As we are sure you know, TED talks are amazing. They are inspirational, mind-opening, challenging, heartbreaking and so many other adjectives separated by commas. However, I am not sure if you are aware that watching a TED talk live can be a very expensive endeavour, as for some TED conferences prices of attendance can vary from $600 to $1000 and above. Naturally, you can visit a TEDx which is a local event that attracts local lecturers (with the ‘x’ referring to an independently organized event) as they tend to be a tad less expensive.

But either way, you don’t have to worry as the Internet is here to save the day.

Once again we have compiled several extremely interesting TED talks touching upon different aspects and nuances of music in the hopes of providing you with a deeper appreciation, knowledge, as well as possibly a new point of view when it comes to the wonderful world of music. Enjoy!

Michael Tilson Thomas

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas gives a talk about classical music and its ability to contain and inspire emotions, which transcend the boundaries of space and time. He starts by talking about his late father and his incredible relationship with music. Thomas shares that for his father music “was not so much about where it goes, but what it witnesses and where it can take you”. I mean, come on, what a quote. Let’s just take a moment to reflect on it.

Ok, so back to Thomas. He brings attention to the underlying emotion music can trigger. Although, as he mentions, stripped down music is just sounds, pauses and hertz, people react to it and interestingly their preferences also change through time (as we all know – Skrillex is very popular now, but probably wouldn’t have been a favourite in the 18th century or … who knows). Thomas is a captivating speaker and storyteller, a real delight to listen to. He is taking us on a journey through the history of music, letting us in on some very interesting concepts, facts and observations. He speaks with so much passion and love that it is impossible not to want to hear more.

Julian Treasure

A short talk about the effects that sounds can have on us, humans. We sometimes do not fully appreciate the damage that some sounds can have on our health and the consequences they can subsequently have on different aspects of our functioning. He goes on to explain how music has become central to advertising and that some companies might be using it wrong.

In your opinion, do any of the sounds Treasure presented in his talk come up in pieces of contemporary music? Nowadays people are eager to experiment and push the concept of what constitutes music to new realms. Share with us in the comments if you know of music made with the sounds Treasure played in this talk.

Robert Gupta

In our previous TED talk compilation, we introduced you to Robert Gupta’s talk on the healing powers of music. In this lecture he approaches the topic from another angle, highlighting the profound and seemingly miraculous effects that music therapy can have in helping people with various neurological and mental health problems. In the talk, he shares his struggle in choosing his career – to be a musician or a doctor. In the end, he found a way to combine the two and use them to provide therapeutic benefits to marginalized people who might need them the most.

Charity Tillemann-Dick

A very quirky lady, Charity Tillemann-Dick, tells her miraculous story of surviving a double lung transplant and subsequently continuing to follow her great passion for singing. Charity is charming in the way she speaks and retells her health struggles and how they in no way managed to stop her or even slow her down from having an amazing career in opera. A devastating story which she at times delivers with so much pain one can’t help but feel it as well.

Charity is inspiring in the fact that despite the unwillingness of her body to assist her she was willing to fight for her passion. As she notes in her speech – life is not about avoiding death, but about living. Chasing your dream helps you survive even the most unbearable of situations.

Nicole Paris and Ed Cage

I dare you not to dance along to this. Father-daughter duo show us what this beatboxing thing is all about in front of an audience of children and teenagers and now us – eager online viewers. In an entertaining and very authentic way, Nicole and Ed tell the origin story of beatboxing, tangling in the tale of their own personal relationship with it.

The duo became famous after their beatboxing battle became viral.

During the TED talk, Ed on several occasions mentions his disapproval of the fact that people online called him a loser after his daughter outshined him in the video. Well, I think we can all agree that his beatboxing skills do not paint him in that light in any way. But what do you think – does the father or the daughter have more skill? Or are they better as a duo?

Throughout the talk Nicole and Ed eagerly demonstrate their amazing talents and give us a glimpse into their everyday life – dotted with jam sessions, battles and an overall love and passion for beatboxing. A family with a creative way of communicating and creating music together.

So this was it for this portion of fascinating TED talks on the vast topic of music. We at Drooble invite you to share this with other music-lovers and share with us in the comments which talk moved you the most.