Tag: music

Willett of the Day: Sue Willett, Singer/Songwriter

By Edward Willett in Blog
September 3, 2008
3 mins to read
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Another musical Willett! From the Conlans Press website: Sue Willett is a wonderfully talented singer, songwriter, audio engineer, music editor, vocal coach, voiceover agent & director, and PR manager. She is the person you want on your team when canvassing an after-Oscar party with more than a 1000 guests (because nobody works a room like …

My interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic

By Edward Willett in Blog
July 31, 2008
1 mins to read
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I write the occasional entertainment preview for the Regina Leader Post. This week I interviewed “Weird Al” Yankovic, and since when I posted that fact in my status update on Facebook I discovered a lot of people were interested, I thought I’d point out that you can read the interview online here. (In the print …

A blast from the past

By Edward Willett in Blog
July 31, 2008
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Someone sent me this photo of Midnight Sun, the a cappella group I sang with in the early 1990s (some rather poor recordings of our music can be heard here). I’m the one closest to the camera, and as you can see, I haven’t aged a– Oh, never mind.

Good news for live musicians

By Edward Willett in Blog
July 12, 2008
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Neuroscientists have found that a piano sonata played by a human being elicits stronger emotional responses than the same piece played by a computer: Senior research fellow in psychology [at the University of Susses] Dr Stefan Koelsch, who carried out the study with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences …

Willett of the Day: Ed Willett, Cellist

By Edward Willett in Blog
July 11, 2008
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Here’s another Ed Willett, this one a noted cellist: Ed Willett earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California School of Music in Los Angeles, California. He is a cellist, guitarist, composer, arranger, and vocalist. During his education at U.S.C., he studied with cellist Eleanor Schoenfeld. While in Los Angeles, he …

Milestones in musical technology

By Edward Willett in Blog, Science Columns
April 7, 2008
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I’ve always had an interest in the myriad ways art and science intersect: not surprisingly, Leonardo da Vinci is a hero of mine. Few arts have been altered more by advances in science and technology than music, a point made by New Scientist’s Technology Blog recently when it listed five milestones in music technology (and …

Like, wow, man: "White Rabbit" Star Trek

By Edward Willett in Blog
February 21, 2008
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Classic Trek scenes set to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”. Jimi and Janis would both approve. (Via SF Signal.)

Cover of my Janis Joplin book

By Edward Willett in Blog
January 3, 2008
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As I noted in the previous post, my children’s biography of Janis Joplin, Take Another Little Piece of My Heart, will be out from Enslow Publishers as part of their American Rebels series sometime this year (currently, Amazon says May). I just discovered the cover art has now been posted on Amazon, and here it …

Cover of my Janis Joplin book

By Edward Willett in Blog
January 3, 2008
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Acoustics

By Edward Willett in Blog, Science Columns
November 26, 2007
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Acoustics have been on my mind recently, and not just because of (as some might suggest) the echoing empty space between my ears. First came the CFL Western semi-final game at Mosaic Stadium, where noise, reflected and focused by the stands, played at least some role in the Riders’ victory—and utterly failed to carry from …

Shield your eyes, or you’ll go blind:

By Edward Willett in Blog
November 19, 2007
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It’s an entire blog devoted to awful (unbelievably awful) Swedish album covers. Because somebody‘s got to make sure these things aren’t allowed to slink quietly into the dank mists of history… (Via ColbyCosh.com.)

Beautiful singing starts with science

By Edward Willett in Blog, Science Columns
October 22, 2007
4 mins to read
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Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast. As I mentioned last column, I spent last week singing with the Canadian Chamber Choir in southern Ontario. In addition to concerts, we also took part in several workshops with musicians ranging in age from eight to 80. Our director, Dr. Julia Davids, who …