ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Natalie MacMaster - Fiddler
Natalie MacMaster is a star of Cape Breton fiddling, a Canadian tradition with Scottish roots. Her energetic style and virtuoso talent has brought her star billing on the international folk circuit.

Why you should listen

It's not easy to make traditional Irish-Scottish music sound sexy and yet still seem wholesome. But Natalie MacMaster manages this feat, drawing listeners in with her playful showmanship, and then holding them rapt with astounding technical flourishes.

The niece of renowned Canadian fiddler Buddy MacMaster, she's taken up the mantle as standard-bearer for Cape Breton fiddling, a method of Scottish-style violin-playing that's evolved over the last century on this island neighbor to Nova Scotia. The tradition was on the wane when, in 1972, a CBS documentary provocatively titled The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler jump-started preservation efforts in the fiddling community.

MacMaster's enthusiastic charm and extraordinary skill has landed her star billing on the international folk circuit and multiple Grammy nominations. She's released nine albums, including Yours Truly (2006), Natalie and Buddy MacMaster (2005) and My Roots Are Showing (1998). She's toured with countless performers, including the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has been awarded two Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent to the Grammy).

More profile about the speaker
Natalie MacMaster | Speaker | TED.com
Thomas Dolby - Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City."

Why you should listen

Perhaps best known for blinding us with science, Thomas Dolby has always blurred the lines between composition and invention. As a London teenager, Tom Robertson was fascinated with the convergence of music and technology. His experiments with an assortment of keyboards, synthesizers and cassette players led his friends to dub him “Dolby.” That same fascination later drove him to become an electronic musician and multimedia artist whose groundbreaking work fused music with computer technology and video. Two decades, several film scores, five Grammy nominations and countless live-layered sound loops later, it's clear Dolby's innovations have changed the sound of popular music.

In the 1990s, Dolby re-created himself as a digital-musical entrepreneur, founding Beatnik, which developed the polyphonic ringtone software used in more than half a billion cell phones. From 2001 to 2012, Dolby served as TED's Music Director, programming great music for the TED stage, assembling a wide variety of house bands and collaborations to play between speakers. At TED2010, backed by the string quarter Ethel, he premiered the song "Love Is a Loaded Pistol," from his sweeping, A Map of the Floating City. The album marked his return to recording and touring after a 15-year hiatus, and used seriously retro technology -- '40s-era oscilloscopes and Royal Navy field-test equipment -- to control modern synthesizers, in shows at once nostalgic and cutting edge.

In 2014, Dolby took on a new name: professor. He was named the Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, teaching the course "Sound on Film."

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Dolby | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Natalie MacMaster: Cape Breton fiddling in reel time

