What Is Experimental Music? With 7 Top Examples & History
If you've been thinking of expanding your musical horizons, you might want to try listening to experimental music.
This genre has elements of almost every other genre, making it one of the most diverse genres. As such, no matter what kind of music you gravitate toward, you can find experimental tracks that suit your tastes!
But what is experimental music, and what makes it unique?
Definition: What Is Experimental Music?
So, what is experimental music? Experimental music defies most traditional genre classifications.
This break from genre norms makes it challenging to create a precise definition of experimental music, as it can embody several characteristics of other genres without necessarily being part of them.
Because experimental music can exhibit traits of any music genre, identifying it can be challenging. Fortunately, you can use a handful of characteristics to determine whether a song is experimental.
Experimental Music Characteristics
Much like lo-fi music , experimental music spans nearly every genre, making it tricky to define and classify.
But three primary characteristics link experimental music, including:
- Unpredictability
- Use of multiple genres
- Unconventional instrumentation
Any song with one or more of these characteristics can fall into the “experimental” genre. Let's explore a few helpful examples that illustrate this.
7 Examples of Experimental Music
Because experimental music incorporates characteristics of all other genres, you can find experimental electronica, pop, and bluegrass music!
So long as a song is unpredictable and unconventional, it can be experimental. The following examples illustrate these characteristics beautifully.
Sun in My Mouth
This Björk track is from her 2001 album “Vespertine.” It features hints of classical and ambient music, but the heady lyrics and vocalization set it apart from more traditional examples of these genres.
The lyrics are poetic and abstract, though many have guessed they speak to sexual exploration or feminine desires that are often seen as taboo.
It's crucial to note that many experimental songs, in addition to utilizing unconventional timing and instrumentation, also present uncommon ideas and topics that are otherwise absent from traditional genres.
Who Could Win A Rabbit
With a cacophony of distorted guitar and vocalization, “Who Could Win A Rabbit” has an upbeat sound that hides a darker subtext.
These darker qualities become more noticeable as the song progresses, hinted at with beat-breaking breathing samples that eventually dissolve into broken dissonance and eerie sounds.
Barely two minutes long, this song is a quick snapshot of modern, pop-infused experimental music. It lacks a chorus, and its lyrics are abstract, with influences that seem to combine the experimental poetry written by E.E. Cummings and traditional nursery rhymes.
Thom Yorke, the lead vocalist of Radiohead, has created some of the most popular experimental songs of the last few decades. Some have even argued that many of Radiohead's albums fall within the genre.
However, his solo releases, including the 2006 album “The Eraser,” might be a better example of experimental music. Tracks like “Black Swan” show off his unique musical style and preferences, but they're not entirely divorced from his previous work, making them excellent footholds for fans of albums like “OK Computer.”
But be warned—this song does contain expletives, so it might not be the best track to play during a family car trip!
The Highest Flood
Matthew Barnes, better known as Forest Swords, has produced a list of groundbreaking tracks that feature unconventional instrumentation and pacing.
Though this artist's roots lie within the DJ community and genre, his modern experimental music contends with that of other well-known artists like Björk and Aphex Twin.
The 2017 track “The Highest Flood” exemplifies these qualities, utilizing repetitive samples, dissonant sounds, and spliced vocalizations to produce a distinct sound supported by consistent, soft orchestration. At just over five minutes long, it's lengthier than the average song.
“Branches” is one of the most oft-repeated John Cage creations, and it might be one of the most experimental songs ever created.
Not only does it come from the modern “father” of experimental music, John Cage, but its precise sound, tempo, and duration vary significantly from performance to performance. And in many ways, this is a track designed for live performance.
It consists of diegetic sounds produced by multiple performers tending to cacti. The pace of these sounds creates a rhythm that morphs, pauses, and quickens depending on the performer's actions.
While some might not consider “Branches” to be music, this John Cage track's controversial and experimental nature has helped it become an iconic part of the genre.
Canyons of Your Mind
Often likened to Frank Zappa and Warren Zevon, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (later shortened to Bonzo Dog Band) was a psychedelic, experimental phenomenon during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Perhaps best-known for the associations with Neil Innes and the British comedy troupe Monty Python, this band released several strange-yet-delightful tunes during their initial run, including “Canyons of Your Mind.”
Lead vocalist Vivian Stanshall begins the tune with a buttery-smooth, Elvis-esque croon, but things soon devolve into spasm-like screams and a single, unapologetic belch. Without a doubt, this song oozes unpredictability, one of the hallmarks of the experimental music genre.
The music released by Punch Brothers generally falls within the bluegrass genre. But there's a good chance you've never heard bluegrass music quite like theirs!
