In Season Two of Music for PhD’s, visual artist Sunita Le Gallou and Dr. Kate ask the question: Is music a universal language?
The short answer: no.
Yet music has universal elements! Over the course of 6 episodes, we dive into the musicality of language, including spoken word poetry, choir, and opera; musical culture from babies to whale songs; and explore how music ‘activates’ your brain. (Hint: not just old white dude composers.) Music for PhD’s is an art project disguised as a podcast!
Episode One: Is Music a Language?
Season Two, Episode One: Is Music a Language? (Feat. Natalie Meisner)
“When there’s something that I’m trying to write about that I do not fully understand how it moves me... the search is the poem.”
Music isn’t a universal language, but music is universal in human cultures - along with language. They’re both abstract systems of organized sounds, which get documented (i.e. written down) in specific ways.
Fun fact: an illegal bookeeping ring in New York once got busted because the bets were written down in musical notation, which a (piano-playing?) police officer realized made no sense - musically speaking.
Natalie Meisner wrote the poem Carry On about the last trip she took before COVID, a sparse reflection on travel and homecoming. In the livepainting, done to a recording of the spoken word peice, I strove to include the zippy sound of wheeled suitcases and the meandering paths of a map route.
Episode Two: How Babies Learn
“The question is, what is the purpose of music? ... Art is really, at it’s heart, about communicating emotion to somebody else.”
Imogen Heap composed a song - with help from science! - to make babies happy. What do babies love? According to Dr. Addyman, generally a higher pitch and faster tempo, since a babies heart rate is almost 50% faster than adults.
The Happy Song has over 36M views on YouTube, mostly from parents trying to stave off a tantrum. Try it!
“I was thinking of me as a mum later in life, how she’s going to go off traveling and how I hope that she feels this constant love... no matter where we are”
Season Two, Episode Two: How Babies Learn (feat. Imogen Heap)
The Happy Song feels child-like, and delightful. It has this immediate sticky quality, so I wanted to bring a finger-painting quality to this piece.
At the same time, Imogen’s voice has this beautiful ethereal quality. And the lyrics feel adult, and lived-in. It’s not just a song for babies.
I wanted to hit this in-between zone of bright kid-like colors and balance it out with these delicate, floating elements.
