Sound's influence on brain chemistry

Has anyone read anything interesting on this or have any cool anecdotes to share?

 

I'm just rewatching Beyond The Black Rainbow and it's presented interestingly there with sound waves either stimulating or arresting cognitive processing - albeit from a SciFi this is fictitious film standpoint. I still find it an intriguing concept. I wonder if in a 100 years from now we will know better how to specifically stimulate different parts of the brain via acoustics to kind of create music which really does trigger seretonin release etc etc..like music will be designed to genuinely stimulate certain types of cognition so we really do feel/experience the track on a deeper level.

 

I've been thinking a lot about how sounds we hear in tracks or anything really can really evoke a feeling of some kind and that's fascinating to me as to why.

 

Musicians put their heart and souls into the tiniest of sounds and the listener may have no idea what feeling they are trying to communicate but the best music somehow succeeds in transmitting that as language and we 'get it' regardless of that.

 

Sorry, ramblings over but yeah I like to discuss with you lot. How something as seemingly simple as a sound wave can imply so much is fascinating - surely there has to be a neurological link at play? Will that be better exploited in the future?

I think aurevhre is like marijuana for the brain cause I get high on it imo

My question is more like, if you actually feel like you are getting high, why is that happening from that type of music exactly?

  Quote

 

"...bluegrass music gives you liberal ideas, perverse cravings, makes you horny, angry, antisocial, neurotic, criminal reptilian, sociopathic, lonely, unhappy, un-PC

EVIL....

 

"Mandolins and banjos are evil.

 

"Bluegrass music is the music of

                                                                                                                                                                     PAN."

                                                                                                                                                            -John Fahey

 

 

Substitute pretty much any other kind of music and the corresponding instruments and you've got a solid description of it.  If it's being done right.

Edited March 25, 2018 by RSP

Haha the idea of bluegrass doing that to anyone is quite hilarious to me.

 

In all seriousness, I do remember Kevin Shield saying that in the early days of jamming MBV stuff they went into trance like states which he attributes to certain frequencies making you high.

Interesting thread, check this...

 

http://news.mit.edu/2015/neural-population-music-brain-1216

I would say it's not just the frequencies or sounds alone, but it's down to the receiving brain itself - what sort of associations or thoughts are triggered by the sounds and melodies. For me, it's the same thing with smells - certain smells bring back emotions or memories.

 

On the other hand, you can definitely use music as a tool to get into an altered state (one would even say a trance), but I think it's got more to do with how the players or listeners are approaching the music mentally instead of some frequencies or things affecting more. ASMR and other psychoacoustics are definitely a thing, but I guess so is good mixing and mastering - can't get into a trance if you spend most of the time trying to make out things in a shitty mix.

Thanks guys/gals. I'll read the article that was linked so thank you for that. Very interesting ideas!

 

The asmr stuff is so odd!!

Colundi or gtfo!

  On 3/26/2018 at 12:03 AM, Polytrix said:

In all seriousness, I do remember Kevin Shield saying that in the early days of jamming MBV stuff they went into trance like states which he attributes to certain frequencies making you high.

Note entirely sure it was just the frequencies

 

  Quote

"I was terrible in my 30s. I did some silly, crazy things. That's when I really went for it in every respect. Taking drugs recreationally – lots of them. So it's all very hazy and jumbled up. I can remember the beginning and the last few gigs with Primal Scream but everything else is interchangeable.

 

"I once took down the name of every single member of staff on an aeroplane because I was so fucking drunk. I found this illegible piece of paper in my pocket the next day and couldn't work out what it was. I'd blacked out.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/my-bloody-valentine-kevin-shields-interview

• http://www.colundi.net/

 

• http://www.sound-drugs.com/images/howbinauralswork.pdf

http://www.sound-drugs.com/

 

 

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh0eq9O0BXwfEdXMpbQfbbA 

 

 

 

btw, what's the difference between binaural beats and the actual beat that happens with close frequency tones? just the fact that the 2 tones used are presented one trough each ear? i mean, the beat effect also occurs if you sum it acoustically without headphones...

Edited March 26, 2018 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

  On 3/26/2018 at 6:17 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

btw, what's the difference between binaural beats and the actual beat that happens with close frequency tones? just the fact that the 2 tones used are presented one trough each ear? i mean, the beat effect also occurs if you sum it acoustically without headphones...

