OT: The science of music

busterkeaton wrote on 10/25/2004, 11:55 AM
Music and the Brain

Scientific America has a good article this week about how Music is percieved in the brain.

Some interesting points:

Music is 30,000 years old
Music affects many areas of the brain simultaneously which is why is universally appreciated.
Music affects the pleasure centers of the brain much chocolate and addictive drugs do

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 10/25/2004, 12:00 PM
GREAT Article! I'm gonna save that for an offline read.
Thanks for sharing.
Rednroll wrote on 10/25/2004, 1:39 PM
This is MUSIC <picture of fryin pan>.....This is your brain on MUSIC <egg cracked into fryin pan>........Any questions!?

I'm sure there's a few on this forum old enough to remember that one. :-)
tailgait wrote on 10/25/2004, 4:27 PM
Without reading the article, I can tell you that music, like all metaphysical principles, is based on mathematics. 440 vibrations for a Middle "C" for example. Thus music is used to either "sooth the savage in the beast (Chopin) or break up the mind for more creative work (Scriabin) or march off to war (Souza). And everything else in between. As we used to say, "Music is basic!" Where would movies be without music--without Bernard Hermann.
Burt
B.Verlik wrote on 10/25/2004, 5:04 PM
Hmmm. Would have sworn 440 vibrations was an 'A'.
Jessariah67 wrote on 10/25/2004, 5:09 PM
Even further off-topic...

It would be interesting to know how many musicians are also good at math (as opopsed to slpeling...)
Spot|DSE wrote on 10/25/2004, 6:13 PM
440 is an A.
We've always known that the body is attuned to specific frequencies. But this article goes so much farther than that, and does it quite well.

Some might remember the Brits experimenting with frequencies on the bodily functions. They'd charted it out quite admirably during WWII, and the idea was to make the Germans crap their pants by losing control of their bowel functions when hit with a specific frequency at a specific SPL.

It failed in the field, but apparently was a success in the lab. Apparently the local laundromat did a bang up business for several months.

Anybody here old enough to have taken eggs to a rock concert and 'shaken' them solid by putting them on speakers?

http://www.brain.com/brain/detailedProductInfo/1786136.jsp
musicvid10 wrote on 10/25/2004, 7:29 PM
**It would be interesting to know how many musicians are also good at math**

Google Search for "Mozart Effect"
tailgait wrote on 10/25/2004, 10:45 PM
t if you want to see a mind blowing movie about how the mind works, don't miss "What the (Bleep) do we know." This is a movie that started out slowly and has picked up momentum in the past few months. Should be playing most everywhere by now. Don't miss it. You'll have to see it twice to "get" the whole thing.
RichMacDonald wrote on 10/26/2004, 7:26 AM
>This is MUSIC <picture of fryin pan>.....This is your brain on MUSIC <egg cracked into fryin pan>........Any questions!?

>I'm sure there's a few on this forum old enough to remember that one. :-)

"Dude...Are you going to eat that egg :-?"

Remember *that* one?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/26/2004, 8:34 AM
i had a friend who took 2 years of college for music. He was so into sound, he transfered over to physics. :)

Back in college my professor told us that some people were trying to make a "language" for the visual medium much like notes for music.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 10/26/2004, 8:57 AM
**It would be interesting to know how many musicians are also good at math**


I can count to 4 real good....
TorS wrote on 10/27/2004, 11:49 PM
The article, if you didn't bother to read it, mentions how a woman who had lost the ability to remember even a simple melody or tell one from another, still reacted adequately to the emotional impact of music.

It cleared something I've been wondering about for years. Why is it that a grown man like myself can watch a film that I find utterly stupid and against most of what I stand for - yet, still I cry at the exact points where the filmmaker wanted me to? I now know that these functions are located at different part of my brain and are quite independent of each other.

This brings the subject on topic I guess, because it helps to explain why sometimes a totally bad piece of work (by all established standards of the trade in question) becomes a hit. It also confirms - as if we were ever in doubt - that people don't count transitions or any other tricks of the video editors' trade. If we tell a story they like to hear, we're all right. Only the NLE Police bothers about how we did it. And of course, one very tiny and rather peripheral part of our own brain. Thank you so much for sharing.

Tor
Rednroll wrote on 10/28/2004, 6:47 AM
"He was so into sound, he transfered over to physics. :)"

That's pretty common. Dr. David Griesinger who has developed many breakthrough technologies for Lexicon and is employed by the same company as I am, guess what his doctors degree is in? Physics.

Check him out:
http://www.world.std.com/%7Egriesngr/
Kristo wrote on 10/28/2004, 11:04 AM
The idea of audio as mind control is not new -- (carefully selected) low-frequency audio recordings were used by the US military during the Gulf War, as a way to weaken the resistance of the Iraqis. Also, it is believed that zombies (from the Haitian-voodoo, not 'Dawn of the Dead') can be controlled using the sounds of a drum-beat. That same beat which is purportedly used in a lot of trance-music...

As for watching movies without the sound, I'd agree that often you can appreciate more of the dialogue and visuals (I often watch movies with the volume down, and subtitles on - it's often more relaxing). However, I find that only European film, and a handful of US films are truly enjoyable in this format -- the Hollywood stuff just doesn't cut it without the noise, that's the only substance they have. Watching 'Sky Captain'. or 'Spiderman 2' without the score or sound fx, would be render them impotent -- pretty flat and pointless. Sometimes you have to go along with the crowd to get anything out of it.

I'd also agree that audio levels have risen in the cinema, esp. during the commercials, which are longer than ever (does anyone remember the days when they had cartoons instead of ads). Now, with THX Digital, the bass is so heavy that you can hear/feel the sound to the film, coming from the next multiplex theatre.