Reviewing the TED.com site, I watched several talks that were music related and informative and entertaining. One such talk by Mark Applebaum, entitled "The mad scientist of music", was particularly interesting. Mark is a composer in a very nontraditional sense of the word. The meat of his talk was framed around the question "Is it music?".
Surrounding this question, Applebaum sought to focus on boredom and how he uses it as a catalyst for creativity and invention, how it forced him to change the fundamental question he was asking in his discipline, and how it pushed him towards taking on roles beyond the traditional narrow definition of what it means to be a composer. He began with an excerpt from Beethoven, commenting that it was boring. Shocking, right? But what Applebaum did from here was transform the audience from being shocked by his statement to eventually leaning more towards agreeing with it. The resolve was that Beethoven's music is amazingly composed, however for a pianist, after learning it and playing it over and over, the excitement begins to die down. Applebaum used this boredom and went from being an interpreter of music (someone who plays other people's compositions) to being an improviser.
There was another TED talk that related to his in a way. Charles Limb, a surgeon and creativity researcher held a TED talk entitled "The brain on improv". In his research, he studies the different areas of the brain that are triggered during music improv versus playing or recited memorized pieces. He found that a common area that showed activity was the brains expressive communication area.
Both of these talks presented interesting information separately but jointly as well. Limb's research potentially explains why Applebaum approaches music and composition the way he does. This area of the brain that is active during acts of improv are linked to communication and self-expression. A musician is allowed to express him/herself and not just the work of another person. In the same way that Chris Anderson, during his TED Talk, "How web vide powers global innovation", explained a person having to open themselves up when joining the digital world, a musician opens themselves up during improv. Whether there's one or one million viewers, you are wide open and vulnerable for all to see.
These TED Talks allow millions insight into very important research and very important work of composers and scientists. As a musical artist, lots of time, energy, and thought goes into my craft - into its development and growth. Limb shows the significance of the brain in musical creation and Applebaum demonstrates the emotional satisfaction of creation, both of which lend me a different lens with which to view my own musical creations and encouragement to activate those expressive communication areas of my own frontal lobe.
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