"Sounding the Center" is an in-depth look at the power behind classical music and dance in Bangkok, the capital and sacred center of Buddhist Thailand. Focusing on the ritual honoring teachers of music and dance, Deborah Wong reveals a complex network of connections among kings, teachers, knowledge, and performance that underlies the classical court arts.
Drawing on her extensive fieldwork, Wong lays out the ritual in detail: the way it is enacted, the foods and objects involved, and the people who perform it, emphasizing the way the performers themselves discuss and construct aspects of the ceremony. Only those who have been initiated by a master can manifest the divine in the human realm. The power held by the master musicians, Wong shows, is both ritual and social; they are not just ritual experts, they are also leaders at the government-run national conservatory. This combination of political recognition and esoteric knowledge, Wong suggests, has helped Thai classical music endure in the face of changing patronage and the challenges posed by the urban environment that supports it.

Authors Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari take students around the world to experience the diversity of musical expression. World Music: A Global Journey, now in its third edition, is known for its breadth in surveying the world s major cultures in a systematic study of world music within a strong pedagogical framework.

As one prepares for any travel, each chapter starts with background preparation, reviewing the historical, cultural, and musical overview of the region. Visits to multiple sites within a region provide in-depth studies of varied musical traditions. Music analysis begins with an experimental "first impression" of the music, followed by an "aural analysis" of the sound and prominent musical elements. Finally, students are invited to consider the cultural connections that give the music its meaning and life.

Features of the Third Edition

• Over 3 hours of diverse musical examples. with a third audio CD of new musical examples

• Listening Guides analyze the various pieces of music with some presented in an interactive format online

• Biographical highlights of performers and ethnomusicologists updated and new ones added
• Numerous pedagogical aids, including "On Your Own Time" and "Explore More" sidebars, and "Questions to Consider"
• Popular music incorporated with the traditional

Dynamic companion web site hosts new Interactive Listening Guides, plus many resources for student and instructor. Built to serve online courses.

The CD set is available separately (ISBN 978-0-415-89402-9) or with its Value Pack and book (ISBN 978 0415- 80823-1). MP3 files for the accompanying audio to the ebook are available only with the Value Pack of eBook & MP3 files (ISBN 978-0-203-15298-0)