World Full of Sounds I.
Pre-viewing: If you were to classify sounds, what types would you name? How can sounds be classified according to their source / volume / effect produced on people?
II. Watch the video Julian Treasure - The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us and fill in the outline of the lecture:
1. Introduction. The purpose of this talk is ____________ _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________
2. The four ways sound affects us: a) _____________________________________ Example 1_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________ Example 2_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________ b) _____________________________________ Example 1_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________ Example 2_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________ c) _____________________________________ Example ______________________________________________________________________
World Full of Sounds 2
How it affects us________________________________________________________________ Rate of productivity in an open plan noisy office compared to productivity in a quiet setting is _______ to _______. d) _____________________________________ Example 1_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________ Example 2_____________________________________________________________________ How it affects us________________________________________________________________
3. Most powerful sound is ___________________, for two reasons: a) ___________________________________________________________________________ b)____________________________________________________________________________
4. Many brands use music; examples are ________________ and __________________. 5. Rules for commercial sound: a)____________________________________________________________________________ b)____________________________________________________________________________ c)____________________________________________________________________________ d)____________________________________________________________________________
6. Conclusion ______________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
III.
Pre-reading: •
How often do you hear background music in public places? What might these places be? What is your reaction to the music? Is it always the same or is it different? What might your reaction depend upon?
•
Why, in your opinion, do different businesses use background music?
World Full of Sounds 3
IV.
Reading I: a) Cloze Test. Read the text and fill in each blank with one word. b) Is the author for or against background music? Why? What are his arguments for background music? Are there any reservations about how to use background music?
Put the Persuasive Power of Music to Work for Your Company
A few weeks back, (1) ____________ visiting a nearby small town, I followed my wife into an equally small clothing (2) ____________. Within 30 seconds, I wanted to leave. I didn’t realize at first (3) ____________ the atmosphere was so unappealing to me, but then it hit me as we walked out: the store was extremely quiet. It felt (4) ____________ a library; like I should have been whispering my objections about the high prices. Even the other shoppers in the store were browsing quietly, (5) ____________ if not to disrupt the hushed stillness. The silence seemed to feed upon itself to the point (6) ____________ it affected my perception of the store, momentarily changed my mood for the (7) ____________, and chased both my wife and me out the door before making a purchase. (8) ____________ the place really needed was a little music. That’s it. Music would have (9) ____________ me a reason to stay in that store. It would have let me hum along, tap my foot or rhythmically shake my car keys in that annoying way I do. The right music would have contributed greatly to the “feel” of that store, as well as the feeling I had while in the store. Music has an extremely powerful effect (10) ____________ mood. For most people, a certain song, the right tempo or a particular style of music can instantly bring a smile to their face or brighten their day. And when people begin to associate the good feelings they get from music with your business, you can only benefit. That’s why music is (11) ____________ important in the office and the marketplace. The grocery store I frequent plays great (12) ____________. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught myself quietly singing along next to shampoo or tapping on my cart among the bananas. The music truly makes my shopping experience more enjoyable, and (10)____________ to my positive feelings about that grocery store. Does it affect how much I spend at the store? I don’t know, but I continue to shop there, week after week, (13)____________ of at the store right down the street. In (14) ____________ to having a positive effect on your customers and their perception of your business, music has also been shown to contribute to employee productivity. The April 1996 issue of Men's Health magazine reported that job performance and productivity (15)____________ by 10% when workers listened to their favorite music on the
World Full of Sounds 4
job. And if the tension in your workplace can get a little high now and then, you'll be glad to know that, according to research published by Workman Publishing in 2000, stress hormone levels can be (16) ____________ by as much as 41% when listening to music with an upbeat rhythm. There's one caveat about music in the workplace that must be addressed. For most companies, radio is not an option. Radio does not allow you enough control over the music. And it (17)____________ absolutely no control over other types of content, such as disc jockey chatter, news or commercials (some of (18) ____________ may be for your competitors). In many cases, licensing laws even make it illegal to play the radio in certain business environments. If your employees (19) ____________ just 10 minutes each day selecting CDs and programming CD players...or discussing the ads, news, DJs and contests they hear on the radio, you'll lose over 40 hours of productivity per employee per year! The smart, legal, cost-effective alternative to radio is a satellite-delivered music service, one that provides a (20) ____________ of music channels based on format or tempo. Such a service lets you "program" the right music for your customers. It lets you better control the "feel" of your store or office and, in turn, the pace and mood of your customers and employees. When you consider that every contact you have with a customer or prospect is a marketing impression, you may see, even more clearly, how important (21) ____________ is to people's perception of your business, and how it can be used to shape your image. Just remember, when (22) ____________ comes to marketing your company, silence is not golden.
