Viewing entries tagged
Flow
When I'm using music as an accompaniment to something I'm doing - in this case writing an essay - I don't want it to get "too" interesting all of a sudden. The idea of taking a theme and slowly working it, gently twisting and developing it into new shapes and sounds makes a lot of sense to me. It's different enough to allow the brain to notice the change, but not too different that it has to devote extra resource to processing it.
Every week Charlotte and I curate information on how music affects human beings and we post them over on our Scoop.it page here. We look at hundreds of different articles spanning neuroscience to psychobabble and try to highlight the good stuff.
Going forward we're going to publish a weekly summary here on the music2work2 blog as an easy reference for those of you interested in this kind of thing.
The conversation on how music can help the elderly is picking up steam - the famous Henry Alzheimer's video which was published back in 2011 now has 1.5 million views. This is an interview with a filmmaker who's documentary "Alive inside" highlights how music can have a huge impact on the lives of those with dementia. It's insightful and touching - well worth a read.
Hysterically funny love letter to Hayley Williams of Paramore wrapped in a smattering of relevant research mixed with a healthy contempt for today's plastic pop stars - definitely worth a read!
Really interesting idea but with fairly anecdotal and small study evidence. But the promise of making a dish seem 10% more sweet or sour just by altering the audio environment does open a lot of doors. While there is definitely opportunity here - I'm a little suspicious of the wine pairings at the end of the article - a fun read!
Some nice data here backed with research - the big takeaways are the use of music to either psych the athlete up - or to calm them down - clear evidence that the right playlist can achieve both ends. interesting data on German soccer players improving their motor skills when listening to music of a set rhythm - hopefully they won't be wearing them when they face theUSAon Tuesday!
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The third stage in the writing process - Revision - this is where you take the idea that originated in the pre-writing phase, that was initially expressed in the drafting phase - and you work at it and make it better.
When I'm working on a theme I listen the hell out of it - it really does become my music to work to - or in this case, my music to write to. I'll probably listen to the same track 10 or 15 times over a couple of days just to get familiar with it and feel where it wants to develop.
The core theme is now pretty well established - the tempo at 83 beats per minute feels right and there's plenty of room to play with.
As for the addition of Ximena to the title - well - that's all about inspiration. You never know where it's going to come from or how it will be perceived, but suffice it to say - this piece wouldn't exist in this state if Ximena hadn't been in the ether. Thank you ;-)
Image Credit: Creative Flow by Ian Hayhurst on Flickr
