In this 1968 video, pianist Glenn Gould plays bits of Wolfgang Mozart‘s musical compositions, and explains why he, Gould, feels that Mozart was a hack composer. Here’s a partial transcript of what Gould says: “That example came from Mozart’s piano concerto in C minor, one of the last works he produced in that form, one […]
In the hands of a scientist, musical instruments can do many sorts of things. This study tells how some instruments can be used to distinguish between different kinds of physical materials. “Musical Instruments as Sensors,” Heran C. Bhakta, Vamsi K. Choday, and William H. Grover, ACS Omega, vol. 3, 2018, pp. 11026−11032. The authors, at […]
The physics of musical saws, explored by Ig Nobel Prize winner Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, was profiled in the New York Times: “Now L. Mahadevan, a professor of physics and applied mathematics at Harvard, along with two colleagues, Suraj Shankar and Petur Bryde, has studied the way the saw produces music and drawn some conclusions that help […]
What can one conclude from playing music for a few stressed cats? A new study suggests the answer: “Evaluation of Music Therapy to Reduce Stress in Hospitalized Cats,” Juliane Eg Paz, Fernanda Va da Costa, Luciana N Nunes, Eduardo R Monteiro, and Jenifer Jung, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, epub 2021. The authors, at […]
Very few popular music artists are the subject of exclusively dedicated peer-reviewed journals. There is, however, at least one – who features in the Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies (BOSS) It aims to publish scholarly, open-access, peer-reviewed essays pertaining to Bruce Springsteen. And seeks to encourage consideration of Springsteen’s body of work primarily through the […]
If you fancy dabbling on the stock market, you might want to keep an eye on the Spotify charts. According to new research from The London Business School, Auckland University of Technology and the Audencia Business School, the measures of positive or negative mood which the music download choices indicate : “ is positively correlated with […]
This study suggests that music can be a double-edged sword: “Pathways to Music Torture,” Morag Josephine Grant, Transposition. Musique et Sciences Sociales, vol. 4, 2014. The author explains: “Forms of music torture that are discussed in the article include exposure to loud music, forced singing, and the use of music in connection with other forms […]
If you’re interested in the music of Whirly Tubes, and the physics behind it, the late Dr. Paul Doherty’s website may be just the thing for you. There you will find (amongst many other things) sections on : What Notes Do Whirlies Sing? What makes a whirly sing? Math Root the connection between the frequency of the […]
If you’re wondering whether musical instruments can be graded according to whether they’re perceived as masculine or feminine, the answer is yes (such perceptions can be graded). For an example study, look no further than the Journal of Research in Music Education, Volume: 29 issue: 1, page(s): 57-62, Issue published: April 1, 1981, where you’ll […]
An experiment looked at whether harmony, in its many meanings, might emerge from a tossing together of musicians. This study tells what happened: “Musical Coordination in a Large Group Without Plans Nor Leaders,” Louise Goupil, Pierre Saint-Germier, Gaëlle Rouvier, Diemo Schwarz, and Clément Canonne, Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 20377, 2020. (Thanks to Tony Tweedale […]