“Nicholas Edwards has provided acoustic design for some of the most loved music and theatrical venues in the world. In this video, Nick shares what makes concert hall acoustics vary widely – even when they are of similar shape – and the key to making a hall loved by audiences.” (video)
Tag: 06.02.16
Music Teacher: The Way We Teach Music In Schools Is Wrong. Here’s A Better Way
“I would like to suggest here that perhaps the perfect example of the skill set required of a reenvisioned music teacher can be seen in the life of a music producer. These professionals are part musician, part technician, part guidance counselor and part magician for the artists that they work with.”
James Conlon Diagnoses The Orchestra World
“We have a great paradox in America. I would say we have more great orchestras, certainly among the greatest opera companies and we have conservatories where we’re producing an extraordinary level of students. A far higher level than when I was in conservatory. We have an extraordinary supply. What has atrophied is the demand. I’m not talking about music education for professionals. I’m talking about music as a part of everybody’s education.”
A Comedian Faces Down Her Hardest Critics – Fellow Muslims
“Iranian American comic Negin Farsad doesn’t always feel the love when she’s doing her stand-up routine. And some of the toughest reactions to her comedy have come from fellow Muslims.”
All The Coins People Toss Into Fountains – Where Do They End Up?
Turns out the answer is different in different places – and, with one famous exception, less change gets collected than you might think.
Women Cinematographers Of The World, Unite!
“Cinematographers XX, whose website went up in February, is one of several new efforts among professionals in the industry to correct its gender inequity. The International Collective of Female Cinematographers, a networking and resource site that went live in April, is another. It was formed, a spokeswoman said, ‘out of the desire to get rid of the singular excuse we hear so often: ‘There just aren’t enough female D.P.s.””
Using Astronomy To Date A Sappho Poem
In one of her rare surviving works, “Sappho describes a night when the moon, and the star cluster Pleiades, set before midnight on the island of Lesbos. Now, in the tradition of trying to paint a biographical portrait of Sappho from her work, a group of astronomers and a physicist at the University of Texas, Arlington have attempted to seasonally date ‘Midnight Poem’ using these bits of data.”
Ten Of The World’s Absolutely Coolest Elevators
“Whether it’s the gothic ironwork of Brazil’s Santa Justa Lift or the futuristic pods of the Mercedes-Benz Museum or the Aquadom lift that carries riders straight through a massive aquarium, some elevators are so amazing, they become destinations in and of themselves.” (Not to mention the elevator that’s a moving cocktail bar.)
Art Is Doomed (Says The Guardian’s Art Critic)
“The selfie age is a tragedy for art. … We now want paintings to deliver the same cheap and instant illusion of connection selfies do. To fit into this age of rampant populism, all art has to do is descend into this vacuum of deluded sociability.”
Are Sung-Through Musicals (Yes, Like Hamilton) Just Concerts With Benefits?
“Maybe we’re supposed to understand it as a theatrical depiction of a concert, although it’s hard to figure out the difference.”