The Dr. Rhythm Top 10 is music that represents talent, artistry, innovation and unique style. We encourage you to research and discover this music on your own.
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Maryanne Amacher
"Chorale 1"
Amacher is a brilliant woman. She uncovered a phenomena known as oto-acoustic emissions which are sounds generated from within the inner ear. The music she generates on her album Sound Characters (Making the Third Ear) evoke such sounds. The experience feels like your ears are being messaged, and you want to cover your ears. But the sounds will not harm your hearing, and extremely interesting to listen to. The music is ultimately made in your ear, which is what is intrinsically fascinating. Though, played enough times, any prisoner would crack in about three to four hours, guaranteed.
Karlheinz Stockhausen
"Mikrophonie I"
The first piece ever written (to my knowledge) solely for a tam-tam (a type of Chinese gong.) However, this piece is played by the microphonists, as they move their mics around a tam-tam being activated by two musicians using numerous objects to excite a variety of timbres from the instrument. Two additional musicians filter the sound of the microphones creating a dense and intricate work of art. The piece is fascinating to listen to and was the first piece to explore microphone proximity in musical terms.
Steve Reich, "Pendulum Music"
This work is created by a series of microphones swinging over amplifiers to produced tuned feedback. As the pendulums lose energy the piece slows down and reaches a constant state. An interesting use of both feedback and potential energy to create a musical structure.
Olivier Messiaen, "Oiseaux Exotiques"
French composer, Olivier Messiaen, spent a large amount of his career listening to and cataloging birds from all over the world. In 1950s he created a work for piano and small ensemble known as "Exotic Birds." This piece is an orchestration of various bird species through-composed to highlight various orchestral instruments. It is one of the great works of the 20th century (in my opinion.) Away from Guantamano, this piece is worth listening to.
Iannis Xenakis, "Metaux, from Pleiades"
One of the seminal works for percussion of the 20th century, this movement from Pleiades (a constellation of stars also known as the Seven Sisters) is mammoth work for metal instruments known as Sixxen (Six for the number of players, and xen for Xenakis.) The piece incorporates various solid musical structures that weave in and out of time, in unison and in complete harmony. Enough to make a music lover shiver with delight and a terrorist shiver with tinnitus.
John Cage, "Rozart Mix"
Cage is one of the great composers/philosophers of the 20th century. He did more for music in a decade than many did their whole lives. Rozart Mix is a collage of sounds, some from Mozart hence the play on words, that were generated using the chance properties from the I-Ching (Book of Changes from the Chinese tradition.) Cage wanted the universe, or God, depending on your interpretation, to ultimately decide how music was to be created, thus the I-Ching allows for divinity to be transceded. The piece is constructed of a variety of sound sources with the lengths and placement in time being dictated through these chance properties. The Beatles latched onto this idea with Revolution no. 9, another great piece for torture, though not nearly as poetic as Cage.
Erik Satie, "Vexations"
Satie is most well-known for his beautiful piano music. Vexations is no different, however, the piece is only a single line, a short chordal passage. The catch is that is to be repeated 840 times without stopping. There is only one person on record to have ever listened to an entire performance, though the US military could change that figure quickly. The piece is an enigma as to why Satie wrote it and why the number 840. Though, I am quite enthralled by the concept, as these types of notions I find quite fascinating.
Sun Ra, "Space is the Place"
Sun Ra is a brilliant avant-garde jazz musician who was one of the first musicians to be part of the afro-futurist movement in the 1960s. His music is very intense and demands a large amount of concentration and understand to get the full experience. Sun Ra noted an extraordinary experience in his youth after seeing a bright light during deep religious concentration. He claims he visited Saturn during this experience and spoke with other-worldly beings who prompted him to quit college and begin speaking through music. Sun Ra's music is also used for the film "Space is the Place" an afro-futurist sci-fi venture. Sun Ra is well-known in many music communities. His group appeared on SNL in 1978.
George Crumb,
"Black Angels: Night of the Electric Insects"
Taken from his string quartet, Black Angels, Crumb is one of the great composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The quartet in its entirety is an amazing work spanning a wide range of styles and emotions. However, with enough coercion this movement, or perhaps even the entire piece, can give nightmares to even the most educated of music enthusists.
Alvin Lucier "Still and Moving Lines..."
Lucier is more of a revealer than a post-romantic composer. His works often display a phenomenon that is both intriguing and beautiful. The full title of this work is Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas, where the tones between sine waves and a human voice create acoustic troughs and peaks ultimately forming valleys of sound and silence. The interference of this effect can at times cause various side-effects such as disorientation and rarely naseua, though the music is not designed to generate these responses. Lucier is a fascinating figure in contemporary music and has contributed numerous works to the experimental music catalog and is revered in many art social circles. And he is one of my most favorite composers. But would a terrorist agree? -- let's hope not.
Some of you may have read the recent Associated Press story about how the military has been using certain music styles as quasi-torture devices. Everything from hard rock to children's music was played in the cells of prisoners for upwards of twenty hours a day, and most likely at a piercing volume level. The list of songs used in these detention centers has been released publicly and the musicians are far from proud that their music is being used in the war on terror. A few of the songs include:
• "Enter Sandman," Metallica.
• "Bodies," Drowning Pool.
• "Hell's Bells," AC/DC.
• "I Love You," from the "Barney and Friends" children's TV show.
• "Born in the USA," Bruce Springsteen.
• "Sesame Street," theme from children's TV show.
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,464685,00.html)
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine stated, "I suggest that they level Guantanamo Bay, but they keep one small cell and they put Bush in there ... and they blast some Rage Against the Machine..." while Stevie Benton of Drowning Pool was less enraged saying, "I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that." However, the technique has seemed to work with many prisoners citing some extremely visceral reactions to the prolonged exposure.
