Category Archives: Harmonics

Discussion, Harmonics, Listening, Numeracy, Radio Links, Science, Wider Connections

The Science of Sound

If you like the mix of music/sound and science – plus a bit of comedy – why not listen to this episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage?

The programme features Professor Brian Cox; Robin Ince; University of Salford’s acoustic expert Professor Trevor Cox; neuroscientist Professor Chris Plack; violinist Julian Gregory; comedian and former acoustics student Tom Wrigglesworth.

Topics covered include major/minor-happy/sad correlation; why some sounds fill us with horror; acoustics of concert halls; musical intervals and maths/ratios – including the tritone also known as Diabolus in Musica (The Devil in Music).

Concepts, Connectedness, Discussion, Harmonics, Harmony, History, In Service/CPD, Language, Memory, New Ideas, Thinking

The Unanswered Question

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Can you recall a sea-change in your thinking taking place after a book, documentary, film, argument talk, lecture? I’ve written here before on Leonard Bernstein’s Norton Lectures, on music and linguistics, The Unanswered Question, and the effect they had on my musical thinking. All six lectures are now on YouTube.

One thing I learned much later was that Bernstein had memorised the scripts! If you have several hours to spare, not necessarily all in the same day, then I can’t recommend them highly enough:

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Culture(s), Expression, Harmonics, Harmony, History, Listening, Memory, Technique, Video, YouTube links

Hommage a Tansman

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My friend, Marek Pasieczny, sent a link to his latest, and thoroughly engaging, composition on video (see below). Tansman, a fellow Pole, emigrated to USA, where he was aided in his bid to settle there by Charlie Chaplin. I’ll also embed other videos by Marek. Some have already appeared in this blog but, in the hope that pupils will be more likely to explore them if they all appear together, I’ll repeat myself.

Best wishes, to all who drop in on this blog, for Christmas and New Year!

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http://www.youtube.com/user/TrustNooooo1

Harmonics, Harmony, Listening, New Ideas, Technique, Video, YouTube links

Sato No Aki

1 Comment

A friend (Marek Pasieczny) put up this video on Facebook this evening – his fantastic performance of a recent and captivating composition. I’ve found myself playing it several times through the evening. Perhaps you’ll like it (especially the passage of harmonics at 4:06):

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Concepts, Connectedness, Harmonics, Harmony, In Service/CPD, Listening, Live Events, Numeracy, Pitch, Science, Technology, Thinking, Video, YouTube links

Rock Guitar in 11 Dimensions (review)

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On Saturday I attended an excellent event in the Edinburgh International Science Festival:  Rock Guitar in 11 Dimensions, presented by Dr. Mark Lewney:

This was science presentation at its best: great guitar playing; comedy; conjuring; audience participation; information presented in a stimulating way; enthusiastic response in the Q&A; the feeling that science is about you, your life, the universe in which you live and, most excitingly of all, the idea that some of the mysteries of the universe could be solved within our lifetime (well, to be fair, I think he was addressing the many younger members of the audience..). On that note, I was pleased to see a pupil there, with his dad, and to discover that he had already been at another event in the festival.

Starting with a very clear explanation of the world of sound, vibrations, acoustics, amplification etc., Dr. Lewney’s talk went on to explore: dimensions; spacetime; the origins and future of the universe and string theory. Rather than describe content here, let me direct you to Dr. Lewney’s entertaining and informative YouTube videos all of which, I feel, are tailored made for the pupil who feels all learning to be connected:

Highlights of a similar talk in Japan:
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The Physics of Rock Guitar:
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Cool Acoustics Part 1:
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Cool Acoustics Part 2:
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Cool Acoustics Part 3:
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Dr. Lewley’s lovely Ibanez guitar

had been airbrushed by Jim Fogarty. It features pictures and equations of Albert Einstein and Max Planck which you can see close up here.
This festival, I feel, is one of Edinburgh’s best – and possibly underestimated – events. It is also the greenest, in terms of booking: one visit online; one e-ticket number entered into my phone’s notepad; no printed matter!
For the record, I have been to two other events: The Mind is Somewhere North of the Neck and Seven Deadly Sins and
have tickets for two further events: Because God Made It That Way – Paul Dirac and the Religion of Mathematical Beauty in Fundamental Physics and The New Intelligence: Working Memory.