music

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Jonathan Coulton's Greatest Hits

I've expressed my appreciation for Jonathan Coulton previously, and he continues to deliver, including an ongoing US tour. I've recently come across several blogs posting live performances from his one-man shows, and thought I'd post a roundup here of some greatest hits. Re: Your Brains: Five more videos after the... READ ON

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The glorious world of keytars

"Keytar" is just about my favorite portmanteau (shout-out to "cybernetics" and "ginormous"--which i must also welcome to the dictionary). The keytar's existence is credited to composer and guitarist Steve Masakowski, and the inaugural keytar, Moog Liberation, was released in 1980. After it gained exposure thanks to bands like Devo, Flock of Seagulls, Poison, and Van Halen, it was semi-superannuated. But keytars could be making a comeback. A friend of mine who wants to bring keytars back recently purchased... READ ON

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Memphis Music Tour

Memphis is where the Mississippi River meets the Deep South. The city has a rich musical history, full of blues, rockabilly, gospel, and rock and roll. And the landmarks of this history are yours to enjoy. If you like, you can get in the proper mood with a... READ ON

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Are You Tone Deaf?

Researcher Jake Mandell has created an online test which measures pitch perception as well as musical memory. The test plays two brief passages of very similar music back-to-back, and you press a button to indicate whether you think the tunes are the same or different. (Often the differences are subtle -- maddeningly subtle.) At the end of the test you can fill out an optional survey about race, sex, and age; data is collected anonymously and periodically analyzed. The test is hard -- my professional... READ ON
  1. FIND THESE T-SHIRTS AND MORE IN THE STORE!

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Misheard Lyrics: Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter"

Following our rich tradition of mondegreen research (misheard song lyrics), I came across this video of Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" captioned completely in mondegreens: The captions seem perfectly reasonable to me! (Via Mike... READ ON

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The Silent Disco

Disco checklist: White pants, platforms, hair pick...& wireless headphones. Silent discos have been modestly sweeping Europe since they were created in 2002 by two Dutch DJs, DJ OD and NO DJ (Quick! Say those names together five times fast). These dudes are pumping some solidarity back into our direct-to-headphones culture. Before the silent part was introduced, the discos were just regular old--and frequently illegal--bashes. In an attempt to avoid censure, the DJs decided to simultaneously... READ ON

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Short Circuit Drum Circle

Check out this amazing, interactive drumming robot from Georgia Tech. The creation, designed by Director of Music Technology Gil Weinberg and his grad student Scott Driscoll, uses "computational power and numerical algorithms to listen, analyze and improvise." Sadly, he's already better than most of the kids from my high school jazz band. Link via... READ ON

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The Internet Archive Part 4 - Audio Archive

Heading into the fourth day of our Internet Archive series, it's time to look at the treasure trove that is their audio archive. There's a ton of material here. My favorite is the Live Music Archive, which is managed in collaboration with etree.org. The Live Music Archive currently contains nearly 40,000 recordings from over 2,000 performers. Some of my favorites: Mike Doughty, The Weepies, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists. Also check out the overwhelming full list of bands. (Tip: check the FAQ for... READ ON

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600-Year-Old Music Found Encoded in Chapel Walls

Reuters reports that father-and-son team Thomas and Stuart Mitchell have unlocked a coded music system present in decorations of the Rosslyn Chapel. (Rosslyn may be familiar to readers as the fifteenth-century Scottish chapel featured at the end of The Da Vinci Code.) The chapel contains 213 carved blocks showing thirteen geometric patterns. In addition to these blocks, there are carved angels playing musical instruments, including one who is pointing to certain notes on a musical staff. So here's... READ ON

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Mother Nature's Music

You are familiar with some of Mother Nature's music already. Birds are the best at it, with human music and singing monkeys and other animals trailing behind. But there's natural music produced by non-living phenomena, if we take the time to properly harness and listen to it. Wind... READ ON

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