Music in my ears…
This article has been in my drafts for far too long (like years).
My core interest is in Design and human behaviour, or maybe human response. How can you design something that triggers a response. Not in the sense of marketing, but from a design perspective. Let this be Architecture, website design, or UX UI in general. In this particular article we will explore an angle on music, because after-all, this is a stimulus which is designed as well.
… into a Mind-Blowing spectacle, forever etched in everybody’s memory.
This sentence caught my eye, as a neuroscientist it is difficult to make a statement like this. However, it fascinates me and I have to agree there is some truth in this statement. What happens to the mind when it is “blown”? Are memories etched? Are memories forever? After I attended a talk In the Royal Academy in London about Experience Design I have been re-reading some of my older research on sensory experiences. The focus for me was always on the senses but let’s have a look at the experiences.
Look at this group of people dancing like there is not tomorrow. Intensely happy, extremely willing to perform in physical activity, open to stimuli, a breeding ground for experiences. Concerts and festival are big business but what determines the difference between them. Why do we like what we like, why are so many young people attracted to these big crowds (pre-covid of course) of youth conglomerating around “extreme sensory experiences”. And for this, they are willing to travel and pay good money. Ticket sales in the US alone was forecasted at 8 billion for 2020.
a breeding ground for experiences.
I would like to invite you to listen to the following link. This is the set from Martin Garrix a fellow dutchman who is very young, very successful and is “the” dutch talent after Tiesto, Armin van Buuren or other famous dutch musicians who for some reason seem to dominate this “market”. Do not feel obliged to listen to the whole hour but look through the video, try to grasp the experiences given as well as the experiences perceived. As scientist one can look at facial expression, pupil dilation, physical activity, crowd coherence, sensory congruity of stimuli, quality of stimuli, quantity of stimuli, engagement. It is truly fascinating to see such strong responses.
Why do we like what we like? Why are so many young people attracted to these big crowds of youth conglomerating around extreme sensory experiences.
Our brain cannot grasp the music: “peppep peppep dam dam pep dam dam” (this is a beat sequence, for the ones that didn’t understand that…). But, we can somehow anticipate this, somehow these stimuli are predictable, due to repetition, because of expectation or based on previous experiences (e.g. Skrillex and Garrix are different, and between songs they are equally different). If one anticipates the coming stimulus correctly, one will experience the release of reward-hormones (mainly dopamine) in the brain. You rewards yourself for being able to accurately predict and anticipate, this way you can “become one” with the stimulus. Furthermore this “task” is done in extreme circumstances. High amplitude of sensory exposure as well as physical demand. All of this increasing the sense of belonging to something larger than one selves.
But, we can anticipate this, somehow these stimuli are predictable due to repetition, expectation and experience.
Minute 19:00, the exposure to culturally different music makes you more likely to dance differently feel you are in the Jamaican coconut beach, happy, smiling, willing to engage in social activity, happy with life. The fact that you are in Amsterdam with thousands of other people has become irrelevant. Can you let the mind travel by exposing yourself to these stimuli?
Major/minor aka happy and sad melodies, intrinsic properties of musical melodies activating or inhibiting particular neuronal pathways. I always wonder whether people listen to particular music to get into a mental and physical state, or if they listen to music that fits with their current mental and physical state. Probably a both…
I always wonder whether people listen to particular music to get into a mental and physical state, or if they listen to music that fits with their current mental and physical state.
Minute 38:00, sense of curiosity? Sense of power? Sense of belonging? It is computer based tones which directly alter ones physiological response and mental state.
Sensory congruity during such an event is very interesting. Sensory congruity makes it easier for the brain to perceive stimuli because they simply “fit” with each other. That there is a flash with a beat and no light with silence makes sense. If this would not be the case the stimuli would not be congruent and the brain would not be able to make sense of the stimuli as a coherent whole. Be aware this exact same article could have been written for a symphony from Mozart.
Experience design, maxing out the volume, intensity, warnings of epileptic seizures, repetitive stimuli are all words that come to mind. All related to extreme sensory stimuli. Even though I don’t believe that the strength, the demand of these events is based on “loudness” there is something deeper. Maybe what they call the State of Trance? Is there this state, repeated neuronal firing based on repeated exposure doesn’t seem too far fetched?
41:00–42:00 Ready for some unreleased music? Why can they sing along? The brain can predict the music. If you can do this you have become part of the group who can do this, if you like it or not, this is about predictability. I can see the tricks, understand the logic, follow the flow (flow here is not the scientific term). Being the rebel, exposing to such stimuli? Understanding the stimulus has become irrelevant. Not understanding the stimulus and go with the flow.
Just because the “experience” is in such high demand.
The number of people who are willing to pay, willing to share, is incredible. Sensation, Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, just to mention some of them. Now if you try to analyse such an event by it sensory experiences your charts will be on fire. But what is it that makes the cortisol, endorphin and dopamine spike. Why are these such memorable events. Why are they so sought after. Concerts sell out in no time, festival like Tomorrowland or any other are difficult to get into. Just because the “experience” is in such high demand or because we seek something to be “etched”, to be a part of, and therefor part of me.
The experience you have of such an event on this youtube movie is very different from a concert itself. To watch this you have a front row seat, you don’t smell the sweat, do did not stand in a traffic jam for 4 hours to get there ramping up your anticipation, you don’t feel trampled against the barriers. You are physically disconnected from the “real” experience.
But what is it that makes the cortisol, endorphin and dopamine spike. Why are these such memorable events. Why are they so sought after?
Experiences are designed by humans, these experiences contain stimuli that are interpreted with intend. To be enjoyed, to be understood, to be consumed. The key is designing experiences that last, that are “etched” that people crave and will come back for over and over, is the understanding of how we perceive stimuli. Why do we like or hate something, why do we find certain things beautiful and others not. Why do we want to be right, why do we get happy from being able to accurately predict. The internal pat on the shoulder that your brain gives to your body, and you feel relaxed, happy, at easy, you.
The last thought I want to share.
The more complex the prediction becomes, the greater the reward. Because you were able to solve a more complex problem. This can be per individual as well as per group and create a higher social baseline to rely on.
Response to this original article.
