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bad singer

Media Round-up #3

Media Round-up #3

By Tim on December 30, 2016

Bad Singer is still popping up in the media so here’s another round-up as 2016 comes to a close. Year-end Lists “A music fan who can’t carry a tune to save his life, Falconer digs into the science of singing, offering himself up as a guinea pig along the way. He might be a terrible […]

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music | Tagged amusia, bad singer, books, how we hear music, music, music and the brain, music science, tone deafness

Media Round-up #1

Media Round-up #1

By Tim on June 2, 2016

I’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of attention for Bad Singer. And the above illustration, from this Quill & Quire profile, makes me look far better and younger than I deserve. Here’s a round-up of the coverage so far: Reviews • “Over the last decade there have been a number of books published about […]

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music | Tagged bad singer, books, reviews, tone deafness

A Bad Singer Playlist

By Tim on May 3, 2016

A Bad Singer Playlist “Writing about music,” Martin Mull quipped, “is like dancing about architecture.” Part of the problem, of course, is that the reader wants to hear what the writer is going on about. And, inevitably, I refer to many, many songs in Bad Singer: The Surprising Science of Tone Deafness and How We […]

Posted in Bad Singer, music | Tagged bad singer, Elvis Costello, isobel campbell, Joe Strummer, Johnny cash, Mark Lanegan, music, Neko Case, Otis Redding, rolling stones, Shuggie Otis, timbre, tone deafness, Wagner

The terroir of sound

The terroir of sound

By Tim on April 16, 2016

The terroir of sound Timbre — the terroir of sound — is crucial to how we hear music. But we don’t talk about it much because, unlike pitch, it has so far proven to be immune to measurement. The fine folks at Hazlitt, the excellent digital publication, have posted a Bad Singer excerpt that explains timbre’s role in music.

Posted in Bad Singer, music | Tagged bad singer, how we hear music, music, music cognition, music science, terroir of sound, timbre

Why I won’t sing at my book launch

Why I won’t sing at my book launch

By Tim on April 13, 2016

Why I won’t sing at my book launch Yes, my new book is called Bad Singer. No, I won’t sing at the launch party. That’s because I am part of just 2.5 percent of the population that suffers from amusia, the technical term for tone deafness. Amusia is a brain disorder similar to dyslexia. And […]

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music | Tagged amusia, bad singer, book launch, books, house of anansi, how we hear music, music and the brain, singing, tone deafness

The Globe and Mail names Bad Singer to most anticipated books list

By Tim on January 10, 2016

The Globe and Mail names Bad Singer to “most anticipated books” list

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music, writing | Tagged amusia, bad singer, how we hear music, music, music and the brain, music science, singing, tone deafness

Bad Singer cover

Bad Singer cover

By Tim on January 10, 2016

My next book, Bad Singer: The Surprising Science of Tone Deafness and How We Hear Music, will be out May 14, 2016. Here’s the cover.

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music, writing | Tagged amusia, bad singer, how we hear music, music, music and the brain, music science, science of music, tone deafness

Definitely Not the Opera, Indeed

By Tim on October 18, 2014

Definitely Not the Opera, Indeed DNTO, or Definitely Not the Opera, the excellent CBC Radio show did an episode called “Raise your voice: why is singing so powerful?” on Thanksgiving weekend. I was part of it, talking about bad singing. The producer who did the pre-interview didn’t say anything about wanting me to sing, but once […]

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music | Tagged amusia, bad singer, Definitely Not the Opera, DNTO, music, music and the brain, singing, tone deafness

"The Ballad of Tin Ears"

“The Ballad of Tin Ears”

By Tim on May 6, 2014

“The Ballad of Tin Ears” As part of my Bad Singer book project, I helped make a radio doc called “The Ballad of Tin Ears” for CBC Radio Ideas. It airs Tuesday, May 6 at 9 pm on CBC 1. If that’s not a convenient time for you, the show is available for streaming anytime (also […]

Posted in Bad Singer, books, music | Tagged amusia, bad singer, cbc ideas, ethnomusicology, music, music and the brain, nueroscience, psychology, singing, the ballad of tin ears, tone deafness

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