ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Thomas Dolby - Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City."

Why you should listen

Perhaps best known for blinding us with science, Thomas Dolby has always blurred the lines between composition and invention. As a London teenager, Tom Robertson was fascinated with the convergence of music and technology. His experiments with an assortment of keyboards, synthesizers and cassette players led his friends to dub him “Dolby.” That same fascination later drove him to become an electronic musician and multimedia artist whose groundbreaking work fused music with computer technology and video. Two decades, several film scores, five Grammy nominations and countless live-layered sound loops later, it's clear Dolby's innovations have changed the sound of popular music.

In the 1990s, Dolby re-created himself as a digital-musical entrepreneur, founding Beatnik, which developed the polyphonic ringtone software used in more than half a billion cell phones. From 2001 to 2012, Dolby served as TED's Music Director, programming great music for the TED stage, assembling a wide variety of house bands and collaborations to play between speakers. At TED2010, backed by the string quarter Ethel, he premiered the song "Love Is a Loaded Pistol," from his sweeping, A Map of the Floating City. The album marked his return to recording and touring after a 15-year hiatus, and used seriously retro technology -- '40s-era oscilloscopes and Royal Navy field-test equipment -- to control modern synthesizers, in shows at once nostalgic and cutting edge.

In 2014, Dolby took on a new name: professor. He was named the Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, teaching the course "Sound on Film."

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Dolby | Speaker | TED.com
Ethel - String quartet
Ethel is, perhaps, the first 21st-century realization of the classical string quartet.

Why you should listen

An all-star foursome, Ethel includes performers Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Mary Rowell (violin), a mixed bag of players from classical, rock and downtown new-music circles. The powerhouse ensemble takes an unconventional approach to performance.

Says the Wall Street Journal, "Ethel ... created a world in which classical music had never grown distant, a world in which it was as fresh and direct as crowds dancing in the street."

(photo by Steve J. Sherman)

More profile about the speaker
Ethel | Speaker | TED.com
TED2010

Thomas Dolby: "Love Is a Loaded Pistol"

Thomas Dolby: "L'amour est un pistolet chargé"

