100,000: Number of songs in a study of bird song evolution.
21,000: Number of hours of audio in the bird song study.
18: Percent of the (human) population that may suffer from misophonia (a significant adverse reaction to certain sounds),
Sources: bird song (npr.org), misophonia (nautil.us — thanks, Rich Pettus!).
▰ Tap Dance:
Dance artists often spout rhythmic medleys of noises and counts during classes and rehearsals. In a wordless art that lacks a widely used form of written notation, these sounds, poetic and onomatopoeic, are strikingly efficient at conveying both what the steps are and how they should be performed. It’s an improvised language that can capture choreography’s cadence, texture and feel.That is Margaret Fuhrer in the New York Times on the sounds of choreography.
. . .
▰ Heart Beat:
The silence, the thoughts / that come with it, the sinking / suspicion that something more / is wrong with me than anyone / knows, including myself, including / the doctor who hooked me up / to the EKG machineThat is the opening of a poem, “What Am I Afraid Of?” by Sasha Debevec-McKenney, in The New Yorker.
. . .
▰ Backing Track:
I always thought, if the acting thing didn’t work out, which it still might not, I would love to be a Foley artist.That is Cate Blanchett speaking to The Guardian’s Eva Wiseman. (Found via Peter Albrechtsen.)
One thing occurred to me when I began using the Auto Memo Recorder app, which provides a utility I’ve long looked for, which is the seemingly simple — but for a long time inaccessible — ability to easily record voice memos while driving, all without touching one’s phone. (Just to be more specific: I also mean without using voice commands, which I still find more of a hassle than they’re worth much of the time.)
The newly released Auto Memo Recorder app works through Apple CarPlay, which, like Android Auto, puts elements of a given app — or a combination of apps — on the touchscreen of one’s car. In the first version of Auto Memo Recorder that I tried, and I believe it was the very first version of the app, the button to record audio appeared in the upper right hand corner of the car’s touchscreen. Since I live in the United States, that was about as far away from the steering wheel as it could get. Not so far as to be a hassle, but far enough to be easily improved upon.
I was already corresponding at the time with the app’s creator, and when I began writing a note about the position of the button, I noticed that his email address had a .uk suffix, meaning he likely lived in the UK, and likely, therefore, had set the button placement where it was for the same reason I wanted it on the opposite side. He promptly updated the app, which now has the “Swap CarPlay Layout” option shown here:
Check out the app at the App Store.
This is the 11th comic in the ongoing series I’m doing with Hannes Pasqualini. See a full index of Frame by Frame comics at disquiet.com/fxf. More from Hannes at horizontalpitch.com and papernoise.net.
This is so great. Katie Argyle, the Australian music education specialist who helps music teachers understand and utilize technology at her midnightmusic.com.au website, has written a post recommending the Disquiet Junto for students. This really made my day.
The article is titled “600+ Songwriting Ideas for High School Music Students.” She writes, at the opening:
The Disquiet Junto project is an incredible resource if you’re looking for fresh and exciting ways to inspire your high school music students in their songwriting projects. Since 2012, Marc Weidenbaum of Disquiet.com has curated over 600 unique composition challenges, each designed to push musicians out of their comfort zones.
These prompts aren’t your typical songwriting exercises. They encourage musicians to think beyond standard melodies and lyrics and incorporate sound design, chance operations, and environmental influences into their compositions.
And she proceeds to describe the Junto’s utility and to recommend 10 past Junto projects. Argyle also outlines four reasons she believes the Junto prompts are useful for teachers and students:
Encourages Creative Thinking – Students explore new approaches to composition.
Adaptable to All Skill Levels – Accessible for beginner to advanced music students.
Integrates Technology – Many prompts work well with DAWs and recording tools.
Cross-Curricular Connections – Involves science (acoustics), literature (storytelling), and film.
The full article is at midnightmusic.com.