...music, a very high percentage of the time.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/02/personality-secrets-in-your-mp3-player.php

This whole blog is highly recommended, but I thought this particular story would be of interest.

You know, a lot of psychologists, anthropoligists, historians etc. tend to believe that music is the oldest known form of "verbal" communication, even pre-dating spoken or written speech...........

Makes sense to me that one's music choices would affect a stranger's perception of a person!

(And if anyone's interested, a typical CD programme by me usually includes jazz, electronica, classic rock and roll, reggae and even rap......often times all in the same programme. What does that say about me?)

Quote:
"Another is that people use music to regulate their mood: I want to get hyper for a night out so I put on some dance music. Another is that music is related to identity; people listen to music that expresses they way they see themselves."

This is precisely the case for me, personally............

"(And if anyone's interested, a typical CD programme by me usually includes jazz, electronica, classic rock and roll, reggae and even rap......often times all in the same programme. What does that say about me?)"

I like it. Had I written the sentence, I would have probably used "new wave" instead of electronica, and "r&b" instead of rap, but
I'm glad I'm not the only one around here with very broad tastes in music.

Anybody looked more deeply into pandora.com lately?

You can find people with stations like the ones you create, and social networking ensues.

That seems to be the perfect match up. Heck, toss in the dating sites and you've got an online date 'n mate market!

Motozak, totally!

Our inflections in pitch communicate a lot. Where we choose to center our resonance also does this.

Additionally, these inflections trancend the actual language used. People speak "girl", "guy", "having credence", "wealth", "entitlement", etc... with a high degree of consistancy.

Watch a foreign film sometime, or go to the opera. That's all you need to see in order to begin to appreciate these subtle lower level communications we do.

Kids pick up on this quick, and will often talk about it. As adults, we tend to consume this information, but it's not always above the sightline, so to speak.

I have been working on a project. Actually, it seems like forever since I began it. But I have read TONS of books about how music effects the brain. I'm getting ready to launch a website with one of the domain names I registered while I was drunk - in which I will play music analyzed to death about why a certain set of music, no matter what the genre, sounds good to a human's ear.

I'm not claiming it's some groundbreaking research. But there are some interesting combinations of sounds/songs that keep listeners listening. And I have some interesting-to-me software that arranges stuff the way I want it arranged.

I'm looking to find some universal truth in music. And I believe there is some to be found and even more to be presented.

I'll get back with some data.

Chickenjuggler out.

Let me know when you get the stuff up. I've had similar thoughts my entire life.

I don't know if there is universal truth in music any more than there is in emotion. (One is as angry, happy, sad as they think they are!) But some elements sure to seem to consistantly evoke similar responses from a lot of people. Maybe there is something there?

As for the human ear, we clearly are built to favor some combinations of sound and not others.

Some of these things are mechanical. The shape of our ears, for example, tends to highlight some phase relationships and not others, allowing us to differentiate sounds from the front and back.

Another factor happens to be what we are capable of producing. In this digital time, many if not all of these boundaries have fallen, but still we cling to constructs that largely reflect what we would have done non-digitally. Perhaps, some music responses have evolved as we have?

Still others are all about how we internalize sounds, and how they are communicated from the mechanical ear to the brain.

The biggie, in my mind, is the difference between learned and hardwired preferences or responses to sounds. I'm damn curious to see what you've dug up in this regard.

I've always thought we should be able to construct software, with todays powerful computers, that would analyze a piece of music and be able to differentiate the various elements just like we do. Within limits, it should be possible to deconstruct a mixed tune, into is component parts, again, just as we do.

Should we end up being able to crack this nut, the art of compression will reach new heights, as will filtering and processing.

By far the most difficult thing to separate is, like you note, genetic-based preferences and " I grew up on that stuff " type stuff.

Couple that with the fact that there are very real emotional reasons why a person likes or dislikes a song ( " It reminds me of when..." ) and then it can get even more tricky. Lyrics, in and of themselves almost go right out the window. But the delivery, cadence, note, tone, inflection can really sell a song. Not just in a " I can relate to what is being said " but in a " I don't know why I like how he sings that part...rewind that part again"

It'll be fun to explain to a listener " You will find this next segment pleasing. Here's why." Even if I am wrong some of the time, it will still be fun to present a format that, at it's core, REALLY wants to make a connection with a listener.

Plus, I like music. I think it makes you smarter. I think it keeps you young. And, in a completely unsupportable way, there is a spiritual aspect that I have yet to articulate. I mean, who hasn't had the experience of feeling like they can see a VERY vivid picture in their mind when hearing certain songs? One that is completely original to you and recalls nothing but where you feel like being in that moment?

There is a way to find those songs and play them.

The big downside is that the very nature of the internet allows for a lot of distraction while listening. But if some of my hypotheses are true, enough will sink in to make people want to come back. Science and art together can be friggin' neat.

Now I just need to find a collaborator that can put together a webpage with just the right colors and images and POOF!...Kool Aid for everyone!

http://musiccog.ohio-state.edu/Music838/course.notes/ear01.html

I snagged psychomusicology.com . I'll probably get sued.

Some of the field work I did ( sure, we'll cal it that NOW ) was seeing what I could do to and with a crowd in a bar. Yes, it was easy to make them fight with the right combo of music and drinks. But finding a groove with the lights and volume and bass lines - man they were like so much putty.

I'm working out some bugs right now - live. Check my profile for listen links.