Music in our genes?

© ILLC Blog, Illustration by Marianne de Heer Kloots

 

 

"In 1984, a curious study on musicality in animals was published. The researchers from Portland, Oregon trained pigeons to distinguish two pieces of music – one by Bach, the other by Stravinsky. If the birds got it right, they were rewarded with food. Afterwards, the same pigeons were exposed to new pieces of music from the same composers. Surprisingly, they were still able to determine which piece was composed by which composer.

This finding confronted researchers with a new set of questions. To what extent are animals musical? What does it even mean for an animal to be musical? And what can this teach us about musicality in humans?" 

(From Music in our genes, ILLC Blog).

The interview is based on an episode of the podcast “Talk that Science” – an initiative started by students from the University of Amsterdam.

• Listen to the episode here (in Dutch);

• Link to the English transcript can be found here.

A musical ape?

Music is universal in all human cultures, but why? What gives us the ability to hear sound as music? Are we the only musical species–or was Darwin right when he said every animal with a backbone should be able to perceive, if not enjoy music? 

This episode was written and produced by Ray Pang and Meredith Johnson. Sound design, mixing, and scoring by Ray Pang. The editor is Audrey Quinn. Theme music by Henry Nagle, additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere. 

Listen to the podcast here.

Hou je van podcasts? [Dutch]

Hou je van podcasts? Hier onder vier recentelijk verschenen afleveringen over het thema 'muzikale dieren'. 

Een headbangede zeeleeuw of een dansende kaketoe: er zijn genoeg voorbeelden van muzikale dieren te vinden op het internet. Maar zijn ze ook net zo muzikaal als mensen?  

 

• Universiteit van Nederland: https://www.universiteitvannederland.nl/podcast/zijn-dieren-net-zo-muzikaal-als-mensen
• Radio Swammerdam: https://soundcloud.com/swammerdam/muzikaliteit-bij-dieren
• BBC: https://play.acast.com/s/63fb67c5-f719-43f7-b264-390cd7edb120/414af9ec-0449-4a39-ade6-2d1f38f66c1b?seek=598
• NRC: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/11/07/onbehaarde-apen-zijn-wij-de-enige-muzikale-dieren-a2754249

Was Darwin wrong?

The artists of the animal kingdom –  A recent episode of the BBC Earth Podcast series is about exploring whether animals can dance to a beat and, if so, why? Presented by Emily Knight. 

The podcast can be found here.

New podcast series: Hello World! Are you listening?

STEIM –a ‘network laboratory’ for experiments in sound art and electronic live performance– started a new podcast series on how to become a better listener. See below the first episode, including an interview by Leon Lapa Pereira with Henkjan Honing:

Is our capacity for music special?

In this conversation, Christopher Sutton of Musical U talks about: The crucial research study with newborn infants that changed Henkjan Honing's thinking about musicality research; Two surprising facts about absolute pitch (or perfect pitch) that might completely change how you think about this seemingly-magical skill; And what the state-of-the-art scientific research tells us about how much musicality is an innate part of us versus a purely-learned skill.

More information at the website of Musical U. Check it out!

In search of the origins of musicality?

This week, George Miller in the Hedgehog and the Fox investigates the origins of human musicality by looking for musical ability and perception in other animals, including rhesus macaques, zebra finches, a cockatoo named Snowball, and Ronan, a headbanging California sea lion. Miller's guide to the Evolving Animal Orchestra, is Henkjan Honing, professor of music cognition at the University of Amsterdam.



Honing’s book is not about the origins of music, but the structure of musicality, that collection of attributes that enable us to make and appreciate music, such as perception of a regular beat or the ability to imitate a melody. If such traits are based on our cognitive abilities and biological predispositions, it makes sense to look for them in other animals. All sorts of fascinating hypotheses then open up: if musicality is a sensitivity that humans share with many non-human species, it may have preceded the development of music and of language, but enabled both.

Zijn wij de enige muzikale dieren? [Dutch]

Podcast NRC Handelsblad, 7 november 2018: 'Het oudst bekende lied staat op een 3200 jaar oud kleitablet, het oudste instrument is van 40.000 jaar geleden. Muziek is van alle tijden én culturen. Maar waarom en hoe maken we muziek? Zijn wij daarin uniek, of telt het geluid van bultruggen (die ooit de menselijke hitlijsten haalden), gibbons en zangvogels ook mee? Hendrik Spiering sprak met hoogleraar muziekcognitie Henkjan Honing over de menselijke muzikaliteit.'

Presentatie: Lucas Brouwers en Hendrik Spiering. Productie: Mirjam van Zuidam.

U kunt deze aflevering hieronder beluisteren en u abonneren op de podcast Onbehaarde Apen via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify of RSS.

• Nieuwsgierig naar de headbangende kaketoe Snowball? Check deze video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IZmRnAo6s
• Of juist naar de swingende zeeleeuw Ronan? Kijk dan dit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yS6qU_w3JQ
• Meer weten over Henkjan Honing? Lees dan dit grote interview met hem in NRC: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/08/23/muzikaliteit-is-net-als-eten-van-levensbelang-a1613992
• Benieuwd naar het boek The Origins of Musicality? Hier vind je meer informatie: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/origins-musicality
• Alles lezen over de muziekoverdracht tussen bultruggen? Hier vind je het onderzoek: http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7822.short
• Of over de muzikale voorkeur van primaten? Klik dan hier: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16935277/