Guest Post: Caroline Ward - filmmaker and visual artist
I was thrilled to attend the Festival launch this year. Since I
moved to Manchester in 2010, I've volunteered my skills to the festival by
editing short content for the citizen science projects, last year for Turing's Sunflowers and this year for Hooked.
I also love going to events at the festival - particularly as my
interests in art, architecture, and urban farming - never fail to be excited. At
the launch I was captivated by the approach of David Garcia, one of the architects
in the Ice
Lab exhibition - with a structure made of snow - the idea was to use
materials from the immediate environment which could then, merge back into the
environment. It reminded me of Robert Smithson’s sculpture Spiral
Jetty. The exhibition is fascinating and covered in a previous post. My
inner kid also liked the Star Wars style structures that feature in so many
of the ice labs.
There's so much going on at the festival, here’s my own
navigation through the programme. As an art, film and urban naturalist, my top
picks are:
A special mention goes to the Great White Silence -
its one of my favourite films and fully restored to its original glory by the BFI (where I used to work many moons ago).
It's the poignant story of Captain Scott’s race to the South Pole yet reveals wonderful
moments like penguins captured on film for the first time in this environment.
And finally - to Chasing Ice - a brilliant film that just goes to show the value
of picking up a camera (well several cameras) and persisting against ice
and snow to show the world just what damage we are doing to the planet – I can’t
think of a better way to show climate change in action.
PS my track for the HookedPlaylist is: Violin Phase by Steve Reich (see video)
Hello
festival peeps, not long to go now! I'm Erinma and last year I
had a blast working on the fab citizen science experiment, Turing's Sunflowers. Now I'm back
doing a residency at MOSI working with the Festival team to bring a new mass
experiment to life. This time it's all about music and unlocking the secret
science of song.
Back
in May I went to the University of Amsterdam to meet with music cognition
scientists, Dr John Ashley Burgoyne and Professor Henkjan Honing who have
devised a fantastic experiment that needs your help.
Ashley
and Henkjan are interested in musical memory - songs that we remember and can
recall to mind just by thinking about them. The way they want to explore that
is by looking at musical 'hooks' and what it is musically that makes a tune
stick in our minds.
What's the idea?
Just hearing a few bars of a song, people will suddenly
recall that tune to mind. The hook is the
most noticeable part of a tune. It sticks in your mind and is the key to
understanding why musical memories last a lifetime. The hook makes music
memorable or catchy. And, songwriters, DJs and musicians know exactly how
to use the hook to get everyone singing along or up on the dance floor.
Whilst visiting my
family in Copenhagen I told my DJ brother, Thomas, all about #Hooked and he
invited me along to Karriere bar to show me
exactly how he uses hooks to get people on the dancefloor every Friday night.
Quite apart from
having a great night out - it got me thinking about the wisdom of the non-science experts, DJs, musician, songwriters, music geeks and many more and
making sure we include their perspectives to add a new dimension to understanding
how music can play with our emotions, memories and quite literally move us.
“The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the
music, and people can regain a sense of identity. . .” — Neurologist, Oliver Sacks
One of the things
that I found quite astonishing is how personalised playlists of music are used
in some care homes to help improve the quality of life of people with fading
memories, including dementia. This phenomenon, where people are literally
awakened from a stupor, and begin to dance and sing, has to be seen to be
believed. So, whilst the experiment is going to be a lot of fun, it might also
provide insights into long term memory and even failing memory, which could
contribute to future Alzheimer's disease research.
What's the theory?
There are lots of
theories about what makes music catchy (a danceable rhythm, a change in pitch
etc) but little scientific evidence. By doing an experiment, designed as a
game, we can test out these theories and see, for example, whether they apply
to hooks in different genres of music. The game will be launched in early 2014
but in true citizen science style we want to get the public involved by
kickstarting a debate on what makes music catchy.
A previous experiment analysed what makes music catchy by observing 1100 people singing along to songs out
loud in pubs and clubs and concluded that the catchiest song of all time was 'we are the
champions' by Queen. The scientists, musicologist Dr. Alison Pawley and psychologist Dr. Daniel Mullensiefen concluded there
are four traits that make a song catchy: 1) Long and detailed musical phrases;
2) a number of pitches in the hook; 3) and male voices that are 4) high
pitched. Read more about their findings here.
Mullensiefen
said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and
technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine
pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers
that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a
special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can
produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that
our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for
the textbook tune.”
Mullensiefen
said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and
technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine
pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers
that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a
special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can
produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that
our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for
the textbook tune.”
Mullensiefen
said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and
technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine
pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers
that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a
special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can
produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that
our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for
the textbook tune.”
Mullensiefen
said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and
technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine
pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers
that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a
special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can
produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that
our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for
the textbook tune.”
A related phenomenon, earworms or involuntary musical imagery, where catchy tunes get stuck in the head and uncontrollably repeat over and over, have been studied in the earwormery project by the music, brain and mind group at Goldsmith's University. They have been researching what musical features earworms have in common and what people who experience earworms might have in common. Finally they've also been looking at what purpose earworms might serve and how earworms might be cured.
Dr Lauren Stewart, from the music, brain and mind group said:
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"What is
interesting to us is the fact that this musical imagery comes to the brain
without planned effort. It is as if comes from nowhere..."
The earwormery team discovered there are specific triggers for earworms - stress, sights, sounds or smells in the environment. And, just hearing a song can also trigger an earworm.
#Hooked
With #Hooked we aim
to look at hooks in hundreds of thousands of songs using a name-that-tune game
that asks players to recognise the song and then identify which bit in the song
is the most catchy. But, as i said before, we need your help!
Imagine
listening to a catchy tune, whats the part where you start singing out loud or
start humming along? That's the hook... we want you to share your catchiest
tunes and to tell us what you think makes it catchy.
Get involved
Taking
part is easy, just complete this simple surveyto crowdsource
the playlist for the game and kickstart a debate on what makes music catchy.
Join
us for the festival launch of #Hooked to debate what makes music catchy, from
hooks, to earworms and hit songs with Ashley Burgoyne, Lauren Stewart and Daniel Mullensiefen. Then dance to your catchiest tunes at
our silent disco.
MOSI's
presenters, James and Darren, will also feature in Captain #Hooked, a daily
festival show and featuring a
very special guest to get the kids dancing on the 30th of October.
Meantime,
tweet your catchiest tune (name & artist) to #hookedplaylist or upload a
short video showing us your catchiest bit in the tune you've picked - tag your videos with hookedplaylist so we can find and share them.
Hooked is a MOSI initiative in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, the University of Manchester and supported by the Wellcome Trust.
