When I described my robotic glockenspiel project, a co-worker pointed me to the musical performances of Pat Metheny, which led me to LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Robots), which made his instruments.
Check out the videos on LEMUR’s site (which unfortunately may be gone). Some of them remind me of early 20th-century experimental music (especially the one with the siren). Love it!
I’ve sung most of my life, yet only recently have I started to ask the question “How do unaccompanied vocalists stay in tune?” The process sounds simple enough at first: vocalists stay in tune because they have good relative or absolute pitch memory — they remember what the 5th of the scale sounds like, and can sing it whenever they like. This explanation works at some level, but a few nagging questions remain.
Continue reading What Exactly is Singing “In Tune”?