Theremini Says Hello!
The theremin is one of the oldest electronic musical instruments in history. The “theremini,” its new little brother, is flat-out adorable. See also: Archival video of Leon Theremin playing his own instrument.
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A collection of 1272 issues
The Müpa Budapest Sound Machine
Budapest’s giant music box, one of the largest in the world, plays the Harry Potter theme song when humans walk in its hamster wheel. From the official description: “The contraption plays music from six different genres depending on audience preference, here in this video you can hear the Harry
The French, Opened
William Klein’s mesmerizing, rarely seen documentary The French goes behind the scenes at Rolland Garros in 1981.
Con Art
“The high bidder at an auction has paid more money for a work than anyone else in the world thinks it’s worth at that point in time.” via Artsy
Reunited
Edward Hardy is 93, lives in a nursing home, and suffers from dementia and depression. Sam Kinsella, one of Mr. Hardy’s care givers and the narrator of this video, learns of Edward’s prior life as a jazz pianist. After Sam arranges for a keyboard to be brought in,
Rebirth of the Cool
Shimon is a robot that can play marimba chords and sequences that can’t be replicated by any single human. Jason Barnes is a drummer who lost part of his arm, and who now wears a robotic prosthesis that can drum up to 20 beats per second. via Quartz
The Brain Dictionary
We use our entire brain—and not just the temporal lobe, as once believed—to group words by meaning. via Aeon
The Art-Seeing Eye of Google
Google’s new “Art Camera” will travel the world, taking ultra-high-resolution “gigapixel” images to digitize a series of artworks. See also: Masterpieces already digitized from Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Classical Is Calling
Berklee pianist Tony Ann plays a medley of familiar ringtones. See more of Tony Ann on Facebook.
To Reduce Anxiety, Bliss Out to Ambient Music
Suffering from panic attacks, Ryan Bassil finds solace in the sounds of William Basinski, Oval, and Brian Eno, who “at one point felt like an angel sent to me from heaven.” Related: For those who experience anxiety attacks, every day is a case in survival. One writer’s journey to