news 2022

Research Award Winner at the University of Paderborn Presents Results In classical music, editions are considered the basis of scholarly study of music. Unlike classical music, however, pop music is not composed on music paper, but in audio data. The substance of pop music is its sound. Rebecca Grotjahn, professor at the Department of Musicology at the University of Paderborn and the Detmold University of Music, is investigating how this can be edited as so-called -phonographic- music.

A randomised control trial led by Bath psychologists shows the positive effects learning to play music for just a few weeks has on cognitive abilities. A new study published by researchers at the University of Bath demonstrates the positive impact learning to play a musical instrument has on the brain's ability to process sights and sounds, and shows how it can also help to lift a blue mood.

An international collaboration between musicians and birdsong scientists has found that in the Australian pied butcherbird songs surveyed, the order of song elements is strongly related to rhythmical timing. In a study published today on Australian pied butcherbirds in Royal Society Open Science, researchers found that the order of their song elements is strongly associated with the butcherbird's rhythmical timing.

Playing wind instruments spreads more viruses than breathing, but less than speaking or singing A relatively large number of viruses can emerge from the clarinet. It releases considerably more aerosols, which can contain pathogens such as Sars-CoV-2, compared to other instruments such as the flute. However, the risk of transmission from an infected person playing a wind instrument is generally much lower than for people who sing or speak, provided that one spends the same amount of time in their vicinity.

A new study out of Jessica Grahn's music lab suggests music training may preserve certain rhythmic motor training abilities in early-stage Parkinson's disease. Grahn, a psychology professor and member of the Western Institute for Neuroscience , combines her unique background as a classically trained concert pianist and training as a neuroscientist to focus on why humans move to rhythm, and how and why movement and rhythm may be connected in the brain.  "Humans naturally perceive and move to a music beat, falling into the rhythm through clapping, tapping and dancing," she said.

In order to investigate how aerosols, as possible carriers of viruses, are distributed in the room during a choir rehearsal, research teams from the University of Leipzig and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg carried out measurements during choir rehearsals in recent months. The researchers now report on their findings in the Journal of Voice.

How should profits from music streaming services be paid out to artists? The discussion is never-ending because with the current model, users also pay for music they don't listen to. A new study by marketing experts at Universität Hamburg and the Kühne Logistic University has now calculated the impact.