Natālija Makmāstere: Keipbretonas vijoļspēle rīla ritmos

Filmed:
832,973 views

Vijolniece Natālija Makmāstere un TED mūzikas direktors Tomass Dolbijs ēteriskā duetā izpilda Dolbija oriģināldarbu „Zila ir upe”, beigās pat mazliet piedejojot.
- Fiddler
Natalie MacMaster is a star of Cape Breton fiddling, a Canadian tradition with Scottish roots. Her energetic style and virtuoso talent has brought her star billing on the international folk circuit. Full bio - Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
♫ Like the heatherHeather
0
0
3000
♫ Kā virši ♫
00:28
♫ on the hillsidekalns
1
3000
4000
♫ uz pakalna ♫
00:32
♫ as they drovebrauca us ♫
2
7000
3000
♫ tiem mūs vedot ♫
00:35
♫ from the HighlandsHighlands
3
10000
4000
♫ lejpus kalna ♫
00:39
♫ Like the iceledus flowplūsma
4
14000
4000
♫ Kā ledus plūsma ♫
00:43
♫ from the ArcticArktika
5
18000
3000
♫ no Arktikas ♫
00:46
♫ where we landedizkrauti
6
21000
4000
♫ kur izsēdāmies ♫
00:50
♫ in NewfoundlandNewfoundland
7
25000
5000
♫ Ņūfaundlendā ♫
00:55
♫ There's a colorkrāsa
8
30000
5000
♫ Manām skumjām ir krāsa ♫
01:00
♫ to my sorrowskumjas
9
35000
3000
01:03
♫ There's a namevārds for ♫
10
38000
4000
♫ Šīm bēdām ir vārds ♫
01:07
♫ all this sadnessskumjas
11
42000
3000
01:10
♫ Like the oceanokeāns
12
45000
4000
♫ Kā okeāns ♫
01:14
♫ in betweenstarp us ♫
13
49000
3000
♫ mūsu starpā ♫
01:17
♫ I am bluezils
14
52000
4000
♫ Zilas bēdas ♫
01:25
BlueZila is a riverupe
15
60000
4000
♫ Zila ir upe ♫
01:29
BlueZila rememberedatcerējās
16
64000
4000
♫ Zilas atmiņas ♫
01:33
BlueZila waterūdens
17
68000
5000
♫ Zils ūdens ♫
01:38
runningskriešana clearskaidrs
18
73000
3000
♫ plūst dzidrs ♫
01:41
BlueZila like a planetplanēta
19
76000
4000
♫ Zils kā planēta ♫
01:45
♫ to a spacemanSpaceman
20
80000
3000
♫ kosmonautam ♫
01:48
BlueZila riverupe
21
83000
4000
♫ Zila upe ♫
01:52
♫ of my tearsasaras
22
87000
4000
♫ no manām as'rām ♫
01:56
(FiddleVijole and synthesizersintezators)
23
91000
33000
(Vijole un sintezators)
02:29
♫ So I camenāca here ♫
24
124000
3000
♫ Tā es te ierados ♫
02:32
♫ to the citypilsēta
25
127000
4000
♫ pilsētā ♫
02:36
♫ where the dreamsapnis burnsapdegumi
26
131000
4000
♫ kur kvēlo sapnis ♫
02:40
♫ like a furnacekrāsns
27
135000
4000
♫ kā pavards ♫
02:44
♫ And I dazzledapžilbināts
28
139000
4000
♫ un es žilbu ♫
02:48
♫ in these darktumšs streetsielās
29
143000
3000
♫ šais tumšās ielās ♫
02:51
♫ like a diamonddimants
30
146000
5000
♫ kā dimants ♫
02:56
♫ in a coalfacecoalface
31
151000
4000
♫ darba slīpēts ♫
03:00
♫ Then the coldauksts windvējš
32
155000
4000
♫ Tad auksts vējš ♫
03:04
♫ from the islandssalas
33
159000
3000
♫ no salām ♫
03:07
blewpūta a stormvētra cloudmākonis
34
162000
4000
♫ atpūta negaisa mākoņus ♫
03:11
acrosspāri the newjauns moonmēness
35
166000
5000
♫ pār jaunu mēnesi ♫
03:16
♫ Like the gunlielgabals smokedūmu
36
171000
4000
♫ Kā šāvien' dūmi ♫
03:20
aboveiepriekš the housesmājas
37
175000
3000
♫ pāri mājām ♫
03:23
♫ in my home ♫
38
178000
4000
♫ manās mājās ♫
03:30
BlueZila is a riverupe
39
185000
4000
♫ Zila ir upe ♫
03:34
BlueZila rememberedatcerējās
40
189000
5000
♫ Zilas atmiņas ♫
03:39
BlueZila waterūdens
41
194000
4000
♫ Zils ūdens ♫
03:43
runningskriešana clearskaidrs
42
198000
3000
♫ dzidri plūst ♫
03:46
BlueZila like a planetplanēta
43
201000
4000
♫ Zila kā planēta ♫
03:50
♫ to a spacemanSpaceman
44
205000
4000
♫ kosmonautam ♫
03:54
BlueZila riverupe
45
209000
5000
♫ Zila upe ♫
03:59
♫ of my tearsasaras
46
214000
3000
♫ no manām as'rām ♫
04:02
BlueZila riverupe
47
217000
5000
♫ Zila upe ♫
04:07
♫ of my tearsasaras
48
222000
3000
♫ no manām as'rām ♫
04:10
(FiddleVijole and synthesizersintezators)
49
225000
61000
(Vijole un sintezators)
05:11
(ApplauseAplausi)
50
286000
7000
(Aplausi)
Translated by Raimonds Jaks
Reviewed by Kristaps Kadiķis

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Natalie MacMaster - Fiddler
Natalie MacMaster is a star of Cape Breton fiddling, a Canadian tradition with Scottish roots. Her energetic style and virtuoso talent has brought her star billing on the international folk circuit.

Why you should listen

It's not easy to make traditional Irish-Scottish music sound sexy and yet still seem wholesome. But Natalie MacMaster manages this feat, drawing listeners in with her playful showmanship, and then holding them rapt with astounding technical flourishes.

The niece of renowned Canadian fiddler Buddy MacMaster, she's taken up the mantle as standard-bearer for Cape Breton fiddling, a method of Scottish-style violin-playing that's evolved over the last century on this island neighbor to Nova Scotia. The tradition was on the wane when, in 1972, a CBS documentary provocatively titled The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler jump-started preservation efforts in the fiddling community.

MacMaster's enthusiastic charm and extraordinary skill has landed her star billing on the international folk circuit and multiple Grammy nominations. She's released nine albums, including Yours Truly (2006), Natalie and Buddy MacMaster (2005) and My Roots Are Showing (1998). She's toured with countless performers, including the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has been awarded two Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent to the Grammy).

More profile about the speaker
Natalie MacMaster | Speaker | TED.com
Thomas Dolby - Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City."

Why you should listen

Perhaps best known for blinding us with science, Thomas Dolby has always blurred the lines between composition and invention. As a London teenager, Tom Robertson was fascinated with the convergence of music and technology. His experiments with an assortment of keyboards, synthesizers and cassette players led his friends to dub him “Dolby.” That same fascination later drove him to become an electronic musician and multimedia artist whose groundbreaking work fused music with computer technology and video. Two decades, several film scores, five Grammy nominations and countless live-layered sound loops later, it's clear Dolby's innovations have changed the sound of popular music.

In the 1990s, Dolby re-created himself as a digital-musical entrepreneur, founding Beatnik, which developed the polyphonic ringtone software used in more than half a billion cell phones. From 2001 to 2012, Dolby served as TED's Music Director, programming great music for the TED stage, assembling a wide variety of house bands and collaborations to play between speakers. At TED2010, backed by the string quarter Ethel, he premiered the song "Love Is a Loaded Pistol," from his sweeping, A Map of the Floating City. The album marked his return to recording and touring after a 15-year hiatus, and used seriously retro technology -- '40s-era oscilloscopes and Royal Navy field-test equipment -- to control modern synthesizers, in shows at once nostalgic and cutting edge.

In 2014, Dolby took on a new name: professor. He was named the Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, teaching the course "Sound on Film."

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Dolby | Speaker | TED.com