V.
Reading II:
a)
Matching: Below are some sentences missing from the text. Match them with the blanks in the text.
b)
In the text find all the words that are used as synonyms to background music. What are their connotations? Explain.
c)
Make up questions to the text to discuss in class.
A. That is acoustic torture. B. It is time, surely, to update the legal code in this country, to enable judges to sentence the noisy to a punishment that fits their crime. C. He said the unions want $19 or two days off as a possible compensation. D. You impose your music on me, I'm going to impose my music on you. E. And Andre Previn, when his flight ran into turbulence and the crew piped “soothing” music through the PA, complained: “I refuse to die to this music!”
World Full of Sounds 5
F. Four-in-10 shop workers receive complaints from customers about the maddening music played in the store. G. He has satirised the famous brand-name, calling it 'Moo-zak' and has described the product, in its growing ubiquity, as an invasion of privacy and a denial of freedom of choice. H. Especially Jingle Bells. I. The emotional overdrive of the dance floor is hardly an appropriate accompaniment to a reflective cup of coffee in the afternoon. J. In Belgium they even pump it into the streets out of little loudspeakers attached to the lamp posts. K. At the very least this might relieve some of your frustration, and it might even make a difference. L. The large number of people who dislike muzak tend to avoid shops in which muzak is played.
Complain about Muzak In recent years, the quality of piped music has changed, from relatively soft sounds to hard, thumping, aggressive, and louder sounds on any and all occasions. Restaurants have all of a sudden become noisy places operating on the assumption that the more background noise the better. Transmitting upsetting noise is an infringement of the rights of individuals. Generally, the public has little choice about this: music is streamed at us, without our permission, choice, or control, as a commercial ploy to make us spend more. This is a misuse of music and an abuse of the company relationship with us, their customers. If you find yourself increasingly frustrated, irritated and annoyed by the presence of muzak in public places, make a complaint. (1) ____________ The Canadian composer and writer R. Murray Schafer has questioned the validity of Muzak's claim to 'mask' less desirable sounds such as factory machines or supermarket clatter. (2) ____________He also sees in Muzak the seed of a general dulling of aesthetic sensitivity, whereby the inescapable exposure to its quasi-music could make unwary ears gradually less and less receptive to the conscious listening experiences not only of true art- and entertainmentmusic but also of the natural environment.
Christmas Muzak Manchester Airport did a survey on how to make the place appealing at Christmas. Almost half said no festive music was a good start. Some workers have taken the annoyance of Christmas muzak seriously – declaring festive songs a health and safety concern. Two years ago the Austrian union of shop workers threatened legal action. "Shop workers can't escape the Christmas muzak. They feel as if they are terrorised all day. (3) ____________It arouses
World Full of Sounds 6
aggressive feelings," said spokesman Gottfried Rieser. Faced with unyielding store-owners, union lawyers agreed to a voluntary code of practice limiting festive music to peak shopping hours... with limited success. Britons have constantly complained about piped music. A survey this year by the recruitment website Retailchoice.com found that Christmas is the most testing time for shop workers, and that almost half have had complaints about piped music from customers. " (4) ____________," says Nigel Rodgers of Pipedown, a celebrity-fronted pressure group against muzak. "It's not loud but the repetitive nature causes psychological stress." The group wants the government to legislate against unwanted music, be it in stores, hospitals, airports or swimming pools, claiming it raises the blood pressure and depresses the immune system. (5) ____________This artificially biases the retailers own in-shop customer surveys, which show a higher level of indifference to or liking of muzak than that shown by independent, population-wide surveys. Therefore, it is not enough to avoid shops in which muzak is played your opinion and voice is lost if you only stay away. In order for businesses to get the message that a significant number of potential customers are staying away, and that muzak is affecting brand image, customer relations, and market share, you must also complain.
