Common to the Tom Brady and Lindsay Davenport iTunes Playlists: "Where Are You Going?," Dave Matthews Band, meanemotion=enthusiastic, meanspeed=97.1

photo of Lindsay Davenport courtesy of: www.sporting-heroes.net/


photo of Tom Brady courtesy of: http://www.tristarproductions.com




©2006, speed visual


As we have been asserting here at Meanspeed Trust, finding the songs that psyche you up can improve mental performance. Sometimes this enhanced mental performance is exhibited by the best athletes in the world.

iTunes has embarked on a most fantastic project: putting together the playlists of the best athletes alive--and not surprisingly, such athletes have near perfect mental control in regard to timing. Therefore, on these pages we are most happy to begin featuring songs from these lists.

Two of my favorite athletes, Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots and Lindsay Davenport, one of the best female tennis players to ever play the game both have shared their playlists with iTunes.

One song that is an absolute favorite of mine which is the only song common to both Tom's playlist and Lindsay's playlist is the song by the Dave Mathews Band, featuring drummer Carter Beauford, bass player Stefan Lessard, woodwinds player LeRoi Moore, violinist Boyd Tinsley. In sits in the meanemotion of enthusiasm: almost right at the top speed of that category, which meanspeed music theory asserts as 90-97 beats per minute. This song is especially fantastic, and I would encourage anyone to check out the athlete's playlists and Dave's songs on iTunes.

On a personal note, I turned 44 years old a couple of days ago, and I am still in wonder over the online/digital music in general:
a) the personalization of musical playlists,;
b) the ease with which one can explore the songs they like online in the comfort of [our] own homes;
c) the back-to-the-1970s FAIR price of 99¢ per single have made using music; and
d) the mental control that can be achieved through music, and the speed of that music .

The Meanspeed Frequencies™ of the song Where Are You Going are:
meanspeed=97.1 beats per minute
meanemotion=enthusiastic
meanspace=0.618 seconds per beat
meanphase=1.528 beats per second
meanpitch=414.293 hertz, 96 cents above G4=391.995 Hertz, 4 cents below G#4/Ab4=415.305 Hertz.

Ian Schneider
November 7,2006
NY, NY, USA

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, all Eight Re-Mixes from the Jason Nevins' "Dance Vault Remixes"--42 minutes of the same speed--oh boy!

photo of mental ward courtesy of: spazioinwind.libero.it/grafica3d/autori2/unay.htm


The Meanspeed Frequencies™ for the Since U Been Gone, in each of the following Jason Nevin Edits:

a) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Rock da Club Edit;
b) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Instrumental Edit;
c) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Mixshow;
d) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Dub;
e) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Club Mix;
f) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Ambient Candlelight Mix;
g) Since U Been Gone, Jason Nevin, Reprise.


(all),

are:
Meanspeed=131.0 beats per minute;
Meanemotion=mixed fast;
Meanspace=0.458 seconds between beats;
Meanphase=2.183 beats per second;
Meanpitch=558.933 Hertz, 14 cents above C#5/Db5=554.365 Hertz, 86 cents below D5=587.330 Hertz.

Only in the "A Capella" does the underlying tempo go unsupported by percussion of any kind. So said, even in the a cappella version, the speed is precisely the same.

So: 45 minutes, 9 versions (including the original single), no speed variation at all. That does not mean there is a lack of creativity--what is being displayed is variation on top of variation of rhythm over the same speed. Rhythm and speed are related, but they are clearly not the same.

Ian Schneider
November 7, 2006
NY, NY--in my apartment
(NOT in a mental ward, as many iTunes reviewers predicted!!!)

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, meanspeed=131.0 beats per minute, meanemotion=Mixed Fast

photo courtesy of: www.milkhoney.org/kelly/


We at Meanspeed Trust have never had the ‘up close and personal’ song, and it is about time we featured some individual preferences.

Recently, I was lucky enough to interview one of the most respected corporate software programmers in the United States. The question was simple: What song would you like to see featured and what does this song mean to you?

The answer: “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. Said this programmer, speaking from an undisclosed location: “That was my [break-up song of empowerment]. When I broke up with this man, I especially identified with the line: “Since you’ve been gone I can breathe for the first time.”

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson is faster than any meanspeed category—and as no one, including me, has come up with a name for mixed themes fast songs above 128 beat per minute, he song falls under no predictable emotional thematic expression. For example, at virtually the same speed, we can find everything from “Jump,” by Van Halen, a song of nearly orgasmic joy, to “Turn The Beat Around” by Vickie Sue Robinson, a song about music in the abstract, to “Separate Ways” by Journey, a great old Steve Perry break-up song.

The Meanspeed Frequencies™ for the song are:
Meanspeed=131.0 beats per minute;
Meanemotion=mixed fast (will someone please suggest a better name than ‘mixed fast’!);
Meanspace=0.458 seconds between beats;
Meanphase=2.183 beats per second;
Meanpitch=558.933 Hertz, 14 cents above C#5/Db5=554.365 Hertz, 86 cents below D5=587.330 Hertz.

Ian Schneider
November 7, 2006
NY, NY