Their fourth studio album, “Phosphorescent Blues,” contains several tracks showing lead vocalist Chris Thile's passion for experimental music, but “My Oh My” has the most heavy-handed experimental influences.
This song's meaning is straightforward enough, discussing the need to appreciate and feel grateful for the small gifts and treasures found in one's life. But the musical composition is varied, jumping from rock-like, aggressive strumming to gentle, slower-paced instrumentation.
Both fast-paced and sentimental, the only checkbox this song doesn't fill is unconventional instrument use.
5 Top Experimental Musicians
Many notable bands and musicians have dabbled (and continue to dabble) in the experimental genre. Though the work of these artists can also fall into more traditional categories like rock, R&B, or indie, their songs tend to be anything but traditional.
Let's briefly discuss a handful of the most popular and well-known bands and musicians that have helped expand and develop the experimental music genre.
Aphex Twin is considered one of the first forms of electronic experimental music.
Though Aphex Twin's first album (“Selected Ambient Works 85–92”) was released in 1992, many of the songs created by this artist (full name Richard David James) are still celebrated today for their creative and unusual lyrics, structure, and use of electronic sound.
Some of the most popular Aphex Twin tracks include “Windowlicker” and “Come to Daddy,” both of which have controversial and experimental corresponding music videos. If you enjoy ambient and electronica genres, you may enjoy listening to this experimental artist's music.
Animal Collective
Animal Collective takes the traditional form and sound of pop music and turns it on its head, resulting in a new take on the experimental genre that may appeal to listeners who tend to avoid unconventional music.
Their 2009 album “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is a fantastic example of this distinct style. Named after a music venue in Maryland, this album has several features that make it a notable example of the experimental genre.
Its length is a palindrome (54 minutes and 45 seconds), and tracks vary from a more traditional 3 minutes and 52 seconds to a far lengthier 6 minutes.
Instead of relying on traditional instrumentation, the band utilized samplers to produce this album, giving it a mixed-media feel that other pop songs of the time lacked.
Still, Animal Collective has continued to push boundaries throughout later albums, and much of their work has inspired changes within the primary pop genre.
Even if you've never listened to experimental music, there's an excellent chance you've heard of Icelandic artist Björk.
Björk has developed herself as one of the most genre-expanding artists of the 21st century. Her eclectic and eccentric style has helped her become an icon of post-modern experimental music.
Many Björk songs feature ambient, pop, and avant-garde elements, but they twist these elements into new forms that are distinctly different from more traditional examples.
Like Aphex Twin and Animal Collective, these tracks also correspond to equally experimental music videos, offering a visual representation of the unusual nature of the songs themselves.
If you're interested in exploring Björk's experimental side, you'll likely want to listen to her 2004 album “Medúlla.” The unpredictability of each track's length and composition ensures that this album adheres to nearly all the hallmarks of the experimental music genre.
Frank Zappa
Those who enjoy classic rock music may want to explore the many diverse and experimental albums of Frank Zappa.
Zappa , often compared to Captain Beefheart and the Bonzo Dog Band, created over 100 studio albums during his career. Though each of these albums is unique, they all feature early elements of experimental music, including unconventional song lengths and the combination of unharmonious pre-recorded sounds.
However, unlike much of the modern experimental music developed today, these tracks also had a traditional rock n' roll spine that added just enough structural familiarity to make them attractive to the average listener.
Portishead's music has been described as trip-hop, indie, and alternative. But the band doesn't seem to ascribe to these genre classifications, often preferring to be known for their innovative sound and creative style.
For this reason, Portishead falls within the experimental music genre, which becomes more noticeable when listening to tracks like “Roads” or “Numb.” These tracks have ambient, jazz, and alternative elements, but they combine them uniquely.
The band's 1994 album “Dummy” is often heralded as the most experimental, making it a fantastic starting place for those hoping to introduce themselves to the experimental music genre.
The History of Experimental Music
Despite experimental music's reputation for cutting-edge composition, it's older than other genres like new age or indie. After all, all new genres technically fall under the blanket term “experimental music” before earning a unique classification.
But you can trace the experimental music genre as we understand it today to a single person: John Cage.
John Cage was an American composer who began to develop the genre in the early 1950s. His fascination with music as a spontaneous activity inspired him to develop unpredictable tracks using unconventional instruments.
Much of Cage's work had a performance aspect that differentiated it from studio-recorded rock and pop music that was commonplace at the time. However, emerging genres and artists would soon take the reigns of the experimental genre, developing it even further.
The development of electronic instruments, electronica, and EDM helped expand the experimental genre's borders.
