Music Archive

  • By Talia Beechick For years, doctors have been using music as a distraction for patients and as a tool for therapy pre- and post-surgery. They now, however, have the scientific evidence to back up their logic. Researchers at the University of Utah’s Pain Research Center have recently shown that music can, indeed, be used as a diversion to lessen the pain felt by patients. A study conducted in the spring of 2011 by researchers at the University of Utah was inspired by David H. Bradshaw, professor at the university and...

    Ouch! Turn that Music Up: New Study Shows Listening to Music can Relieve Pain

    Posted on August 24, 2012 | No Comments
    By Talia Beechick For years, doctors have been using music as a distraction for patients and as a tool for therapy pre- and post-surgery. They now, however, have the scientific evidence to back up their logic. Researchers at the University of Utah’s Pain Research Center have recently shown that music can, indeed, be used as a diversion to lessen the pain felt by patients. A study conducted in the spring of 2011 by researchers at the University of Utah was inspired by David H. Bradshaw, professor at the university and...

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  • By Vivian Cheng, Luke Quarto, Talia Beechick Project DIVA Professor Sidney Fels and a team of electrical and computer engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a pair of gloves that can read hand gestures and convert them into song and speech. The Digital Ventriloquized Actor (or DIVA) is designed to replicate human speech through hand gestures. The hope is the gloves will facilitate communication for those who cannot communicate verbally. Each hand gesture the user makes is read as a different sound. Each glove has different, discrete...

    Tech Briefing: Singing Gloves, Inhalable Caffeine, and Edible Bottles

    Posted on June 14, 2012 | No Comments
    By Vivian Cheng, Luke Quarto, Talia Beechick Project DIVA Professor Sidney Fels and a team of electrical and computer engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a pair of gloves that can read hand gestures and convert them into song and speech. The Digital Ventriloquized Actor (or DIVA) is designed to replicate human speech through hand gestures. The hope is the gloves will facilitate communication for those who cannot communicate verbally. Each hand gesture the user makes is read as a different sound. Each glove has different, discrete...

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  • By Mark Johnson What do you think of when you hear the word “curator”? A stuffy museum employee who ushers people behind the velvet rope of an exhibit – or perhaps a noble defender of ancient antiquities? The word “curator” can actually refer to any person who acts as a filter, usually of subjective and artistic content, in an effort to highlight and present what they deem “good” and noteworthy. The digital age has created an unprecedented need for “filters” – as anyone doing online research has probably realized. It’s...

    Clearing the Air: Great digital music is everywhere, we just need to find it.

    Posted on January 20, 2012 | No Comments
    By Mark Johnson What do you think of when you hear the word “curator”? A stuffy museum employee who ushers people behind the velvet rope of an exhibit – or perhaps a noble defender of ancient antiquities? The word “curator” can actually refer to any person who acts as a filter, usually of subjective and artistic content, in an effort to highlight and present what they deem “good” and noteworthy. The digital age has created an unprecedented need for “filters” – as anyone doing online research has probably realized. It’s...

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  • By Linzy Novotny Amidst all the chatter of the latest, most innovative gadgetry, it’s easy to forget true innovations can be simple, beautiful solutions to simple, irritating problems. Case in point: the Pick Punch. These simple plastic triangles are the bane of many guitarists. The pick punch solves the problem in a deliciously straightforward way: it lets the guitarist easily make his or her own replacement picks. It is as easy as taking a gift card, ID card, expired credit card or plastic lid; inserting it in the punch while...

    Make your Pick: The Pick Punch lets guitarists make custom picks

    Posted on January 10, 2012 | 1 Comment
    By Linzy Novotny Amidst all the chatter of the latest, most innovative gadgetry, it’s easy to forget true innovations can be simple, beautiful solutions to simple, irritating problems. Case in point: the Pick Punch. These simple plastic triangles are the bane of many guitarists. The pick punch solves the problem in a deliciously straightforward way: it lets the guitarist easily make his or her own replacement picks. It is as easy as taking a gift card, ID card, expired credit card or plastic lid; inserting it in the punch while...

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  • By Mark Johnson As a techwriter, I regularly look for connections between discoveries in one area to those in another. These connections often come suddenly from the most random combinations. My latest insight involved a video watched a year ago, a book I read two years ago, a book I’m reading now, two Nielsen media reports, and a YouTube video involving a “drumstick of destiny.” The result is glimpse in the future of marketing, music, and video. Video one was from the 2011 music and technology-focused MidemNet conference, where Berklee...

    Youtube, iTunes, and Magic Drumsticks

    Posted on November 10, 2011 | 1 Comment
    By Mark Johnson As a techwriter, I regularly look for connections between discoveries in one area to those in another. These connections often come suddenly from the most random combinations. My latest insight involved a video watched a year ago, a book I read two years ago, a book I’m reading now, two Nielsen media reports, and a YouTube video involving a “drumstick of destiny.” The result is glimpse in the future of marketing, music, and video. Video one was from the 2011 music and technology-focused MidemNet conference, where Berklee...

    Continue Reading...