Much of the music that surrounds us acts as a kind of aural tranquilliser. So-called elevator music is not confined to elevators: music that expunges any unfamiliar element, any hint of complexity or self-development saturates the private and public spaces of modern life. This music is inane, stupid, and empty in the same way that repetitive and undeveloped writing is stupid, full of clichés and non-sequiturs, attempting to pass off empty and wornout phrases as vehicles of genuine thought and emotion. Julian Johnson. Who Needs Classical Music?
December 2003. Labour unions in the Czech Republic demanded that stores stop playing Christmas carols incessantly or pay compensation for causing emotional trauma to sales clerks. Some stores play the same songs all day, and play them loudly, as do many shops across in the world. Employees say shifts have become unbearable. "To listen to it for eight hours a day is not healthy, that's for sure," said Alexandr Leiner, a union leader. "And for the customers, it's almost unbearable as well." Leiner said unions have written to major chains and demanded that employees be compensated. (6) ____________ A 32-year-old club promoter, Michael Carreras, was driving his Jaguar, windows down and sunroof open, listening to a 50 Cent CD, at five in the damn morning. This would be an affront to decency anywhere, but in Miami Beach it is illegal for your car stereo to be audible from 100 feet away. A passing cop issued Mr Carreras with a summons. When Mr Carreras fronted the beak, the great Judge Swartz said: " (7) ____________" He presented Carreras with a choice: a US$500 fine, or sitting through two-and-a-half hours of La Traviata. Carreras opted to endure the Verdi. The estimable Judge Swartz has recognised that there are few greater menaces to the happiness of the city-dweller than the person – “I say "person", I mean "ignorant, antisocial cretin" – who broadcasts unnecessary noise. A generous dose of their own medicine is the least these vermin deserve. (8) ____________Few things are as distressing to the spirit as music we don't wish to hear”. The cost of providing piped music by stores, pubs, restaurants, etc., is enormous. The figure for a
World Full of Sounds 7
30,000 sq. ft store is at least Ј2000 p.a. – multiplied throughout an organisation the sums are huge. These costs include royalties to organisations who have copyright, the equipment, CD's and overheads. The public is generally unaware of the costs that are added to the cost of goods in the shops. This is why Wetherspoons, a pub chain that does not use muzak, can sell food and drinks much cheaper than most other outlets.
Britney's Muzak Voted Most Annoying (October, 2005) Britney Spears' songs voted as the worst in-store music by fashion store workers. Fashion sales associates are driven crazy by having to listen to the non-stop songs that provide the soundtrack to their working lives. Three-in-four sales people in London high fashion stores admit being irritated by in-store music, with Britney the most annoying followed by Usher, Kylie Minogue and 50 Cent. A staggering 31 per cent of shop workers have to endure the same album between six and 20 times a week, with 16 per cent hearing the same record more than 20 times during the course of a week. Those working in the fashion and footwear retail sectors suffer the most from muzak according to the research by recruitment website Retailchoice.com. And it is not just the staff whose nerves are being tested. (9) ____________Why, then, do the shops play this stuff? Are they operating under the delusion that people actually like it?
