When Immensely Difficult Tasks Appear Simple

I love it when one (or a group) of our kind manages to pull of something monumentally difficult and make it appear as if it should surprise us that we weren't able to do something so simple earlier.

Case in point. The Shazam app for the iPhone and Android. If you're familiar with it you'll know where I'm coming from. To fill in the uninitiated, Shazam uses the speakerphone mic on your cellphone to listen to and sample a small segment of a song, say playing on the radio. It then compares that sample to what must be a gigantic database of music and identifies the song, artist and album. The database is stored a some remote server, not on your phone. Shazam must upload the sample it records wirelessly to that server, which processes the match and then sends the result back to your phone.

It happens fast, usually in under 15 seconds. And most of that time is devoted to sampling the music. The actual matching time is a pittance. And for me at least it hasn't missed one yet. But here's the thing. Matching a full music track to a full music track wouldn't be that hard. All you have to do is compare the waveforms of each full track. If the shapes match, the songs match. But Shazam doesn't compare a full track. Generally you come into the song somewhere in the middle. And even then Shazam only samples a small portion of the song. So now you're asking the computer to compare a small portion of an unknown song, starting at an unknown point in that song, to a database of every song ever recorded (or thereabouts.) That's orders of magnitude more difficult than comparing full tracks, because now the computer has to compare its sample to part of a song, and it has absolutely no idea what part that is.

And that's what I mean. These programmers have managed to pull off what really constitutes computing magic. It's beautiful, and not just because it works, but because it does it so elegantly and so transparently that you completely forget the monumental piece of computing that's taking place under the hood. And apart from all of that, Shazam is a kick to use. It's essential for the music lover and radio listener.

If you get it, you'll love it and you'll use it constantly. Just try and get an appreciation for the fact that what your doing almost shouldn't be possible.*


*That's a bit of an overstatement maybe, but it sells newspapers.

Motivation through Music

I know I've done plenty of entries on music, but this one is about how music stimulates motivation. We've had the main speakers of our computer off for the past few months to keep the amount electricity the computer was drawing to a minimum. Now that the house electrical work is basically done, Jason reattached the speakers. It's really amazing how much better it sounds with bass and real volume. I keep making new mixes that include my favorites and all the new music we have. It's really helped me to stay focused on my work and get things done more rapidly.

I've also started a seriously dorky ritual. When a really good song comes on that I can't help dancing too, I get up and create an interpretive dance. Since dancing makes me so happy, I'm going to try to make up at least one dance a day. It will be a good workout and keep me motivated. Music is truly an amazing energy-inducing instrument.

Music in General

My post yesterday got me thinking more generally about sound and music (and the sound of music, but not The Sound of Music.) What is it in the human brain the differentiates random ambient sound, like that thrown off by old computer equipment in the course of normal operation, and music, when that same grouping of equipment is altered to play Bohemiam Rhapsody?

Obviously Bohemian Rhapsody has a perceivable, ordered structure that random office noise doesn't. And while the root of any musical system is somewhat arbitrary (Middle C could have been an infinite number of frequencies), once established, its internal divisions of tone and rhythm are absolute. As a demonstration, imagine a guitar string. You can tune the string to any number of tensions, creating an infinite number of base tones. But the fret tone relationships don't change. You're simply transposing the entire system.

It's all math. If you take a string of any length and divide it in half, the new string vibrates with similar acoustic properties. It is one octave up from the original tone. So Middle C is the original string, and the new string is the next C up on the scale. Other logical divisions of the string create other notes with harmonic properties. And rhythm is also created by regular divisions of a base pulse.

So why do our brains enjoy this structure? It lies in our ability to distinguish and unquenchable hunger for patterns. In fact, I think it's safe to say that "music" only exists in our pattern hungry brains. Naturally occurring sounds can be structured. The sound of water dripping can be regular and rhythmic. Bird song is tonal and ordered. Those sounds are quickly decoded by our brains as "musical." But even more random sounds have musical properties. Water tinkling randomly over rocks has certain musical overtones. Music is pattern, and it's our brains which decides which patterns are pleasing.

Which is why so many forms of music, from classical to free jazz to industrial "noise" music exist. Even the most dissonant, jumbled conglomerations of notes and beats can be musical to some people. It all depends on the patterns you recognize, and your brain's definition of "music."

Frank Zappa and His Musical Freak Out

I easily count Zappa in my top five artists of all time. If you're a fan, you know why. If not I strongly urge you to give him a listen. He may very well not be your cup of tea, but it's worth finding out. No one else can fuse virtuoso performances and world-class instrumentalism with biting lyrics and stupid bathroom humor the way Frank does. His music stands in a class completely apart from every other artist on the planet, that has ever existed...ever.

I recently "came into the possession of" FZ's entire discography. I've bought and listened to my fair share of his music over the years, but I knew I was only scratching the surface. He was an incredibly prolific composer with a huge body of work. He's most known for his rock albums, but he's also composed classical music and dabbled in other genres as well. I got into Frank back in college with "Apostrophe Overnight Sensation". It's a good album for the uninitiated to start with. Out there, for sure, but still somewhat reserved and approachable. After that it's a smorgasbord of musical influences and directions to enjoy. "Freak Out" and "We're Only in it For the Money" are two other very good albums to start with.

Unfortunately I never got to see Frank perform live. But I did see the next best thing. Kate, for a birthday present a couple years ago, bought us tickets to "Zappa Plays Zappa", a tour where Dweezil, Frank's son and a host of musicians, some part of Frank's original ensembles, played Frank's music. Dweezil in all respects is an equal, if not better guitar player than his father. Their faithful rendition of FZ's music was stunning. And on some songs, using a giant project monitor Dweezil and his father played together, seeming to riff off of each other even though only one of them was "live". It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

Give Frank a try. He may well change your view of music, likely for the better.

Christmas Music. Really? Really.

I like Christmas music.  I do.  I'm a sucker for it.  The realization hit me last month.  In fact, it was that realization that spurred the idea for this blog.  Kate and I were donating blood and the donation center was playing some CD of classic Christmas music.  It really put me in a good mood.

It's mostly the classics I like, Bing Crosby, Sinatra, that whole crew.  And I think my appreciation goes beyond the music.  It's everything wrapped up with the music.  The holidays, the change in season, the general good will that floats around that time of year.  It's all sort of encapsulated by the music.  I hear the same songs each year, but I never get tired of them.  I know some people hate it when radio stations and malls start on the 24 hour Christmas cycle, but I think I sort of look forward to it, and I definitely miss it when it's gone, which it now is.

Eleven months to go...