Orchestra leader Joe Procopio sat at the keyboard, experimenting with high-frequency tones on his synthesizer. After he'd played for a while, he noticed that his daughter's parakeet Dante began acting quiet and calm.
Dante is normally pretty loud and obnoxious, Procopio said, figuring that something about the high-frequency sound must have a calming effect. Then he realized that the hearing ranges of most pets are considerably higher than in humans. Perhaps, Procopio thought, animals would get more enjoyment from music if it was played a few octaves higher than usual.
The music is $10.99 per cassette and $13.99 per CD; there's no charge for shipping.
Thus was born "Pethoven," Procopio's effort to create music for pets.
"Because of the presence of very high vibrations melodies are layered one, two or three octaves above normal listening levels pets seem to be attentive to the music," Procopio said.
After he discovered that his pets seemed to respond to the higher-frequency sounds, Procopio, 58, experimented with music he played for Dante as well as his daughter's cat and his son's dog. He wrote, arranged and scored a collection of tunes in which parts of the music are recorded at two frequency levels one for humans, the other for animals then layered together to create recorded music that could be enjoyed by music lovers regardless of whether they get around on two legs or four.
The "Pethoven" CD contains synthesizer-based music with a drum-machine beat. There are no lyrics. It sounds vaguely like a pop music soundtrack for a movie, with up-tempo songs alternating with slower, melodic numbers.
"It doesn't work its magic on every animal every time," Procopio said. "'Pethoven' is not an exact science, but it has gotten an overwhelmingly positive response."
Since he began selling the recording earlier this year, he has collected a long list of testimonials from pet owners who claim the music stops their cats from fighting, helps lull dogs to sleep, and regularly inspires pets to plop down in front of the speakers and sway to the music.
One owner said playing the 12-song recording makes it easier to take auto trips with his pet, and several said they put the CD on when they leave the house because it eases separation anxiety.
Procopio is a serious musician with a long professional career. He earned a master's in music from the State University of New York and studied at the Conservatory of Milan in Italy. He took classes in conducting from Robert Shaw, Igor Stravinsky, Eric Leinsdorf and Eugene Ormandy and in composition from Aaron Copland and Gunther Schuller.
He has recorded, conducted or arranged music for artists ranging from Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin and the Temptations to Vic Damone, Frankie Avalon and Frankie Lane.
He currently works as the orchestra leader for the Reed Palace Theater in Myrtle Beach, S.C., providing the accompaniment for productions of Broadway musicals.
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