After all, experimenting with electronic sound can result in unusual beats and sounds. When these unconventional aspects are combined, they result in electronic experimental music. But instrumental innovation isn't the only aspect that influenced the burgeoning experimental genre.
A need for less-formulaic music also helped the genre develop and expand. Though standard pop and rock songs remain popular, their rigid structures can become a boring inevitability.
For example, almost all popular songs feature two to three stanzas and a chorus that falls between each stanza. Additionally, these songs adhere to a song time limit of about three minutes or less.
Modern experimental music doesn't adhere to these structural or time restrictions. Instead, it seeks to break these rules while remaining engaging and unfamiliar.
These qualities make experimental tracks easily identifiable, as they often sound completely different from songs belonging to other genres.
What Is Experimental Music? Final Thoughts
Experimental music is any type of audio track or song that doesn't fully belong to any other genre. This type of music might not be particularly melodic, it might not feature lyrics, and it might not feature traditional instrumentation.
Though challenging to define, you'll likely recognize experimental music as soon as you hear it. You can use the tracks listed throughout this article as an excellent starting point to explore the experimental music genre.
P.S. Remember though, none of what you've learned will matter if you don't know how to get your music out there and earn from it. Want to learn how to do that? Then get our free ‘5 Steps To Profitable Youtube Music Career' ebook emailed directly to you!
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1613 experimentsExperiments are projects that push the boundaries of art, technology, design and culture. Experiments inspire, teach, and delight. Filter By: Technologies ▾Sort by: newest ▾, passage of water, instrument playground, cultural icons, say what you see, don’t touch the art, seeing the invisible, viola the bird, da vinci stickies, inside a genius mind, luma arles & google research initiative, return of the cat mummy. Cool Science Experiments Headquarters Making Science Fun, Easy to Teach and Exciting to Learn! Science Experiments Musical Jars Science ExperimentA fun science experiment and music lesson all in one! This easy experiment allows kids to learn and make noise (music) in the process. Kids can explore and investigate sound waves, pitch, and more as they create their own simple musical instrument. Watch our demonstration video below then print out our materials list and instruction sheet to get started. An easy to understand explanation of how the experiment works is included.  JUMP TO SECTION: Instructions | Video Tutorial | How it Works Supplies Needed
Musical Jars Science Lab Kit – Only $5 Use our easy Musical Jars Science Lab Kit to grab your students’ attention without the stress of planning! It’s everything you need to make science easy for teachers and fun for students — using inexpensive materials you probably already have in your storage closet! Musical Jar Science Experiment Instructions Step 1 – Begin with empty glass jars of the same shape and size. Use the metal spoon to tap on each one. What do you observe? Do they sound the same? Yes! At this point you’ll notice that each sound is the same. Now let’s find out if we can make the sounds different.  Step 2 – Pour water into each jar. Make sure that the water level is different in each jar.  Step 3 – Add food coloring to each jar to make it easier to see the different water levels. You can use the same color in each jar or use a rainbow of colors as we did. This is an optional step, but it adds to the fun! Step 4 – Use the same metal spoon to tap on the jars again. Listen carefully so you can hear how the sounds have changed. Do you know the reason why the jars make different sounds? Find out the answer in the how does this experiment work section below. Video TutorialHow Does the Science Experiment WorkSound is a disturbance that travels through a medium as a wave. In this experiment, tapping on the jars with the spoon disturbs the particles of the jar causing them to vibrate. The vibrations in the jar are transferred to the air surrounding the jar, creating a sound wave. When the jars are all empty, the vibrations and the sounds are all the same. Adding different amounts of water to the jars causes the vibrations (and sound) to change. You can change the pitch of the sound produced by the amount of water you put in the glass. Pitch is how high or low sound seems to a person and it depends on the frequency of the sound wave. When you add more water to the glass, the pitch is low. This is because the high volume of water in the glass makes it more difficult for the glass particles to vibrate, so the vibrations of the glass are slower and they have a lower frequency. When you add less water to the glass, the pitch is high. This is because the low volume of water in the glass allows the glass particle to vibrate more easily, so the vibrations of the glass are faster and have a higher frequency. More Science FunAfter your kids understand the concepts of the experiment, turn it into a music lesson. Take turns playing songs and guessing the melody. For another fun sound experiment, enjoy banging on a pan with this How to See Sound Experiment ! I hope you enjoyed the experiment. Here are some printable instructions:  Instructions
Reader Interactions November 15, 2021 at 1:48 pm I think because different levels of water makes different sounds because I think the more water makes it lower. Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 
