Talking and singing comes naturally to most of us so it is easy to overlook how truly remarkable the voice is. Mixing biology, physics and psychology, Trevor will explore the workings of the voice looking at accents and different singing styles.
The human voice has always been in flux, but over the last hundred years or so, this has been accelerated by technology. What about the future? ‘Photoshop for voice’ has already been demonstrated, leading to a future with #FakeSpeech.
Rich in sound examples, we’re pleased to welcome Professor Trevor Cox from the University of Salford to present this SciBar event.
Trevor’s talk will draw on his latest popular science book, ‘Now You’re Talking‘.
Trevor has presented numerous science documentaries on BBC Radio and written feature articles for New Scientist, Sound on Sound and The Guardian. He is author of Sonic Wonderland for which he won an ASA science writing award.
“A David Attenborough of the acoustic realm, whose knowledge is unimpeachable yet worn lightly, whose language is vivid yet without indulgence” – David Hendy, Observer.
Trevor is fascinated by room acoustics and how places can be designed for intelligible speech (for example, classrooms) and beautiful music (for example, auditoria). His acoustic designs can be found in rooms worldwide.
He is currently working on two major research projects. Making Sense of Sound is a big data project examining everyday sounds combing psychoacoustics and machine learning. The other project is investigating future technologies for spatial audio in the home.
He currently holds the Guinness World record for producing the Longest Echo in one of the Inchindown Oil Tanks.
Monday 18th November @ 18:30. FREE admission. All Welcome.
The Albert Club, Old Lansdowne Road, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 2PA
