Earlier quoted context omitted.
I put a Spotify playlist together but only found 56 songs. There were more than one version of a few songs, and I couldn't cross-reference the audio on the researcher's site. I'll do it tonight, unless anyone gets to it before I.
Link to playlist? :)
Why Does Music Feel So Good?
41–50 of 52 posts
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#42Somewhat tangential, somewhat related: people listen to music a lot, and yet the great majority of people do so with their stock iPod earbuds - or cheap alternatives. I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or c…
I think the problem is perception. We're so used to coloured sound that without over exaggerated bass and treble, higher quality headphones feel very flat. I will admit myself, that I much prefer my consumer speakers (Cambridge Soundworks Air Minx 200) to my friend's studio monitor speakers (KRK Rokits I think) - despite being well aware that they're no doubt coloured.
There is definitely a habituation effect. I bought a pair of KRK Rokits a few years ago and got used to listening to everything through them - I bought a second pair for my living room, and virtually all music I hear now comes through one of the pairs of monitors or through a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 headphones. It sounds normal and sound played back on a stereo with an unbalanced EQ setup sounds... odd, like it's trying too hard.
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#43My largely uninformed guess: Music is so massively rewarding because it trains/fuzzes our pattern matching engines, in a particularly effective and advantageous way that cannot be found "in nature". This is the same reason why jokes/humour are so enormously valued by the brain. It also explains why only nerds like listening to breakcore.
I think Steven Pinker would agree: "...music is auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive spots of at least six of our mental faculties" (How the Mind Works, p.534).
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#44Somewhat tangential, somewhat related: people listen to music a lot, and yet the great majority of people do so with their stock iPod earbuds - or cheap alternatives. I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or c…
>I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or cheap speakers.
I cannot understand this myself. I mean, why pay thousands of dollars for HD TVs, period.
As for the cheap headphones part, who cares. They like the beat and the feeling of the music, not the details and the subtlety of the recording.
That's why they don't listen to jazz or classical that much.
What exactly musical subtlety do you miss on Justin Bieber, Metallica, Hip Hop, Skillrex, 99% of what passes for R&B today etc, by using cheap headphones? You'll miss some low-fi sampled, bit-crushed drum loops? Two-note synth motifs?
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#45Somewhat tangential, somewhat related: people listen to music a lot, and yet the great majority of people do so with their stock iPod earbuds - or cheap alternatives. I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or c…
> I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or cheap speakers. I cannot understand this myself. I mean, why pay thousands of dollars for HD TVs, period. As for the cheap headphones part, who cares. They like the b…
> I mean, why pay hundreds of dollars for HD TVs, period.
Because you can't find HD TVs that cost under "hundreds of dollars"? :D
I don't watch TV that much, and bought a cheap 32" LCD for some videogaming + developing interactive applications for which I need a large screen, and had to pay ~$350 for it.
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#46My largely uninformed guess: Music is so massively rewarding because it trains/fuzzes our pattern matching engines, in a particularly effective and advantageous way that cannot be found "in nature". This is the same reason why jokes/humour are so enormously valued by the brain. It also explains why only nerds like listening to breakcore.
Or it might be because the beats and repetition help synchronize brain sectors. Allowing refined, less fuzzy, thinking.
Sorry for my potential utter ignorance, but this sounds a lot like woowoo.
Do you have any source that refers to such a thing as "synchronization of brain sectors" that leads to "refined, less fuzzy thinking"?
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#47The question that has always puzzled me is why do we feel compelled to sing along to music? I mean, we are invariably worse singers so it surely makes it sound worse and this is besides the fact that signing ourselves drowns out much of the original sound anyway! (Note: this is not to say I'm a silent listener, i'm a big fan of singing to myself ! :)
>I mean, we are invariably worse singers so it surely makes it sound worse and this is besides the fact that signing ourselves drowns out much of the original sound anyway!
I like Chesterton's quote on the issue: "Once men sang together round a table in chorus; now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason that he can sing better. If our civilization goes on like this, only one man will laugh, because he can laugh better than the rest".
See, this "I make the song worse" is a total cultural distortion, a byproduct of the rise of "specialists" (singers, artists, athletes) which other people passively admire.
In past human culture, for example, singing is a shared community experience that belongs to everyone, and all participate in. It doesn't matter if you do it better or worse than somebody else, because the joy is in doing it, and in the participation.
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#48Somewhat tangential, somewhat related: people listen to music a lot, and yet the great majority of people do so with their stock iPod earbuds - or cheap alternatives. I don't like to consider myself an Audiophile (and I really don't think I would classify as one anyways) but I don't understand why people are okay with paying hundreds of dollars (sometimes over $1,000) on HD TVs and yet stick with free headphones or c…
As someone who doesn't care much about audio quality I can try to explain. Part of it I suppose is that even though I like music, I don't _like_ like music as some people seem to do, like music is their life and a huge spare time interest. I just like to listen to some stuff sometimes, but sometimes I can go a week without listening to my Spotify account or the radio. Another part of it is that I feel like I get most of the benefit already with "regular" ear-phones, I don't need super duper audio quality to enjoy a song. The song is in your brain anyway, and your perceptions are not as perfect as you think. Think of it like suspension of disbelief in a video game. I used to play games with really shitty graphics, but that didn't affect the way I enjoyed the game because my brain fills in the rest.
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd be interested to see the results of this study if the participants were exposed to ambient drone music, such as sounds of a didgeridoo or a Steve Roach piece, that music often consists of long drawn out tones that don't fluctuate frequently and often lack a "melody". For me, it puts me a deep trance like state of mind that is very calm and peaceful. Humming along to the long tones also feels good, it's like your…
>Steve Roach Steve Reich
Could be either... (I like both, though Mr. Reich has probably changed the world a bit more).
Re: Why Does Music Feel So Good?
#50My largely uninformed guess: Music is so massively rewarding because it trains/fuzzes our pattern matching engines, in a particularly effective and advantageous way that cannot be found "in nature". This is the same reason why jokes/humour are so enormously valued by the brain. It also explains why only nerds like listening to breakcore.
I think Steven Pinker would agree: "...music is auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive spots of at least six of our mental faculties" ( How the Mind Works , p.534).
This is a cute description of what it does, but it doesn't really explain the why or how.