Science of music

Analysis and Comment (8)

Mx4b4ygh-1345526619
Music can create a vortex – and a coupling of cortexes. AlicePopkorn

Motion slickness: music moves makers and listeners alike

By Jonathan Barakat

Music is an emotional business. But is it also a natural law, bound in with our bodies and ideas of motion we’re only beginning to understand? I am in the unique position of studying with both Professor…
Rhv4q2pc-1343618476
Does music feel and talk like we do? John Mallon Iphoneography

While my guitar gently speaks: talking up the talk box

By John R. Smith

A fine musician complemented by a fine musical instrument can communicate a range of strong emotions. But even the best of these combinations cannot speak in the sense of transferring textual information…
Kj93r6yh-1342413829
“Physics permeates the language we use to describe music, and the concepts we use to understand it.” Ravages

Music and physics – the connections aren’t trivial

By Jonathan Powles, The Conversation

My ANU colleague John Rayner’s excellent recent article on the physics of music seemed to touch a nerve with the readership of The Conversation. Although beautifully framed by the personal and anecdotal…
Ptx42r8n-1341894709
Music is the language of love – and it exemplifies some principles of science. Roxanne Milward

This is a love song: the physics of music and the music of physics

By John Rayner

My wife Theresa represents many things for me – in addition to being my partner, I see her as a 17cm-long quarter-wavelength resonator (which I hope you’ll understand and agree with by the end of this…
Rfyhvsk5-1341459247
Roll up for the mathematical mystery tour. Lucy (嘉莉)

A Hard Day’s Night by numbers: The Beatles decoded

By Jason Brown, Dalhousie University

“TWANG! It’s been a …” There is perhaps no song as quintessentially Beatle-ish as A Hard Day’s Night – it just bubbles with unbridled enthusiasm and joy. And in my mind, there’s no other opening chord…
Wj2qk68h-1340688556
Nice sounds – but are you responding to the bass or your basal ganglia? TORIMBC

Beast international: does rock music rouse the animal within?

By Alan Harvey, University of Western Australia

There’s no doubt rock music evokes excitement, but is there more to that excitement than guitar solos and head banging? Writing in the Telegraph recently, science correspondent Nick Collins remarked…
58fw75hp-1340240406
Feel free to bust out some tunes, but you won’t fool the children of the evolution. Verano y mil tormentas

DarwinTunes: when you get that feeling it’s, uh, sexual hearing?

By Nicholas Bannan, University of Western Australia

What transforms noise from album filler to dancefloor killer? Why do some tracks turn us on while others make us tune out? DarwinTunes, a computer program that employs the principles of natural selection…
Radio
Did music precede language for Homo sapiens? Spuz/Flickr

Evolution: please don’t stop the music

By Alan Harvey, University of Western Australia

All human cultures and social groups that we know of respond to music and dance. The type of music may vary but the underlying, fundamental principles of making music are the same. Our recognition of…

Research and News (1)

Participants (24)