I refuse to die to this music! By Chris Schuler Canned music in hospitals, GPs’ waiting rooms and dentists’ surgeries is particularly offensive as you have no choice but to be there, and are unlikely to be feeling your best in the first place. But many people find it obnoxious everywhere else, too. In the 10 years since 17 per cent of respondents told the NOP that canned music was “the single thing most detested about modern life”, it has become all but ubiquitous in restaurants, hotels, cafes, bars, shops – including, unbelievably, bookshops – banks and practically every other public place. (10) _________ As an attempt at emotional manipulation, canned music is often ludicrously misjudged. The stupid song playing in a cafe when you’re breaking up with a lover, or in a motorway service station on the way to a funeral, offends by being so grotesquely inappropriate. (11) ____________And the alienated electronica of chill-out music may be fine to calm the adrenaline of a night’s clubbing, but on a wet Wednesday morning it can be downright dispiriting. It’s anathema to musicians of all persuasions, since their training and instincts dispose them to listen to music, rather than screen it out. In his Reith Lectures a couple of years ago, Daniel Barenboim launched a scathing attack on canned music. Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, in his entertaining gastronomic travelogue Sound Bites, opines that the only appropriate soundtrack to fine dining is the gentle murmur of conversation and the quiet clink of glasses and cutlery. (12) ____________ I’m not a purist about such things. There are certain bars and cafes where it seems a perfectly appropriate and agreeable part of the ambience. The problem is that it’s increasingly difficult to find any public space that’s free of it. Where do you go for a quiet drink after a concert or recital when you want to stay with the afterglow of the music you’ve just heard, not have it dissipated immediately by someone else’s choice of aural wallpaper? Silence should be the default position, music a conscious choice; increasingly, background music is the default position, and silence an extreme – and usually expensive – rarity.
World Full of Sounds 8
VI.
Post-reading: Go to English Thru Practice Google site to do the assignment you choose – it is either “For Background Music” or “Against Background Music”. Be ready to support your arguments in class.
VII.
Listening:
• •
How often do you listen to classical music? What operatic composers do you know? Have you ever been to the opera? What is your favorite opera? Listen to the introduction to Guiseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore and do the following tasks: a) Answer the questions:
1. What made Guiseppe Verdi one of the most popular operatic composers? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. When did Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata premiere? _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. What are the reasons that these three operas are among the most important Italian standard repertoire? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 4.
Why is it easy to forgive the playwright of Il Trovatore when you listen to the
opera? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. How can you call the situations in which Il Trovatore’s characters are thrust? _____________________________________________________________________________ b) Fill in the blanks: Early in the opera Leonora waits for the _________________ of the troubadour Manrico who comes to serenade her in the evenings. She tells her maid of a ____________ evening in the palace gardens when she heard the ___________ song of the troubadour. This is the man she loves, for whom she would _____________ die. The _____________ and _____________ count di Luna loves Leonora and wants her for his own. He ______________ a planned rendezvous between Leonora and Manrico and ____________ the troubadour to a duel, and they rush off into the __________.
World Full of Sounds 9
Now let’s back up in time, years earlier, for some _____________. Manrico’s mother is the gipsy Azecena. Years ago A.’s mother was ____________by the count’s father, _____________ of witchcraft and burned at the stake. In a ____________rage A. stole the count’s infant brother from his cradle, ran to the burning pyre and threw the baby into the flames. Remember that. It’s important later. In our next _________ we find the gypsies at their campsite ___________ of life, labor and love in the famous Anvyl Chorus. Manrico lies near the campfire ______________from his duel with the count. A. ____________ the story of her mother’s death and, turning to Manrico, insists that he avenge her by killing the count. The other gypsies leave, and A. gives Manrico ______________details of the burning of her mother. As she tells the story, she becomes so ______________ in reliving the horrible experience that she reveals that she _________________ threw her own baby onto the fire rather than the count’s baby brother. Manrico is _______________ and insists on knowing who he really is if he is not her child. She convinces him that he is indeed her _________ and that he must trust her. M. tells A. of his duel with the count and that during the duel a _____________ force kept him from killing the count. A. ____________ that if M. ever again gets the chance to kill the count, he must do it. A messenger tells M. that L. thinks M. was killed in the _________and grief stricken, she is _____________ a convent nearby. Despite A.’s plea that he stay, M. rushes off to save L. from __________ the veil. At the ______________ the count is already lying in wait to abduct L. before she can enter. As he waits, he sings of the _____________of her smile. c) Listen and write the end of the story: _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
