michael L. Tuite Jr. (Head of Digital Media Lab and Assistant Director, Robertson Media Center at the University of Virginia Library) Contact: Jerome S. Handler (jh3v@virginia.edu), Michael L. Tuite Jr. (mlt3a@virginia.edu) Asset 14: http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/details.php?categorynum=2&categoryName=Pre-Colonial%20Africa:%20Society,%20Polity,%20Culture&theRecord=62&recordCount=203 Value of asset: This is an image of a man playing a drum similar in appearance to the modern bata drum. This image can be used to show how, historically, the bata drum is descendent from the drums played in West Africa. This image could also be used in a voice over with drum playing also in the background. Citation: Ezio Bassani, ed., Un Cappuccino nell'Africa nera del seicento: I disegni dei Manoscritti Araldi del Padre Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo (Quaderni Poro, no. 4, 1987), plate 10; painted by Antonio Cavazzi (1621 - 1678) Jerome S. Handler (senior fellow, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Black American Studies, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale)) Michael L. Tuite Jr. (Head of Digital Media Lab and Assistant Director, Robertson Media Center at the University of Virginia Library) Contact: Jerome S. Handler (jh3v@virginia.edu), Michael L. Tuite Jr. (mlt3a@virginia.edu) Asset 15: http://www.fly.co.uk/fly/archives/2005/08/lotz_of_music_in_havana_blues_for_yemaya.html Value of asset: This is an album of "a collection of African Yoruba songs of the Santeria religion". Santeria was a creative force behind musical styles in Cuba and is influence can still be heard today in genres of music related to Cuban music. This can also be used as background music for either interviews or voice over/image sequences. Citation: Blues for Yemaya, Lotz of Music, VIA Jazz, 1998, Hilversum - NL, 9920592 Contact: info@lotzofmusic.com Mark Alban Lotz Burg. Patijnlaan 50 3705 CG Zeist The Netherlands phone: +31 (0)30 69 242 85 fax: +31 (0)30 69 933 20 Asset 16: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/taino/taino-canoe.jpg Value of asset: This image depicts the Taino's, native people to Cuba. Their influence on Cuban music is the maraca. This image can be used to illustrate the Taino's for viewers and could pair with voice over, an interview voice over, or music/sound (such as maracas playing). Citation: www.latinamericanstudies.org; Dr. Antonio Rafael de la Cova, December 15, 1997 Contact: delacova@indiana.edu Asset 17: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/taino/wooden-rattles.htm Value of asset: This image is of a wooden rattle used by the Taino people. We could use this image to historically tie the musical instruments of the Taino to the modern day maracas used in Cuban music. This image, again, could be used in conjunction with a voice over, interview voice over, or sound/instrument background. Citation: www.latinamericanstudies.org; Dr. Antonio Rafael de la Cova, December 15, 1997 Contact: delacova@indiana.edu Asset 18: http://www.taino-tribe.org/jatiboni.html Value of asset: This web site uses a sound clip recorded by the descendants of the Taino people. This could be used as background music for a sequence of Taino-related images. The drums are very distinct. (see also http://www.taino-tribe.org/orocobix.wav) Citation: www.taino-tribe.org; Tribal Legend Keeper: Elder Guanikeyu, Jatibonicu' Tribe, Copyright TITC Inc. (C) 1995-98 Contact: Public-Relations@Taino-Tribe.Org Asset 19: http://www.justsalsa.com/culture/areito/ Value of asset: This web site has a quote connecting the modern day maraca with "an instrument made from a gourd filled with small stones" of the Taino people: "The drum was called "Atambor". The beating of the Atambor was accompanied by conch shell horns and an instrument made from a gourd filled with small stones. This instrument survives today as the maraca." The article also describes the dances performed by the Taino when Columbus arrived. Citation: www.justsalsa.com; Copyright © justsalsa.com 1999 - 2004 NYC. All Rights Reserved Contact: info@justsalsa.com (212) 982-4633 Asset 20: http://www.fotosearch.com/AGE054/l22-255136/ http://www.fotosearch.com/AGE054/g50-236132/ http://www.fotosearch.com/AGE054/g77-173180/ Value of asset: These are images of modern Cuba and can be used to assemble a modern context where modern Cuban music can be introduced. This would go with, say, an introductory voice over or musically introduction to contemporary Cuban music. Citation: www.fotosearch.com; L22-255136 AGE Fotostock Rights Managed Photograph G50-236132 AGE Fotostock Rights Managed Photograph (third image Rights N/A) Contact: 1-800-827-3920 Publitek, Inc. dba Fotosearch 21155 Watertown Road Waukesha, WI 53186-1898 USA Fax 262-717-0745 (Comment on this)
3:44 am	Documentary Well, here is my first entry...it'll be short though, being so late. But I figure its good to start a journal ASAP. Some thoughts so far...I've been able to get a connection to the Taino people with modern Cuban music. They contributed what later became the maracas but unfortunately getting information has been really difficult, especially visual media. It's been an easier run getting information on the Yoruba though. The Yoruba are still an ethnic group in Western Africa; several centuries ago many Yoruba were captured and taken to Cuba during the slave trade. The bata drum seems to have orginated there and became a center piece of Cuban music. Harder still, though, is finding information on Chinese immigrants who came to Cuba during the late 1800's to work. The "Chinese Cornet" is still used in Cuban music today and I could find a couple images of it being used in the Cuban music context. What is amazing about all of this is the diversity of sources Cuban music developed from, cultures spread literally all over the world. I still need to track down the Spanish influence directly. Spanish, West African, Chinese, and Amer-Indian influence all come together in Cuban music. The trick seems to be including as much of this background as possible but without bogging down the documentary too much in the past...there is plenty of modern material to still explore (modern composers and performances). Ideally, a quick overview over each cultural contributions, with appropriate music to accompany each segment, could make for an interesting introduction to Cuban music. How will it segway into modern times though? Linearly, with linear time? Perhaps a nonlinear presentation...when an instrument comes into "focus" in a clip of a contemporary performance, maybe the documentary could segway into the background behind that instrument, and its history can bring us back to the contemporary performance? Maybe that could provide a stronger sense of multicultural heritage, illustrates its continuing prevalence? (1 Comment |Comment on this)