The Music of Speech

🗓️ Friday 17 October · 🕓 4 pm · 📍 LTB 1.41 (Food and drinks provided)

Join us for a friendly, ear-opening afternoon on how voices work, learn, and sound across communities.

Why does some speech feel musical? We will explore how rhythm, pitch, timbre and pause shape meaning, identity and style. Expect quick live demos that let you “see” melody in everyday speech, mini listening games to spot accent cues, and friendly discussion on how habits, training and language learning tune the voice. We will look at how AI tools analyse pronunciation and model voices, what that means for teaching and practice, and where questions of authenticity, consent and ownership come in. We will also open the floor to insights from Australian Indigenous languages and multilingual communities, asking what they reveal about perception, learning pathways and inclusive pedagogy. Bring your curiosity for a relaxed, hands-on session that blends music, linguistics and technology, with plenty of time for questions and practical tips you can use straight away.

👤 Dr Gerald Marko (Monash Uni): Voice as an instrument, how accent and training shape pitch and resonance, and what diagnostic tools reveal about speech melody.
👤 Dr Ward Peeters (Monash Uni): AI and voice. From pronunciation feedback to generative voice models, plus the big questions of authenticity and ownership.
👤 Dr Rikke Bundgaard-Nielsen (Uni Melbourne): The sounds of Australian Indigenous languages, and what phonetics and phonology teach us about learning and perception.

Bring a friend, bring your curiosity, and come listen with us 😊

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Learning and Teaching Building (Room 141), 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton, Australia