Does Adele Make You Cry? There’s A Scientific Reason

Does Adele make you sniffle a little bit? Do you mysteriously “get something in your eye” each time her hit “Someone Like You” is played?

There’s actually a scientific reason for why that is.

I didn’t give this much thought at first, until I read an article by Yahoo! news which pointed out that the melody which Adele sings on the chorus of “Someone Like You” contains a series of notes which create “dissonance”.

For those of you who don’t know what “dissonance” is, the easiest way to explain it is that it’s suspense.

The melody of the verse, on the other hand, does not produce that same suspenseful feeling, and so when the song enters the verse, you feel like the suspense is over.

Well, at least until the chorus rolls around again, or you hit repeat.

Hope that explained it for you! Now when you listen to Adele’s mega hit, you can cry and know exactly why!

No need to thank me, I’m just a nice guy :).

Cheers!

Sometimes Daily, Always Random

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Nice shot!

iPhone Photographer | David Pasillas

When I saw the shadow of the pier against the sand, I knew this would make a killer black and white.

 

Since this post is so short, I’ll tell you about another app that I’ve been using a lot lately. Its called Photobeam Wifi. It should still  be FREE. Its great for sending pics from your phone to your computer over a wifi connection. To me, its way better than connecting my phone because I never know what apps the computer is going to try to add or remove.

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If Only….

Ah… There’s so many things I wish I could have…

Of course, I mean the arm hair… The silly bandz are pretty desirable too…

🙂

All kidding aside, that Rolex is STUNNING. The green bezel and face are gorgeous. I’m sure the price tag is impressive as well.

Here’s another shot of my dream watch:

One day, my friends… One day.

The Dark Side of The Moon

In ’73, Pink Floyd released my favorite album ever – The Dark Side of The Moon. Several years later, when I first heard it, I was blown away. I had never heard anything like it in my life.

Prior to discovering Pink Floyd, I was listening to bands like the Foo Fighters and Chili Peppers. I still listen to these same bands, but Pink Floyd has redefined what music means to me.

I highly recommend that anyone who is getting into rock music check out The Dark Side of The Moon. It’s a classic, classic album.

The tracks on the album “flow” into one another, there’s only one real break in between songs on the entire record. The album is very psychedelic, including many instrumental breaks.

The album is also highlighted by it’s use of synthesizers, which was extremely radical and game-changing at the time.

The Dark Side of The Moon frequently appears on “Best Rock Album” lists all over the Internet. The production quality is so rich that to this day it is is used when showcasing sound systems’ abilities.

The album ends with two amazing tracks, “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse”, which provide the perfect ending to this colossal masterpiece.

The artwork that was released with the album is also amazing!

The use of the triangle with the prism of light flashing through it is extremely effective and in a way relates to the sound of the record in a way I can’t even describe.

The Dark Side of The Moon is a must listen album. Feel free to share your memories and thoughts about the album and it’s amazing artwork in the comment section below.

I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon!

sarah takes pictures

Last night’s sunset was lovely with some soft blue thrown in the mix, which is always pretty. I wonder if there’s anything more frequently photographed than sunsets and sunrises. I don’t care. I’m Team Take-a-picture-of-every-sunset-ever.

I painted me some more light, this time with the lowest ISO. The results weren’t that interesting — though I have some more ambitious efforts to post later — but I did like the colors in this one and what appears to be the evil eye nestled in that C-shape.

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Man Draws Panoramic Views of Major Cities – From Memory

Tonight I’ve got a treat for you all. It comes in the form of a brilliant artist named Stephen Wiltshire. A British artist born on April 24th 1974, Stephen has a remarkable ability. He draws massive panoramic views of some of the largest cities in the world.

Stephen's Drawing of the Manhattan Skyline

But here’s the thing: He does it all from memory.

Check out Stephen drawing a strikingly accurate panorama of Rome here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVqRT_kCOLI

Stephen was diagnosed with autism at age three, and learned to express himself through art at a young age. At age eight, he would draw imaginary scenes of cities levelled by earthquakes.

Check out his YouTube channel here to see him drawing incredible pictures of massive cities such as Tokyo, Manhattan and many more:

http://www.youtube.com/user/stephenwiltshire?feature=watch

This is inspiring to me because it shows the incredible skills  that one can accomplish if they truly put their mind to it. Stephen didn’t even say his first word until he was five, but he learned to express himself  through pictures at a young age, through the universal language of art.

Stephen has a very interesting story and creates some truly mind-blowing art. Find out more on his website and even buy some of his work here:

http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/

Hong Kong Skyline 2010 - drawings and paintings by Stephen Wiltshire

My Interview With Nathe Sinfield of House of Broken Glass

Check out this conversation I had with Nathe Sinfield, the brains behind House of Broken Glass, an artist I previously blogged about.

BT: Who are your major influences as a musician?

HOBG: My major influences have to be Devin Townsend, Coldplay, U2 (Their album ‘Joshua Tree’ never gets boring), Caspian, Explosions in the Sky a a lot more! Out of all them, Devin Townsend inspired me the most to start recording my own music.

BT: How different is the process for writing instrumental tracks from writing tracks with lyrics?

HOBG: Well when I write the instrumental tracks I basically let the melody to the job that the vocalist would do, so when you listen to the track your imagination can write the lyrics in your head. And when I’m writing the songs with vocals in I think I take a more generic approach to the song structure, as well as making the melody a lot more stripped down and simple when the vocals kick in.

I always start writing a song with the intention of it being a track with vocals, drums in etc. But the instrumentals always come out of nowhere. I’ll be sat with Cubase open and my guitar linked up to all the VST’s, then an idea will just pop into my head. I’ll run with it and record as much as possible and i’ll end up with a finished song. Thats basically how ‘Orchid’ came about.

BT: I notice that a lot of your songs utilize simple yet beautiful melodies. Do you find that as a musician, you intentionally take a “less-is-more” approach?

HOBG: Well as you may have noticed, I love to over layer songs. It’s kind of like painting a picture, but with sounds and effects instead of colours. But the way I compliment that is by having a simple and straight forward melody. I’m a massive fan of soundscapes and drone, but I want to have a straight forward song structure along side that so the songs can be something you can listen to at any time of day. So what i’ll do is picture a rhythm in my head, or play around with different chords on my guitar and when I have something I’m happy with i”ll start adding delays on top and let all the effects do the talking.

Basically, yes I do intentionally take a ‘less-is-more’ approach, because by doing that I can build on the melody with soundscapes and create something even bigger.

There you have it folks! Be sure to keep track of House of Broken Glass’ future work. Expecting big things from this gentleman!