I miss!

I miss writing to no one. I think I'm going to do that for a while.

Blog Break!



...to be continued?

Singing

As someone who can't remember ever having a problem singing in tune, I've never quite understood why so many people with good musical appreciation and understanding tend to sing off key, even after singing part of a song correctly. I just came across an interesting explanation for why this may happen:

"One thing that I think contributes to people singing out of tune is the perpetrators are aware of the contour of the melody they are trying to sing -- where it goes up and where it goes down -- but when they reach the limits of their vocal range (or, often, just what they think or fear is the limits of their vocal range) they adjust all the notes accordingly so that they fit within what feels like a comfortable range. This results in fewer notes outside that comfort range -- which the singer fears would sound bad -- but a whole lot of notes that are in a different key from where the song
started.

This could make for pleasing -- or at least interesting -- harmony, but only if sung (you guessed it) with confidence and commitment. Sadly, what usually happens is the person who has departed from the traditional melody doesn't realize that is what he (oh, what the heck, let's call him "he") has done, but is vaguely aware that the new notes he is singing aren't the same as the ones everyone else is (or the notes aren't "going with" the accompaniment*) and loses confidence, and starts singing notes at random trying desperately to find one that doesn't "feel funny". It is that panic-stricken scramble to find a "good" note that the outside listener perceives as unpleasant, much more than any of the particular notes that are found." - Joshua Raoul Brody

I've never thought of things quite this way before and think it's a satisfying explanation. Thanks BATS Improv.

right side face bias

According to the pop science magazine, Psychology Today, people notice the right side of your face the most, so much so, that a picture of the right side of your face put together with its mirror image looks more like you than 2 left halves put together. This is because people/primates look first at the top left of their visual field.

However, when we see ourselves, it's almost always in a reflection. Do we check ourselves out mostly on the left side? If so, I would expect the reverse to be true when judging ourselves as opposed to others, and that 2 left halves put together would look the most like ourselves. Unless there's some sort of examination bias when we check our own faces out.

My face is my face. Those 2 right halves or 2 left halves of the face games always freak me out. It was part of my favorite exhibit at the science museum as a kid. There was another station that would age your face and that I found very compelling, although the results left much to be desired. I'm sure face aging technology has advanced since the early nineties though.

Hey, will there be a website that lets you turn your face into an Avatar alien? Spread the eyes apart, do a bunch of color correcting, sharpen the ears, give you a sensing braid/penis hairdo? That would be rad.