Music & arousal

[Eliot Handelman <eliot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Dan Ellis:
>
> Dr. Al Bregman said you might be able to help me, or at least send out a
> post on your "auditory" e-mail list.  I'm involved in a discussion over
> the topic of "rock music".  It's being said that the syncopated beats of
> rock music create physiological desires for sex and violence which
> completely offsets any altruistic message that a rock song might
> contain.  Does this reasoning have any credence whatsoever?  My
> understanding is that, apart from the lyrics, music's effect on thoughts
> and moods vary greatly from person to person and culture to culture.
> What is your insight on this?  Do you know of any related research?
>

Well, I worked on the problem of sexual arousal in music  off an on for
about a decade, primarily physiological effects of the sort of high intensity
sound used in rock, rhythmic theory, etc.  I think I can say two things
about this:   the current level of theorization/research on these matters is
more than crude; the number of people interested in such matters is
negligible.  Too bad.

-- eliot

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