In Lowlands 2022, the vocal cords will be well lubricated. Not only can the front rows of The Opposites, Arctic Monkeys, and Stromae sing together, you can also proudly display your musical talent at Lowlands Science. You wouldn’t expect it, but even your fake canary whine is a valuable contribution to science this weekend.
In the Lowlands Science District, many of the leading Dutch universities conduct hilarious, hilarious or funny experiments. Serious scientific topics are put into accessible games, which as a visitor you can simply participate in between parties. Today we share a study conducted by the University of Amsterdam with the main question: “How easy is it to switch languages while singing?”
Karaoke with a touch of language
Cyprien Speight, a researcher in the UvA’s School of Humanities, explains the startling research: “Ameezing Karaoke is where festival visitors compete against each other. They sing a well-known Dutch song, but the lyrics sometimes differ from what they expect. There are linguistic changes to the English language in different places In different ways, in other words a switch. So they should not sing the words they know, but the lines they see on the screen.
We would like to investigate how difficult or easy it is for someone to switch language in the context of a sentence. We also ask the participants in advance how many languages they speak. Based on the results, we then want to see if a person who speaks several languages can also switch between these languages more easily. “
our language change quickly
The younger generation, in particular, has leaked The number of loan words in English in its everyday vocabulary, but also in the workplace, jargon has a significant impact on the use of the language. We make these code changes – perhaps unconsciously – almost every day in our communication with friends, colleagues or business partners. Our language is constantly changing. What was once a code switch may not be the case today. But still, having to sing “It’s Raining Sunshine” to Acda & de Munnik’s well-known tune feels pretty uncomfortable.
Also for false canaries
The singer is judged on the number of missing letters and the winner of the duel is also chosen at the end. Are you a musician like a knob? Until then there is hope!
“It doesn’t matter if you’re singing inappropriately or cleanly, we really only pay attention to the mistakes you make when switching language. The nice thing about the songs we chose is that they have a very clear chorus. In the first chorus we can get a picture of how someone sings.” If someone sang so confidently at first and made a few mistakes in the second chorus, we know it was really a switch,” says Speight.
Guinea pigs in the home of the festival
Most research nowadays is still done in a clinical laboratory to some degree, in contrast to the colorful and free festival site in the Lowlands. Therefore, doing literal research is a special experience for many scientists In the field.
“Everyone is so excited to get involved. It also turns out that switching language while singing is more difficult for a lot of people than we previously thought. Hardly anyone does that right. Some people also think they’re being tricked and only sing along with the original lyrics. Maybe it’s all about Confident in the science? We’re also curious as to what it will be like on Sunday, for example, and hopefully they’ll still vote at all!”
In total, more than 200 duos are expected to participate in Ameezing Karaoke this weekend. 400 recordings will be thoroughly analyzed again after the weekend in the Lowlands. Curious about the end result? Then press UvA website Watch closely!
Don’t miss out on watching Lowlands 2022?
Festileaks presents a comprehensive report on Lowlands 2022. We give you insight into the lineup and give you tips on what you really shouldn’t miss. Over the weekend you can read reviews of the biggest works. We also share the highlights daily and keep you informed of the latest developments in the field. Then you can vote for the festival report again, we’ll announce the top 25 according to the audience and you’ll hear a special episode of the De Festivalpodcast on Lowlands!
Lowlands 2022
Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands
Date
From 19 to 21 August 2022
tickets
Entirely sold out.
