Beatboxing how it works in the brain

Beatboxing how it works in the brain Introduction As I was surfing through the internet, a viral video had caught my attention. At the time, it had roughly one million views and thus sparked my interest, so I watched it. In this video, a fairly large man began to move his lips and multiple sounds came out. He starts out slowly by setting a bass foundation and eventually adds a rhythmic part to the foundation. To the rhythm and foundation, he then adds a melody. Within the first 15 seconds, I recognize that he is indeed playing Bille Jean by Michael Jackson and it caught 100 percent of my attention. This man made me wonder how a human could possibly play 3 different parts of a song and how was he able to accomplish this feat. Now what was he doing in this video exactly? This man was beatboxing. Beatboxing is the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using ones mouth, lips, tongue, voice, nasal passage and throat.[i] Thus this video had caused me to further examine beatboxing and try to answer the question: how is t his man able to play multiple different parts, when the only source is him? To attempt to even answer this question, this paper will first give a brief history on beatboxing to give the reader a basic understanding on the concept of beatboxing before exploring how this type of music interacts with the brain. The video clip will then be analyzed to form a conclusion based on the analysis. The Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzoj7YB7IA History of Beatboxing Prehistory of Beatboxing The root of beatboxing is vocal percussion and it has been a part of human history for hundreds of years and can be traced back to Africa. As part of African ritualistic music, vocal percussion patterns such as, hup, hup, hup, hup and Ch Ka Ch Ch were used to help performers become induced into a trance like state, in addition to using clapping and stamping to maintain rhythm. Then during the 17th Century, when African slaves were taken to plantations, African music was blended with European folk and brass band music becoming jazz and blues. These black slaves were generally poor and usually couldnt afford musical instruments and so improvised with their bodies and voices to create music. Claps and clicks became the drums, and low hums because the double bass; the two back bones of blues and jazz music. One would hum, one would clap, stick and hit things as the drums, and one would sing. This would eventually evolve into imitating many sounds, such as the shhchh of a soft snare and the tssa of the hi-hat being played with brushes. Blues groups found a way to make their music with nothing but their voicesImmediately, this form of vocal percussion became a staple of urban culture, that is, culture of the street.[ii] Old Skool: The Beginning of Beatboxing Beatboxing, like graffiti, seems to have begun as an urban art form. It appears with the beginning of hip-hop, which gets its start from DJs spinning records, while MCs are rapping. MCs could also be seen rapping over drum machine (also known as the beat box) beats. Since these drum machines couldnt have been purchased in the ghettos (aka poor urban cities), people began trying to imitate these drum machines with their mouths and thus became human beatboxers. New School: Beatboxing As We Know It Now During the 1990s, a new type of beatboxer appeared that developed new sounds and techniques. A great example of this is a beatboxer from 1999 called Rahzel, who used a method called auditory illusion to make listeners believe that he is indeed singing and beatboxing at the same time. The beatboxing song that Rahzel first revealed this new sound and technique with was If Your Mother Only Knew which was reconfigured from Aaliyahs 1997 song If Your Girl Knew. How Does Beatboxing Work in The Brain? Auditory Continuity Illusion Audio continuity affects whether a frequency component is thought of as being continuous in time or if a frequency component contains gaps. Our brains can perceive a song as being continuous, even if it is not. Auditory continuity works by filling in these missing gaps with a different sound, which our brain then fills in the missing portions of the song, even if they arent there. Our brain is thus producing a perception of a sound that is not truly there because it thinks that the two sounds are taking place at the same time. This is how Rahzel is able to make one believe that he is singing and beatboxing at the same time in the If Your Mother Only Knew song. What listener does really hear is this pattern: B[iff] your Pff[mother] B B[on] B[ly] B[knew] B[knew] B B B Pff B = Classic Kick Pff = Classic Snare although the brain actually interprets this pattern as 2 different streams. A link to this song is: Grouping by Pitch Proximity Tempo Beatboxing also works by increasing pitch separation and tempo. Our brain sets limits on what should be physically possible for instruments such as guitar strings or the human voice box. When the sounds we hear are outside of the brains limits, it thinks of other reasons why these sounds are outside. An example of this is: if we hear frequency changes that are way quicker than would normally be possible, the brain interprets it as coming from separate sources, even it is coming from a single source. This is because it is easier for the brain to believe that with multiple sources, the sound would reach the ear quicker. Thus beatboxing works by making the brain think that there are multiple sources creating the sound, when there is not. Beatboxing Song from Video Analysis In order to collect data from this video to analyze, I converted the video into an mp3 file using http://www.listentoyoutube.com/index.php . Then opened it into the WaveSurfer computer program and had it create both a pitch contour and spectrogram diagrams at different time intervals. This should reveal how the beatboxer in the video is able to create sounds that seem to come from multiple sources. The top box is the pitch contour and the bottom box is a spectrogram. Pitch Contour Spectrogram @ 10 mm/s Pitch Contour Spectrogram @ 50 mm/s Pitch Contour Spectrogram @ 100 mm/s Pitch Contour Spectrogram @ 250 mm/s As one compares the pitch contours, they are able to see that the beat boxer is actually putting into affect grouping by pitch proximity tempo to make the brain believe that there are multiple sources. He is able to change frequencies so fast that our brain is not able to comprehend the sound as coming from one source, as seen in the last diagram where pitch contour spectrogram are in 250 mm/s intervals. Conclusion Beatboxing is a perceived art; it makes us believe in something that isnt true. It is made clear that there is only one source producing all of the sounds, but the tricks of beatboxing tell our brains otherwise. By separating the different frequencies so quickly, our brain is not able to comprehend the sound coming from the same source and so we sense different streams. If there were indeed multiple sources, the spectrogram and pitch contours would have shown multiple frequencies overlapping one another, which clearly is not evident. Grouping by increasing pitch separation and increase tempo (speed in this case) is exactly how the beatboxer in the video is able to make me believe that there are multiple sources creating the sounds. Thus the question: how is this man able to play multiple different parts, when the only source is him, is solved. References [i] Vocal Echo. Humanbeatbox.com. 2009. Humanbeatbox.com, Web. 2 Mar 2010. . [ii] TyTe, , and Defenicial. The Real History of Beatboxing : Part 1. Vocal Echo 2008: n. pag. Web. 2 Mar 2010. . [iii] Al Bregman: Auditory Analysis. Web. 2 Mar 2010. .

