DodoFinance Breaking News Made For You!
At Lowlands 2022, the vocal cords will be well lubricated. Not only are the front rows of The Opposites, Arctic Monkeys and Stromae singing, but 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 area, several major Dutch universities are conducting fun, playful or downright funny experiments. Serious science themes are wrapped up in accessible games, which you as a visitor can simply join in between parties. Today we participate in a study by the University of Amsterdam with the main question: “Is it easy to change language while singing?”
Karaoke with a tongue twist
Sybren Spit, a researcher at UvA’s Faculty of Humanities, explains the striking research: “Ameezing Karaoke is where festival goers go head-to-head. They sing a well-known Dutch song, but the lyrics are sometimes different from what they expect. There are linguistic shifts to English in different places and in different ways, in other words a code switch. So they don’t have to sing the lyrics they know, but the lines they see on the screen.
We would like to study how difficult or easy it is for someone to switch languages in the context of a sentence. We also ask participants in advance how many languages they speak. Based on the results, we then want to see if someone who speaks multiple languages can also switch between those languages more easily.
Our language changes quickly
The younger generation, in particular, has a huge number of English loanwords in one’s everyday vocabulary, but also at work, jargon has a significant impact on language use. We make these code changes – perhaps unconsciously – almost every day in our communications with friends, colleagues or associates. Our language is also constantly evolving. What was once a code exchange may not be today. But still, having to sing “It’s raining sunshine beams” to Acda & Munnik’s well-known melody is quite uncomfortable.
Also for false canaries
The singer is judged based on the number of missed texts and the winner of the duel is finally chosen as well. Are you as musical as a doorknob? Even then, there is hope!
“It doesn’t matter if you sing out of tune or out of tune, we only really pay attention to the mistakes you make when you switch languages. What’s nice about the songs we’ve chosen is that they have a very clear. At the first chorus, we can get an image of how someone sings. If someone sings very assertively at the beginning and makes mistakes in the second chorus, then we know it’s really up to cause of change,” says Spit.
Guinea pigs in their festival habitat
Nowadays most research still takes place in a fairly clinical laboratory, quite in contrast to the colourful, free-spirited festival site of the Lowlands. For many scientists, therefore, it is a special experience to do literal research In the field.
“Everyone is super excited to participate. It also turns out that changing languages while singing is harder for a lot of people than we previously thought. Hardly anyone does it right. Some people also think they are deceived and just sing the original lyrics. Maybe it’s related to trust in science? We’re also curious what it will look like on Sunday, for example, hoping attendees will still get a vote at all!
In total, more than 200 duos are expected to participate in Ameezing Karaoke this weekend. The 400 recordings will be analyzed in depth again after the Lowlands weekend. Curious about the end result? Then hold the AVU website Watch carefully!
Don’t miss Lowlands 2022?
Festileaks provides an in-depth report on Lowlands 2022. We give you an overview of the lineup and give you tips on what you really shouldn’t miss. During the weekend, you can read reviews of the biggest acts. We also share daily highlights and update you on the latest developments in the field. Then you can vote again for the Festival Report, we will announce the Top 25 according to the audience and you will listen to a special episode of the De Festivalpodcast on Lowlands!
Lowlands 2022
Biddinghuizen, Netherlands
Date
August 19-21, 2022
Tickets
Completely exhausted.
“Food expert. Unapologetic bacon maven. Beer enthusiast. Pop cultureaholic. General travel scholar. Total internet buff.”
