The Art of Science and Song
Chair: Erinma Ochu
Ashley Burgoyne
University of Salford
University of Amsterdam
Bob MacCallum
Peter Lang
Imperial College London
Scen3
Marieke Navin
Sarah Metcalfe
University of Manchester
Playlists for Life
The Art of Science and Song
Bob MacCallum
Imperial College London
Population
Evaluation
Population
Evaluation
Fixed:
• Four bar loops
• 4/4 time signature
• Tempo
• 12 note scale
• Sample library
Evolved:
• Rhythms
• Melodies
• Sample choice
• Synth parameters
• Effects parameters and combinations
20+ hours
20+ hours
Population
Evaluation
Population
Evaluation
Population
Evaluation
So… put it on the web!
Tried several versions since 2006
None very successful
Clunky interfaces
No social component
No critical mass
Last attempt was evolectronica.com
A plan at last...
The experiment
Enlist help of Imperial College undergraduates
Piggyback Darwin 200/150 year anniversary
Press release, local radio, blogs, FB & Twitter
Call it something simple and catchy…
DarwinTunes
Can a population of consumers create “music”
through their aesthetic choices alone?
Students rate 50 loops a day for 5 days
Three replicate experiments / 40 students
No samples – just sine wave additive synthesis
Plus one population of loops under selection
by internet users
Randomly spawned
“internet” population
2500 generations
7000 participants
Randomly spawned
“internet” population
2500 generations
7000 participants
Randomly spawned
“internet” population
2500 generations
7000 participants
1000s new users
3500 more generations
1000s new users
3500 more generations
Then what…?
Discovery Festival, Amsterdam, 2013-09-27
DarwinTunes 2.0
Imperial Festival, London, 2014-05-10
Lessons learned
The novelty of crowd science isn’t enough when there’s no obvious societal benefit.
To create a self-sustaining crowd-sourced creative ecosystem, it needs to be:
• simple, intuitive and accessible
• fun and rewarding
• social
• give a sense of ownership
Failing that, pay or blackmail your subjects!
Acknowledgements
Erinma and the organisers
Collaborators: Armand Leroi, Matthias Mauch*, Steve Welburn*, Carl Bussey*
Imperial College London for hardware, press and support
The internet participants
*Queen Mary University of London
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13964815@N00/4868581263
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hello_World_C%2B%2B.png
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spombe_Pop2p_protein_structure_rainbow.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/protein_contact_map
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High-contrast-computer.svg
https://openclipart.org/detail/183456/stylized-headphones-v2
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=778179
https://openclipart.org/detail/213973/day-and-night
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Web-browser-openclipart.svg
Friends of Imperial College London
The Art and Science of Song:
Personal Music for Dementia
Sarah Metcalfe, CEO, Playlist for Life
#playlistforlife
@playlistforlife
“Responding to music is
one thing dementia cannot
destroy”
- Sally Magnusson, founder and Chair, Playlist for Life
Citizens first - the story of Playlist for Life
• Founded by writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson who cared for her
mother Mamie who had dementia.
• Sally observed that Mamie continued to respond to music even as her
dementia progressed.
• Research for Where Memories Go: why dementia changes everything
confirmed this is a recurring phenomenon with a mounting evidence
base
• Inspired by Music & Memory in the US, Playlist for Life was founded in
2013 to bring the power of personal music to people with dementia in
the UK.
• Gerdner’s Protocol 5th edition
• Initiated pilots and conducted user reviews – keen to recycle our
learning back into the research
Working with the scientists
• Evaluations: Rachel Prescott of Nottingham Universities Hospital.
Yvonne Cairns, Forth Valley NHS; our own User Review.
• All consistent with evidence base on benefits of personal music for
PwD: improved wellbeing and QoL at the time and later; indications of
decreased drugs and falls, improved continence and nutrition.
• PLUS benefits for family wellbeing and QoL;
• PLUS benefits for staff, greater person-centredness and responsiveness
• Nesta’s Dementia Citizens platform and the Playlist for Life app –
helping citizens to do Playlist and scientists to research the effects.
• In the pipeline: PhD at TanDem in Worcester/ Nottingham; a PhD at
Glasgow Caledonian University; work with the Centre for Dementia
Prevention, Edinburgh University
Observations
• Scientists are creative, passionate people who hold incredible secrets
and wonderful possibilities
• Measurement is important but sometimes you can just ask!
• Sometimes anecdotes and experiences can hold the key to new ideas
and possibilities.
• Citizens have no respect for departmental boundaries and can
sometimes find unexpected connections and novel solutions.
• Citizens are driven by demonstrable effect rather than thoroughness –
frustrating sometimes for both sides. Need to find balance.