VIII. Viewing: Anna Netrebko’s Story. a) Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
World Full of Sounds 10
1. heartrending 2. consumption 3. jarring 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
fragile pageant chorus unrelenting notorious
a. unpleasant b. weak, delicate c. a body of vocalists and dancers who support the soloists and leading performers in operas, musical comedies, and revues d. not diminishing in intensity, pace, or effort e. pulmonary tuberculosis f. known widely and unfavorably g. moving, arousing deep sympathy h. an elaborate public dramatic presentation that usually depicts a historical or traditional event
b) Watch the video and decide if the following statements are true or false:
1. Anna Netrebko is slim. 2. Anna Netrebko’s recordings are selling very well. 3. Anna is often on the pages of glossy magazines. 4. Besides having a great voice, she is also a good actress. 5. Anna obeys all the rules of the opera world. 6. She thinks that one day she will start singing pop music. 7. Once Anna spent $2000 on a single pair of jeans. 8. She was born in Krasnoyarsk. 9. She knew from the very beginning that she would become a great singer. 10. Stress always helps her. 11. She can not afford to be in the room with airconditioning or with people smoking because she has to take care of her voice. 12. Anna is partying every night.
c) Watch the video again and answer the following questions:
World Full of Sounds 11
1. Why do people admire sopranos? 2. What does the word ‘diva’ mean? 3. Why may a typical diva look ridiculous on stage? 4. Why eventually did it start to bother her when people admired her dresses? 5. Why did she take her first job at Mariinsky theatre? 6. Why is her story referred to as Cinderella story? 7. How does the interviewer react to the story of her mother’s death? 8. Why does the interviewer use the image of jet plane turning into a pumpkin?
IX.
Music Quest: Guess Who? for 546 or Guess Who? For 547
X.
Reading: a) All cultures in the world have music. How would you explain that? What does music do for people? Provide examples to support your ideas.
b) Match the definitions below with the corresponding words from the article1:
1
•
the way someone talks about information or a situation, especially in order to influence the way people think about it (part 1)
•
peculiar to the individual (part 2)
•
the way that you notice things with your senses of sight, hearing etc (part 2)
•
to move with small movements from side to side or up and down (part 2)
•
to put together different pieces of information (part 3)
•
to make it possible for someone to experience something (part 3)
NOTE: The words are not at the same order as they are in the interview. Also, the definitions are given for basic forms while in the text of the interview the corresponding words can be in any form.
World Full of Sounds 12
•
a combination of several musical notes that are played at the same time (part 3)
•
having a lot of experience and good judgment about socially important things such as art, fashion etc (part 3)
•
a clear difference or separation between two similar things (part 4)
•
not allowing air to get in or out (part 5)
•
a small part or amount of something that remains when most of it no longer exists (part 5)
•
without a developed written language (part 5)
•
anxiety about the future (part 6)
•
to communicate (part 6)
•
based on a musical scale in which there are semitones between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth notes (part 6)
•
false but seeming to be real or true (part 7)
•
natural ability or skill (part 7)
•
unable to feel (part 8)
•
to let people know something about yourself (part 8)
c) Look through Daniel Levitin’s interview to answer the questions:
•
Why might Daniel Levitin be an interesting person to interview? What does he do?
•
What changes does a song produce in our brain? Are they the same for everyone?
•
How has the study of audio perception changed lately?
•
In what way does the art of music differ from the art of painting? What qualities should a good song have?
•
What role did music play in our ancestors' life? How is their experience applied in modern society? Does music have the same function now as it had in ancient times?
World Full of Sounds 13
•
What songs are more likely to stick in the head? Why does it happen?
•
Does Levitin agree to a widespread opinion that music and math are interrelated? What is his opinion on this issue?
•
Does Daniel use his research when composing music? What weak points as a composer does he have? What should he change to become better at it?
