The human brain is amazingly complex, and full of fun little oddities when it comes to how it interacts with music!
To explore some of these quirks, Bey and Kirsten sit down with one of the founders of the field of music cognition, Dr. Robert Zatorre from McGill University, to talk everything from perfect pitch to how we can hear songs in our head. Then, they're joined by Dr. Jayatri Das, chief bioscientist at the Franklin Institute, for another Body of Knowledge segment, this time exploring the science behind auditory illusions and misheard lyrics! And to round out the episode, Bey and Kirsten chat with Philadelphia-based composer Andrea Clearfield to learn about her experience with synesthesia, and how seeing colors when she hears music (and vice versa) affects her creative process.
Links for today's episode:
- Learn more about Dr. Rober Zatorre
- Check out some more examples of auditory illusion from The Franklin Institute!
- The infamous dress that divided the internet, what colors do you see?
- Learn more about Andrea Clearfield, and the two specific compositions she shared; Cal-3, based on the music she heard when she saw Heiner Riepl's paining, and her opera, MILA, Great Sorcerer
- Have your own experiences with synesthesia, or anything else you want to share? Email us at socurious@fi.edu