Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tree Ring Music


Ever notice how a cross-section of a tree trunk looks like a vinyl record? No? Well, artist Bartholomäus Traubeck did. His latest project, “Years,” plays the rings of a tree by mapping to a scale the lightness and darkness of color in the tree cross-section. You can listen here: http://boingboing.net/2013/05/28/turntable-that-plays-the-r.html

Thursday, May 16, 2013

The sound of hearing loss

I remember being in 6th grade and learning about Claude Monet. I was fascinated by how he continued painting after beginning to lose his sight, and it was then that I first began to contemplate what the actual sensation of losing one's sight would feel like. Later, I ended up needing glasses, and so figured I might have some idea.
Now, speech researcher Arthur Boothroyd has simulated sensorineural hearing loss, to give people an idea of the experience of this unique condition in which sounds are not only harder to hear (quieter), but may also become jumbled, garbled, and other wise incomprehensible.

You can have a listen here.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Celebrating birdsong: The colour and complexity of avian airs - News and features - Scotsman.com

“I doubt that one can find in any human music, however inspired, melodies and rhythms that have the sovereign freedom of bird song,”  Olivier Messiaen

Celebrating birdsong: The colour and complexity of avian airs - News and features - Scotsman.com