Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 September 4

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September 4

Instant Star

Today, an instant star episode aired, and in one scene, two guys are bludgeoning each other with possibly inflated caveperson clubs. Then I think the mother pays the daughter (old Canadian, i think it's that bird series) $100 I presume for a bet that the mother lost. All four of these people were sitting together at the same table at the same time, the females in the center. I think they were in a restaurant. Does anyone know of a link, or the male actors names, or the episode name or episode number and season?68.148.157.170 (talk) 19:40, 4 September 2008 (UTC)68.148.157.170 (talk) 19:48, 4 September 2008 (UTC)23:11, 4 September 2008 (UTC)68.148.157.170 (talk)

If you happen to remember the featured song, you might find the title in the List of Instant Star episodes. However, the individual episode titles on that page seem to end up redirected back to the list, so you'd have to probably go to one of the external site linked at the bottom of the page, e.g. IMDB or tv.com, to get further episode and/or cast details. --LarryMac | Talk 20:24, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

So Why Is Music?

The Basis of Harmony by Frederick J. Horwood (http://picasaweb.google.com/iooiioioo/UntitledAlbum#5242061082341869026) is a very famous book notable for being a requisite text book in the upper grades of music theory for Piano Royal Conservatory of Music Piano Music Theory Degrees and for the Piano level degrees (you may take the Performing exam and get a performing certificate but still not get the grade certificate without taking the Music Theory exam).

Here is a page of the contents and the first page of the first chapter of the book; here are the first 3 sentences:

Harmony is the art of writing successive chords for voices or instruments in such a way that the music produced is acceptable to the ear. Elementary harmony is the basis of all good music, and should be written for four voices: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The student of harmony should know all the major and minor scales with their key signatures; the chromatic scale; also intervals and their inversions.

The Royal Conservatory of Music is a extremely well respected music institution. There is one paradox here: many different musics of Celtic and East Asian, for example, ancestry does not fit in these criteria. For example, some Celtic music is based on the pentatonic scale, as well as East Asian music. Pythagorean tuning is another issue that can not fit into Major and minor keys, the basis of Babylonian music, for starters. Exactly why is the Royal Conservatory taking this side of the football field? Why exactly is harmony most aesthetically pleasing in Dorian mode, in a dodecatonic and heptatonic scales? Why are there only Major and minor, when

• Major = whole tone (W), W, semitone (S), W, W, W, S
• harmonic minor = W, S, W, W, S, W + S, W
• melodic minor
  • going up = W, S, W, W, W, W, S
  • going down = W, W, S, W, W, S, W

, and so obviously, there are a unlimited combination of scales (for example, in Arabic music, quartertones are used). So either these scales are notable, areor music is arbitrary, elitist, and self centered.68.148.157.170 (talk) 22:57, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Not entirely arbitrary. Part learned but part mathematical. I found Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession a good read on the subject. Rmhermen (talk) 01:42, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

No, not arbitrary, but maybe elitist and certainly western-centric. Rather simplistic as well. The best way to understand scales is in terms of how they're related to the overtone series. Pretty much all of the traditional scales of the east and west are drawn from it. As far as harmony, many types of eastern music are much more melodic oriented and harmony comes from drones or parts of melodies that overlap for various reasons. That's why the Arabs have quarter tones and half scales that they put together in various ways. Often times the result of eastern music is rich beautiful harmonies, but the tradition of harmonic analysis is much more narrow minded and hidebound developed in the west. - Lambajan 02:26, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Tangential suggestion for further reading: This is Your Brain on Music. --- OtherDave (talk) 11:49, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

I like my coffee like the devil

"I like my coffee like the devil: black as sin and sweet as hell." I'm trying to figure out where this quote comes from, as it just re-entered my head today. Is it from a Neil Gaiman book, perhaps? Any help would be appreciated. - Lunar Jesters _(talk) 23:12, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

The original quote I've seen attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

"” Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love “[1]

Then people have invented variations on the theme like "Drink it hot as love and sweet as hell." [2]

Hope this helps, maybe your version was from Good Omens or something? Sticky Parkin 01:40, 5 September 2008 (UTC) thanks ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unhalium (talk • contribs) 17:12, 6 September 2008 (UTC)