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The Backwards Life of Lefties
For left-handers, it’s an unforgiving world filled with awkwardly-shaped scissors, computer mouses, notebooks and even Metro Card swipers. Today we find out how left-handed musicians work -- and thrive -- in a right-handed world. Also: Californian indie rock band Airborne Toxic Event joins us to discuss their recently-released album and to perform live.
Musical Southpaws
Six of the last 12 American presidents were left-handed. With the country about to inaugurate another southpaw next week, we look at left-handedness musicians who excel in a right-handed world. We talk with Atlanta Journal-Constitution classical music critic Pierre Ruhe and University of Toledo psychologist Stephen Christman.
Soundcheck blog: Is John Schaefer a lefty? A righty? Find out.
Tell us: Are you a left-handed musician? Do you think you’re at an advantage or a disadvantage? How has being left-handed shaped how you play and how much you pay for an instrument? Leave a comment.
Airborne Toxic Event
Indie rockers Airborne Toxic Event hail from Los Angeles and take their name from the Don DeLillo novel White Noise, echoing the literary backgrounds of frontman Mikel Jollett and guitarist Steven Chen. They’ve recently gained national recognition with “Sometime Around Midnight,” a song that they recorded themselves, distributed via MP3 and that was recently named the Top Alternative Song of 2008 by iTunes. Today they join us in the studio to discuss and perform music from their recently-released eponymous album.
Airborne Toxic Event performs on the Late Show with David Letterman on Friday.
Soundcheck blog: View images from the band's visit to WNYC
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Watch Soundcheck Live!
Join us Tuesday, Nov. 10 at The Greene Space
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, stars of the romantic indie film Once, will debate which is more powerful: a love song or a breakup song. And: live music from Grammy winning violinist Joshua Bell and Cuban stars Tiempo Libre.
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The Ill Effects of Urban Noise
Soundcheck
Soundcheck received an overwhelming response to our segment on the effects of urban noise. So much so that Arline Bronzaft decided to address the feedback. Listen to the original segment and read Bronzaft's response.
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