Music Facts (20 of them, there's probably more)

[Bapu]

20 weird and wonderful facts about music

Think you know everything there is to know about music? Prepare to be blown away as we take a look at some of the most interesting, unbelievable facts about musicians and the music industry.

1. One in five country music songs refer to alcohol, one in three to tears and one in seven to “mama”.

2. Not a single member of the Beatles could read or write music.

3. The most expensive instrument in the world is the “Lady Blunt” Stradivarius violin, which sold in 2011 for US$15.9 million.

4. A 2007 study found that music, classical in particular, can help make plants grow faster.

5. Barry Manilow didn’t write the song called “I Write the Songs”

6. In 2008, researchers discovered that loud music makes customers in bars drink more alcohol in less time.

7. Leo Fender, the founder of the iconic electric guitar and bass brand and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, never learned to play either instrument.

8. In 2015, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield released the first ever album recorded entirely in space, named Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can.

9. For every US$1,000 of music sold, the average musician only makes about US$23.40.

10. The first (and only) band to play on all seven continents is Metallica.

11. In “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Freddie Mercury plays on the very same piano used by Paul McCartney in “Hey Jude”.

12. Music, along with painting, poetry, literature and architecture, was Olympic event from 1912 until 1948.

13. Mozart sold more CDs than Beyoncé in 2016.

14. When you listen to music, the brain releases the same feel-good hormone (dopamine) it does during ***** and eating.

15. In 1952, American composer John Cage created a song titled “4’44”. It consisted of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

16. The longest song title ever is Hoagy Carmichael’s 1943 “I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin' Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues.”

17. There are more people in Monaco’s orchestra than in its army.

18. Bryan Adams photographed The Queen for a Canadian postal stamp commemorating Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee.

19. A 2001 study found that cows produce more milk when listening to relaxing moo-sic (sorry, we couldn’t resist!).

20. In the US in 2005, vinyl record sales only reached US$35 million. In 2015, sales had exploded to $416 million.

21. Bapu has an Alembic Series I bass.

[Jan]

"John Cage created a song titled “4’44”. It consisted of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence."

Are you sure about that? ;>

[Bapu]

Here are 25 Kickass and Interesting Facts About Music.

1. Garth Brooks is one of the last holdout big-name musicians who still refuses to put his music on iTunes because he disagrees with Apple’s approach to selling music. He will make his back catalog of hits and his new music available for download, but only through his own website. 

2. Between 2005-2007, Sony BMG used music cds to illegally install rootkits on user computers to prevent them from ripping copyrighted music. The rootkits themselves apparently infringed copyright by failing to adhere to the licensing requirements of various pieces of open-source software whose code was used in the program.

3. Hitchcock didn’t want music in Psycho’s shower scene. He practically doubled composer Bernard Herrmann’s salary after seeing the scene with music.

4. Some of the original Playstation 1 games had the game music set as CD audio, meaning you could listen to the game music from a normal CD player. Some games contained hidden tracks that could only be accessed this way. 

5. Classical and heavy metal music both attracts listeners with similar personalities but dissimilar ages. Younger members apparently go for heavy metal, while their older counterparts prefer classical. However, both have the same basic motivation: to hear something dramatic and theatrical, a shared “love of the grandiose, 

6. Famed jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt was in Paris during the ***** occupation. Despite being a gypsy, handicapped, a player of a banned music style, and a known friend of blacks and Jews, the Germans left him alone because some higher ***** officers were huge fans of his music.

7. Musician Beck’s last album was released only in sheet music form, for others to interpret. No cd’s, no digital download, just sheet music.

8. In retail stores slow music is played to keep you shopping and spend more. In restaurants fast music is played to speed up turnaround.

9. Eye movement in music reading is an extremely complex phenomenon that involves a number of unresolved issues in psychology. Despite some 30 studies in this area over the past 70 years, little is known about the underlying patterns of eye movement in music reading.

