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How I fell in love with the drums

How I fell in love with the drums

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By Clayton Cameron As a 5-year-old kid, I barely knew what the word rhythm meant. At least no one told me what banging on inanimate objects and creating my own little beats might be called. It was like rhythm chose me and I really had no say in the matter. My favorite elementary school pastime was tabletop []

A littleBit rock ‘n’ roll: Reggie Watts rocks the newly launched SynthKit, and electronic music goes mini-modular

A littleBit rock ‘n’ roll: Reggie Watts rocks the newly launched SynthKit, and electronic music goes mini-modular

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Above: Reggie Watts demonstrates the littleBits SynthKit For the last week, the internet has been grooving to the video above of Reggie Watts making some funky noise with the newly launched SynthKit — the latest offering from littleBits electronic building block company, and the product of a three-way partnership between littleBits, Watts and world-renowned synthmasters KORG. The []

Sanctuaries of sound in New York City: Fellows Friday with Susie Ibarra

Sanctuaries of sound in New York City: Fellows Friday with Susie Ibarra

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Percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra is creating virtual sanctuaries for real cities. Working in collaboration with local artists, historians, architects, city planners and musicians, Ibarra and her partner Roberto Rodriguez — who together form Electric Kulintang — have created a musical pilgrimage that takes the public on a sound walk through 12 sites in Lower []

25 songs to celebrate innovators: A Spotify playlist inspired by TEDWomen

25 songs to celebrate innovators: A Spotify playlist inspired by TEDWomen

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Inspired by the theme of TEDWomen 2013, “Invented Here,” we’ve created a killer playlist with songs about women who’ve innovated, made a difference, taken a stand and changed history in the process. Our mixtape of tunes include: a Swedish dance-pop tribute to Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity, Jane Birkin’s ode to the work and ideals []

Matters of the heart: RuthAnne at TEDGlobal 2013

Matters of the heart: RuthAnne at TEDGlobal 2013

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As this amazing week of TEDGlobal 2013 winds to a close with Session 8: Altogether Now, the audience is still reeling from a shocking talk on the mighty roots of corruption by Charmian Gooch, founder of Global Witness. What better to help soothe the soul than the rich and sultry voice of Irish-born pop singer-songwriter []

That big old voice: Lissie at TEDGlobal 2013

That big old voice: Lissie at TEDGlobal 2013

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“I started writing songs to be heard, to get attention. In life, being understood is really important to me,” says Lissie in a near-whisper into the microphone. “I write songs to process my emotions, and when we tour it’s cool to see other people process their emotions with my songs.” And with that, she and []

A Latin ode to Michael Jackson

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Got a case of the Mondays? We’re hoping that this performance from TEDxFIU might be enough to snap you out it. In this video, Peruvian and Japanese musician Tony Succar gives an big band tribute to his favorite musician, Michael Jackson, imagining what his classic songs would sound like with Latin flair. Get ready to []

10 talks that involve highly unusual instruments

10 talks that involve highly unusual instruments

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Music comes in all shapes and sizes, as these talks illustrate. From an electric drum suit called “thunderwear” to an ancient stringed wheel to an arresting rare organ, the instruments featured in these talks reshape our soundscape and offer inspiration in the cacophonous world around us. [ted id=413 width=560 height=315]David Holt plays mountain music In []

There are no mistakes on the bandstand: Stefon Harris on TED.com

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What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational Jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don’t react to them appropriately. (Recorded at TEDSalon NY 2011, November 2011, in New York, New York. Duration: 13:11) [ted id=1298] Watch Stefon Harris’s talk on TED.com, []

@TEDMED: Catching up with Charles Limb, hip-hop creativity researcher

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The TED team is eagerly watching our content partner conference, TEDMED, happening now in California. (Look for TEDMED video fresh from stage in the coming weeks!) TED’s own Nafissa, is reporting from the conference; this morning, she caught a few minutes with TEDTalks favorite Charles Limb, who studies what creativity looks like in the brains []

A US lecture tour for Thomas Dolby and the Floating City

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEqJeua-_1M] TED’s musical director, Thomas Dolby, will be touring the United States in October, talking about his online game, The Floating City, and playing songs from his new album live. Here’s where you can catch him: Washington, DC, The Loft: Oct. 3. New York City, Tribeca: Oct. 5. Chicago, Martyr’s: Oct. 7. Seattle, The Triple []

A flirtatious aria: Danielle de Niese on TED.com

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Can opera be ever-so-slightly sexy? The glorious soprano Danielle de Niese shows how, singing the flirty “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss.” Which, translated, means, as you might guess: “I kiss so hot.” From Giuditta by Frans Lehár; accompanist: Ingrid Surgenor. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: 5:55.) [ted id=1235] Watch []