The calamities of Julius Caesar :: Julius Caesar Essays

The calamities of Julius Caesar Tragedies most often refer back to the actions of men. The play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, provides a good example to how the quote is shown to be accurate." The calamities of tragedy do not simply happen, nor are they sent [by the gods]: they proceed mainly from actions, and those actions of men." This statement is profoundly proven through the past and present actions of the conspirators throughout the play. From the beginning of the play, the reader can identify who will necessarily betray and plot to murder Caesar. Cassius, main conspirator in this play, initially draws Brutus into the inner circle. From the beginning of the play, Cassius seeks Brutus for the newest addition to the plot and knows if Brutus is added, the plot will be successful. Even in the first scene of Act II Cassius is flattering Brutus in order to entice Brutus into joining the murderous group. "Your hidden worthiness into your eye, that you might see your shadow. I have heard where many of the best respect in Rome, speaking of Brutus, and groaning underneath this age's yolk, have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes." (p. 350 ln. 55-60) This quote depicts when Cassius first starts to flatter Brutus and say Brutus is the most respected and noble man in Rome. These compliments and forms of flattery are what first showed Brutus was kind of man the people see him as and what time of power Brutus could produce in himself. Actions at some moments in Julius Caesar speak louder than words. A prime example is when Cassius wants the men to make a pact to follow through with the murder, but Brutus speaks up and says that the pact is unnecessary. Brutus feels as though every man is a true Roman and each man is as trustworthy and noble as he. As for Antony's speech, this is a whole different story. The words Antony spoke to the public helped motivate the people to go against the conspirators. Thought the action of killing Caesar was a publicized one, Antony's speech was far from being unnoticed. All of the things which went on throughout the play all relate back to the actions of Cassius.