•
How does Daniel explain the fact that not all the people love music?
Sing, Brain, Sing http://www.newsweek.com/id/158755/page/1
Daniel Levitin on the Stones, 'happy juice' and death at the watering hole By Mary Carmichael | NEWSWEEK Published Sep 13, 2008 From the magazine issue dated Sep 22, 2008
1 Neuroscientists may be the rock stars of 21st-century science, but how many of them actually
have platinum records to their credit? There's at least one: Daniel Levitin, author of "This Is Your Brain on Music," the 2006 best seller that mixed serious science with discussions of "Ode to Joy" and "Super Freak." His new book is "The World in Six Songs," which puts an evolutionary spin on why people love a good tune. Levitin took a break from his research at McGill University in Canada (and from practicing with his campus band, the Diminished Faculties) to speak, and sing, with NEWSWEEK's Mary Carmichael: 2 CARMICHAEL: OK, I'm putting on “Gimme Shelter” in the background. What’s
going on in my brain? LEVITIN: Well, so much of music is subjective that people can have very idiosyncratic responses to the same piece. Yes, your eardrum is wiggling in and out, and the brain is interpreting that pattern of wiggling—it's extracting pitch and rhythm and timbre and melody, and binding them together into what you recognize as song. That's what people studying auditory perception for the last 100 years have looked at. But the paradigm shift in the field in the last five or six years is that people have also started looking at emotion. So if you like "Gimme Shelter," the brain's reward centers are coming online—the nucleus accumbens, the amygdala, the ventral tegmental area. These are part of an ancient reward system that modulates levels of dopamine, which you can think of as "happy juice." You're also listening to lyrics, so the language centers, Broca's and Wernicke's areas, are working. And there are two other things going on in the brain. You may have some associations to that song—a first kiss, maybe. 3 Actually, it reminds me of “The Departed.”
Then that memory association will be part of it. And there's one last thing that's true of all music —it's patterned over time, unlike paintings, which are patterned over space. So whether you know it or not, your brain is constantly trying to figure out what the next note is going to be. Because you've been exposed to Western tonal music, you know after a certain chord sequence what the next possibilities are. Your brain has compiled a statistical map of which ones are most likely and least likely. If the song keeps hitting the most likely notes, you'll get bored, and if it's always the least likely ones, you'll get irritated. A really good song needs to have the right ratio.
World Full of Sounds 14
Which is what? Fifty-fifty? It's different for every person. Some people like very predictable melodies, and others prefer the less likely notes. Wait, is this a mathematical way of measuring how sophisticated someone’s taste is? Well, "sophisticated" in terms of how complex their favorite music is. Not necessarily how good it is. 4 A lot of scientists think that music is a “spandrel”, a byproduct of evolution that just
happens to be something we like. But your new book argues that it’s important — that it made us who we are as a species. The six songs in the title are six ways in which our ancestors used music to develop society—to create social bonds, for instance, or to transmit knowledge, or for large-scale coordination. With social bonds, singing together produces oxytocin, a trust hormone. Or moving together in a coordinated way—as far back as "The Art of War," Sun Tzu recognized the importance of that in battle. Or think about ancient construction projects, like the Great Pyramids, with the "one, two, three, heave-ho"—you had to move together to get things done. There's an ancient connection between movement and music. Most languages don't make a distinction between the words "music" and "dance." And we can see that in the brain. When people are lying perfectly still but listening to music, the neurons in the motor cortex are firing. Which explains why people can’t help but tap their feet to a beat. Right. So the story is that those of our ancestors who synchronized automatically, who moved in response to sound, were perhaps more successful at their cooperative undertakings and were able to pass on that trait. 5 But the Pyramids weren’t built that long ago, on an evolutionary time scale. And the
