Musicovery: Interactive WebRadio

On one of my recent posts, I highlighted a website called Pandora, the internet radio. Upon further surfing, I came across Musicovery, an interactive web radio very similar to the Pandora web radio site. Musicovery lets you choose and explore music by mood (anywhere from dark to positive and from calm to energetic), style, genres, time periods, and much more. You can mix and match filters and customize your internet radio experience to suit your tastes even if that happens to be dark energetic pop or jazz from the 80s. The major difference between Pandora and Musicovery is that in Pandora, you enter an artist or song in and it spits out songs similar in their "music genome" while in Musicovery you input a mood and dance level and it picks a trail of songs that fit, and does so in a more visual way.

Each time you change your preferences in the nav bar the music selector jumps across the screen and plays another song. Genres are color-coded and really add to the aesthetic appeal of the experience. There's a large selection of music to listen to as well, from classical to disco, hip hop, world, rock and so much more. You can even scroll around the map and choose songs manually. For users with a good internet connection there's no lag or song loading time, so you can expect smooth listening from start to finish.

Musicovery has a fantastic interface. It's definitely a brand new way to think about music. Users are presented with what looks like a remote control. In the center of the remote is a coordinate axis with four adjectives: Energetic, Positive, Calm, and Dark. There is also a blinking dot placed in the axis. At the bottom of the remote is a list of 18 genres of music. Users can first select a genre and then place the dot anywhere on the axis. Musicovery then uses an algorithm to play a composition that relates to the location on the axis. In a manner similar to the Pandora site, Musicovery plays actual tracks in their entirety - and it’s perfectly legal. The graphical interface is very slick, and there are connections to related artists and works based on your placement of the dot in the axis.

This might sound a bit confusing, so the easiest way to understand it is to check it out for yourself. The first time I visited the site I spent a great deal of time playing in the Pop genre and found the selections in relation to my placement of the dot on the axis to be very interesting. I think that the site has some pretty interesting possibilities for the classroom, especially in terms of critical listening skills, discussions about music in relation to emotions, and more.

Musicovery is a great way to find new songs and play with different styles of music. It isn't really a game, but it's got the same sense of exploration and fun as any web toy on the internet. Click!

A Video Game Symphony

During spring break, my friend installed World of Warcraft (WoW) on my new mac. For those of you who don't know, WoW is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) where players come together and battle against the world and each other. The game is set in the Warcraft Universe, an epic fantasy setting which includes orcs, trolls, elves and the undead. WoW happens to be the world's leading subscription-based MMORPG with 8.5 million players worldwide! (People must have too much time on their hands these days)...

The music of WoW along with many other popular video games has a rather impressive score. It is fantasy-like music and it contributes to the tense, mysterious, suspense-filled aura while you are playing. The music in the game coordinates with the storyline to effectively deliver the impact of the situation to the player. As you delve further into the rich and detailed game experience, the music covers you in feelings of mystery, action, and suspense! It's perfectly tuned to the atmosphere of the game.

Many video games today are performed by a full symphony
orchestra and choir, thus bringing the sounds of these games to life. It's no secret among game lovers and connoisseurs of orchestral music that some of today's most thrilling scores are coming out of the video game genre. I read online that the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra, in a series of nationwide concerts to an audience of more than 10,000, performed the music from the world's most popular video games against a backdrop of images and lights. These included sci-fi epic Halo, Tomb Raider, the Mario games, plus a medley of classic favorites like Pong, Space Invaders and Pacman.

In the early days, technology was a limiting factor in the area of game soundtracks. Today, advances in technology mean music can now drive in-game action and stir players’ emotions, much like the score of a Hollywood blockbuster. For gamers, not only does the music help set the mood of the game, but it also tells a story and reminds them of epic battles fought and love won and lost on the computer screen. Gamers see their games come to life in a whole different way as sound and music becomes a fundamental part of the gaming experience. The use of sound and music in multimedia can therefore create a more immersive entertainment experience and have a powerful effect on us.

"Pearls Before Breakfast"

A friend of mine sent me a video/news article from the Washington Post and I'd thought I'd share it with you. It's an excellent article, beautifully written, thoughtful and it captures some really deep issues of our times. Just a note though, make sure you watch the short video first BEFORE you read the article and see what you notice. Read and watch here!

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Funny my friend e-mailed me this video. A very similar situation happened to me quite recently. A few weeks ago, I was at the Astor Place metro stop getting ready to do some errands. While waiting for the metro, there was a musician (violinist) performing a Bach gavotte, which I recognized having played it myself. His playing literally stopped me in my tracks; there was such a warmth and richness in his tone I just had to stop and listen. Unfortunately, I had to stand in place because no one else was budging (and there is only so much space on the metro waiting platform). For the next few minutes or so I'm staring at this incredible musician and no one else even notices! Is it a lack of appreciation for classical music that this happens or just the place and time of day? And I wonder, what does it take to recognize talent?

Sadly, I blame both our lifestyle and the public schools for the state of our current culture which seems not void of true and genuine talent and beauty, but rather silent on the matter altogether. There is nothing really cliche about stopping to smell the roses.

Reflecting back on the article. We should acknowledge how much our admiration of people and things may be based upon fame and status - what we think other people think, rather than what we really think ourselves - and strive to become more educated and sincere.

