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NASA scientists send music in time capsule into space...................

6K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  Monsalvat 
#1 · (Edited)
The scientists decide on the best of different genres and eras. They send: Bach, Beethoven,Bartok,Ellington,Miles,Chuck Berry,Beatles.

Off into the far reaches of the universe it goes for 1000 years.

After 1000 years we get a capsule back from a distant, advanced alien civilization.
The capsule contains a historic message from the aliens.

It says " Send more Chuck Berry". :D
 
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#14 ·
For those who don't know, NASA did send music into space on the Voyager spacecraft. This list of music is here. Carl Sagan who was a prominent astronomer on the mission apparently said they were thinking of sending all Bach but that would be bragging.
Not true, NASA did send Bach’s recording by Glenn Gould. And they need to apologize for that (see my below comment...)
 
#8 · (Edited)
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Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40
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Java, court gamelan, "Kinds of Flowers," recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43
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Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08
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Zaire, Pygmy girls' initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull. 0:56
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Australia, Aborigine songs, "Morning Star" and "Devil Bird," recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
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Mexico, "El Cascabel," performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14
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"Johnny B. Goode," written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38
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New Guinea, men's house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan. 1:20
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Japan, shakuhachi, "Tsuru No Sugomori" ("Crane's Nest,") performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
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Bach, "Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux. 2:55
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Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55
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Georgian S.S.R., chorus, "Tchakrulo," collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
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Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52
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"Melancholy Blues," performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05
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Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30
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Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35
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Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano. 4:48
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Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20
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Bulgaria, "Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin," sung by Valya Balkanska. 4:59
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Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57
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Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, "The Fairie Round," performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17
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Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. 1:12
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Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
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China, ch'in, "Flowing Streams," performed by Kuan P'ing-hu. 7:37
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India, raga, "Jaat Kahan Ho," sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30
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"Dark Was the Night," written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
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Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet. 6:37
(Looking at the classical music selections)

Great way to give aliens the wrong idea about our planet's music. They should have put in some Stockhausen as he is an alien himself, and it would be nice if the other aliens on his home planet respond that they recognise Stockhausen's music and plan on giving a full performance of his "Licht" cycle! I think some interstellar musical diversity would be better than just "Earth music."
 
#11 ·
I imagine the aliens having a good laugh if they were using things like synthesisers thousands of years ago! Perhaps we should have sent some of our sci-fi films and tv progs as well - God only knows what they'd think of something like Blake's 7 but I can imagine them digging Futurama.
 
#12 ·
NASA has to apologize and to resend better recording of Bach. They didn’t know that they sent distorted recording of Bach, since Gould, like most other musicians, didn’t know that Bach’s music for keyboard may not be performed with emotional repression, in effort to replicate harpsichord on the piano. Most of musicians and their audiences had been unaware that Bach had in his personal possession emerging hammer-clavier he called Piano et Forte made in Germany by Silbermann. And thus, Bach wrote his music for clavier with varied dynamics in mind, aiming at producing lots of emotional resonance in listeners. And this is the evidence about it, singed by Bach’s own hand…
Handwriting Font Writing Paper Paper product
 
#17 ·
...What?

Bach loved the clavichord, which had some dynamic range. I'm trying to figure out what you're arguing here, but I'm not sure. I don't like Gould either, as a general rule, but it seems like you're trying to prove a point about performance interpretation by showing a blurry picture of a letter; I don't even know what this is purporting to prove. And how is Gould an example of "emotional repression", and what does that have to do with the choice of keyboard instrument? What's the common thread here? Are you seriously arguing that because the harpsichord doesn't have minute control over dynamics, it's an inherently unemotional instrument? Isn't that tantamount to arguing that dynamics are the only element of music that can express emotion, a ridiculous thesis?
Not true, NASA did send Bach’s recording by Glenn Gould. And they need to apologize for that (see my below comment...)
What mmsbls said is true, if you read his post. There is only one recording of Bach on that list made by Gould (BWV 870), and it's under five minutes in length. That post only said that they were considering sending the complete works of Bach but didn't; nobody claimed that no Bach recordings at all made it onto Voyager.

And why would NASA apologize? And to whom? The hypothetical aliens whom we haven't yet met?
 
#27 ·
A straw man fallacy occurs when someone takes another person’s argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in some kind of extreme way, and then attacks the extreme distortion, as if that is really the claim the first person is making.
You appear to be accusing me of making a bunch of claims I've never made. I'm not resentful of change, nor do I deny that Bach was familiar with prototypes of the pianoforte, and as someone who decided to learn how to play the organ because of my love of Bach's music, I certainly wouldn't agree that I'm betraying Bach's values. I'm not even sure whether I disagree with you, since any arguments you are making are cloaked in lengthy screeds in which you project your opinions onto Bach. I'm still not convinced by that blurry image you attached earlier, since I can't read what it says and I have no way of verifying its authenticity or origin. What do you claim that image represents, and what is its relevance to this discussion? I cannot address that image without knowing what it is. You write "It would be silly to deny this FACT, documented and signed by Bach’s own hand": to which fact are you referring, and where have I denied it?

The modern piano brings some advantages when it comes to Bach. In some works, I find that the faster decay of the harpsichord adds transparency (and I largely agree with András Schiff that the sustaining pedal should be used extremely sparingly in Bach). The organ brings different advantages: since there is no decay until the note is released, the polyphony can be as clear as if it were sung by a choir. Also, the judicious or adventuresome choice of registrations in the organ (and in larger harpsichords) brings a variety of timbre which the piano is not possible of emulating. In terms of dynamic range, the organ will beat out any other instrument any day of the week. I think what you are getting at is not dynamic range per se, but nuanced dynamic subleties such as those afforded by the modern piano (which are indeed useful expressive devices). I agree with some of the writings of Kirkpatrick arguing that the clavichord is a good choice for Bach, particularly with respect to the smaller works such as some of the Well-Tempered Clavier preludes and fugues, and the inventions or sinfonias; it is an intimate, domestic instrument, which does allow for an expression of touch, the aforementioned nuanced dynamic subtleties, and even a proto-vibrato which is not possible on the modern piano. Some of the piano works by CPE Bach take advantage of this form of expression, and while I haven't studied them extensively, it is an interesting capability which is lost in modern instruments. Bach was more familiar with the clavichord in any case than he was with the pianos of the early eighteenth century, and the piano changed considerably after his death. Even the pianos available to Beethoven and Schubert were significantly different from the modern instruments, and the pianos available to Brahms sound distinctly different from modern pianos as shown by András Schiff's recent recordings of the two Brahms piano concerti. Thus, any endorsement of the piano made by Bach should not automatically be construed as an endorsement of the modern piano. I write this as someone who has played Bach on the piano but never on the harpsichord.

The strength of your language and your use of capital letters as emphasis indicate that you feel quite strongly, but I'm not sure how well I am understanding what you are trying to convey. If you would cease attacking the people you feel are arguing against your point (and I don't know from your previous post if that is meant to include myself or not) and instead attack the arguments themselves, I could better address your arguments, and I believe our opinions wouldn't be that far apart. In any case, we have drifted far away from the original topic about the time capsule on Voyager.
 
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