Jakarta Concert

http://www.archive.org/download/monkeymix/monkeyMixdown.mp3

Here’s my first attempt at posting sound on the live journal.

What you’ll hear is a group of musicians who were traveling around the Pejompongan neighborhood, performing with a trained monkey. They were like Pied Pipers, followed by a band of giggling kids. There’s no picture to go with the sound, because we would have been obligated to give them money if we’d taken a picture. In fact this sound is tragic to me. The monkey had a thick chain around its neck, and was frantically performing little acts on cardboard props like tricycles, wheel barrows, and plows. At one point, he was dressed in a Mexican bandolier and sombrero outfit, and walked around with a cardboard pistol. He didn’t look happy. So we didn’t take the picture. The sound, however, is too haunting to dismiss. You’ll also notice the accompanying whine of a skill saw in the background. This is one of those precious recordings that I like to call a “live mix”. Two overlapping sounds which compose a dialogue, in a real setting in real time. A monkey band and a construction site. What could be more Jakarta?

As it happens, the whole thing was recorded in front of one of our top housing choices. There are four apartments in the building, one to a floor. It’d be a little less immersed that other places in the area, but it’s got a great view. You could be hearing the sound of a saw cutting trim for our mandi-to-be. The music you hear may be the theme song to our new apartment. And who doesn’t feel a little like a monkey on a chain from time to time?