Neanderthals were making flutes out of bear bones 40,000 years ago. I'm not saying music evolved just for the Pyramids. But it made them possible. The "knowledge songs" are another example of a survival advantage. Before there was writing, if you had important information that needed to be preserved—"don't go to that watering hole, our uncle went there and they killed him"—you might have encoded it in song, because words are easier to remember when they're put to music. Music sticks in the head. If you look at preliterate societies today, a lot of knowledge transmission is done through song: how to build a raft, how to make an airtight water jug. We have vestiges of this in America. All American children learn the alphabet song. And my students sing me a song about the parts of the brain [breaks into the tune of"Camptown Races"]: Neocortex, frontal lobe, brain stem, brain stem/ Hippocampus, neural node, left hemisphere. 6 But we still do most of our learning via language. What does music do for us that mere
words can't? As Helen Vendler says of poetry, music is not a news report. Except for these knowledge songs, it's not usually intended to represent objective facts. What music is better able to do than language is to represent the complexity of human emotional states. It's rarely the case that we feel just one single emotion. When was the last time you felt pure joy? More likely it's joy with a bit of apprehension, happiness with a bit of sadness. There are only seven notes on the major scale, and seven on the minor, but the ways in which those notes are strung together can convey different emotions. It has to do with predictability, where your brain is trying to guess the next note. If I play notes in a predictable fashion, initially, there's no tension—it's comforting. But if I do it over and over again, tension will build.
World Full of Sounds 15
Because you're expecting some variation. And that leads to complex feelings of tension and resolution, comfort and arousal. It's not that far from humor—it has to play around with your expectations of what's normal, and then violate them. 7 You said that "music sticks in the head," and in fact I've turned off the Stones but I can
still hear Mick going "oooh" in my brain. Why do songs get lodged in there like that? Maybe it's meant to get stuck in your head. Having "music in the head" allows you to experiment with variations. A lot of people report that when a song gets stuck in their head, the tempo will change a little, or the notes will. So it could be a kind of a game for exercising the mind. When a song gets stuck, it's not the whole thing; it's usually about 20 seconds of it. That's about the same length as auditory short-term memory. And the songs tend to be relatively simple ones. It's more likely Rihanna that's in there and not Stravinsky or Mahler. There's a common belief that people who are good at math are also good at music. But you disagree with that. As far as I can tell, it's an illusory link. Yes, there are a bunch of people who are good at both, but there are also a bunch of people who are good at one and not the other. There are also a bunch of people who are left-handed and redheaded, but I don't think one causes the other. Although music and math are both in some sense languages—so maybe if you have an aptitude for languages, you're good at all three. 8 You're also a composer, and you produced for Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder (congrats
on those platinum and gold records, by the way). When you write music, do you try to apply anything you've learned from your scientific work? I've been trying in my own writing not to think about any of the laboratory lessons. Instead, I think more about the lessons I've learned from my songwriter friends. I played two songs recently for Joni Mitchell, and I had a songwriting lesson from Rodney Crowell, who has a number of top-10 country hits. They seem to think the musical side is fine. It's the lyrics I need to work on. I need to be more specific. Instead of "the girl left me," I need to say, "the girl left me standing on the corner with a hole in my shoe," or "the girl left me on our anniversary." Something that has some emotional truth, even if it's not literally true. We're sort of numb to generalities—"I had a bad day today" doesn't move you. But "I stepped on a nail," or "my boss screamed until he was shaking and the veins in his temples were bulging"— It puts an image in your head. That's it. Rodney also says I need to be more conversational. Don't try to be Shakespeare. I'm looking through you/ Where did you go?/I thought I knew you/ What did I know? That's not Shakespeare, but it's a great lyric. You obviously love music. Are there some people who don't like it at all? There are a lot of people who don't, but then we humans differ in so many interesting ways. The estimates are that with music, as many as 10 percent of the population just don't get it. Really? I've never met a person like that. That's because they've learned not to advertise it. People look at them funny. But hey, there are people who don't like chocolate, and I don't understand that.
World Full of Sounds 16
XI.
Viewing “Daniel Levitin on Music and the Brain”.
