World Traditions

World fusion music could not exist without traditional music. Every musician interested in creating world fusion music should thoroughly study the traditions that have brought inspiration. The following links are useful resources in learning more about the world's traditional music:

• African Music Pages. Music of the African continent with emphasis on West African highlife of Ghana, the juju and fuji of Nigeria, Cameroon's makossa, Cote d'Ivoire's zglibithy, Senegalese mbalax, and central and east African Soukous.
• Ali Akbar College of Music. This is the school where the original members of Ancient Future met. Ustad Ali Akbar Khansahib teaches the majority of the classes himself.
• Andean Musician's Virtual Web Directory. Andean music resources.
• Arabic MIDI site. The first site to provide Arabic music MIDI files.
• Arabic Music Books. Notation of Arabic music with instrumental arrangements.
• Asian Contemporary Music Resource Center. Features performers and performing groups specializing in the performance of music by contemporary Asian composers. Home of the ACTMUS-L mailing list.
• Azawan amazigh. A site dedicated to the Amazigh (Berber) music.
• Bali Art and Story. Information about Balinese artists and stories.
• Balinese Cultural Association. Helping preserve endangered Balinese performing arts.
• Balinese Music. Introduction to Balinese gamelan.
• Bali Information Guide. Going to Bali to study gamelan? Get up to date information before you travel.
• Baliking.com. More information about Bali.
• The Brazilian Sound. Popular music of Brazil.
• Center for Arabic Culture.The mission of the Center for Arabic Culture (CAC) is to inspire and educate the community on Arabic music, dance, arts, and culture.
• China Arts and Music Association. Everything about Chinese music.
• C.K. Ladzekpo. African music and dance site of this master drummer from Ghana who has been an influence of the group Ancient Future.
• Classical Indian Music on Sarod. Explanations of some of the basics of Indian classical music, performance reviews of sarodist/lutist Ken Zuckerman, activities of the Ali Akbar College of Music in Switzerland, and more.
• Classical Music of India. Dedicated to disseminating information about Indian music. Includes primers, ragas, biographies/profiles of great masters, bibliography, sources, etc.
• Cleo Online. World music instruction, including an online Quicktime gamelan module.
• Charles Lucy Tuning. A system which enables users to map any tuning system from any culture to any required resolution.
• Croatian Music. Stjepan Veckovic's site about Croatian music and Croatian traditional wind instruments.
• CulturaBrasil. Official home pages of arts and culture of Brazil. In Portuguese.
• El Toque de Candombe. Traditional Afro-Uruguayan rhythm site devoted to teaching and spreading knowledge of this magical Afro-Uruguayan style of music for Afro-Uruayan drums, drumset and bass.
• Flamenco.de. Flamenco music site in Germany.
• Flamenco-world.com. Flamenco music magazine and flamenco shop.
  • RealAudio: "Guajiras de Lucía" by Paco de Lucia.
• Grooveworks. Offers a line of World Music T-shirts and offers custom art design for bands and special events.
• Indonesian Gamelan. A home page for Indonesian gamelan music.
• Indian Translators. Translation services for almost all Indian languages.
• Japanese Music Today. Contains notes from the "Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation" symposia at Hamilton College, notes from Asian music festivals in Sendai, Japan, and a variety of links to related sites.
• Koto World. Japanese koto music, including lullabies and Okinawan songs, and folktales told with koto accompaniment.
• Maqam World. An amazing and thorough site covering Arabic maqam.
• Panjea: World Grooves. Site for sharing a love of music, African dance, and Zimbabwean culture.
• Pontic Music Home Page. All about Pontic music (a Middle Eastern music that belongs to an archaic culture related to the Celtic family).
• Portuguese Music Portal. Your source for Portugese music (in English).
• Ragapedia.com. A Wikipedia-style site for Indian raga that encourages users to post their own raga examples in Indian notation (sargam), which is then automatically converted to Western notation and to a playable MIDI file so it can be auditioned. Developed by John Rothfield, a violist who after years of study with sarod master Ali Akbar Khan is a master teacher and performer of North Indian Ragas, this site is highly recommended for people who have sargam notation that they want to share with the world.
• Ragawave. Promotes Indian classical music and collaborative work with world music.
• The Rhythm Riders Music Institute. This Ahmedabad, Gujarat, school teaches pure Indian classical instrumental and vocal music including a foreign study program for those who wish to study India.
• RIMPA. Ravi Shankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts.
• Sabir Music. Teaches East Indian music (vocal & instrumental) through DVDs. Learn tabla and harmonium at home.
• Saldanha Rolim. A Factory of Rhythms from Brazilian singer and composer Saldanha Rolim.
• Sirkali Govindarajan. Dr. Sirkali Govindarajan was a great Tamlil musician who was famous for his classical, devotional and film music.
• Sitar.co.uk. UK site dedicated to sitar music.
• Tarang. School for classical Indian dance and music.
• Texas Music International. Promotes multi-cultural themes in art and music through a series of music, art, film, video and live performance projects.
• Vietnamese Music. Information about traditional Vietnamese music activities in the United States.
• Vimoksha: Indian classical music and dance portal. Information on Indian classical music and Indian classical dance, fusion, news, institutions and artist profiles.
• Wink World Sounds. Groundbreaking cross-cultural music library features dozens of high-quality music and sound effect samples from the exotic reaches of the world, all available for downloading!
• World Music at miningco.com. Guide to music of cultures and languages from around the world, with weekly features and links from over 28 countries.
• World Music Pages. A set of pages describing several traditional world music systems and recommending recordings.
• Woyaa. Gateway to Africa on the Internet.
• Yacub Addy. Ghanaian drummer/composer/choreographer Yacub Addy's informative site on his lifework, his Ghanain group Odadaa!, his culture, and Ghanaian drumming.
• Yerevan Youth Chamber Orchestra. Created in 2002 by Grigor Voskanyan to help young Armenian musicians to develop at a professional level.
• Zakie International. Discount Arabic music CD's.