For more days than I want to consider, music has been coming from the direction of the junior high. Most of it is hip hop-related, and seems to occur during lunchtime and recess. We neighbors don’t understand.
Today, I’m happy to say that the music of choice is by the Chipmunks, as in Alvin. To hear this blasted over powerful speakers is soul-destroying.
Just as some can see colors while listening to music, others can hear the sounds of a moving image, such as a screen saver. Kind of a crossover of the senses, as it were, called synaesthesia. This article contains a test you can take to see if you have this ability.
And now, as they used to say on SNL, for something completely different.
I handed the CD to the receptionist, following the dental assistant in right away (even though I was really early), since this is the office that feels sitting and reading magazines will make patients more nervous.
This visit would consist of extensive, serious, no-nonsense, deep cleaning. I had crowns put in previously, and it is hard to floss, so there were lessons on the proper way. First, the polishing. In the background, very faintly, I could hear bits of songs, some apparently being rejected, although with the sounds coming from the instruments, it was hard to tell. I was reminded of chain saws in the distance taking care of downed trees in the recent storms.
When the dentist arrived, out came the tiny, sharp things that made me jump. She promised that if I took better care of my teeth, next time would be much better.
On the way out, Queen Latifah was wishing she was in California on such a winter’s day. Short appointment, much better than the three-hour kind. I wanted to dance down the steps because I won’t have to be back till July.
Here Comes the Sun (Francois K remix) - Nina Simone
Quando, Quando, Quando (with Nelly Furtado) - Michael Buble
This Never Happened Before - Paul McCartney and Wings
South of the Border - Chris Isaak
Your Love is Mine - The New Mastersound, featuring Corinne Bailey Rae
California Dreamin’ - Queen Latifah
Waters of March - Al Jarreau and Oleta Adams
I’ll Fly Away - Sphere
Dindi - El deBarge and Art Porter
Primavera - Ludovico Einaudi
Here, There and Everywhere - Emmylou Harris
Fields of Gold - Eva Cassidy
The Gustavo Santaolalla portions from the North Country soundtrack, the rain possibly turning to sleet, the music taking on a peculiar high-pitched keening in the distance that turns out, after removing my earbuds, to be a jet.
For the past two hours, they’ve been going at it. Either the wind is blowing the sound my way or the guys are on the next street over. Must be practicing for the Festival of Lights parade.
It may not be such a rare thing where you are, but here in the Bay Area, we don’t experience it that often.
The Boilerhouse Boys, music producers from across the pond, are tinkering with the lost data issues of digital music files. Inspiration for their work goes all the way back to the technical aspects of the Motown sound.
As I watched the ‘Jungles’ segment of ‘Planet Earth’ the other night, the sound of the chimps in the fig trees reminded me of Matija Gogala’s Bioacoustics and Music pages.
He’s a retired professor of animal physiology in Slovenia, and his site features sounds from cicadas, birds (and cicadas that sing like birds) and gibbons.
The recording of two gibbons demonstrating glissando is a wonder.
Over at the nearby jr. high, the sound system is impressive. The national anthem will apparently be sung by a student with admirable chops, and the resounding cheers and applause at the end will no doubt be tripled when parents show up later. Not sure if it will be tonight. I think the practicing of speeches has begun.
The band, however, needs more practice.
At Moffett Field, there are old bombers on display this weekend. For a price, you can ride one for 30 minutes, and for a much lower fee, you can just walk through them.
Around here, we tend to rush outside when screaming jets cross the skies. This morning, I dashed out when I heard the low, heavy, distinctive sound of the bombers as they flew by, just as exciting in their way as an F-16.
The vigil by my mom’s bedside continues. She is defeating the pneumonia, but has suffered a couple of setbacks. When I’m there in the afternoons, she usually is awake, getting periodic respiratory therapies, and wanting to sit up from time to time, restless.
Yesterday, part of the wing was roped off as floors were polished or washed - major maintenance work. A giant fan was turned on, presumably to dry things more quickly.
It sounded like a prop plane about a mile away, its hum varying in tone, but in a soothing, old-timey way.
She slept almost the entire four hours I was there. If there had been something for my head to lean on, I would have too.