Copyright © 2024 · Cool Science Experiments HQ « View All Posts 3 Cool Musical Science Experiments for KidsOctober 5th, 2017 | 6 min. read By Gryphon House  Music is a part of everyday life, but it’s also science! Music activities naturally bring out children’s scientific curiosity and helps develop scientific thinking as they ask questions like: “why do certain instruments make certain noises?” or “what does my heart sound like?” Science activities for kids are a fun way for children to engage in unfamiliar science concepts and build skills like observation and problem-solving. Brand new and packed with sound science projects, Exploring the Science of Sounds, gives parents and teachers easy science experiment ideas they can try at home or in the classroom. Music is a part of everyday life, but it’s also science! Music activities naturally bring out children’s scientific curiosity and helps develop scientific thinking as they ask questions like: “why do certain instruments make certain noises?” or “what does my heart sound like?” Science activities for kids are a fun way for children to engage in unfamiliar science concepts and build skills like observation and problem-solving. Science activities for preschoolers also encourage children to take a closer look at the world around them and answer help them answer questions. Brand new and packed with sound science projects, Exploring the Science of Sounds , gives parents and teachers easy science experiment ideas they can try at home or in the classroom. Try out these three cool musical science experiments for kids today! The Speed and Tempo of a Beach Ball Tempo is special kind of speed. Every movement has speed, but only movement with a steady beat, or pulse, has tempo. Tempo is all about the beat. Like the heartbeat, temp is measured in beats per minute. So once again, understanding a musical concept starts with our first musical experience—the heartbeat. Then you’ll move on to an object that can demonstrate two kinds of speed, both with and without a tempo: a beach ball. Leading this activity is exciting, because you can really see the wheels turning in the children’s minds as they grapple with the problem of how to create a tempo with the beach ball. What You’ll Need • Sturdy beach ball , not too big • Stethoscope (optional) • Large bag Activity to Try 1. Have the beach ball in a closed bag next to you. Ask the children to feel their heartbeats. Lay your right palm flat on your chest, a little left of center. Then, lay your left palm on top to remind them how to feel their heartbeats. If they’re having trouble, you can bring out the stethoscope again—children always love it. After they can fill their heartbeats, they can rest their hands in their laps again. 2. Tell the children that the heartbeat is like the tempo of their body. Tempo is a special kind of speed—it’s the speed of beats. Hearts have a beat and so does the music. But if a movement doesn’t have a beat, it doesn’t have a tempo. 3. Bring out the beach ball. Choose two children sitting across the circle from each other, and have them roll the ball back and forth. 4. Choose two other children and ask them to roll the ball a little faster. 5. Finally, have two children roll the ball to each other very slowly. 6. Tell the children that they rolled the ball at a medium speed, a fast speed, and a slow speed. Every time the ball rolled, it had a certain speed. Ask the children if it had a tempo. Students should be able to tell you that the rolling ball did not have a tempo because it did not have a beat. 7. Ask the class if they can think of any way to make the ball have a tempo. If they’re really stuck, you can lead them by asking, “What can we do with a ball that has a beat?” But give them time to think—sometimes it takes a while for children to realize that bouncing a ball has a beat, which will make it have tempo. 8. When someone suggests bouncing, have them demonstrate bouncing the ball. They may need to move to an uncarpeted area. Then, ask the children if they could hear the beat of the bouncing ball. The Pitchmobile Hiding in plain sight (well, inside your kitchen cabinet) is an amazing musical instrument, just sitting there waiting for the concert to begin. Its sounds can be subtle or festively earsplitting, and young children love it. Yes, I’m talking about the aluminum can, the instrument that comes free with every purchase of soup. What You’ll Need • Long cardboard tube • Aluminum foil or construction paper (optional) • String • At least four cans of different sizes, empty, with no lids • Hammer and nail • Duct tape • Masking tape • Mallet Activity to Try Ahead of Time: 1. Thoroughly wash and dry the cans. The labels usually come off during the washing process, with a little extra scrubbing. When cans are dry, cover the open edge with masking tape. Then use the nail to hammer a hole in the bottom of each can. 2. If the tube has writing on it, you might want to cover it with foil or colored paper. 3. Cut the same number of piece of string, about 18 inches long, as the number of cans. Make a large knot in the end of each piece of string. Then thread the string through the hole in each can until the can is dangling at the end. 4. Wrap the other ends of each string around the rube at regular intervals and tie knots to secure them. You may want to cover these with duct tape for more strength—young children can be pretty tough on instruments! You’ll want the cans far enough apart so you can hear the pitch of each can distinctly as it’s hit. With the Children: 1. While standing, hold the pitchmobile with one hand at each end and say something like, “This is my pitchmobile. Can you guess why I call it that?” Listen to responses and explain that it has different parts, like a glockenspiel, but it hangs in the air like a mobile. 