Is Climate Change Naturally or Man-Made? Essay

First of all, for anyone that does not know what climate change is, it is a change in the world’s climate. A lot of people think weather and climate is the same thing but it is not. The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time. Climate is what the conditions are over relatively long periods of time. My belief of the issue is that climate change is man-made. I think everyone has heard of global warming or an ice age, but does anyone really consider it to be a serious factor in the world? We only have one earth and once we destroy it, it is over. We have to do something about it because it seems like every year temperature records are getting broken because the summers are getting hotter and hotter and the winters are getting colder and colder. It would be different if the climate change was being made naturally but it is not, the majority, if not humans are causing all of the change. So, we have to do something about it. Extreme man-made changes in the climate are a very serious matter. There are many different reasons of how climate change is man-made. One of the main reasons is the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases. There are different ways of increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases such as burning fossil fuels like coal or oil and gas in your cars. â€Å"Currently, burning fossil fuels emits about 6.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Since before the industrial revolution, which, began in the 18th century, concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased by 30 percent†. (Torfaen) All of that carbon dioxide is eating away at our o-zone layer making it thinner and thinner. Another reason why our o-zone layer is diminishing is because we cut down all these trees for agriculture, space to build things, and wood to make things with. Trees absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and the fewer trees that are there to absorb the carbon dioxide, the more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The effects of climate change depend upon how much change there is, how fast it occurs, and how easily the world can adapt to the new conditions. If the change is to rapid then that will leave some species of animals or plants to be extinct because they don’t have enough time to move or adapt. Other examples such as â€Å"Coral reefs: slightly warmer tropical water may kill the algae which reef animals use for food†.(Homeworktips) Increase in temperature in the climate is making a lot of the ice cap and icebergs melt in the north. Which is making the ocean rise more. â€Å"Mangrove swamps: Mangrove swamps are important breeding grounds for many animals that live in water. Increased ocean flooding may damage these areas by changing the supply of nutrients and the amount of salt.†(Homeworktips) What can we do about the climate change to prevent or reduce the effects? â€Å"Three basic strategies are available, abatement, adaptation, and geo-engineering.†(Homeworktips) Abatement is where we slow or stop the affect by making things more energy efficient. Burning less coal, oil and natural gases. Adaptation is where we adapt or change to our surroundings. Protecting the coast by putting up barriers or dykes. Geo-engineering is where we engineer or change the earth. For example, reducing the amount of sunlight that hits the earth by putting small particles in the high atmosphere to reflect more sunlight back into the earth. Things that an individual can do to reduce the chance of climate change. Choose a car that has better gas mileage, insulate your home better, carpool or drive less. Some other less effective but helpful action can be turning off unnecessary lights, plant trees, and recycle. â€Å"If the average citizen undertakes all of these actions, they can reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by about 3%, which equals just over half a ton of carbon dioxide per year.†(Homeworktips) Now some people believe that the reason of climate change is naturally made. These people do have some points but to say that it is more of a factor then humans is wrong (In my belief). Some of these points include volcanoes, continental drift, earth’s tilt, and ocean currents. Volcanoes can erupt and produce ash that will exceed into the stratosphere. The ash could combine with rain and make acid rain and kills crops but that is very minimal. Continental drift affects it because of the more land at the equator means more absorption, which means it will be hotter. Obviously the earth’s tilt has something to do with the climate change because the tilt is what makes out seasons. Ocean currents affect it because it takes far more energy to change the temperature or water then land or air. So the ocean insulates the costal climates, which means that the inland area is more subjected to extreme climate ranges. All those factors considered, that is still small being compared to all of the human-made factors. This one article talks about the radical decline in sea ice around the artic and being 70% human’s fault. But then a new study was done and it could be 95% human’s fault. The global warming that the humans are making is destroying the ice around the arctic. The loss of ice is affecting the wildlife such as polar bears and if nothing is done they will eventually die because they drown. They drown because they go swimming to look for fish and when they want to come back it is gone and then they drown because there is no land. There is a climate system called Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation (AMO), which was the dominant source of variability in ice extent. â€Å"The AMO is a cycle of warming and cooling in the North Atlantic that repeats every 65 to 80 years – it has been in a warming phase since the mid-1970s. There is something called the ice-albedo feedback, which means that when you have less ice, it means there’s more open water and therefore the ocean absorbs more radiation and will continue to warm.†(Guardian) Therefore saying all I have to say hopefully informed people about the climate and the different causes that change it. We only have one earth and once we destroy it, it is over. Extreme climate change is a very serious matter and should not be over looked. I guess you can say it is both but about 90-95% of the change is man-made.

MBA Waitlist Strategies for Business School Applicants

When people apply to business school, they expect an acceptance letter or a rejection. What they dont expect is to be put on an MBA waitlist. But it happens. Being put on the waitlist is not a yes or a no. Its a maybe. What to Do If Youre Put on the Waitlist If youve been put on a waitlist, the first thing you should do is congratulate yourself. The fact that you did not get a rejection means that the school thinks you are a candidate for their MBA program. In other words, they like you. The second thing you should do is reflect on why you did not get accepted. In most cases, there is a particular reason why. It is often related to lack of work experience, a poor or lower than average GMAT score, or another weakness in your application. Once you know why youre waitlisted, you need to do something about it other than wait around. If youre serious about getting into business school, its important to take action to increase your chances of getting accepted. In this article, well explore a few key strategies that might get you off the MBA waitlist. Keep in mind that not every strategy presented here will be right for every applicant. The appropriate response will depend on your individual situation. Follow Instructions You will be notified if you are put on an MBA waitlist. This notification usually includes instructions on how you can respond to being waitlisted. For example, some schools will specifically state that you should NOT contact them to find out why you have been waitlisted. If you are told not to contact the school, do NOT contact the school. Doing so will only hurt your chances. If you are allowed to contact the school for feedback, it is important to do so. The admissions rep may be able to tell you exactly what you can do to get off the waitlist or strengthen your application. Some business schools will allow you to submit additional materials to supplement your application. For example, you may be able to submit an update letter on your work experience, a new recommendation letter, or a revised personal statement. However, other schools may ask you to avoid sending in anything extra. Again, it is important to follow instructions. Do not do anything that the school specifically asked you not to do.   Ã‚   Retake the GMAT The accepted applicants at many business schools commonly have GMAT scores that fall within a particular range. Check the schools website to see the average range for the most recently accepted class. If you fall beneath that range, you should retake the GMAT and submit your new score to the admissions office. Retake the TOEFL If you’re an applicant who speaks English as a second language, it is important that you demonstrate your ability to read, write, and speak English at the graduate level. If necessary, you may need to retake the TOEFL to improve your score. Be sure to submit your new score to the admissions office. Update the Admissions Committee If there is anything that you can tell the admissions committee that will add value to your candidacy, you should do it through an update letter or personal statement. For example, if you recently changed jobs, received a promotion, won an important award, enrolled or completed additional classes in math or business, or accomplished an important goal, you should let the admissions office know. Submit Another Recommendation Letter A well-written recommendation letter may help you to address a weakness in your application. For example, your application may not make it obvious that you have leadership potential or experience. A letter that addresses this perceived shortcoming could help the admissions committee learn more about you. Schedule an Interview Although most applicants are waitlisted because of a weakness in their application, there are other reasons why it can happen. For example, the admissions committee might feel like they just dont know you or they aren’t sure what you can bring to the program. This problem could be remedied with a face-to-face interview. If you are allowed to schedule an interview with alumni or someone on the admissions committee, you should do so as soon as possible. Prepare for the interview, ask smart questions about the school, and do what you can to explain weaknesses in your application and communicate what you can bring to the program.