World music

4 cards. Each one is a 40-second story with a five-minute read behind it.

1. The BBC's most expensive radio station faces a crisis of reachDespite being a cornerstone of British Asian culture, the BBC Asian Network has become a paradox of high costs and dwindling listenership. It remains the corporation's most expens…
2. In Bali, instruments are tuned slightly out of step so the music breathes.Balinese gamelan instruments are built in pairs, one tuned a fraction higher than the other. Played together, they produce a shimmering pulse called ombak, 'wave', meant to evoke …
3. Some singers can produce two notes at once with a single voice.In Tuva, Mongolia and beyond, overtone singers hold a low drone while a second, whistling melody floats above it. They don't have two voices. They reshape their mouth and throat t…
4. In Indian classical music, some melodies belong to the morning and others to the monsoon.A raga isn't a tune and isn't quite a scale. It is a framework of notes, phrases and rules from which a musician improvises, and each one is meant to evoke a particular mood. In t…

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