2. Ask the children if they notice anything about the size of the cans. Children will observe that they’re different sizes. Wonder aloud if the different sizes will make each sound different when it’s played. Listen to the children’s ideas about this. 3. Ask the group how they think we could play it. They may say we could tap on the cans with our hands, or hit the cans with a mallet, or something else entirely. If an idea is possible, let them try it. 4. While one child is playing the pitchmobile, there should be two children, one on each end, facing inward, to hold it up. You can ask the children why it wouldn’t be a good idea for one person to hold it while another person plays. They’ll know it’s because we don’t want anyone to get hit with the cans, or accidentally hit with a mallet. When they’ve heard various ways to play the pitchmobile, let each child have a turn to play it. 5. Then ask the children if they think the cans would sound the same on the floor. Have a child try hitting the cans (carefully) while you hold each can on the floor. The sound won’t be as loud, because your hands are stopping the vibration. Buzzing Bees For many children, the sound of a buzzing bee means only one thing—a sting might be coming! It’s good to be careful, but buzzing is also a sign that an interesting and important insect is hard at work. In this activity, children listen to bees, learn about what bees are doing, and enjoy some buzzing and flying of their own. What You’ll Need • A bee, if you happen to hear one outside • Masking tape • A recording of “bee” music—I suggest “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov. This old standby really does sound like a buzzing bee, in its sound and in its urgent, racing tempo. There are many versions available, but I like the solo violin version—it’s by far the buzziest. Activity to Try This activity will be most effective if you wait until the first time in spring when children hear a bee. That first buzz is exciting and sparks some fears, but curiosity, too. I’ve heard questions like, “Why don’t they just fly away and leave us alone?” and “How do they buzz like that?” What a great opportunity to learn about bees! 1. Begin by asking if anyone knows what bees eat. Some children will say “honey,” because they associate honey with bees. Some will know that bees eat nectar from flowers. Some will know that they also eat pollen. If the children don’t know what these substances are, explain that pollen is that yellow, powdery stuff you see on flowers sometimes, and nectar is a liquid, like juice. Both are actually made by the flowers. 2. Ask the children how they think that baby bees, who can’t fly yet, get their food. Children will realize that the grown-up bees have to bring food to the baby bees. The grown-up bees, called worker bees, have to keep going out of the hive to get pollen and nectar for the babies, who are called larvae. It’s a lot of work because larvae eat more than a thousand meals a day! 3. Ask the children if they can buzz like bees, and listen to the room fill with their energetic buzzing! 4. Point out that we buzzed with our mouths. Ask the children how they think that bees buzz. Some may guess that their wings, moving very fast, create the buzzing sound. Tell them that’s true—bees have to move their wings very fast to fly. That’s the vibration that creates the buzzing sound. Tell the class that they’re going to play a game where they pretend to be worker bees getting pollen and nectar to feed the larvae. 5. Get out the masking tape and make a line down the middle of the circle. Explain that one side of the room will be the hive, and the other side will be the outside, where the flowers are. 6. Ask if anyone would like to pretend to be the larvae—the baby bees. Sometimes there will be eager volunteers for this role, but if not, you can use stuffed animals to be the larvae. All the larvae and worker bees should come over to the hive. The worker bees should be standing. Explain that when you start the music, worker bees should fly out of the hive, moving their “wings” (arms with bent elbows) quickly, and buzzing, to get pollen and nectar for the larvae. Remind them to be careful not to bump into any of the other bees. They should gather a lot of food, because those larvae are always hungry! When the music stops, that’s their signal to come back to the hive and feed the larvae. When the music starts again, it’s time to fly out for more food! 7. Start playing “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Worker bees should fly out, buzzing, and pretend to get food. After a while, pause the music. Worker bees should return to the hive and feed the larvae. Go through this cycle three or four times. 8. After the game, have the children return to their seats. Don't forget to share this post: Related Articles3 activities to bring in may. 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How can you see sound? Music science for kidsMarch 9, 2017 By Emma Vanstone 2 Comments These fun music science experiments for kids are all about making sounds, how we hear sounds, pitch and music! Set up a speaker, a drum, and rice first to see sound in action, then make a drum, rainstick, guitar and lots more easy music science activities . How are sounds made?Did you know sounds are made when an object vibrates ? These vibrations make the air around an object vibrate. When the air vibrations reach the ear, they shake tiny hairs connected to nerves. These nerves send a message to the brain, telling it that a noise has been heard. Music Science Experiments for KidsThis activity lets children see the effect of sound vibrations. How to see sound vibrationsWhat you need to see sound
