Motherboard reporter Kaleigh Rogers writes that MIT researchers have developed an AI system that can generate scary-sounding music. Rogers explains that the researchers used a “huge number of midi files and a handful of horror movies soundtracks as ‘primer melodies’ to give the AI a starting point to make up the rest of the soundtrack.”
The Echo Nest, an audio-tech company founded by MIT alumni, has identified the most danceable number one hit songs, writes Dan Kopf for Quartz. Echo Nest’s algorithm determines the “danceability” of a song based on the tempo and beat regularity, Kopf explains, “so a bridge that even briefly changes the mood is highly penalized.”
Developed by MIT researchers, ConcertCue, an app that provides real-time program notes during live classical music performances, has received a $50,000 grant from the Knight Foundation’s Prototype Fund, reports Melissa Locker for Fast Company. The foundation awarded 12 grants to “innovative tech organizations and cultural institutions” that use technology to make the arts more accessible in the digital age.
MIT Media Lab researchers have created a musical instrument designed to be played in zero-gravity, writes Becky Ferreira for Motherboard. The instrument, dubbed the Telemetron, produces “musical tones that are appropriately spacey, with a similar timbre to how music sounds underwater,” explains Ferreira.
Boston Globe reporter David Weininger highlights a recording of three new works by Prof. Peter Child. Weininger writes that the new pieces, “demonstrate the MIT composer’s remarkable stylistic diversity.”
In a new study from researchers at MIT’s McGovern Institute, “the authors pinpoint a specific way that piano lessons can help young children enhance their language processing skills,” writes Jamie Ducharme for TIME. “There’s evidence that early exposure to piano practice enhances the processing of sounds that extend not only from music, but also into language,” says Prof. John Gabrieli.
Prof. Robert Desimone speaks with Christopher Intagliata of Scientific American about his new research that shows how piano lessons can help improve a child’s language skills. Desimone and his colleagues found that, “piano lessons can heighten the brain's response to changes in pitch. And kids who got piano lessons were also better at telling apart two similar-sounding Mandarin words.”
A new study by MIT researchers shows that music lessons can help develop a child’s language skills by improving their ability to differentiate between different pitches, reports Kashmira Gander for Newsweek. The researchers concluded that, “musical training helps to improve language skills, and could even be more beneficial than giving children additional reading lessons.”
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers uncovers evidence that music lessons can help improve a child’s language skills, according to Xinhua. The researchers found that, “musical training is at least as beneficial in improving language skills, and possibly more beneficial, than offering children extra reading lessons.”
ABC News reporter Denise Powell highlights a new study by MIT researchers that shows that music education could help a child’s language skills. Powell explains that, “the results of this study give a boost to the idea of music training in kindergarten students as a method of enhancing the way brain cells and neurons process and respond to pitch.”
Prof. Tod Machover speaks with Mary Louis Kelly and Audie Cornish of NPR’s All Things Considered about capturing the everyday sounds featured in his latest symphony, “Philadelphia Voices.” When recording the Commonwealth Youth Choir, for example, Machover explains that he “asked them to each sing the word Philadelphia in a way that showed something about how they felt about Philadelphia and also something about themselves.”
Prof. Tod Machover details his experience creating “Philadelphia Voices,” which is “the latest in a series of Machover symphonies inspired by cities,” writes Michael Cooper for The New York Times. “To help organize his library of Philadelphia sounds he used software developed at M.I.T. called Constellation, which can analyze hundreds of sound files by volume, frequency and shape, then visually display them.”
Prof. Tod Machover debuts his latest symphony, “Philadelphia Voices,” this week, and the AP’s Natalie Pompilio writes that it “both captures and celebrates the distinctive sounds and sizzle of Philadelphia.” The piece interweaves live music with recordings that include a “cheesesteak interlude,” birds at the Philadelphia Zoo, and children visiting the Museum of the American Revolution.
Mouse on Mars, a music duo featuring former MIT guest lecturer Jan St. Werner, premiered their new album “Dimensional People” through a spatial installation that allowed guests to hear “more or less of certain instruments depending on their location,” writes Terence Cawley for The Boston Globe. The premiere was part of Dissolve Music @ MIT, a conference and sound festival organized by Prof. Ian Condry, St. Werner and DJ Rekha.
World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma will deliver an on campus talk titled "Yo-Yo Ma: Culture, Understanding and Survival" as part of MIT's Compton Lecture series. “Ma is a prolific performer who has recorded more than 100 albums and has worked to promote collaboration among artists from different cultures,” notes the Associated Press.