The following news conference will take place in the Whidbey Room of the Westin Seattle Hotel, 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington. It will occur at an international meeting devoted exclusively to the science of acoustics: the Joint 16th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA) and the 135th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), to take place between June 20-26 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel and Towers and the Westin Seattle. A news release on the meeting can be found at http://www.acoustics.org/press_release.html.

Jimi Hendrix And The Acoustics Of Distortion

One of the most influential musical figures in the world of rock music, guitarist Jimi Hendrix was among the first instrumentalists to use distortion as an expressive tool in music. Another pioneer was Eric Dolphy, a jazz musician who in the early 1960s introduced distortion effects in acoustical instruments such as the alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute. And vocalists instinctively employ distortion as a valuable tool. Researchers will explain how Hendrix, Dolphy, and vocalists have used distortion to create expressive, harmonically rich sonic environments. Edward Burns (206-685-2683), University of Washington (Chair, Session 1pMU); James J. Fricke (425-990-7010), Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington (Paper 1pMU6); Douglas Keefe (402-498-6733), Boys Town National Research Hospital (1pMU3); Soren Buus (617-373-5196), Northeastern University (1pMU5); and others.

FOR ADDITONAL INFORMATION BEFORE JUNE 22: Please feel free to call Ben Stein of the American Insitute of Physics at 301-209-3091. To read the abstracts of the papers mentioned in the news conference description, go to the ICA/ASA Meeting Abstracts Database at asa.aip.org/asasearch.html and type in the paper code.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO DURING THE WEEK OF JUNE 22: Please feel free to call Ben Stein at the meeting newsroom: 206-727-7617 and 206-727-7618. The newsroom will be located at the Blakely Room of the Westin, and the hours will be Monday-Wednesday, June 22-24, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Thursday, June 25 from 8 a.m.-12 p.m.