Re: Music and mood

Dave

You bring up the question as to whether or not the "message" [sic] contains the emotion, or can be designed [in a language-specific way] to point a population towards a [specific] emotional response.

I was still pondering the issue of the relationship between 'mood' [which was the question], and 'emotion' which has been the response. The pieces I have tried to consider here included the Machaut Mass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47JdUI_PhE the Verdi Requiem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVjDP0vlem4. For the second one, I also listened with the sound muted to pick up the mood/emotion, as there is enough carry-on baggage for me to get a clear message --

and the ubiquitous Gustava Dudamel,

different in different cultures [experiences / memories].

I considered the Western requiem mass as there are many [stylized] kinds of responses to the text independent of the setting of the text, and emotional [surface] emotional response / mood to the Verdi is likely picked up by many people [noisy], the mood of the Machaut would be peaceful because people have voices, have used them, have heard them, know what is involved in producing the sounds, and the brain seems 'trained' [sic] to extract vocal quality as a category all its own. [This is an un-researched opinion based on my experience.] And this is sung in Latin, a language not widely spoken on a daily basis.

From this I conclude that the emotion is not contained in the source materials [quantum information], but at an individual level is derived from the interpretation of symbols [which may be largely cultural but to me appear to be learned], based on experience, ie, memory. The memory may be of the mind, the body, both or more. Memory providing perception with meaning.

Regarding mood / emotion and music, my very limited experience with people with neurological conditions [from stroke to dementia to congenital conditions] has been that whatever this thing called "music" is, it has a highly independent robust 'life' in the brain that while many other functions may have ceased to be present, music has been able to provide stimulation that no other 'single' form of stimulation has been able to provide.

As I consider music to be poly-multi-dimensional, a simple mapping to me appears to be inappropriate / impossible until a way of re-presenting this poly-multi is found / invented.

Kevin

[also an inventor or new sequences of sounds]

On 2012, Nov 7, at 1:35 PM, David Smith wrote:

Ha! Has anyone characterized the extent to which language is communicative?

Look....

A kid drops his ant farm and starts to cry. Do ant farms express emotion?
What emotion does "visiting your family on the holiday" cause?
These are not good questions. These are manipulative questions.

"How does music relate to emotion?" is also not a good question, even if you have access to an MRI machine.

Perhaps better starting questions would be -
Does this or that aspect of music hold / demand attention over time.
What are the temporal aspects of continuity?
How do we quantify sensory, perceptual and cognitive preconditioning?

Dave Smith
composer

On Nov 6, 2012, at 8:38 AM, Peter Lennox wrote:

This was an interesting line of reading, thanks for that.

One thing that occurred to me: have any studies examined the relationship between intended emotion (in the composer/musician) and 'received emotion' (in the listener)? - in other words, has anyone characterised the extent to which music is (or is not) communicative, and if so, to what extent is it a deterministic chain from 'input to output', as it were?

Of course, I'm simplifying, because, in many cultures and types of music, the music makers and the music consumers are the same group, so it's not necessary to posit a 'one-way street'

regards
ppl
Dr Peter Lennox

School of Technology,
Faculty of Arts, Design and Technology
University of Derby, UK
e: p.lennox@xxxxxxxxxxx
t: 01332 593155
________________________________________
From: AUDITORY - Research in Auditory Perception [AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Anders Genell [anders.genell@xxxxxx]
Sent: 06 November 2012 08:48
To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Music and mood

Dear Dr Tollin,

I would strongly recommend to read a paper by my former supervisor (and your namesake) Dr Daniel Västfjäll and his colleague Dr Patrik Juslin on music and mood. They have done a very thorough review of the field and in addition post a number of hypotheses. You can find it here: http://nemcog.smusic.nyu.edu/docs/JuslinBBSTargetArticle.pdf

Best regards,
Anders

5 nov 2012 kl. 06:11 skrev "Tollin, Daniel" <Daniel.Tollin@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:Daniel.Tollin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>>:

Hi all,

I have been tasked to give a brief introductory lecture on sound, music and its impact on mood and other neurological disorders as part of a larger symposium on neurological disorders. I know enough about audition and music, but not much about the interplay of hearing and mood and the effect of sound on anxiety and/or neurological disorders. Could anybody direct me to some reviews, demonstrations and/or PowerPoint slides that I might be able to use (of course, full acknowledgement would be given)?

Also I would like to highlight the possible role of hearing loss in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, etc. I understand that one of the best predictors of the onset and severity of some of these disorders is social isolation…and that one of the best predictors of social isolation is hearing loss or problems. Are their studies that have linked hearing problems with these disorders? Could somebody recommend some readings on this topic?

I know that the list has several musicologists and music therapists, etc., and hopefully somebody knowledgeable about the relationship between hearing and neurological disorders.

Thanks in advance.

Daniel J. Tollin, PhD
Associate Professor

University of Colorado School of Medicine
Department of Physiology and Biophysics/Mail Stop 8307
Research Complex 1-N, Rm 7106
12800 East 19th Ave
Aurora, CO 80045

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