Nothing much going on around here in Boston. Aside from my 9-5 job, I am currently working on a small piece for Global Rhythm on a musical ensemble called DuOud. I interviewed one of the members last month and the article should appear sometime in January 2004. This month, my article on Serart (Arto and Serj) is on newstands for Global Rhtyhm.
Recently, I've been on the warpath to find a good kemancha CD. The problem is that the Armenian kemancha alone is a tough instrument to carry an entire album. Word has it that there is a French production that has the double bass and the Armenian kemancha on one album with the artists doing strict improv on disc. I can't find it here in the States and may have to do a Amazon.UK thing.
The PBS documentary "Images of Armenia" was shown here in Boston last Sunday and I sat down and watched it with good friends of mine. Not bad at all. I think it gave a nice overview of Armenia in the last 1000 years and is a good piece for people who are just learning about our culture. For PBS, I am sure it was a subscription drive cash cow because we are all suckers for seeing things Armenian on TV and will support it. I think it was the third in a series.
Today I start work on my Fullbright application. It's a long process and I probably do not stand a chance in terms of getting an award. But, it's worth a try. My angle is to work in Armenia for one year and do as much research as possible on the music industry there. Specifically, I would like to see the effects of illegal pirating of CD's and their effect on the artist. There is an interesting tradeoff where although the musicians do not get direct revenue from the sale of CD's( since they are pirated) , the upside is that their music gets circulated to more people who can afford to buy CD's for $2-$3 (as opposed to $15-$20) and in turn may lead to live shows where they can control the ticket sales and directly benefit from that.
Recently, I've been on the warpath to find a good kemancha CD. The problem is that the Armenian kemancha alone is a tough instrument to carry an entire album. Word has it that there is a French production that has the double bass and the Armenian kemancha on one album with the artists doing strict improv on disc. I can't find it here in the States and may have to do a Amazon.UK thing.
The PBS documentary "Images of Armenia" was shown here in Boston last Sunday and I sat down and watched it with good friends of mine. Not bad at all. I think it gave a nice overview of Armenia in the last 1000 years and is a good piece for people who are just learning about our culture. For PBS, I am sure it was a subscription drive cash cow because we are all suckers for seeing things Armenian on TV and will support it. I think it was the third in a series.
Today I start work on my Fullbright application. It's a long process and I probably do not stand a chance in terms of getting an award. But, it's worth a try. My angle is to work in Armenia for one year and do as much research as possible on the music industry there. Specifically, I would like to see the effects of illegal pirating of CD's and their effect on the artist. There is an interesting tradeoff where although the musicians do not get direct revenue from the sale of CD's( since they are pirated) , the upside is that their music gets circulated to more people who can afford to buy CD's for $2-$3 (as opposed to $15-$20) and in turn may lead to live shows where they can control the ticket sales and directly benefit from that.
posted by Raffi at 5:50 PM
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