bibliocommons

I love the new catalog, and I think we can't make the switch quickly enough.

I love how smart it is. I've tried misspelling things to see what kind of results I get, and only once did the new catalog not outperform the old (it merely tied in that one instance). And I love that the book I'm searching for is almost always one of the top few results found. No more scrolling through pages of seemingly irrelevant results to get to the title I need. What a concept!
I love that patrons can click on "view availability details" and a get the real picture of just how many copies of a popular item we have, and where all of those copies are.
I love how easy it is to keep a list of items I'd like to check out in future. No more little scraps of paper floating around in my life.
I love the feature that allows us to limit a search to items currently available in the building. This will better aid patrons that need information that they can get their hands on immediately.
I love the social aspect. Personal reviews make the library's collection seem more friendly and approachable, less aloof.

Bring it on!

samba, pt. 1

I knew this would happen. I originally planned to save my taiko post for last, holding it before me like a carrot to entice me through all the other drum posts I've had planned. But taiko is done. And I've had precious little desk time to work on new posts. So here is part one of samba to get us all back in the swing of things.

The Coventry School of Samba does an excellent job of identifying the drums that are typically used for this type of music. You can check that out here.

Here's a little audio visual sampler of the individual samba percussion instruments:


And here they are, all happily put together!

Library Feeds

Now that I am feeling totally overwhelmed by all that is out there to read, I share with you three of the library feeds to which I've subscribed:

Awful Library Books

Information Wants to be Free

Librarian by Day

Web 2.0 Awards

Music fan that I am, I headed over to Last.fm and was duly impressed: the most obscure artists I could think of were all listed, and the tags people have come up with to link similar musicians were right on. My favorite was Wicked Women. :P

This site might be useful in helping library patrons find artists that are similar to ones that they know and love. (What should I listen to next?) To get the full benefit of the site, it's obviously best to be able to hear the music clips and videos, but even just reading about the artists can be informative.

by popular demand.... TAIKO DRUMS!

If you should happen across these drums at a drum circle, you should consider yourself very lucky (and you should call me on my cell phone right away). Taiko drums originated in Japan over 2000 years ago. The drums were reputedly first used in battle to intimidate the enemy, and by the 1500's, the drums were used to coordinate troop movements on the battlefield, since they were easy to hear across the entire field. The type of taiko ensemble playing that we're familiar with today didn't begin until the 1950's, when jazz drummer Daihachi Oguchi rewrote a classic taiko piece for a group of different-sized (and different-voiced) drums.

Taiko is the Japanese word for drum. The word becomes "daiko" when it is used in combination with another word to describe a drum further. The shime daiko is littlest; it has a natural hide skin that is pulled super tight with ropes. The larger chu daiko and o-daiko are shaped like barrels. Their skins are tacked down and cannot be tuned. O-daiko drums are the largest, and can have heads up to six feet in diameter. (!)

I was fortunate enough to study taiko with Elaine Fong and Junko Kobayashi from Odaiko New England at a workshop in New York state the same year that this video was filmed. Both women are amazingly talented, and they are sweet, gifted teachers. This is far and away my favorite type of drumming to do, because the whole body is involved. It's really a combination of drumming and dancing, with the focus and intensity of martial arts thrown in.


Check out Junko's solo! She even drops a stick and doesn't miss a beat!



If you just can't get enough, here is some extended footage of guys playing the big drums. Their style of drumming is more reminiscent of the drum's role on the battlefield.

Frame Drums: not the new kid on the block

A frame drum is a shallow drum; its width is greater than its depth. It is generally made from a hoop of wood. The head of the drum can be made from a synthetic material or from an animal hide, such as deerskin or calf. The drum may have one head or two, and it may have metal jangles on the hoop. Some animal skin drums have a metal tuning system; others have a rope that is attached to the skin that may be pulled tighter. Some frame drums are made to be played with mallets or sticks, and others are played with the fingers. Different cultures have different names for their frame drums. It's a bodhran in Ireland, a tar in Africa, a riq in Arabic countries, and a tambourine in the USA and Europe.


This type of drum has been around for a long time. A priestess playing a frame drum is featured in a painting found in modern day Turkey that dates back to 5600 B.C. Frame drums were played mainly by women in the ancient Middle East, Rome and Greece. To learn more about the fascinating history of frame drums and the women who played them, check out the book When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm, by Layne Redmond. These drums are still used frequently in shamanic ritual, as they are great for creating a trancelike energy.



If you'd like to see two guys having fun with a totally different type of frame drumming, check out this video.

Wow!

I found this photo by trolling around Creative Commons per Sarah Easley's suggestion. Just wait til we talk about taiko drums! :)