Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson” • Hacker News Board

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#61

Post by mgdlbp » Sun, May 22, 2022, 8:42 AM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #22

“Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Interesting. The Spotify playlist didn't do much for me, but when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills, they all feature that pattern: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score , Wacken 2013 @ 9:22, affec…

I suppose that's also how songs wear out with time and/or repeated listens. Fittingly, any frisson seems to be the first to go.

I'll contribute Stellenbosch University Choir's rendition of Say Something (by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera). The arrangement capitalizes on the choir's dynamic range; by remaining relatively soft throughout, the sudden loud, tutti passages (1:38 & 3:51) have great effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdnPAIFn32A

I find that choral performances of pop songs work really well, though they're regrettably but understandably rare. Interestingly, the focus on dynamics isn't present in the original, duet, or Pentatonix version of Say Something, so no frisson moments there. Someone listed Bohemian Rhapsody--can also compare with Stellenbosch's version:

https://soundcloud.com/uschoirkoor/bohemian-rhapsody

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#62

Post by afro88 » Sun, May 22, 2022, 8:49 AM UTC

dgaudet wrote: post #7

the article claims the playlist is "scientifically verified" ... but doesn't seem to cover the science behind the list construction or verification. is there a background article somewhere else?

I wish there was. There's so much subjectivity and context that feeds into whether you experience "frisson" when hearing a song.

I was very surprised to see Infected Mushroom in the playlist. Psytrance is the last thing that will give me goosebumps. Though I'm sure there are people out there who have imbibed, who have a connection to music like this.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#63

Post by hunter2_ » Sun, May 22, 2022, 8:50 AM UTC

gfd wrote: post #56

I used to love the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all which is now kind of inactive. Surprisingly to me, music didn't work as well as images/text for inducing frisson. For example I reread this piece very often: https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg

Conscience of a Hacker [0] does it for me.

[0] http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#64

Post by iamben » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:01 AM UTC

Music is a big part of my life and I get this a lot. I've seen particular shows where this has been such a thing I remember it years later.

Jeff Buckley's Grace is an album that does this for me - I recently got the chance to listen to it at a Pitchblack Playback (https://pitchblackplayback.com/), which I absolutely recommend to any music fans. The heightened senses do very strange things to you, especially when it's already an evocative record!

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#65

Post by sph » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:05 AM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #22

“Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Interesting. The Spotify playlist didn't do much for me, but when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills, they all feature that pattern: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score , Wacken 2013 @ 9:22, affec…

> Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson

Listening to Funkadelic's Maggot Brain album while under the influence of strong hallucinogens turned my regular frissons into full blown waves of pleasure in my body, which I remember were directly correlated to harmony, call-and-response and the play of consonance and dissonance that's so taken for granted in music.

A dissonant chord would make me tense up, and the subsequent resolution would just feel like a blanket of warm pleasure rolling over me.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#66

Post by blenderdt » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:22 AM UTC

nomilk wrote: post #3

I can't overstate how important music is to my productivity. What I listen to is extremely dependent on my mood and energy levels, but I almost always have on some long playlists (or better still, a single long youtube video, with adblocker on of course). When I need calm, awesomeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSrQ_c904M Upbeat productivity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NXWQ9QZwo#t=27m13s When I want to…

After working with and without music for over 20 years I think working without music makes me more productive, working with music is more pleasant.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#67

Post by nomilk » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:54 AM UTC

progre wrote: post #28

scruple wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically black metal and blackened death metal for me. edit/ And Sludge.

Same here. There is someting with the almost complete saturation of the mid- and upper frequencies of BM that focuses me like nothing else.

If anyone has a good starting point for a BM newbie (preferably a playlist or album), please suggest.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#68

Post by ntauthority » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:56 AM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #63

gfd wrote: post #56

I used to love the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all which is now kind of inactive. Surprisingly to me, music didn't work as well as images/text for inducing frisson. For example I reread this piece very often: https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg

Conscience of a Hacker [0] does it for me. [0] http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html

I accidentally clicked this on my phone. Skimmed it. Read the last paragraph. Ignored it. Thought about it. Can confirm: it worked.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#69

Post by ordu » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #22

“Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Interesting. The Spotify playlist didn't do much for me, but when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills, they all feature that pattern: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score , Wacken 2013 @ 9:22, affec…

> when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills

There are a couple of songs giving me chills when I'm singing them myself. Not every time, only when I'm in a appropriate mood. So expectation violation doesn't seem a cause.

I don't know exactly what "contrasive valence" is, but it sounds more like it. I think my chills correlate with a qualitative change in an emotions. The short moment when one emotion is transformed into other induce frisson. Some change in a way how I interpret things, or how I feel about them, or both. It must correlate with some properties of a music, because it is one of the ways to change emotional content, but it is not the cause. Sometimes it is one of the causes in a chain of causes.

Thinking about it, not every transformation of emotions gives me chills, sometimes I get tears in my eyes without any chills.

Re: Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

#70

Post by conqueso » Sun, May 22, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

I get this from nearly every song on Pet Sounds. Listening to music that causes frisson can be a quasi-religious experience, and I'm sure the feeling is something experienced by many when practicing religion as well.