• Conference reviews,  Music & Language,  Music and hearing,  SMPC13

    SMPC Day 2: Session 1 (Parallels and Impairments)

    Day 2 of the conference began with overcast skies but a very enjoyable trip to the local coffee shop. I like the fact that you can actually get a small coffee here in Canada – ask for a small coffee in the UK (other than espresso) and you get a substantial mug of coffee which for me is a waste as I don’t want much. So, fueled with my delightful mini kick I headed to the 8.40am start. Today I planned to duck between sessions; I started in ‘Parallels and Improvements’ and a talk by Bob Slevc (University of Maryland). Bob has been working on a follow-up to his study…

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  • Conference reviews,  Music & Memory,  Singing,  SMPC13

    SMPC Day 1: Session 4 (Learning and Pitch)

    In rounding off the first day of SMPC I decided to skip a little between sessions. This tactic had the secondary benefit of helping me work off the enormous (and delicious) heap of noodles that I had consumed for lunch. The first talk I attended in the final session was called ‘What makes a siren sultry?’ – I think you will agree a pretty great title! The talk was by John Purcell (High Point University, USA) and was focused on how attractiveness in singers impacts on people’s perceptions of their vocal quality and talent. The research is based on the well known ‘Halo effect’ within psychology, whereby specific judgement about…

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