Sound in Space - The B-Sides - Voyager 1, The Symphony
It’s time for another Episode Extra! (which is where you special blog readers get to check out really cool stuff to go along with my YouTube videos, like special features on a DVD, only way more special-er)
In this latest episode of It’s Okay To Be Smart, we got to explore some musical and sonic art projects that were not only inspired by space, but created from space.
Voyager 1, the most distant manmade object ever created, a day anda half of light travel away from our sun, is approaching 18.5 billion kilometers from Earth as it makes its way out of our solar system. That’s a heck of a road trip. Like everyone knows, a good road trip needs good tunes, right?
Well, Domenico Vicinanza has converted actual magnetic field sensor data from Voyager 1 into music! Like yesterday’s goosebump-worthy choral suite written to the words of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, this one is a more creative take on space sonification.
There’s real data beneath these sounds, with a particular level on the magnetic field sensor set to a particular note, but the instruments and rhythms are modified by human hands. It’s a never-before-heard blend of sound inspired by space, and made from space.
Read more about Vicinenza’s Voyager music at Discover.
Music credit: Sonification run on the GEANT network through EGI
Episode #25: The Packard Campus
Cold War tensions led to the creation of a Federal Reserve bunker inside of Mount Pony in Culpepper, VA in 1969. The bunker stored cash and currency that could help restart the United States economy in the event of a catastrophic incident. Such an incident never occurred and the location remained largely unused through the the 90’s. The location has since turned into the home of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation. Learn about lost films, the National Jukebox, IRENE, how big a petabyte is, and much more on a tour of the facility featuring Gene DeAnna and Matthew Barton.
Watch these 32 metronomes sync up, then let Robert Krulwich tell you all about it.
The evolution of pop music as heard through “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
Third Coast is featuring our 11th episode about Bob Paquette’s microphone museum with a bonus Q&A about the episode and our process!
A peek behind the scenes at Radiolab.
If you’ve been thinking about donating to the show, now is a great time to do it: we have a matching grant, which means, basically, your donation counts for twice as many bucks. Here’s where you can donate and make us very happy radio producers.
This is a list of some funny performances from bands that didn’t appreciate the fact theat they were asked not to play their instruments on television.
The Stranglers, seen above in one of our favorite examples, performed “No More Heroes” on Top of the Tops in 1978. The drummer is certainly a highlight around the 2 minute mark.
Then there was the time Muse swapped instruments on Italian TV and no one on the show even noticed. The singer was drumming, the drummer sang and played bass, and the bassist played guitar and keyboard.
Nirvana had a classic Top of the Pops performance where Krist Noveselic goes overboard and Kurt hardly touches his guitar. They probably wish that they’d used the vocals from the album version of the track as well.
This kind of thing happened back in the 1960’s too. The Box Tops decided to ham it up in their performance of “The Letter.” Someone needs to make a GIF of the keyboardist at :49. Priceless.
Iron Maiden had a good time while filming a Germany TV show.
Did anyone really expect John Lydon and PIL to behave on American Bandstand in 1980?
Only the Smiths could make waving a plant around in brightly colored room melodramatic. Wait, wait?
About four minutes into the clip, Rod Stewart starts playing soccer. Makes sense, right?
If you have any others, feel free to share them!
Making dubstep with chemistry
Communication is the backbone of a good relationship, and one of the main qualities of a good communicator is being a good listener. Follow these tips to ensure that you become a great listener in all…Communication is the backbone of a good relationship, and one of the main qualities of a good communicator is being a good listener. Follow these tips to ensure that you become a great listener in all of your relationships:
· Take yourself out of the equation. This is not the time to talk, especially about yourself. You’re there to listen to what they have to say and hear them talk about themselves. So resist the temptation to relate everything back to yourself or talk about how you went through the exact same thing. It’s not about you.
· Put away distraction. Listen with your whole body. This means paying attention to your body language. Turn and face them, turn off your phone, stop looking at the TV, etc. These things all add up to show that you’re really listening.
· Eye contact. Making good eye contact when you’re in a conversation with someone shows that you’re really listening to them. When you look into their eyes it shows that you’re paying attention and taking their feelings seriously.
· Let them know that you’re listening. Set the tone for the conversation by saying something like, “I’m all ears”, or, “I’m listening, you can talk to me about anything”.
· Stop thinking about solutions. Sometimes people just want to talk and have someone listen. They don’t want you to give them a list of solutions or action items when they’re done. And if you’re busy focusing on what advice to give them, you’re not really listening. Just let them talk without worrying about solving the problem or having to give them any advice.
· Ask questions. This shows that you’re not simply listening but that you’re involved in what they’re saying. Asking questions shows that you’re interested and curious and want to really understand what they’re talking about.
· Respect their feelings even if you disagree. If they’re saying something that you have a different opinion on, save arguing your point for another time, or at least until they’re finished. Being a good listener means that you don’t interrupt to argue your side of things. Listen to what they’re saying and respect the fact that they’re entitled to their feelings.
· Ask them how they feel. Take your listening skills to the next level by asking them how a certain situation makes them feel. Instead of just hearing the facts, you’ll open up a more intimate conversation when you ask how something made them feel.
