Neuroscience
A few weeks ago, I blogged about Using Math to Predict Musical Hits. Turns out that before Mike McCready was on ScienceFriday, he was interviewed by Malcolm Gladwell at the 2007 New Yorker Conference.
He was a bit more technical with Gladwell than he was on ScienceFriday, and if you watch the video, you can see his PowerPoint slides showing how hit songs cluster together.
The most interesting part was when McCready demonstrated the ability of his software to recommend music based on stuff you already like. He took a few of Gladwell's favorite songs (which was accompanied by a charming warning that it's socially nerve-wracking to announce one's favorite songs to strangers).
Gladwell first offered Billy Bragg's "A New England." McCready plugged in both social & musical variables and came up with recommendations such as Pete Seeger, the Clash, Woody Guthrie, Morrissey, and Phranc. "Nothing potentially embarrassing in that list," Gladwell commented.
McCready was careful not to indicate whether or not "A New England" would be a commercial hit; instead, in this instance, "A New England" is at the center of its own cluster and other songs are swirling around it. McCready's software is using both social context and musical composition to generate these recommendations.
It's an interesting idea, and it's fascinating to see it in play in this interview.
- Upcoming Online Event: Malcolm Gladwell (14th October, 1430 Hrs Et)
From The New Yorker: Author Malcolm Gladwell has a live chat about brain injuries and sports tomorrow at 1430 hrs ET. The chat can be found at the link found below. If you wish to submit a question for the essayist and author, go to that link and you...
- Blink!
Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Blink, is now available. Today's New York Times Book Review features a review of the book, written by David Brooks. The review is available here (free registration required). Previous discussion of Blink and...
- A Musical Interlude
NPR.org/music has some terrific musical material! They have interviews with musical acts of all stripes: rock/pop/folk; classical; jazz & blues; world; and urban. I've mostly explored the first category, which has featured: Moby -- All Things...
- Malcolm Gladwell On Cesar Milan
Have you seen the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel? It's fascinating, as a pet owner (cats, not dogs, but I can make some leaps) and as a fan of animal behavior science. Cesar Milan seems to have an instinctive understanding of dog...
- Reference Librarians As Pitchmen?
We got a Ronco Turkey Oven for Christmas. A librarian friend pointed me to the 2000 New Yorker profile of Ron Popeil, Mr. Ronco and inventor of the Ronco Turkey Oven, among other things. The article is fascinating, but what struck me was Malcom Gladwell’s...
Neuroscience
A New Kind of Concept Map?
A few weeks ago, I blogged about Using Math to Predict Musical Hits. Turns out that before Mike McCready was on ScienceFriday, he was interviewed by Malcolm Gladwell at the 2007 New Yorker Conference.
He was a bit more technical with Gladwell than he was on ScienceFriday, and if you watch the video, you can see his PowerPoint slides showing how hit songs cluster together.
The most interesting part was when McCready demonstrated the ability of his software to recommend music based on stuff you already like. He took a few of Gladwell's favorite songs (which was accompanied by a charming warning that it's socially nerve-wracking to announce one's favorite songs to strangers).
Gladwell first offered Billy Bragg's "A New England." McCready plugged in both social & musical variables and came up with recommendations such as Pete Seeger, the Clash, Woody Guthrie, Morrissey, and Phranc. "Nothing potentially embarrassing in that list," Gladwell commented.
McCready was careful not to indicate whether or not "A New England" would be a commercial hit; instead, in this instance, "A New England" is at the center of its own cluster and other songs are swirling around it. McCready's software is using both social context and musical composition to generate these recommendations.
It's an interesting idea, and it's fascinating to see it in play in this interview.
- Upcoming Online Event: Malcolm Gladwell (14th October, 1430 Hrs Et)
From The New Yorker: Author Malcolm Gladwell has a live chat about brain injuries and sports tomorrow at 1430 hrs ET. The chat can be found at the link found below. If you wish to submit a question for the essayist and author, go to that link and you...
- Blink!
Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Blink, is now available. Today's New York Times Book Review features a review of the book, written by David Brooks. The review is available here (free registration required). Previous discussion of Blink and...
- A Musical Interlude
NPR.org/music has some terrific musical material! They have interviews with musical acts of all stripes: rock/pop/folk; classical; jazz & blues; world; and urban. I've mostly explored the first category, which has featured: Moby -- All Things...
- Malcolm Gladwell On Cesar Milan
Have you seen the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel? It's fascinating, as a pet owner (cats, not dogs, but I can make some leaps) and as a fan of animal behavior science. Cesar Milan seems to have an instinctive understanding of dog...
- Reference Librarians As Pitchmen?
We got a Ronco Turkey Oven for Christmas. A librarian friend pointed me to the 2000 New Yorker profile of Ron Popeil, Mr. Ronco and inventor of the Ronco Turkey Oven, among other things. The article is fascinating, but what struck me was Malcom Gladwell’s...