 InstructionsStretch the cling film over the top of your bowl and secure it with tape or an elastic band. Sprinkle a handful of rice over the cling film. Hold the drum close to the bowl and beat it hard; the rice should jump. Investigate how the jumping of the rice changes depending on how hard you hit the drum. Repeat the investigation using a speaker instead of the drum. Is it different? Things to think aboutWhat would happen if you moved the drum further away from the rice bowl? What do you think would happen if you made a very quiet noise with the drum? Does changing the pitch of the music affect how the rice jumps? Why does this happen?The clingfilm stretched over the bowl is similar to your ear drum. Sound vibrations from the drum travel through the air to the cling film, making it vibrate, which makes the rice jump! What is the pitch of a sound?The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is. What is the volume of a sound?The volume of a sound is how loud it is. Strong vibrations produce loud sounds, and weak vibrations produce quiet sounds. More Music Science for KidsTin can drum. Try making tin can drums . These are just a tin can with a balloon stretched tightly over the top and wrapped in gaffer tape. Try putting different things inside to see how that changes the sound, or try beaters made from different materials. The tighter the balloon on the drum is stretched, the higher the pitch of the sound .  Straw fluteSimply cut different sized straws and sellotape them together. Gently blow over the top of each to make a sound. Investigate how the length of the straw changes the sound. Full straw flute instructions .  Music Crafts and Activities for KidsFrugal Fun for Boys puts a small speaker inside the bowl, stretches a balloon over the top and adds salt so children can see the sound. We love this homemade rainstick from The Imagination Tree too. Try our sound absorption and reflection activities . The Educators Spin on It has some great music ideas for summer . We love these paper plate tambourines from Creative Family Fun. Do you think a plastic plate would make a different noise? For musical ideas for younger children, try these musical activities for tots over on Rainy Day Mum. Red Ted Art has some beautiful musical crafts to make too!  Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Emma Vanstone Safety NoticeScience Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely. Reader Interactions March 22, 2017 at 3:41 am Thanks, great post. http://techhubcorp.com/solaro/ Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Introducing Chrome Music LabMar 09, 2016 [[read-time]] min read  So crank up the volume and start playing at g.co/musiclab . Related stories Sync passkeys securely across your devices Google.org announces new AI funding for students and educators How teachers and students helped bring Google Classroom to life 24 new Chrome themes from our Rising Artists Series New safety features in Chrome for more protection 3 Chrome updates to help you stay on top of your tabsLet’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox. Instruments from the Lab to the Concert Hall in Lei Liang’s ‘Six Seasons’ (with video) Composer Lei Liang and oceanographer Joshua Jones discuss the innovative use of instruments — both scientific and musical — in Lei’s piece “Six Seasons.” Liang, UC San Diego Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Music (Department of Music) and Qualcomm Institute Research Artist-in-Residence, and Jones, a project scientist with the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, have been working together on sonic exploration of the Arctic since 2018. The transcript below has been edited for clarity and flow. Lei Liang : When musicians talk about instruments, we think of the pianos, violins, trumpets and voices that we use to make music. But scientists use instruments as well. Let’s visit the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to find out what their instruments are and what they’re being used for. Joshua Jones : So this is the data logger, and its job is to take the signal from the hydrophone and to digitize it and then to ultimately record it onto hard drives, very small SD cards with very precise timing. So this data logger consists of an analog-to-digital converter. So the signal comes in, and it becomes digitized. There’s a CPU, and a computer, and then a very precise clock to give us one timestamp every 200,000th of a second. Then there’s an array of hard drives, little SD cards that record up to eight terabytes of data throughout the year. This is Lei’s favorite card: the buffer. Every 75 seconds, this fills up with sound data, and we have to record another sound file onto the hard drives. The sound of this switching and recording gives us a distinctive noise signature once every 75 seconds. On the two ends of this process — that is, the observation of the ocean through sound and then the expression of what we learn through a musical practice — there’s instrumentation that’s absolutely vital. On the science end of it, the instrument is the only way that we can actually capture and observe the environment. It translates what was sound in a place that’s totally inaccessible to people into what we call “data” that we can analyze, listen to and experience. What’s been really amazing working with you is to realize, similarly, instrumentation is the way that you take your understanding and you express it back into a world where we can hear it again, where it becomes real. I have long thought that having an instrument in the ocean and an instrument to help to bring it to us through artistic expression is one of the most fascinating parts of the project. In the science, one of the things we’re trying to do is to extract the signal so we can learn about an individual character in the soundscape. If we want to learn about bowhead whales, we have to be able to identify the sounds they make and then be able to extract those from all of the other sounds in the environment so we can listen just to that animal. One of the things that happens over and over again with you, the performers and the different instruments is a similar process. The performers are listening to the sound and then actually isolating that signal and recreating it through their artistic expression in a way that I don’t think we can do through signal processing. Those have been some