Music

The Sound of Music: How climate change threatens quality of acoustic guitars, violins and other string instruments

Spruces are the most common tree in Switzerland, and the hitherto stable climate in the Jura made the species perfect for producing tonewood for acoustic string instruments. But climate change has brought drier, warmer weather, threatening the special tonal qualities of the wood

Wordplay, blank signs, music: How is China voicing its dissent against the zero-COVID policy?

On Sunday, protesters in multiple cities, including Beijing, held up blank A4-sized sheets of white paper in a show of solidarity and a nod to China's lack of free speech. While others chanted slogans, sang the national anthem, and shared memes about the ongoing World Cup in Qatar

La La Land: Why do certain types of music make our brains sing

Our prediction of musical events remains inexorably bound to our musical upbringing. It is why every brain reacts differently to a piece

Can rats dance to the beats of Lady Gaga?

Japanese scientists found that rodents have an innate ability to synchronise their movements to the beat, which was previously thought to be a human-only skill

Explained: How the iPod changed the way we consume music and content

The iPod has been responsible for changing not only how we consume music, but also how we think of content and media consumption. We take a look at several ways in which the iPod will have a long lasting effect on our content consumption habits.

'Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was a trailblazer': Salim Merchant, Shankar Mahadevan pay tribute to music maestro

'The resonance of the strings of his santoor will keep playing all over the world till the end of the world,' said Shankar Mahadevan on Pandit Shivkumar Sharma's demise.

End of an era: Apple discontinues the iPod touch, finally killing off the iconic iPod product line

Apple is discontinuing production of the iPod Touch, and with it, killing off the iPod line of media players. For a number of reasons, this is the end of an era.

Heropanti 2 music review: AR Rahman, Mehboob, Ahmed Khan reunite, but not exactly for another Rangeela

The album of Heropanti 2 forces us to rethink how we slot works of AR Rahman and lyricist Mehboob, and accept that the music of today requires all that tech-robotic soundscape that we do not usually associate with either of them.

How Metal Lords on Netflix serves as a reintroduction of metal to the TikTok generation

There was a time when metal was so much more about the current youth than the previous generation. Metal Lords attempts to remind Gen-Z that the 'outsider' exists in every generation, and metal will continue to be their sonic identity.

Weaving ragas into orchestral symphonies: Violinist L Subramaniam on his process, training, and legacy

“Sitting down to write a piece of music is a foreign concept to me. To me, the music just floods my senses, and I can hear the instruments play to form a melody," says L Subramaniam.