Will AI Replace Orchestras? Mailbag

This month we dive into questions about One Direction, video game music, and if the piano is a percussion instrument.

It’s the last week of the month, which means it’s time to answer questions submitted by my wonderful readers. This month, I explore questions about if the piano is a percussion instrument, how artificial intelligence will affect orchestras, the proper way to tune, John Cena’s brief rap career, and so much more. Should you have a question for next month, you can submit it using the button below. If your question is selected, you get a free premium subscription to this newsletter for a month. Premium subscribers get twice as many newsletters as free subscribers.

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Are movie soundtracks still producing #1 hits? It seems like that was a trend from the late-1970s through 1980s. - Thea

I have a dataset of every Billboard Hot 100 number one hit from 1958 through 2022. One thing I took the time to track while building that dataset was if the hit song was featured in a then-contemporary film or television show.

The 1980s were the peak of number one hits being featured in films and television shows. This shouldn’t come as a complete shock given how intertwined MTV made music with visual media. Movies can still drive a song to the top of the charts, though. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” was a smash a few years ago after being featured in their film A Star is Born. Television shows generating number one hits is largely a thing of the past, though.

Are there any health, wellness, or psychological benefits in tuning A to 432? - Jay

This is one of those questions that probably looks like it was written in a foreign language if you’re not in the know. Let me give you some background. When you strike a note on a guitar, piano, or any other stringed-instrument, that string creates a pitch by vibrating at a certain frequency. For example, if you pluck the lowest string on a guitar, it vibrates at 330 cycles per seconds, typically denoted by the unit “hertz”. You can see that in the video below.

But establishing what pitch is associated with what frequency wasn’t some God-given fact. It was established by humans over many centuries. One of those things that was established is that the note A (above middle-C) should be tuned to a frequency of 440 hertz.

That said, there are people who claim that the aforementioned A should actually be tuned slightly lower to 432 hertz. Many of the great composers, including Mozart and Haydn, tuned their A to 432. That frequency is also more aligned with the rhythms of the human body, thus making music tuned around that frequency more pleasing. In short, A-432 is just naturally better than A-440.

Not really. Everything in that last paragraph is made-up. Neither is better than the other. We just needed a standard. Adam Neely explained all of this in much more detail in a video in 2017.

Who sang the most lead vocals on One Direction songs? - Kate

Lucky for me, there are a countless One Direction fans online who have been willing to research this topic. According to this 30-minute video that sought to answer the question, “Who sang the most solos on One Direction songs?” the final tally was as follows:

1. Liam Payne: 102 songs

2. Harry Styles: 96 songs

3. Niall Horan: 81 songs

4. Louis Tomlinson: 79 songs

5. Zayn Malik: 77 songs

I am far from a One Direction scholar, but I do know that this aligns with the idea that Simon Cowell initially tried to build the group around Liam Payne. Since the group’s break-up, Harry Styles and Niall Horan have proved the most bankable stars.

Will artificial intelligence replace orchestras? - Brandon