6.2.14

Scriabin

Russian composer Scriabin in a jazzy(!?) mood  - the 2nd of his op. 57 pieces (composed in 1908).
The Preludes op. 74 are more typical of his style and sound world:

And a score + annotation (scroll down) of the harmony underlying these piece.

13.1.14

Noise in the workplace

It seems noisy environments have quite a few negative implications:
"But the most problematic aspect of the open office may be physical rather than psychological: simple noise. In laboratory settings, noise has been repeatedly tied to reduced cognitive performance. The psychologist Nick Perham, who studies the effect of sound on how we think, has found that office commotion impairs workers’ ability to recall information, and even to do basic arithmetic. Listening to music to block out the office intrusion doesn’t help: even that, Perham found, impairs our mental acuity. Exposure to noise in an office may also take a toll on the health of employees. In a study by the Cornell University psychologists Gary Evans and Dana Johnson, clerical workers who were exposed to open-office noise for three hours had increased levels of epinephrine—a hormone that we often call adrenaline, associated with the so-called fight-or-flight response. What’s more, Evans and Johnson discovered that people in noisy environments made fewer ergonomic adjustments than they would in private, causing increased physical strain. The subjects subsequently attempted to solve fewer puzzles than they had after working in a quiet environment; in other words, they became less motivated and less creative." (Maria Konnikova The New Yorker 2014)

24.11.13

Harmony

An approach to learning  harmony and developing harmonic language that extends beyond traditional tertiary-chords. 

10.11.13

Children's Songs

A set of short pieces from jazz pianist Chick Corea, here is #4:




19.10.13

Risset's Rhythm illusion

An analogy of the endless glissando is an ever increasing (or decreasing) tempo. The method is explained here. Dan Stowell  created a version with supercollider.