very moving moments. What we wouldn’t give to be able to extract a signal and process it so perfectly, really, as what’s coming out of the instruments. Liang : Instruments are things that we built. They’re evolving, and they can be part of this adventure when we are approaching sound. A lot of my favorite moments of our working together [are] happening in recording studios, and I think it was really interesting to have you, an oceanographer, be part of a musical recording process or a rehearsal for performance, because when you share your ideas about what we’re hearing, that really inspires all of us. Jones : That transition from that season when you have the sun up 24 hours a day to the sun down 24 hours a day… those are the two big seasons in the Arctic. That is, there’s light and there’s dark. So while you have a daily sunrise and sunset, there’s an annual sunrise, and then there’s an annual sunset. When we’re listening to the sounds together with you and with musicians with various instruments, and the performers are expressing those sounds back through their instruments, those are some of the first times where I had the experience of almost standing on the sea floor, almost being present in that place and at that time in history, in a way that I hadn’t experienced before through analysis of the data. But it brought those sounds back to life in a way that was really emotionally impactful. It felt important. Trombonist William Lang : These instruments are more naturally built to be resonators and amplifiers, in a way. Like it’s a bell; it amplifies sound. Whatever you put in, it amplifies it in a certain way. So if we get rid of the idea of trying to match notes on a piano, and we just think about amplifying the source of what we can do biologically, you can uncover a lot of kinds of sounds that have been traditionally shied away from or hidden. You can mimic a lot more of the natural kingdom and sounds here in nature. Liang : It’s a lot more natural to play beluga than bolero on this instrument. Lang : Yes. Jones : Stephen Drury was playing the piano and, watching the way that he was responding to the sound, you could see, oh, the piano lid was very much like a sea ice layer, and the depth of the piano itself was relatively similar to the depth [of water] between the ice and the ocean floor in the place where we’re listening in. Liang : For decades or maybe hundreds of years, we have been experimenting with new playing techniques and recreating new parameters in music—for example, 10 timescale. We can experiment [with] how long a musical composition can be or phrase can be, or how to play an instrument that makes a very unusual sound. A lot of this happens in a musical laboratory. We make it happen, for the pure, sheer fun of reinvention. But it’s in this larger context when we’re working with you [that] we realize all of these experiments belong to a much larger picture. When we actually make these sounds—for example, you can drag a Superball on the back of a cello and make that sound—and you realize that’s not just an experiment; it is actually a musical expression when you are in dialogue with a bowhead whale or with a beluga. This gave us new meaning. This gives a much larger context that seems to give us a sense of relevance to the much larger discussions we’re having. So this kind of work made me feel like, yes, we’re helping all of the artists to find their place again. Jones : We end up paying very careful attention to all these subtle nuances in the sound, and they have context that allows us to then observe the ocean, like the pressure in the sounds from sea ice or the processes that might go on inside an animal to make it possible to make a sound. The more we understand those little details, the more we can actually observe in the ocean. And this is one of the places where it’s been really exciting to explore with you and with other musicians because it’s the minute details that matter. In a way, it’s like looking at the night sky, where we can see things that are nearby that are very recent, but we can also see all of the things in the universe that are very far and happened some time ago. Liang : That’s right. Jones : It’s been really interesting and neat to explore those concepts of space and time acoustically in the ocean together. Liang : It’s almost cascades of distances and echoes that carry memories from far away, but they’re all part of this present moment, and it’s a beautiful thing to think about. For more information on Liang’s work, see lei-lab.ucsd.edu . 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COMMENTS
Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments. What can it be used for? Many teachers have been using Chrome Music Lab as a tool in their classrooms to explore music and its connections to science , math , art , and more.
Scientific Method. Lights and music make a great combination! Getting sound and lights to complement each other just right helps set the mood for everything from DJ parties and concerts, to theater shows, the circus, and ballet performances. You can put together your own lights and music show using a Raspberry Pi.
Relaxing science music, space music, yoga music, spa music, zen sounds, new age music, meditation music, peaceful music, easy listening, chill sounds, scienc...
But three primary characteristics link experimental music, including: Unpredictability. Use of multiple genres. Unconventional instrumentation. Any song with one or more of these characteristics can fall into the "experimental" genre. Let's explore a few helpful examples that illustrate this.
Explore and create music inspired with instruments from around the globe, from a Veena to a Ukulele to the Sitar, with the help of AI in this experiment created by artist Simon Doury. Select an instrument you'd like to play and Music LM will generate a 20 second sound clip for you inspired by this instrument.
