20 Mind-Blowing TED Talks for Music Students, Lovers, and Industry Folks [VIDEOS]
I came across a great article via Twitter a couple of months back, and just now realized that I never put up a post for it. Whoops! I haven’t watched all of these videos yet, but they all sound extremely interesting and worth a watch for any music student, industry worker, or lover.
1. David Byrne: How architecture helped music evolve
As his career grew, David Byrne went from playing CBGB to Carnegie Hall. He asks: Does the venue make the music? From outdoor drumming to Wagnerian operas to arena rock, he explores how context has pushed musical innovation.
2. Adam Sadowsky engineers a viral music video
The band OK Go dreamed up the idea of a massive Rube Goldberg machine for their next music video — and Adam Sadowsky’s team was charged with building it. He tells the story of the effort and engineering behind their labyrinthine creation that quickly became a YouTube sensation.
3. Eric Whitacre: A choir as big as the Internet
185 voices from 12 countries join a choir that spans the globe: “Lux Aurumque,” composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre, merges hundreds of tracks individually recorded and posted to YouTube. It’s an astonishing illustration of how technology can connect us.
4. Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music
In this fun, 3-min performance from the World Science Festival, musician Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale to reveal one surprising result of the way our brains are wired.
5. Robert Gupta: Music is medicine, music is sanity
Robert Gupta, violinist with the LA Philharmonic, talks about a violin lesson he once gave to a brilliant, schizophrenic musician — and what he learned. Called back onstage later, Gupta plays his own transcription of the prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1.
6. Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child
For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he’s become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. In words and lyrics, he tells the story of his amazing life.
7. David Pogue on the music wars
New York Times tech columnist David Pogue performs a satirical mini-medley about iTunes and the downloading wars, borrowing a few notes from Sonny and Cher and the Village People.
8. Benjamin Zander on music and passion
Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it — and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.
9. Ananda Shankar Jayant fights cancer with dance
Renowned classical Indian dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. She tells her personal story of not only facing the disease but dancing through it, and gives a performance revealing the metaphor of strength that helped her do it.
10. Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen
In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums.
11. Pamelia Kurstin plays the theremin
Virtuoso Pamelia Kurstin performs and discusses her theremin, the not-just-for-sci-fi electronic instrument that is played without being touched. Songs include “Autumn Leaves,” “Lush Life” and David Mash’s “Listen, Words Are Gone.”
12. Bruno Bowden folds while Rufus Cappadocia plays
After Robert Lang’s talk on origami at TED2008, Bruno Bowden stepped onstage with a challenge — he would fold one of Lang’s astonishingly complicated origami figures, blindfolded, in under 2 minutes. He’s accompanied by the cellist Rufus Cappadocia.
13. Sivamani: Rhythm is everything, everywhere
Percussionist Sivamani delivers one of TED’s liveliest and most inventive performances yet. He uses traditional Western and Eastern instruments to create a rhythmic tour de force, along with a tub of water, corrugated metal, spoons, luggage, our stage props and even a little audience participation.
14. Naturally 7 beatboxes a whole band
One-of-a-kind R&B group Naturally 7 beatboxes an orchestra’s worth of instruments to groove through their smooth single, “Fly Baby.”
15. Caroline Phillips: Hurdy-gurdy for beginners
Caroline Phillips cranks out tunes on a seldom-heard folk instrument: the hurdy-gurdy, a.k.a. the wheel fiddle. A searching, Basque melody follows her fun lesson on its unique anatomy and 1,000-year history.
16. Jakob Trollback rethinks the music video
What would a music video look like if it were directed by the music, purely as an expression of a great song, rather than driven by a filmmaker’s concept? Designer Jakob Trollback shares the results of his experiment in the form.
17. Jose Abreu on kids transformed by music
Jose Antonio Abreu is the charismatic founder of a youth orchestra system that has transformed thousands of kids’ lives in Venezuela. Here he shares his amazing story and unveils a TED Prize wish that could have a big impact in the US and beyond.
18. John Walker re-creates great performances
Imagine hearing great, departed pianists play again today, just as they would in person. John Q. Walker demonstrates how recordings can be analyzed for precise keystrokes and pedal motions, then played back on computer-controlled grand pianos.
19. David Holt plays mountain music
Folk musician and storyteller David Holt plays the banjo and shares photographs and old wisdom from the Appalachian Mountains. He also demonstrates some unusual instruments like the mouth bow — and a surprising electric drum kit he calls “thunderwear.”
20. Itau Talgam: Lead like the great conductors
An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.
