I live within 200 meters of the biggest Mosque of the biggest city of [not the biggest] province of the nation with the largest Islamic population in the world. As someone solely raised on Western art and pop music, I began my stay in Aceh by trying to zone out the Imam's call, which happens five times daily. Lately, I've begun to hear it as a pretty darn awesome thing.
The call starts out quietly. You have to be listening to pick it up. It takes a couple minutes to go from a conversational pace to the full voiced call. I used to think the call sounded like random vocalizing, but I just wasn't listening. The guy remains on the 12 tone scale the whole time, this is amazing given the huge jumps and slides he takes. The dynamics are off the charts too. His loud notes peel off across the city and mask the quite tones directly afterward. The other thing that I have realized that the tone of his voice is full of emotion and devotion. Timbres that I've never heard in such a formal or public setting before.
When my uber-imam finishes his set, every other mosque in town (there are many) have taken up the call and there is this fallout of rising and falling tone that slowly and imperceptibly dies away. Playing basketball, the sun going down in [another] fiery sunset and these sounds are an experience. One of the coolest I've had so far.
Today and tomorrow: fishing
saturday and sunday: climbing a volcano.
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climbing a volcano? i keep saying don't die you keep making risks higher. you really dont want me to see Texas do you.
thats a pretty darn amazing thing though!!!will they let you take your shirts off up there:D:D
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