Harmonize science and art with music-related science experiments. Explore the physics of sound, musical instruments, and acoustics. Explore classic and cutting-edge high school science experiments in this collection of top-quality science investigations.
Explore Our Science Videos. Sweet Earthquake Shake- STEM activity. The First Cartoon: Make Your Own Thaumatrope! Matchstick Rockets. Harmonize science and art with music-related science experiments. Explore the physics of sound, musical instruments, and acoustics.
Along the way, you can compose, mix, dance, drum, experiment, and above all…listen. Web technology made possible by Macromedia. The Science of Music: The Exploratorium brings music to your ears with online exhibits, films, and questions that explore the science of music. Try mixing, stepping, composing, and drumming and learn about resonance ...
This site will continue as a rich archival gallery for all existing experiments. But the action will live on at labs.google, a new place filled with new tools and toys for you to play with. And together we can continue to experiment with the future of technology. Visit Labs.Google Explore 14 years of experiments.
by St+art India Foundation, Zach Lieberman, Google Arts & Culture Artists in Residence. What does Home mean to you? Since 2009, coders have created thousands of amazing experiments using Chrome, Android, AI, WebVR, AR and more. We're showcasing projects here, along with helpful tools and resources, to inspire others to create new experiments.
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. [1] Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, institutionalized compositional, performing, and aesthetic conventions in music. [2] Elements of experimental music include indeterminacy, in ...
Welcome to Chrome Music Lab Channel! 🎵 Explore the world of music through interactive experiments, creative tutorials, and hands-on fun with Chrome Music Lab. Whether you're a music lover ...
Musical Jars Science Experiment. A fun science experiment and music lesson all in one! This easy experiment allows kids to learn and make noise (music) in the process. Kids can explore and investigate sound waves, pitch, and more as they create their own simple musical instrument. Watch our demonstration video below then print out our materials ...
Chrome Experiments. Music is for everyone. Play with these simple experiments to explore how music works. They're all built with the Web Audio API, and many of them utilize open source libraries like Tone.JS. We're also providing open-source code so others can build new experiments based on what we've started.
Song Maker, an experiment in Chrome Music Lab, is a simple way for anyone to make and share a song. Song Maker, an experiment in Chrome Music Lab, is a simple way for anyone to make and share a song. GamePad Menu Left Right Up Down Return. Restart About. Back. Song Maker. Play Marimba Electronic Tempo. Midi Mic Restart ...
3. Bring out the beach ball. Choose two children sitting across the circle from each other, and have them roll the ball back and forth. 4. Choose two other children and ask them to roll the ball a little faster. 5. Finally, have two children roll the ball to each other very slowly. 6.
Stretch the cling film over the top of your bowl and secure it with tape or an elastic band. Sprinkle a handful of rice over the cling film. Hold the drum close to the bowl and beat it hard; the rice should jump. Investigate how the jumping of the rice changes depending on how hard you hit the drum. Repeat the investigation using a speaker ...
Chrome Music Lab is all built for the web, so you can start playing instantly, whether you're on a tablet, phone, or laptop. Just like today's Clara Rockmore doodle, the experiments are all built with the Web Audio API, a freely-accessible, open web standard that lets developers create and manipulate sound right in the browser.
The experiment lets you explore layers of music all around you, using spatial audio to understand how a piece of music is composed. You can even turn layers on and off, letting you hear the individual pieces of a song in a new way. Since 2009, coders have created thousands of amazing experiments using Chrome, Android, AI, WebVR, AR and more.
Liang: For decades or maybe hundreds of years, we have been experimenting with new playing techniques and recreating new parameters in music—for example, 10 timescale. We can experiment [with] how long a musical composition can be or phrase can be, or how to play an instrument that makes a very unusual sound.
The banjo's roots trace all the way over to Africa. The unique sound that a banjo makes depends, in part, on the resonator. The purpose of the resonator is to amplify and project the sound that is made by strumming and plucking the strings. In this music science fair project, you will experiment with a resonator on a banjo and see if you can ...
Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments. What can it be used for? Many teachers have been using Chrome Music Lab as a tool in their classrooms to explore music and its connections to science , math , art , and more.
Experiment Pad Tab. Revised on: 9/24/2024. me lol. Track: Steel Guitar - Acoustic Guitar (steel) Upgrade to Plus for uninterrupted sync with original audio ...
A collaboration between MIT Media Lab and Google Arts & Culture, bringing together a global... Since 2009, coders have created thousands of amazing experiments using Chrome, Android, AI, WebVR, AR and more. We're showcasing projects here, along with helpful tools and resources, to inspire others to create new experiments.