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Corsican music makes me happy! It's noble and beautiful and heartfelt with haunting harmonies that reflect a people and culture that I love. I used to satisfy my cravings by buying Corsican CDs on infrequent trips to France. Saving up money for a trip was a 2-5 year wait-- not very satisfactory and pretty darn expensive. And no matter how many CDs I brought home, I immediately wanted MORE. There had to be a better way.
Luckily there is, thanks to the internet, and I couldn't be more pleased! Because many Corsican radio stations stream their broadcasts over the internet, Corsican music can be brought into the home, any time of day, with no additional cost.
What do Corsican radio stations play? They broadcast a mix of French, Corsican and eclectic American music, with few repeats or advertisements-- which makes listening a real pleasure. Newscasts are delivered in either French or Corsican, which are great for practicing language skills. Even without the music, Corsican radio websites are valuable resources. There you'll read the latest news of Corsica, current weather conditions and information about local events and festivals, all while giving you another opportunity to practice your French.
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How to get started? To get the best quality, use with a high speed connection- like DSL or Cable. For even better sound, use a stereo cable to output your computer into your home stereo system. You will also need two music applications on your computer: Windows Media Player, (which usually comes pre-loaded on PC's), and REAL player. If these programs are not on your Windows PC, they can be downloaded and used for free. Choose the “BASIC” RealPlayer at www.real.com, or download Windows Media Player at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp, following download instructions according to your PC's configuration.
Once you have the music software is loaded, select your Corsican Radio website:
- *NEW * Corsica Radio is a new Corsican station transmitting on the internet. Out of Ajaccio, they specialize in Corsican music. To listen, click Ecouter_Corsica_Radio and select your preferred music software (Winamp, Real Player or Windows Media Player). Note: They also offer "Ecouter" links for MACs. Bravo!
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- Alta Frequenza, also from Ajaccio now broadcasts two great Corsican radio stations. Access via their main station link, Alta-Frenquenza.com or select the individual direct links below for faster connection. (If they don't start playing after a minute, via Winamp, click on "cliquant ici" for a direct feed"):
- Alta Canzona Corsa Web Radio (Alta2), a 100% CORSICAN MUSIC radio broadcast (in addition to their Corscican-French mix). It's great! Select from their main radio website (link below) OR click on this link to access the radio directly: http://www.llord.com/players-streaming/alta2/index.php
- Alta Frequenza (Alta), the parent station, provides a great Corsican-French playlist: http://www.llord.com/players-streaming/alta/index.php
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- Voce Nustrale: http://www.adecec.net/vocenustrale/ plays a lot of traditional Corsican music without any advertising- its one of the best! Broadcast from Cervioni, this volunteer radio station is sponsored by the community cultural association (l'ADECEC).
Once their website is opened, look underneath the picture of their town for "En Direct" and right below that, three icons. Click on the middle one that says "real" and RealPlayer will download their radio stream shortly. From the player, you can pause, stop or adjust the volume. To see pictures of Cervioni, click here.
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- Radio Corti Vivu: http://www.a-rinascita.com/rcv.php, from the University of Corsica in Corti. Scroll to the very bottom of their website. Clicking on the words "Cliquez pour ecouter", for www.tv-radio.com to broadcast this station.
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- Radio Calvi Citadelle: http://www.radiocalvi.com/accueil.htm as the name implies, this radio station is located in the beautiful Genoese Citadelle of Calvi. They alternate Corsican music with an amazingly electric mix of songs, many of which you've never heard. As an added bonus, they set aside two periods a day- at noon and 8 pm to play only Corsican music.. of course that's Calvi time- 9 hours later than PST.
Once their website is opened, move the mouse over the words "Menu RCC" on the left side of the screen. This brings up "Ecoutez La Radio en Live" printed sideways in the menu black box. Click on that to open their broadcasting window. To see pictures of Calvi and the Citadelle, click here.
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- Frequenza Mora: www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-bleu/?tag=corse# Part of the "France Bleu" radio stations, Frequenza Mora is broadcast from Bastia. Once their website comes up, click on the words "Ecoutez le direct", (below the France BLEU box), for www.tv-radio.com to broadcast this station.
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If you're interested in buying some Corsican music?
Once you find a group you like, it's great to start a collection of their music, and a lot of the albums on these websites have online song samples, allowing one to preview the songs before purchase.
- You will find a nice selection of the top Corsican music at www.corseboutique.fr as well a wonderful array of Corsican products, and their site is available in english, french or spanish translation. For additional Corsican music variety, visit www.corsicacd.com. Both sites are a great place to window shop and bring a little Corsica into your home... all the while supporting local vendors!
Amazon in France, www.amazon.fr, has a reasonably good selection, with shipping costs about the same as Corsica. Amazon in the United States, www.amazon.com caries more 'mainstream' Corsican CDs, but with very reasonable shipping costs - the same as anything else ordered domestically.
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If you're interested in seeing pictures of a music concert by the Corsican group L'Alba, or to listen to them on their website, click here.
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