10. On the one-year anniversary of the Curiosity rover’s landing on Mars, it played “Happy Birthday” to itself making “Happy Birthday” the first song and Curiosity the first device used to play music on a foreign planet.

11. In 2006, VH1 Classic ran fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina relief in which viewers could donate $25 to see the music video of their choice. One viewer donated $35, 000. The viewer could have selected an hour’s worth of music videos from the 1960s through the early 1990s. However, they chose something different for his allotted hour, requesting continuous playing of 99 Luftballons.

12. In 2008, an Ohio man named Andrew Vactor was sentenced to listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin for 20 hours, after being caught for playing rap music too loud, as an alternative to paying a full fine of $150. He only lasted 15 minutes before leaving. 

13. Actor Mel Brooks was a combat engineer during the Battle of the Bulge. When the Germans played propaganda recordings over loudspeakers, Brooks responded by setting up his own sound system and played music by Al Jolson, a Jewish musician. 

14. Florida passed a law requiring toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music every day, and in 1998 the governor of Georgia budgeted $105,000 per year to provide every child born in Georgia with a tape or CD of classical music. 

15. A McDonald’s in Mount Annan, Sydney Austrailia has been playing classical music on purpose to force teenagers off of its premises at late night.

16. Hans Zimmer, the composer/producer for over 150 movies, including The Lion King, Gladiator, all Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Pearl Harbor, Rush, Inception, the Dark Knight, etc.; had only 2 weeks of formal music education (piano lessons as a child). 

17. Beethoven won a sight reading piano competition by turning his sheet music upside down, playing it, then improvising on one of its themes for thirty minutes. His opponent, Daniel Steibelt, never returned to challenge him again.

18. Police in Belfast, Northern Ireland used music from ice cream van to calm angry teen rioters.

19. There is a music piece called “As Slow as Possible” which started in 2001 and has a duration of 639 years. It can take years for a single note to be played.

20. In 2008, Warner Music Group was collecting over $5,000 a day ($2 million a year) in royalties for public usage of the “Happy Birthday” song. They have been known to charge up to $10,000 for usage of the song in film. This is also why restaurants have their own birthday songs when you visit. 

21. The chills you get when listening to music are caused by the release of dopamine in your body.

22. The US military would play Enter Sandman for hours on end to aid in the interrogation and torture of prisoners. When asked about this, Metallica’s James Hetfield responded “We’ve been punishing our parents, our wives, our loved ones with this music forever. Why should the Iraqis be any different?”

23. When Beethoven went deaf, he composed his music by hacking the legs off his piano and sitting on the floor so he could feel the vibrations.

24. A Sea Organ in Croatia continuously plays music powered by waves that flow through tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps.

25. The song Miserere was composed by Gregorio Allegri during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s for use in the Sistine Chapel. At some point, it became forbidden to transcribe the music and it was allowed to be performed only at some particular services, thus adding to the mystery surrounding it. Writing it down or performing it elsewhere was punishable by excommunication. The 14-year-old Mozart listened to the piece two times, transcribed it from memory, and produced the first unauthorized copy of the song. 

26. Bapu thinks his Alembic bass is a secret.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Bapu

[Bapu]

38 minutes ago, Jan said:

"John Cage created a song titled “4’44”. It consisted of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence."

Are you sure about that? ;>

Cut-n-pasted from the web, so go ask them. ? 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Bapu

[Bapu]

39 minutes ago, Jan said:

"John Cage created a song titled “4’44”. It consisted of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence."

Are you sure about that? ;>

Who's to say when it actually starts and ends? Do the musicians play something before and after it? What device is used to measure the time? A Casio watch or an atomic clock?

[Tim Smith]

It can't end until it starts. This I know.

[craigb]

An Alembic??!  (*Chortle!*)

[DeeringAmps]

3 hours ago, Bapu said:

5. Barry Manilow didn’t write the song called “I Write the Songs”

and Scott English and Richard Kerr wrote Mandy.

t

[JohnG]

In 12 Tone Equal Temperament (modern) tuning, every note except the octave (2:1) is out of tune, i.e. not a perfect harmonic ratio. E.T.