Filmed:
618,579 views

Pour son premier album studio depuis des décennies, l'innovateur musical Thomas Dolby a composé sa musique dans le cadre d'inspiration unique d'un bateau de sauvetage restauré. Il nous livre ici en avant-première une chanson évocatrice magnifique tirée de cet album -- à propos d'une nuit avec une légende. Il est accompagné du quartet de cordes moderne Ethel.
- Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City." Full bio - String quartet
Ethel is, perhaps, the first 21st-century realization of the classical string quartet. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:21
I've been playingen jouant TEDTED for nearlypresque a decadedécennie,
0
6000
3000
Voilà presque dix ans que je joue à TED
00:24
and I've very rarelyrarement playedjoué
1
9000
3000
et j'ai très rarement joué
00:27
any newNouveau songsChansons of my ownposséder.
2
12000
3000
mes propres nouvelles chansons
00:30
And that was largelyen grande partie because there weren'tn'étaient pas any.
3
15000
3000
Et c'est en grande partie parce qu'il n'y en avait pas.
00:33
(LaughterRires)
4
18000
2000
(Rires)
00:35
So I've been busyoccupé with a couplecouple of projectsprojets,
5
20000
2000
J'ai donc été occupé à deux ou trois projets
00:37
and one of them was this:
6
22000
2000
Et voici l'un d'entre eux,
00:39
The NutmegNoix de muscade.
7
24000
2000
le Nutmeg (noix de muscade)
00:41
A 1930s ship'sdu navire lifeboatembarcation de sauvetage,
8
26000
2000
un bateau de sauvetage des années 30
00:43
whichlequel I've been restoringrestauration in the gardenjardin
9
28000
2000
que j'ai restauré dans le jardin
00:45
of my beachplage housemaison in EnglandL’Angleterre.
10
30000
2000
de ma maison sur la plage en Angleterre.
00:47
And, so now,
11
32000
2000
Et donc à présent,
00:49
when the polarpolaire icela glace capscasquettes meltfaire fondre,
12
34000
3000
quand les calottes glacières vont fondre,
00:52
my recordingenregistrement studiostudio will riseaugmenter up like an arkArche,
13
37000
3000
mon studio d'enregistrement se soulèvera comme une arche,
00:56
and I'll floatflotteur off into the drownednoyé worldmonde
14
41000
2000
et je partirai sur les flots dans un monde noyé
00:58
like a characterpersonnage from a J.G. BallardBallard novelroman.
15
43000
3000
comme un personnage d'un roman de J.G. Ballard.
01:01
DuringAu cours de the day,
16
46000
2000
Dans la journée,
01:03
the NutmegNoix de muscade collectsrecueille energyénergie
17
48000
2000
le Nutmeg collecte l'énergie
01:05
from solarsolaire panelspanneaux on the rooftoit of the wheelhousetimonerie,
18
50000
3000
des panneaux solaires sur le toit de la timonerie,
01:08
and from a 450 wattWatt turbineturbine
19
53000
2000
et d'une turbine de 450 watts
01:10
up the mastmât.
20
55000
2000
en haut du mât.
01:12
So that when it getsobtient darkfoncé,
21
57000
2000
Et quand la nuit tombe,
01:14
I've got plentybeaucoup of powerPuissance.
22
59000
2000
j'ai plein d'énergie.
01:16
And I can lightlumière up the NutmegNoix de muscade like a beaconBeacon.
23
61000
3000
Et je peux éclairer le Nutmeg comme un phare.
01:19
And so I go in there untiljusqu'à the earlyde bonne heure hoursheures of the morningMatin,
24
64000
3000
Et donc j'y vais jusqu'au petit matin.
01:22
and I work on newNouveau songsChansons.
25
67000
3000
Et je travaille sur de nouvelles chansons.
01:25
I'd like to playjouer to you guys,
26
70000
2000
J'aimerais jouer pour vous,
01:27
if you're willingprêt to be the first audiencepublic to hearentendre it.
27
72000
2000
si vous voulez bien être le premier public à l'entrendre.
01:29
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
28
74000
4000
(Applaudissements)
01:35
It's about BillieBillie HolidayVacances.
29
80000
2000
ça parle de Billie Holiday.
01:37
And it appearsapparaît that,
30
82000
2000
Et il semble que,
01:39
some night in 1947
31
84000
3000
une nuit de 1947,
01:42
she left her physicalphysique spaceespace
32
87000
3000
elle ait quitté son espace physique
01:45
and was missingmanquant all night,
33
90000
2000
et qu'elle ait disparu toute la nuit,
01:47
untiljusqu'à she reappearedréapparu in the morningMatin.
34
92000
3000
jusqu'à ce qu'elle réapparaisse le matin.
01:50
But I know where she was.
35
95000
2000
Mais je sais où elle était.
01:52
She was with me on my lifeboatembarcation de sauvetage.
36
97000
3000
Elle était avec moi sur mon bateau.
01:55
And she was hotchaud.
37
100000
2000
Et elle avait chaud.
02:00
(MusicMusique)
38
105000
10000
(Musique)
02:27
BillieBillie crepts’est glissée softlydoucement
39
132000
2000
♫ Billie s'est glissée doucement ♫
02:30
♫ into my wakingse réveiller armsbras
40
135000
2000
♫ entre mes bras réveillés♫
02:34
warmchaud like a sipSIP of soursure mashMash
41
139000
3000
♫ chaude comme une gorgée de moût aigre ♫
02:40
StrangeÉtrange fruitfruit for ♫
42
145000
2000
♫ étrange, fruitée ♫
02:43
♫ a sweetdoux hunkHunk of trashpoubelle
43
148000
3000
♫ un doux tas d'ordures ♫
02:51
PanicPanique at the stageétape doorporte
44
156000
3000
♫ Panique à l'entrée des artistes ♫
02:54
♫ of CarnegieCarnegie HallHall
45
159000
3000
♫ de Carnegie Hall ♫
02:58
♫ "FamousCélèbre JazzJazz SingerSinger GoneAllé AWOLAWOL" ♫
46
163000
3000
♫ La célèbre chanteuse de jazz a déserté ♫
03:05
MustDoit have left the buildingbâtiment
47
170000
3000
♫ Elle a du quitter le bâtiment ♫
03:09
bodycorps and soulâme
48
174000
3000
♫ corps et âme ♫
03:16
♫ On a creakygrinçante
49
181000
3000
♫ Sur un tabouret ♫
03:19
pianopiano stoolTabouret tonightce soir
50
184000
3000
♫ de piano qui grince ♫
03:22
♫ as the moonlune is my ♫
51
187000
2000
♫ parce que la lune est ♫
03:24
♫ only witnesstémoin
52
189000
3000
♫ mon seul témoin ♫
03:29
♫ She was breathingrespiration
53
194000
3000
♫ Elle respirait ♫
03:32
♫ in my earoreille
54
197000
3000
♫ dans mon oreille ♫
03:35
♫ "This time it's love" ♫
55
200000
3000
♫ Cette fois c'est l'amour ♫
03:42
♫ But love is a loadedchargé pistolpistolet
56
207000
3000
♫ Mais l'amour est un pistolet chargé ♫
03:46
♫ By daybreaklever du jour she's gonedisparu
57
211000
3000
♫ Au lever du jour elle était partie ♫
03:50
♫ Over the frozencongelé riverrivière, home ♫
58
215000
3000
♫ Sur la rivière gelée, chez moi ♫
03:56
♫ Me and JohnnyJohnny WalkerWalker
59
221000
3000
♫ Johnny Walker et moi ♫
03:59
♫ See in the newNouveau ageâge
60
224000
3000
♫ nous voyons dans l'époque nouvelle ♫
04:02
aloneseul
61
227000
2000
♫ seul ♫
04:08
StaySéjour à : with me ♫
62
233000
3000
♫ Reste avec moi ♫
04:11
♫ again tonightce soir
63
236000
3000
♫ ce soir encore ♫
04:14
BillieBillie, time, ♫
64
239000
2000
♫ Billie, le temps, ♫
04:16
♫ time is a wilyrusé tricksterfilou
65
241000
3000
♫ le temps est un farceur rusé ♫
04:21
♫ Still an echoécho
66
246000
3000
♫ Pourtant un écho
04:24
♫ in my heartcœur saysdit, ♫
67
249000
3000
♫ dans mon coeur dit, ♫
04:27
♫ "This time it's love" ♫
68
252000
3000
♫ Cette fois c'est l'amour ♫
04:40
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
69
265000
8000
(Applaudissements)
Translated by Elisabeth Buffard
Reviewed by Els De Keyser

