MetaFilter posts tagged with speech and music

What language is music?

univac — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:52:25 -0800

Western musical intervals are derived from speech tendencies, according to Duke scientists. Specifically, "most of the 12 chromatic scale intervals correspond to peaks of relative power in the normalized spectrum of human vocalizations." A somewhat more layperson-friendly summary of the study is here. Some think that language and musicality evolved in tandem (see the singing Neanderthals), and Mendelssohn thought that the communicative ability of music is even more precise than that of language (as related by Oliver Sacks, at 9:05 - .mp3 link).

You're just mad because I f***ed MetaFilter!

KevinSkomsvold — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:13:20 -0800

The on-stage rantings of various famous musicians.

munger — Mon, 28 Jan 2002 18:13:23 -0800

Rock band Creed is not fond of free speech. Creed was slammed on this site recently and their actions toward this music critic in Cleveland doesn't help their cause. In this case, Creed seems to be doing a lot of "Do as I say, not as a I do" speak. I was at the Cleveland show Sunday night and I enjoyed the concert, but this story is disappointing.

skallas — Sun, 22 Oct 2000 18:19:22 -0800

Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys fame and others take Nader speeches and turn them into music. I'm not kidding.