[Jan]

13 hours ago, Bapu said:

Who's to say when it actually starts and ends? Do the musicians play something before and after it? What device is used to measure the time? A Casio watch or an atomic clock?

Huh? You wrote the title  "4’44”" (not the actual title) and then explained that it lasts 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

[kennywtelejazz]

14 hours ago, Bapu said:

 

15 weird and wonderful facts about Me

1. I have an Alembic

2. Alembic is a real good Bass if not the best .

3. My Alembic is better than your Fender .

4. When you play an Alembic , you can hear the music playing itself .

5. Only a handful of people in the world are truly worthy to play an Alembic

6. Yes ! I know you know this ....I am one of the worthy ones .

7. If you feel your latest upcoming musical project is lacking something you may be right

8. It may  need to have me playing bass on my Alembic to bring out the songs subtle nuances and bring it up a few notches  .

9. Eye movement in music reading is an extremely complex phenomenon that involves a number of unresolved issues in psychology. Despite some 30 studies in this area over the past 70 years, The only study worth anything is the video I have up on my u tube page where I'm playing my Alembic demonstrating this principle .

10. Every year on my birthday my Alembic throws a surprise birthday party for me to show me the Love .

11, I always wash my hands twice after I do any non musical activity because when I play my Alembic I want it to be a fresh clean experience .

12 When I finally lost my virginity , my Alembic was sitting there calmly in the front seat of the car as my chaperone while I was in the back seat with my date fumbling around .

13, The chills you get when listening to one of my songs  are caused simply by the release of dopamine in your body because your body has become conditioned to Love the sound of my Alembic .

14, I can go anyplace in public and have complete privacy as long as I don't mention I have an Alembic . The moment I mention I have an Alembic TMZ runs a live feed and then a mob forms around me where all the people try to take selfies of themselves with me and my Alembic

15 I don't know if you know this or not ....I have an Alembic

 

I could not resist

Kenny

Edited April 13, 2022 by kennywtelejazz

[craigb]

48 minutes ago, Jan said:

Huh? You wrote the title  "4’44”" (not the actual title) and then explained that it lasts 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

[craigb]

Quote

The Alembic is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling Bapu projecting from its forehead. Wikipedia

 

[Shane_B.]

16 hours ago, Bapu said:

15. In 1952, American composer John Cage created a song titled “4’44”. It consisted of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

I can't wait for the 2022 stereo remaster of that one.

[Bapu]

10 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

I can't wait for the 2022 stereo remaster of that one.

It might get loud. 

 

 

 

 

Too loud.

[kennywtelejazz]

                                                    Only the best is good enough!

                                          

Kenny

[Shane_B.]

On 4/13/2022 at 9:34 AM, Bapu said:

It might get loud.

Too loud.

 

On 4/16/2022 at 9:11 AM, pwalpwal said:

when maxmized would it get louder or quieter?

Reminds me of the saying, "The silence is deafening.".

I wish I had an original 45 of the song. It would be great for sampling real vinyl record pops and clicks.

[bluzdog]

On 4/12/2022 at 3:50 PM, Bapu said:

5. Barry Manilow didn’t write the song called “I Write the Songs”

Bruce Johnston  did. He wasn't an original member of the Beach Boys but he joined the band in 1965.

[Gswitz]

The recording made in space was made with Cakewalk.

https://news.yahoo.com/news/space-guitar-hero-astronaut-record-cosmic-music-orbit-134801875.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

[craigb]

3 hours ago, Gswitz said:

The recording made in space was made with Cakewalk.

https://news.yahoo.com/news/space-guitar-hero-astronaut-record-cosmic-music-orbit-134801875.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

That's a bit out there! ?

(Hmm... Does support extend off-planet? ?)