You've inadvertently proved to yourself why the whole concept is a fallacy. Congratulations 

  On 3/26/2018 at 8:41 PM, mcbpete said:

 

  On 3/26/2018 at 6:17 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

btw, what's the difference between binaural beats and the actual beat that happens with close frequency tones? just the fact that the 2 tones used are presented one trough each ear? i mean, the beat effect also occurs if you sum it acoustically without headphones...

You've inadvertently proved to yourself why the whole concept is a fallacy. Congratulations 

 

yeah i guess the only difference is the price! 

Edited March 26, 2018 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

influence of music on brain is much more interesting to me than sounds. i mean, piano is piano but why beethoven's sonatas can kill me (in a good way) 1000x easier than any other's? that power to convert emotions and thoughts to instantly sensable and consumable mathematics and our ability to convert it back... i hope it will remain mysterious

Very well said! I do think lyrics impart a hell of a lot of feeling which probably has a cognitive response. But for instance the first time I heard Selected Ambient Works which doesn't have lyrics I just felt it..I knew it was full of emotion. It's pretty amazing in my mind that as humans we can interpret that and lock into it so easily...science is mad.

What's your theory about why people headbang or just nod their heads when they're listening to music?

The easiest way to dance or a method to excite the inner ear (the bit that deals with balance) so that the body would perceive music as more immersive (i.e. it's not only sounds coming through the ears but also motions of the body... which is kind of like dance).

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=guided+imagery+and+music&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicg_3L243aAhXIQ8AKHeMJAnIQ_AUICSgA&biw=1366&bih=634&dpr=1

  On 3/28/2018 at 2:02 AM, cwmbrancity said:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=guided+imagery+and+music&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicg_3L243aAhXIQ8AKHeMJAnIQ_AUICSgA&biw=1366&bih=634&dpr=1

 

It's this, right?

 

Has anyone talked about the way instruments are tuned in pairs in Balinese (but not Javanese) Gamelans so they produce beating patterns that induce a trance state?  I've got to get to work so I don't have time to catch up on the thread or Google any good info about it but it definitely works.  I played in a Balinese Gamelan group for about three years.  DEFINITELY works.

  On 3/29/2018 at 6:51 PM, RSP said:

Has anyone talked about the way instruments are tuned in pairs in Balinese (but not Javanese) Gamelans so they produce beating patterns that induce a trance state? I've got to get to work so I don't have time to catch up on the thread or Google any good info about it but it definitely works. I played in a Balinese Gamelan group for about three years. DEFINITELY works.

I kinda did when mentioning binaural beats... anyway: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan#Tuning

  On 3/26/2018 at 8:41 PM, mcbpete said:

 

  On 3/26/2018 at 6:17 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

btw, what's the difference between binaural beats and the actual beat that happens with close frequency tones? just the fact that the 2 tones used are presented one trough each ear? i mean, the beat effect also occurs if you sum it acoustically without headphones...

You've inadvertently proved to yourself why the whole concept is a fallacy. Congratulations 

 

huh, been thinking about this a bit deeper and, not saying in any way that it works, but the fact that the sum of both frequencies takes place inside the brain instead of externally acoustically, might have a big play on this... i mean, when the beat occurs externally, we can use just one ear and we'll still listen to the beat generated by the difference of the 2 frequencies being played, furthermore, you could simply use just one speaker and just one ear and the beat is still listenable, but with binaural beats, it's the brain that is processing the sum of both frequencies and generating the beat, that's something else completely different! =^O

did i just got sold on binaural beats???

Edited March 30, 2018 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

do 2 frequencies with inverted phase still cancel each other if listened binauraly? or the fx just happens acoustically and electronically?

  On 3/30/2018 at 6:20 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

do 2 frequencies with inverted phase still cancel each other if listened binauraly? or the fx just happens acoustically and electronically?

 

they shouldnt

just tested it, they don't... why, is the question... lol

i guess acoustically they would only completely cancel each other in an anechoic chamber because here in my room i'm listening to lots of reflections besides the direct sound... but trough headphones they should sum up in the brain and cancel each other no?

Edited March 30, 2018 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON