NATURE: Big Sounds & Bird Songs
Dead whales tell tales -- of how the creatures create nature's most powerful sound. Elsewhere, naturalist Bret Whitney's ears are sensitive enough -- and his brain big enough -- to sort out thousands of bird species by their sound. And scientists have a non-musical explanation for the snappy rhythms of the South American ovenbirds.  More...

MIND: Musical Savants, Synaesthetes, and Pitch-Perfectionist
Jazz pianist Matt Savage has just released his 5th album, and he can tell you the day of the week of the day you were born. Oh, and he's only 11 years old. Elsewhere, scientists are discovering the secret to why some people have perfect pitch -- the ability to identify a note without a reference point -- while others are exploring why some people see colors or shapes when they hear music.  More...

HEALTH: Healing Sounds & a Mysterious Hum
The lifesaving equipment being wheeled through the halls of some hospitals now includes keyboards and harps. Elsewhere, multi-sensory "Snoezelen" rooms are improving care for patients with dementia. (But what is that annoying hum that some Taos and Kokomo residents can hear -- and others cannot?)  More...



How to Do it All
Atlanta magazine's recent list of "How to" instructions included several musical entries involving hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri, entertainment attorney Joel Katz, and country-music fan Senator Zell Miller.  More...

Ruh Roh! Casey Kasem Departs Top 40
The voice that launched thousands of weekly "American Top 40" radio shows is cutting back -- to Top 20. Casey Kasem, who also was the voice of Shaggy (on Scooby-Do) and countless other cartoon characters, has passed the Top 40 microphone to Ryan Seacrest. The "Dick Clark of radio" will continue with a smaller show and different radio formats.  More...

Frampton Comes Alive (Again), Can't Stop
People may have forgotten that rock guitarist Peter Frampton released one of the top-selling albums of all time, played with Bowie & Harrison, and appeared on The Simpsons. But most do remember one thing: his blasted talking guitar!  More...



One More Hour "In the Neighborhood"
A Requiem for Mr. Rogers
A year ago, children's television icon Fred Rogers died of stomach cancer at age 74. Now his home city of Pittsburgh is honoring his life with a newly-composed hour of music for orchestra and choir.  More...

How to Survive When the Crowd Goes Wild
February of 2003 was a bad month for club-goers: a stampede in Chicago killed 21, and only four days later, a fire in Rhode Island killed 100. When disaster strikes, how can you live to boogie another day?  More...

Bottom Line Rules: Bottom Line Closes
The legendary Greenwich Village music venue, The Bottom Line, has closed. Its landlord, New York University, evicted the club after it had failed to pay almost $200,000 in rent over the past two years.  More...

Caven Club Clones
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are reviving another historic club -- and taking it on the road. The Cavern Club, launching point for the British Invasion, is not only back in business in Liverpool, but its clones are popping up in Spain, Australia, Japan and Brazil.  More...



Yo! The History of Yodeling
Finally, the book we've all been hollering for: disk jockey Bart Plantenga has released "The Secret History of Yodeling around the World." More than just a Swiss miss, the vocal style is found in folk traditions from Hawai'i to Central Africa, and in recorded music from Kid Rock and De La Soul to Fugees, Focus, and Rossini.  More...

Another 9-11 Casualty: Piano Museum Closes
Many Lower Manhattan businesses have suffered from the Sept. 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Add to the sad refrain the quirky little Museum of the American Piano, which has found itself unable to pay the rent.  More...

The Vinyl Solution
Not only is the vinyl LP disappearing, but perhaps the entire concept of "album" as well. A recent USA Today article argues that "the very concept of songs integrated into a whole faces extinction." Meanwhile, the New York Times provides tips for converting your vinyl LP collection to digital form.  More...



Radio Beamed from Lofty Heights
Music critic Stephen Holden has found the missing mystique of pop radio. The raw, eclectic magic of 1960s underground radio, which Paul Simon once called the "deep forbidden music," has emerged in digital form, broadcast directly from satellites.  More...

"Rumba in the Jungle"
The broken land of Congo still rocks with a sexy, home-grown music that has swept Africa and Europe. As the tattering economy and social fabric take their toll on the local music scene, expatriate Congolese musicians are on the rise in Paris and Brussels.  More...



Cool Jazz -- A Minus 321 Fahrenheit
Musicians give baseball players a run for their money when it comes to superstitions and folk beliefs. In recent years, brass players have been buzzing about how supercooling their horns with liquid nitrogen makes them… supercool. A new scientific study pours cold water on this notion.  More...

'ey! 'old on to that Armonica!
The glass armonica -- no relation to the "blues harp" harmonica -- is an unlikely instrument with an unlikely history. Invented by Ben Franklin (yes, THAT Ben Franklin) in 1761, its ghostly tones have inspired Mozart compositions -- and shattered musicians' sanity.  More...

"Invention for 900 Hands," Parts 7 & 8
Since last spring, the New York Times has been following the "birth" of No. K0862, a concert grand piano being built at Steinway's Astoria plant. In the two most recent installments, the piano played its first notes (the theme from the Simpsons, of course) and started receiving an extensive tweaking of its "personality."  More...



How to get to Carnegie Hall? Be a First-Grader in Harlem.
(Oh yes... and Practice!!!)
The recent "Fiddlefest" at Carnegie Hall was the 10th annual such fundraiser for the Opus 118 Harlem Center for Strings. Could the kids keep their little violins in-tune and scratch-free during "Jingle Bells"? And what musical celebrities showed up to jam?  More...

Top Music School Encourages File Sharing?
At a time when the recording industry is trying to figure out how to stop file sharing, the school that claims the most successful alumni in professional music is trying to figure out how to get it started. The difference: Boston's Berklee College of Music is creating a series of audio and video materials that are intended for sharing over peer-to-peer networks.  More...

What makes Kapilow Great?
Who is Robert Kapilow, and why does he want everyone back in the concert hall? His sharing of knowledge, insights and passion about great music -- classical and popular -- is not just his way of showing off. His mission is to turn "passive spectators" into "educated participants."  More...