I wonder if I would have stopped. Would I be in too much of a hurry to notice the beauty before me? It is quite possible that I would have kept going because my focus would have been where I was going and not where I was. It is a profound lesson that I am taking to heart. I am going to take that deep breath, stay conscious of what is around me, be in the moment, and if a Joshua Bell type experience comes my way, I am going to pay attention.

A Little Nightmare Music

Classical – not classic – humor

Classical music doesn't have to be serious, and it's all right to laugh in the concert hall...

Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo, two talented classical musicians from Vienna Musikverein demonstrate this through their show, "A Little Nightmare Music." Igudesman & Joo, a violinist and pianist respectively, combine classical music talent with a warped sense of humor. Their show is about their love of music while making fun of the seriousness during concerts. Check out their video clip:


While much of the humor in Igudesman & Joo’s repertoire is about classical music, it's readily understandable even to those not familiar with Bach, Beethoven, or any of those famous composers.

From their website: "A Little Nightmare Music" is a unique show, full of virtuosity, enchanting music and zany, outrageous humour. Ideal for audiences aged 8 to 88, this show is sure to captivate you and crack you up whether you’re a classical music enthusiast or the type who runs for cover, at the mere mention of Mozart.

The show looks hilarious! Seeing their video makes me want to ask: When are these guys going on tour, and will New York City be on the tour schedule?

Can't Get It Out Of My Head!

Recently someone sent me this interesting article about "earworms" which is "a term for a song stuck in one's head, particularly an annoying one," according to Wikipedia. I had absolutely no idea that there was a term for this particularly irritating phenomenon! What struck me most about this article is that researchers were able to confirm the existence of these so-called earworms and that at least 98% of people have had songs stuck in their head! Apparently, musicians/music lovers and those with "compulsive tendencies" may be more affected than others. Not only that, this "stuck song syndrome" is more frequent and lasts even longer for musicians! One of the reasons being that they are more exposed to music and encounter more repetition during rehearsals. The areas of the brain that are involved in listening to and creating music also plays another role for musicians. Another interesting point about earworms is that women are more susceptible to earworms than men! There haven't yet been any reasons as to why this is. As for now, it'll remain a mystery...

My earworms come in various degrees of intensity and levels of aggravation. What is the absolute worst possible scenario for me is when I have a song stuck in my head and I don't know the lyrics. So what happens is that the same part keeps repeating over and over again and I can't for the life of me get that song out of my head. The song simply bores into my head, it won't let go, and even worse, there's simply no known cure. What I usually end up doing is to try talking to someone about it (and hopefully pass the song along to them) or I try humming a different song (only to find that the new song gets stuck in my head). There is a web site called "Maim That Tune" that picks a substitute earworm for you (this is like hitting yourself in the thumb with a hammer so you can forget about your backache).

Despite the fact that these tunes are just so unbearably memorable, there are surprisingly positive things that can come out of earworms. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond says those repetitive notes that won't go away have spawned some of the greatest hits of his career! I'm waiting for that day...

Here they are, the top 10 earworms!

1. Kylie Minogue, Can't Get You Out of My Head
2. James Blunt, You're Beautiful
3. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
4. Mission Impossible theme
5. Village People, YMCA
6. Happy Days theme
7. Corinne Bailey Rae, Put Your Records On
8. Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner
9. Tight Fit, The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now

A Different Way of Playing

I'd thought I'd share this neat clip. It showcases a person playing the piano a different kind of way. Not the traditional way of playing with two hands on the keyboard. I won't describe just how he plays, but I'll tell you it's definitely a very creative way of playing the piano. Towards the end of the clip, he starts playing really fast and it's simply amazing to watch! While playing, you can see that he truly is enjoying himself. It's nice to know that people are enjoying what they're good at doing. As I've heard people say, "enjoy what you do, and do what you enjoy." Something to keep in mind as we go about our everyday lives...

So do check out this clip when you get a chance! The guy is pretty funny, he definitely made me smile a few times! A very entertaining clip, definitely worth watching!



Quite talented if you ask me!

Pandora

Recently I came across a really neat online application. It's an internet radio called "Pandora" and it was created by the Music Genome Project, a group of musicians and music technologists. Pandora is not your average internet radio where you listen to random songs and artists. The really cool thing about Pandora is that when you create a radio station it lets you type in a song or artist you like and it instantly finds other music that might fit your taste, or what some may call "genetically similar songs." In other words, having analyzed the musical structures present in the songs you like, Pandora creates a radio station that will only play songs with similar musical traits to the song you typed in. It relies on a Music Genome that consists of 400 musical attributes covering the qualities of melody, harmony, rhythm, form, composition and lyrics.

Another neat feature of Pandora is that you can give it feedback so it can refine our station based on our likes and dislikes. You can give any song the station plays either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down, and providing this feedback instantly changes your station's playlist. The result is a progressively personalized radio station that really does play only music you want to hear. It's always nice to have a personalized playlist based on our own musical preferences!

Some of the other things you can do with Pandora: you can create up to 100 stations, share a station with a friend through an e-mail link, register for RSS feeds to find out what your friends are listening to, what the top 20 artists are, add a song to your favorites list so you can keep track of the music you like, etc. And who knows? Pandora may even help you discover new music that you'll like!

There's definitely a lot going on with the Pandora player, but it's all pretty easy to access once you get the hang of it. Do check it out when you get a chance!