Let the people sing

摘要

Is Joe Public really a flop when it comes to singing? Simone Dalla Bella et al. (J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121, 1182-1189; 2006) went looking for the answer. They persuaded 42 passers-by in a Montreal park to sing Gens du pays — an anthem of the Quebec sovereignty movement, commonly sung at festive occasions in the province — on the pretext that it was one of the experimenters' birthday.