40 Days ~ v i r t u a l WORLD TOUR of MUSIC

This virtual tour began with the initial crowdfund (via kickstarter) for the Ureuk World Music House which lasted 40 days.  Each day is a look at a different musician in a different country playing a different instrument!  Whew ~ it's quite a journey. . .  가자! चेलिये ! Let's Go!
(For more info. about the Ureuk World Music House visit our sister blog www.annachip.blogspot.com and click here INDIEGOGO to get in on the action + the gift world music compilation, Kangnam Style socks, or traditional-style silk cushions.)

Day 40 ~ DAEGEUM

This is a picture of Sang-Woo Kang, my "sabunim" (master teacher), playing daegeum bamboo flute in the 

Ureuk World Music House.

To hear his music, and his thoughts about Korean traditional music and how he feels playing in a hanok,

click on the link to watch the video filmed in the Ureuk World Music House in December 2012.

THANK YOU for joining this Musical World Tour, hopefully you have enjoyed the musical explorations of these 40 days as much as I have.  Leave a comment to contact us about the Ureuk World Music House restoration project, and LIKE

the page to join our online community!  www.facebook.com/worldmusichouse

There are more musical journeys ahead ~ and hopefully one day you can join us at the stage of the Ureuk World Music House in Chungju, South Korea!

Day 39 ~ Korea Week ~ TAEPYEONGSO

The instrument above accompanied the King on all walks.

The typical taegpyeongso is a small reed instrument with a sound that might pass for  saxophone.

Learn more here - KBS World Radio ~ Sounds of Korea

This is a video of taepyeongso solo with a small traditional ensemble.

And, here is a taepyeongso playing with an entire traditional orchestra!

Day 38 ~ Korea Week ~ BUK

Buk is one of the main Korean percussion instruments. (wikidetails here)

An all-percussion traditional "genre" of music is called 'Samulnori" and includes the buk, the hourglass drum chang-gu, the small gong gwengari and the large gong jing.  

Chungju has a famous samulnori group, "Mulgae."

This samulnori video opens with buk.

A famous cutting-edge Korean percussionist who seems to have found the overlap junction of traditional music and modern musical yearning is Choi, Sori.  

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 37 ~ Korea Week ~ HAEGEUM

Haegeum is a 2-string bowed instrument.  

It is made of 8 materials: gold, rock, thread, bamboo, gourd, soil, leather, and wood.

The haegeum has a 4-stringed North Korean sister, the sohaegeum.

This is a video of a haegeum solo accompanied by piano; part of a haegeum playlist.

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 36 ~ Korea Week ~ SAENG HWANG

Saeng Hwang, the instrument I find most mystical and other-wordly of all Korean instruments,

 is a wind instrument made of 17 bamboo pipes; a prototype of the pipe organ.

In this video Hyo-Young Kim is playing saeng hwang with a singer, the piece is aptly called 

"Dream Within a Dream"

A dear friend, Jaron Lanier explains how this instrument is actually the origin of computers in his TEDxSF talk, and he plays the Lao cousin of saeng hwang, the Khaen.

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 35 ~ Korea Week ~ KOMUNGO

This famous painting by 18th century artist known as Hyewon depicts a woman playing komungo.

The komungo has raised bridges (like other Korean instruments), and raised frets (unlike other Korean instruments).  There are 6 silk-twisted strings, and it is plucked with a bamboo stick.

Komungo Sanjo by Sun Hee Lee.

 This is an extraordinary art/tango-esque/komungo video from the Geomungo factory!

For something a little trippy, here's Jin Hi Kim's electric komungo.

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 34 ~ Korea Week ~ AJAENG

For the final week of our V I R T U A L  World Tour of Music we are going to come back to where we begin, South Korea, and spend each day with a different traditional instrument!  Today is ajaeng, an 8-stringed, bowed instrument.

An ajaeng "sanjo" concert with Ilgoo Kim, accompanied by chang-gu drum.   This is the very piece I started to learn when I studied the ajaeng sanjo.  Sanjo is described by some as 'Korean jazz.'  What do you think?!

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 33 ~ Brazil (Queixada de burro / Donkey Jaw)

One last natural and obscure musical instrument ~ the Queixada de burro (Portuguese), or quijada de burro (Spanish), or donkey jaw, is used as a rhythm instrument.  When the first molar is secured, the other teeth will never fall out...just rattle.

Solo Jawbone Performance

Jawbone Duet

Interview from a Boston musician about her musical donkey jawbone.

While in Brazil mood, if you're up for a black and white Brazilian classic - Assault on the Pay Train - is exquisite like only old movies can be; delicate and subtle, stunning mix of great cinematography, music, and great acting....particularly the lead actress, a dear friend who 50 years later exudes the same intense grace, passion, and beauty, Luiza Maranhao.

1962 Brazilian Movie - O Assalto ao Trem Pagador

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 32 ~ Bolivia (Pan Pipes / Zamponas)

This instrument comes from the Andes Mountains.  Before you pick one up and try to play, consult the wiki-how page about how to play ~ there's some good advice to help you avoid getting dizzy!
AFTER reading that, enjoy this color-coded instructional video!

For a little zampona dance in the forest . . .

Native American flute + panpipes  . . .

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 31 ~ USA (Stalacpipe Organ)

The world's LARGEST instrument, at 3 and 1/2 acres, it took over 36 years to make ~ or 400 million & 36 years, if we count how long it took for the stalactites to form . . .

Read all about it here at the Luray Caverns website!

Enjoy the 2 minute feature on "Ripley's Believe It or Not," where you can hear the angelic tones.

Anyone else want to go?  I want to create a sarangi stalacpipe organ duet!

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 30 ~ Peru (Peruvian Whistles)

In general there is a fine line between musical instruments and instruments for altering consciousness.  The Peruvian Whistling Vessels clearly fall on the side of 'power to induce an expanded state of  consciousness'.

More information abounds about the whistles, the history, the experiences, the potentials, the way to purchase them . . .


This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 29 ~ Polynesia (Nose Flute)

:)  For something a little obscure, the Tongan Nose Flute . . .

The sound of noseflute ~ Are you ready for this?!

If you want to play your very own...there's a man making them out of CELERY!


This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 28 ~ Australia (dijeridoo)

A hollowed out piece of wood that seems to be able to permeate every cell of the body and shake the world.  No bows, no holes, nothing to push or fret - seems easy to play, right?!  Well, only if you can CIRCULAR BREATHE; which takes some serious dedication to get the hang of.  Hats off to you dijeridoo players!

The most common actually used word for dijeridoo, by native Aborigines, is YIDAKI.  
This instrument is very popular around the world, and there are players everywhere (even in Chungju sometimes), here is a video/sample played by Ryka Ali.  

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)

Day 27 ~ Crete (Lyre)

We all have the romantic notion of the Greek lyre being played by the Gods and Goddesses on ancient vessels, but little did we know that there is another very different instrument called the lyre on the islands - the island of Crete, actually.  And, yes, it does look a bit sarangi-like with that bow!

A video direct from the Luthier's shop! 

This example from TV in Crete has gorgeous singing, lyre and oud.   

This 40-day Virtual World Tour of Music correlates with the World Music House kickstarter crowdfund. (Click the orange words for more details!)