Chris’ company threw a bash here last night. Met his boss, several of Jeff’s coworkers, sampled the refreshments. Could not make my way to see the art up close due to the crowd.
My internal organs are still resonating from the bass. My hair, so carefully blown dry earlier, frizzed up again. Could have been the damp SF air, but I like to think it was the electric atmosphere of the club.
The $2,000 Transporter targets those who choose lossless formats (wav or flac) for encoding their music. These digital files, stored on a computer, can be streamed over a wi-fi network to the device, which connects to the user’s receiver and speakers.
One of my sons has hooked up his giant speakers to the ancient house stereo system. The tracks are much more sinister with a good bass.
The reasons why you sound so terrific all by yourself in there with the water, the soap, the shampoo and some reverb.
The essentials include a stereo system capable of painful loudness, good food, good drink, good smokes, deaf neighbors, and a bunch of music-loving guys with excellent music choices.
The Jose Feliciano version, a fine song for my mid-morning slump, compounded by what sounds like 50 or more fence construction people using at least that many nail guns. Add to that the trucks bringing in loads of boards, which are thrown with great violence on the pavement. The whine of several electric saws. Assorted whistlings, singing off-key, and the beepings of the trucks as they arrive with their many loads.
Created by Tod Machover and the MIT Media Lab, these colorful playthings called beatbugs and shapers are meant to teach a child some music basics. Software (Hyperscore) that lets kids compose via drawing is part of the package, plus there’s a special instrument, the hyperviolin.
All are designed to ease a youngster into music without the tedium of conventional music lessons.
Why are so many opera singers fat? As opposed to say, the average rock star? There are many theories, including one that recognizes that the voice must rise above an orchestra, and penetrate to the far corners of an opera house.
Working with UC Berkeley physicists, Roberto Morales-Manzanares has produced software that enables users to create music from solar data. That sounds rather dry, but Morales sees this as a stepping point to access aural events happening in space. The technology exists to make our listening experiences much, much richer.
You know you’ve always wanted to. Here’s how to get started including tips for women.
Was the great pianist’s instrument enhanced? A music critic who is also a baseball fan wonders if the unique sound of Horowitz could be attributed to some special tinkering with his Steinway, the one he took wherever he performed.
Then the opportunity arises when he can actually try out the Horowitz Steinway.
Bill Fontana, an American artist, has created a sound sculpture using amplified recordings of the bridge’s vibrations.
No, I can’t hear it. In an earlier post I mentioned that students are using a ringtone that many teachers cannot hear due to their age. Just now, a son tried it out on me.
The children’s book The Polar Express also touches on a sound those over a certain age cannot hear. That one had a magic that a ringtone lacks.
Uh-oh, looks like something else I’ve got to have. Banging on the furniture turns into a musical interlude. Well, some day.
Cows seem to appreciate music. And why shouldn’t they?
The article includes a link to kulning, a method of herd calling that contains elements of fear, that is, screaming.
Why they seem to sound incessantly during the summer, and what happened to the old two-tone horn (the one locals called ‘basso profondo’).
Here’s a link to what they sound like.
To keep teens from loitering in front of stores, a high-pitched sound called the Mosquito was devised by a Welsh security company. Adults over 40 or 50 cannot hear this sound due to the inability to detect certain frequencies because of aging.
The technology has been seized by the enterprising young, who have turned the sound into a very popular ringtone. Who needs an ear-splitting ringtone? Why, the countless numbers of students who are forbidden to use their cellphones in class.
Now they know when a text message is incoming, and their teachers are none the wiser. Unless, of course, said teachers are youthful too.
We all respond to music in our own way, even if we can’t sing a note in tune. Few, if any, cultures exist that don’t have some form of sound that can be interpreted as a kind of music.
People handicapped by medical disabilities that severely hamper their senses relate that they can still appreciate music.
Some studies show that infants might be born with perfect pitch, but lose this ability as they mature.
Why is music so important to mankind? Theories abound, including one from Darwin, who thought music had a role in the mating process. Other scientists think music could have been a non-threatening way to bond with fellow humans for survival purposes.
