On picking up the cello again after 30 years

March 16, 2023 Chris Cannam

For most of the last 30 years I've had a cello sitting in a case in a corner of the flat, unplayed. I described myself as a lapsed cellist, former cellist, sort-of cello player when younger, someone who is just not really playing these days. Occasionally I would get the cello out and tune it.… Continue reading On picking up the cello again after 30 years

Music · Things that Are Gone

Bowie

January 20, 2016January 21, 2016 Chris Cannam1 Comment

Here's a playlist of good David Bowie songs that I had never heard until after he died last week. Spotify playlist YouTube links: Dead Against It (1993) Up The Hill Backwards (1980) Move On (1979) Dancing With The Big Boys (1984) (with Iggy Pop) I Would Be Your Slave (2002) Girl Loves Me (2016) You've… Continue reading Bowie

Holes in the Ground · Music

Performance Practice as Unanticipated Pit

June 11, 2013 Chris Cannam

Last Tuesday afternoon I went to the weekly meeting of my research group. (But this isn't a post about work.) The weekly meetings have a rotating series of themes: this week's was "Music Performance and Expression". Accordingly, the first part of this meeting was a bit of a concert. To open the subject, Elaine Chew… Continue reading Performance Practice as Unanticipated Pit

Academics · Code · Computers · Music

Is music recommendation difficult?

January 13, 2012May 24, 2012 Chris Cannam3 Comments

My research department works on programming computers to analyse music. In this field, researchers like to have some idea of whether a problem is naturally easy or difficult for humans. For example, tapping along with the beat of a musical recording is usually easy, and it's fairly instinctive—you don't need much training to do it.… Continue reading Is music recommendation difficult?