Research inquiry at UCLA: Exploring the flavor of preferred musical compositions
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is set to launch an exciting new initiative with the opening of the PEER Lab, led by musicologist and vocalist Nina Eidsheim. The lab, which opened last summer, is dedicated to exploring the idea that music is not just a sonic experience, but a multisensory one.
The PEER Lab will kick off its public events with a series of free workshops, starting on April 29th and continuing on the final Thursday of each month throughout the spring. These workshops will invite audiences to experience music using all of their senses, aiming to correct the lack of multisensory experience in music theory and language.
On April 29th, audiences will have the opportunity to attend the first public workshop, followed by another on May 27th as part of the Soundtrack to Creativity events. These events will feature notable figures such as Shana Redmond and Daphne Brooks, who will share what music has informed their forthcoming books.
Nina Eidsheim's research at the PEER Lab focuses on the concept of music as an event rather than an object. Eidsheim believes in developing ways of writing about music that capture the experience of listening to music, and her research is inspired by the idea of sound being transduced through different materials.
One of the research projects the PEER Lab is pursuing is Sensing home, which documents multisensory experiences during COVID-19. The lab is also collecting practice-based scholarship and art for a public database, and is collaborating online to develop experiments that can be conducted remotely.
According to Eidsheim, the energy that listeners experience as sound is unique to the material that transmits it. For example, sound travels about five times faster underwater and is mostly heard through bone transmission.
The PEER Lab's workshops and events are free and open to the public, making it an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in exploring the multisensory experience of music. For more information about the PEER Lab and its research, visit the official UCLA website or contact the relevant department directly.
- Attendees of the PEER Lab's workshops, starting from April 29th, will not only hear music but also experience it using all their senses, as part of an initiative to bridge the gap in traditional music theory and language.
- To expand our understanding of music beyond the sonic, the PEER Lab is also conducting research in the field of education-and-self-development, studying multisensory experiences during COVID-19, and showcasing practice-based scholarship and art online.