I am not surprised by the reactions of these artists. It must feel like an insult to have your art be realized as a torture device. The concept is however not new. There are numerous cases of storefronts using Classical and Baroque music (e.g Mozart and Bach respectively) to quell loitering youths. Even public schools have implemented this tactic during detention, forcing their demure degenerates to become modest dilettantes by listening to Beethoven symphonies.
Though I cannot help but be a bit unimpressed by the musical selection. As a doctor of music I think the military can much more direct in their torture techniques while maintaining their integrity by using more obscure and historically significant works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Rock music and hip-hop are one way to break a prisoner, but it is obvious the military interrogation experts have not taken one of my classes.
For any music to become an ideal torture device there must be several key components present, though not necessarily all together at any give time:
1) Rhythmic regularity, or at least the expectation of regularity. People create rhythmic expectations when they listen to music. Our brains try to organize music, and sound and rhythm is often the first entry way to understanding most types of music.
2) A large amount of noise sounds. Noise is essentially stochastic sound, randomness, but often is less random than realized. Our ears become tired when exposed to noise, as well as our minds. Try working next to an air-conditioner all day and see how productive you are when that noise is removed. Noise can be fascinating to listen to, but can also be draining.
3) High volume levels. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration dictates how long workers can endure certain sound levels, which are surprisingly high. Our ears can be easily damaged by listening to a loud rock concert (~115 dB at peak) for more than a hour.
4) Mundane or insipid lyrics. The song "mmm...bop" should remind you of this phenomenon. If the prisoners know English this could work to the military's advantage, however meaning in the lyrics is important because we tend to store the words attached to their melodies in our memory. Our brains will even complete a verse without our conscious effort of a song we have heard numerous times by default. This explains that stubborn song that is stuck in your head.
5) Dissonance. Different from noise, dissonance perturbs our expectations. When we hear a major (or happy) chord sullied with a sour note, we cringe with distaste, but when that note resolves inline with what our brain is trained to expect then we feel much, much better.
With these components in mind I have devised the ultimate torture playlist, of which I give the US military full permission to use. This week's Top Ten is dedicated to the many great avant-garde musicians out there who could provide a great service to our country. Why not educate prisoners while making them miserable and suicidal? Make certain to mouseover the titles for more info (if using IE6 or higher switch to Firefox for the best results.) Please do not be offended by any of these selections, as music always needs a context and in the context of intelligent listening, these pieces are far beyond any hard rock or hip-hop track. Though, when put into the context of international torture, they exceed far beyond their worth. I respect all the artists for their contributions to the world of music, but duty calls.
In good musical health.
Dr. Rhythm
Ask the Doctor - 9.27.08 (want to ask the doctor? click here)
"To Drop a Class, or Not Drop a Class "
Dear Dr. Rhythm,
I am taking a music history class about jazz. I find that I really don't like or understand jazz and am seriously thinking about dropping the class. Do you any words to convince me not to?
AJ
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Dear AJ,
First, I'll assume that your either are seeking or engaging in a university education. At most universities, undergraduates have to take what is commonly known as general interest/education/studies courses. These courses usually encompass a wide variety of liberal arts, science and humanities topics.
Second, I'll assume that you are taking this class as a general course for your degree. Many students ask, "Why do I need to take these boring general classes?" It is a legitimate question which many professors and administrators do not answer.
The most common answer is that in a university education it is important to cultivate a diverse and interdisciplinary education. This means even students planning to go into engineering should take courses in the arts and languages. However, despite this being a very good asset to a broad and complete education, there is another good reason to both take and be successful in these general study courses.
When you leave college you are entering a job market where you have little to no experience in the field you are pursuing. This can be your greatest asset and liability. However, these general studies courses display an important part of your ability to learn and be successful. You could be a brilliant engineer, but if you show a consistent pattern of low grades in what are suppose to be simple classes, then it is possible that an employer may find you more of a risk than an asset. Why?
The reason for this is these classes show you can learn new subjects successfully and quickly. Even once you find employment there will always be new things to learn and if you can show that you have a track record of this behavior it could give you an extra advantage over another employee. Plus, you will have the experience of learning new things fast in which you may not have been entirely interested. A valuable skill for saving time.
So do not give up and make the time invested thus far a complete waste. Plus, you may learn you actually like jazz in the end...
In good musical health,
Dr. Rhythm
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"My Kids' raunchy musical taste "
Dear Dr. Rhythm,
My children, ages 13 and 17, listen to a lot of raunchy hip-hop and hard rock and I am worried this music will change their behavior. How can I get them interested in other, less harmful, styles of music?
PG
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Dear PG,
As their parent, you have every right to take away their music privileges if it does not resonate with your beliefs. There is some evidence pointing towards violent and/or sexual lyrics imposing these same types of behavior on children, however, in the end proper parenting will almost always override any negative effects of pejorative media.
Though, to directly answer your question, try teaching your children about the music you enjoy and/or give them listening exercises that involve music you find acceptable. You could try a variety of music trivia games, or show them films and documentaries about various musicians, though often these films show the negative aspects of these people's lives. You could also take them to concerts and other public performances that are inline with your values. Community Ed classes may also provide the kids some insight about the creation and fun aspects of music. Education is key and children may initially rebel, they will in the long run be thankful you spent the time and effort.
Whatever you chose, be active and very much a part of your children's listening behavior. This is probably good advice for other media your children imbue daily such as video games, television, movies and the internet. And do not be afraid to take your children's iPods away if your rules are not met. I guess this answer has become more of a parental empowerment message than a musical one, but I hope it steers your kids clear of any wrongdoing.
