These Gibbons Sing Duets Together In Time

Male and female gibbons have been filmed doing something incredible: singing a duet together in time.

News Scientist notes that this is an incredibly rare occurrence, with the male and female lar gibbons singing synchronised duets at regular intervals. The primate's singing skills showcase rhythmic qualities similar to the ones we find in human songs, which scientists think could be a hint at the evolutionary basis of the origins of music.

Scientists separated the male and female pitches and measured the frequency of their overlapping notes during duets.

Watch the lar gibbons sing duets below.

Regular rhythms can be found in all of the gibbons' songs. "In duets, notes from male and female singers overlapped between 16 to 18% of the time, a rate of synchronisation greater than chance," News Scientist's James Dinneen wrote.

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Researchers also found that female lar gibbons sing less regularly when their notes overlap with males. Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands, Andrea Ravignani, says, "This demonstrates gibbon rhythms vary based on social context."

Last year, superstar Billie Eilish left a British vocal coach "gobsmacked" when she duetted with his students on TikTok, teaching them how to sing her acclaimed song Listen Before I Go.

Sheridan Coldstream, a Birmingham resident, shared a video on TikTok, teaching his students how to sing along to Eilish's Listen Before I Go. Using his talented vocal ability, he demonstrated how he wanted students to attack the song differently from Eilish's original recording.

Being the perfect student, Eilish did exactly as he said, following along with his piano accompaniment. She then shared the video with her 45.5 million followers on TikTok. The video quickly reached 33.4 million views, and Coldstream commented on the video, expressing his gratitude.

"This is the greatest possible compliment I could ever receive!! I couldn’t be more touched and flattered ❤️I adore this song and you! Thank you 🥰"

“There’s a bit in the song where she normally goes down,” said the 58-year-old, who runs Total Vocal at his studio. “I suggested that some singers may want to take it higher, and she did exactly that, so I was gobsmacked," Coldstream told BBC News.

Humans have realised the benefits of a good duet for decades. In the 90s the postumous duet raised its head, with Natalie Cole partnering with her deceased father Nat King Cole in a (strange for family members) version of Unforgettable. That lead to many others 'digitally created' duets, including Frank Sinatra's successful late-career album where he didn't bother turning up to meet the duet partners himself. Other postumous duet disasters include Susan Boyle's turn with Elvis and Scarlett Johanssen's grave-turning Christmas effort with Dean Martin.

But even those don't take the cake for the worst duets of all time. That's right, it's time for....

Here are some human duets that make us want to listen to gibbons:

Barbra Streisand & Bryan Adams - I Finally Found Someone