Words: Circuitry – system of paths in the brain Ubiquitous – seeming to be everywhere, readily available Precursor – something that happened or existed before something else and influenced its development Lag – a delay or period of waiting between one event and a second event To exploit – to use, often unfairly To precede – to happen or exist before something Untenable – an untenable argument, suggestion etc is impossible to defend Neanderthal – an early type of human being Prosody – the patterns of sound and rhythm Nuance – a very slight, hardly noticeable difference in manner, meaning etc Preparatory – done in order to get ready for something Scribbles – meaningless marks or pictures, especially done by children Agile – able to move quickly and easily Vestige – a small part or amount of something that remains when most of it no longer exists Haunting – sad but also beautiful and staying in your thoughts for a long time Prolactin – a hormone Dopamine – a hormone
a) Discuss the following questions to Daniel Levitin’s talk at Google in class:
Part I
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1. How many Gold and Platinum Records does Daniel Levitin have? Why has he been awarded so many records? 2. What is his academic background? 3. How has his life been connected with San Francisco? 4. How old was he when he started to study neuroscience? 5. What were typical studies of music and the brain about when he started his research? 6. What happened in 1997? Why were Stephen Pinker’s words so important for Daniel Levitin? 7. What is the idea behind Stephen Pinker’s words: “Music is auditory cheesecake. It’s an evolutionary accident riding on the back of language”? 8. In evolutionary biology, what is ‘adaptive’ and ‘maladaptive’? Were sweets and sugars available to humans long time ago adaptive or maladaptive? Are they adaptive or maladaptive now? Why? 9. What do these words mean: “We’re largely living with brains and bodies that were equipped for the way life was for our cave-dweller ancestors”? 10. How 50 000 years from now may we differ from what we are today? 11. Which came first, music or language? 12. According to some researchers, how did Neanderthals communicate? 13. How is human communication different from animal communication? 14. How can Charlie Brown cartoon help us understand the way Neanderthals communicated? 15. What can music do better than language? 16. How can art be defined? 17. What is ‘perspective taking’? How do his examples of cave drawings of buffalo and children’s scribbles help to understand what ‘perspective taking’ means? 18. What are evolutionary advantages of being able to think in fictional modes? 19. What is ‘honest signal’ hypothesis in biology? Why does he use peacock as an example? How can it be applied to music? Does ‘honest signal’ hypothesis apply to all music? 00.27.52
Part II 1. What are six categories of songs, according to Daniel Levitin? Are these categories exclusive?
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2. Why historically were knowledge songs so important? What examples of vestiges of knowledge songs does he give? 3. These are lyrics to Rodney Crowell’s song ‘Time to go inward’. Why does this song appeal to Daniel Levitin? It's time to go inward take a look at myself Time to make the most of the time that I've got left Prison bars imagined are no less solid steel Time to go inward would you believe that I'm afraid To stare down the barrel of the choices I have made The ghost of bad decisions make mountains out of everything I feel Outside my window the wind weaves a path through the trees The moon takes a shine to the shadows that fall on the leaves It's time to go inward Hmmm I don't know if I can do it after all that I've become I've been a fool for money but it's vanity that always leaves me flat It's time to go inward man I hope I have the nerve To take an inventory of the causes that I serve They say a man without a conscience is like a man without a country or something like that It's time to go inward time to be still If I don't do it now I don't believe I ever will My mind is like a chatterbox whose noise pollutes the pathways to my soul Time to go inward time to get a grip Time to put an end to one long bad acid trip I'm all out of excuses for the way I've let my choices take a toll Jesus and Buddah and Krishna and Minnie Pearl knew Do unto other the things you want done unto you Time to go inward take a look at me Try to make some sense of life's illusions that I see Try to solve the riddle of what it is I have to offer to this world
4. Why do people when they are sad often listen to sad music? 5. What hormone is released when people listen to sad music? What is its role? 6. What is the other hormone released when people listen to music? What is the function of that hormone? 7. How could music contribute to large construction projects of the past? 8. What happens in the brain of a person who lies still and listens to music? 00.44.34
XII.
Your Final project