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Thomas Dolby - Electronic music pioneer
Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. He was an early star on MTV, then moved to Silicon Valley, then went back on the road with his album, "A Map of the Floating City."

Why you should listen

Perhaps best known for blinding us with science, Thomas Dolby has always blurred the lines between composition and invention. As a London teenager, Tom Robertson was fascinated with the convergence of music and technology. His experiments with an assortment of keyboards, synthesizers and cassette players led his friends to dub him “Dolby.” That same fascination later drove him to become an electronic musician and multimedia artist whose groundbreaking work fused music with computer technology and video. Two decades, several film scores, five Grammy nominations and countless live-layered sound loops later, it's clear Dolby's innovations have changed the sound of popular music.

In the 1990s, Dolby re-created himself as a digital-musical entrepreneur, founding Beatnik, which developed the polyphonic ringtone software used in more than half a billion cell phones. From 2001 to 2012, Dolby served as TED's Music Director, programming great music for the TED stage, assembling a wide variety of house bands and collaborations to play between speakers. At TED2010, backed by the string quarter Ethel, he premiered the song "Love Is a Loaded Pistol," from his sweeping, A Map of the Floating City. The album marked his return to recording and touring after a 15-year hiatus, and used seriously retro technology -- '40s-era oscilloscopes and Royal Navy field-test equipment -- to control modern synthesizers, in shows at once nostalgic and cutting edge.

In 2014, Dolby took on a new name: professor. He was named the Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, teaching the course "Sound on Film."

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Dolby | Speaker | TED.com
Ethel - String quartet
Ethel is, perhaps, the first 21st-century realization of the classical string quartet.

Why you should listen

An all-star foursome, Ethel includes performers Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Mary Rowell (violin), a mixed bag of players from classical, rock and downtown new-music circles. The powerhouse ensemble takes an unconventional approach to performance.

Says the Wall Street Journal, "Ethel ... created a world in which classical music had never grown distant, a world in which it was as fresh and direct as crowds dancing in the street."

(photo by Steve J. Sherman)

More profile about the speaker
Ethel | Speaker | TED.com