Missing Continent

I spend a lot of time listening to Pandora, the online music streaming service. You can create stations, based on a seed artist or song, then turn thumbs up or thumbs down on other songs Pandora suggests based on your seed.

In this manner I have created streams entitled "Paris in the '20s," "Piano Jazz," "Exotica," "Intelligent New Age," "Brit Folk Rock," "Female Blues," "Pipe Organ" and about two dozen others. They are marvelous sources of surprises, and I can usually find one continuous ad-free stream to fit any mood.

Last year I created two streams called "Africa" and "India." I found Pandora has an unexpected wealth of indigenous music from these continents, and although I know a lot less about this music I find it fascinating to explore.

Last week I tried to create another called "China." I have a half dozen CDs of traditional Chinese music and I know the field is rich and deep.

Unfortunately the channel played me a song of Japanese shakuhachi music, then some New Age flute, then a Chinese classical guitarist. After about six songs it became apparent that traditional Chinese music is missing from Pandora.

Which is odd if you think about it. The Chinese market is huge, the available music is vast, technology is burgeoning in China. Why do you suppose this major major market is totally missing???

Today on my scouting trip through Half Price Books I found a CD of traditional Chinese ensemble music, recorded in excellent fidelity in a church in Santa Barbara CA.  The "half dozen" CDs I have of Chinese music are mostly recorded in the U.S. by authentic Chinese performers -- for some reason imports of real Chinese music recorded in China are still very hard to find.

Anyway, this one -- whose title is in Chinese so I can't reproduce it here -- is excellent.  It features the world renown Urhu player Chen, Jie-bing, who is quite stunning.  Also featured are guzheng, yangqin, pipa, cello, bass, and percussion.  The recording has a palpable sense of air to it, with excellent natural acoustics and about a 3-second reverberance.  

The recording technology was all designed by Tim de Paravicini of Esoteric Audio Research of Huntingdon, UK, the so-called "King of Tubes". He makes a big deal of the fact that all amplification stages are of tube design.  His results almost make me a believer.

I've not heard a lot of Chinese music, but what I have heard I didn't care for at all. I'm probably not unlike a lot of westerners in this regard. No doubt it takes a great deal of talent to create the music, but it's just not my cup of (oolong) tea.

Recalling walking through the streets of Keelung and Taipei back in the sixties, most of the music I heard spilling from homes, businesses and cars was western rock. One was more likely to hear the Beatles than classical Chinese performers.

Would you like a sampler?

You would be unlikely to hear Western classical music while walking through a shopping district too, and our tradition only goes back 300 years. China's goes back over 5,000 years.

Trying Pandora again -- they have a preprogrammed station called "Traditional Chinese" -- and it shows the most appalling lack of cultural awareness.

Here's what it spat out at me:
* New Age American Dean Everson
* New Age American Anugama
* Japanese shakuhachi music
* A Chinese acoustic guitarist playing Western guitar music
* YoYo Ma plays Ennio Morricone (!)
* Japanese New Age artist Kitaro

Thank you for the generous offer, but I think not.
One of the few things that has not changed about me in the past fifty years is my preferences in music.

Minds are like underpants.

If you don't change them frequently they don't stay clean.

Platitudes are like the contents of a toddler's underpants: a bunch of crap.

I realized a good friend of mine is having a birthday next Tuesday, and not knowing what to get him I decided to load up a thumbdrive with all my authentic Chinese music. It comes to 8 hours 25 minutes, 95 songs, not including the two new CDs I have coming in the mail. If they arrive in time I'll add them.

I suppose it's an acquired taste, but like all music of long tradition it's stuff you never get tired of.