Day: October 4, 2024

Got The Music In Me

A little something for a Friday afternoon….simply because I am bored with the news….

Do you like music?

I like all types depending on the situation….when I am on the ‘puter I listen to classical guitar or blues….otherwise it is music from my past….Cream, Canned Heat, Electric Prunes, etc etc.

A recent study finds that music is being dumb down since its glory days…..

If you’ve ever seen the viral clip of popular radio tunes that all use the same four chords, this latest study will, well … strike a chord. The research published earlier this month in the journal Scientific Reports isn’t about chords per se, but about rhythm and pitch—both of which scientists say have become increasingly less complex in pop songs over the past 75 years or so. Computational musicologists from Queen Mary University of London used mathematical models and algorithms to examine the top five songs on the Billboard charts from 1950 to 2023, which Smithsonian notes included such hits as the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” and Madonna’s “Vogue.”

Study leader Madeline Hamilton says they found that the complexity of both rhythm and pitch fell by about 30% over that time period in the more than 360 songs they listened to. The researchers also discovered that there were three distinct “melodic revolutions”—in 1975, 1996, and 2000—where song melodies became exceedingly simplified. Hamilton says that the mid-’70s shift came down right around the time disco and stadium rock came on the scene, while the later two tracked with the rise in popularity of rap and electronic music, as well as MTV.

Hamilton says that just because a melody is simple, it doesn’t mean the song overall is, or that it’s necessarily lacking. “It’s not that music is getting less complex,” she tells the New York Times. “The melody is getting less complex, but maybe the chords are getting more complex, or maybe the production.” Hamilton says she needed “sanity checks” during her experiment, which at one point had her in COVID lockdown listening to songs in a dorm room for 10 hours a day. She says she now finds it difficult to listen to many popular songs, with one in particular that “haunts” her: UB40’s 1993 cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Listen if you dare.

If you would like to see more of this study then I have a spot for you….

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/04/music-has-dumbed-down-in-three-stages-since-1950-study-find/

Back in May I wrote about music as well….

The Day The Music Died

A little 60s music to end your reading day….Be well and Be Safe….

The Ports Drama…..

Of course every small minded person has had their emotions of high alert with the Longshoremen’s strike…..it has been getting a lot of press about the dire consequences if the strike is prolonged…..and now we have one of the first in panic buying….can you guess what it is?

If you ventured a guess and said toilet paper then you were spot on.

There is no squeeze on Charmin. Toilet paper makers said that consumers don’t need to fear shortages due to the ongoing strike at US ports. The American Forest and Paper Association, which represents makers of toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towels, and other wood products, said Wednesday that it was not aware of the strike having any impact on tissue product delivery in the US. The association said it spoke out after seeing reports on social media of consumers stocking up on toilet paper, the AP reports. It’s a common reaction in times of crisis; shoppers also hoarded toilet paper in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

but the trade group said approximately 85% of toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, and tissues used in the US is made by US-based producers and not affected by the strike. Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike Tuesday, impacting 36 ports on the East and Gulf coasts. American Forest and Paper Association CEO Heidi Brock said her group is urging the US Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, and the union representing around 45,000 dockworkers to come to an agreement soon so the association’s members can resume exports.

But everyone can breath a sight for now for there has been a tentative agreement that would pause the strike until January.

After receiving an enhanced contract proposal, the International Longshoremen’s Association suspended its three-day strike on Thursday that has shut major East and Gulf coast ports. The existing contract will remain in place through Jan. 15 to allow time for more negotiation over other issues, the Washington Post reports, after port owners proposed a 62% pay raise. If dockworkers stay on the job, the US economy would not be subject to the feared disruption, including possible shortages of consumer products and higher prices.

he union’s statement said that it reached “a tentative agreement on wages” that will allow the 45,000 workers to return to the job, per the New York Times. A 62% jump would be less than the union wanted—77%—but more than the US Maritime Alliance had proposed earlier in the week, which was 50% over six years. Under the tentative terms, longshoremen at the top of the scale would receive an increase of $24 an hour over the six years. A union vice president told the Post he thinks the outstanding issues can be settled. “I believe that all parties are energized,” Vincent Cameron said.

Lay off the toilet paper and calm down.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”