World Science Festival 2009: Notes & Neurons, Part 10 of 10

"Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus"

Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? Join host John Schaefer, scientist Daniel Levitin and musical artist Bobby McFerrin for live performances and cross cultural demonstrations to illustrate musics note-worthy interaction with the brain and our emotions.

This segment features an impressive display of improvisational harmony from Bobby McFerrin.

This event took place on June 12, 2009 in the Gerald Lynch Theater at the City University of New York. This is the tenth of ten segments.

Please visit us at worldsciencefestival.com!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• world science festival
• bobby mcferrin
• john schaefer
• jamshed barucha
• daniel levitin
• lawrence parsons

[yobhsiFehT]

No kidding; you'd think the World's Science folks could get some mildly competent editing! :S

[MrJBoma]

Amazing performance, but I am wondering what happened to the rest of the panel discussion. The middle of Part 8 skips backwards, and then the rest of the discussion is lost.

[hinsecto]

que estupidez, la feria cientifica y no pueden editar un video bien

jajajajajaj

[mananacl]

@jazzpsalti yeah, it seems like half the time they were just staring at Bobby wondering where he was going with it. But it was a great performance.

[opiaz]

For those who missed the best part of this panel:

/watch?v=Hodp2esSV9E

Seriously, watch it.

[Felixinhk08]

@MrJBoma watch the full version in world science festival official website

[Shellewell]

@rasengan80 this is something i was thinking about when they were mentioning speech patterns. When you say something final like that people will almost always use a perfect cadence, i think because (like in a musical work) it is a good strong finish.

[wushish]

it shouldn't work... but it does

[jazzpsalti]

Would have liked to see more risks being taken by the other players, but that tabla player was engaging

[rasengan80]

Just want to point out that when the guy (don't know his name) says "thank you and goodnight", the tone of his voice goes down to match his starting tone. It almost sounds as if he is speaking to end his statement with a perfect authentic cadence, which would make sense since he's ending the show, a song would usually end with this cadence, and they did touch on the subject of melodic tones in speaking. Very interesting.

[Jazzxchange]

This performance is remarkable Bobby McFerrin's digestion of the nuances of the Indian music that he was exposed to in this panel is so so sensitive. His hearing process mechanisms are extraordinary. Quite a stunning performance from all of the artists. You can see, hear and feel their delight at his ability to wrap himself into their distinctive musical traditions. A genius at work. Would love to see an entire performance and have illustrated all their neural activity that is going on 4 all.

[Mattthewizard]

@toskoramone hahaha ya i noticed that too