Composer and cellist David Teie has released an album of music (er, meow-sic?) scientifically engineered for cats to enjoy. Music for Cats was born out of David Teie’s scientific theory on the fundamental nature of music appreciation by mammals. Based on the premise that animals have an intuitive biological response to sounds they hear early on in their development, he composed Music for Cats by incorporating sounds that cats hear soon after they’re born: bird’s chirping, suckling for milk, or their mother’s purr, and combining these sounds with music and “cat noises” that were within a cat’s frequency range. And the resulting music is rather melodic and beautiful, even to humans!
But, most importantly, do cats like it? It would seem so. An independent study performed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin verified that Music for Cats resonates with its furry audience, writing that “Cats responded more to species-appropriate music than to human music,” and “Species-appropriate music is more likely to benefit animals than human music.”
On the album, which features five instrumental compositions, Teie’s cello playing is accompanied by bird-chirping and purring noises. Ironically, Teie himself is allergic to cats! But, he told The Telegraph:
“I’ve become a total animal nut! I no longer see humans as special – we are just another one of the species”.
Music for Cats was successfully funded via a Kickstarter campaign — which raised more than $200,000 and sold more than 10,000 copies of the album. Later, Teie was contacted by Universal Music. The album is also available, free of charge, to animal shelters, hospitals and veterinary clinics that do not practice declawing. If you’d like a copy for yourself, you can purchase one at www.musicforcats.com.
Check out this video and hear a sample of Music for Cats. Do your cats like it? Mine definitely perked up their ears and listened!
