Sound Design:
Research - What effect does sound have on the body?
WHAT WOULD I LIKE TO LEARN?
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I'd like to use my previous research into Music Psychology to further explore the effect of sound on the body.
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Learn more about Sound Design and how we can compose music to evoke particular moods and emotions.
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Understand the effect of sound/music on emotional and physical regulation.
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The follow up for this section can be found here: Sound Direction. There I will be documenting my Sound Direction for the Project Proposal, including the music that we can compose and sound effects we could use to fulfil our goal of emotional and physical regulation.
Week 11 - Sound Research
Purpose for Research
The purpose for this section of research is to explore sound further by looking particularly into Sound Design and how to successfully achieve emotional and physical regulation through sound. This area of research is a development from my Music Psychology research in Phases 1 and 2.
RE-CAP PHASE 1 & 2
During these two phases my main focus was the psychology of music and understanding its benefit on people. This led me down the avenue of music therapy and learning how the brain interacts with music, resulting in feeling particular emotions and having a physical effect. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this topic which has led me to where I am now. At the start of Phase 3, I was able to combine links with Kiera as we found common themes between our areas of study - being safe spaces and the affects of music. We focused on how we could achieve this by mapping out an essential experience and being direct with our project goals, which in summary are based on emotional and physical regulation to support those struggling with mental health. And here we are now. Since then, we have looked into the importance of immersion, engagement, visual and sound design for our project proposal.
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Music Psychology research can be found here:
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The purpose of this further research is to familiarise myself with the effects of music both emotionally and physically. The purpose of our game is to evoke emotions of calm, comfort and relaxation to make people feel at ease and divert negative thoughts, so, by understanding how we can do this through our own composition, it enables us to have our desired effect on players throughout the game. During Semester two, I intend to create a 'Sound Bible' similar to an Art Bible, to outline the purpose of our soundtrack, how we intend to make players feel and how we'd like it to sound - but first I need to establish a direction.
EMOTIONAL REGULATION - MUSIC​
"REGULATING EMOTIONS WITH MUSIC"
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It's been a few weeks since I last read about the affects of music on self-regulation so I thought it was a good time to familiarise myself with this and apply what I know to the design during Semester two. To begin I found a useful blog written by Shahram Heshmat regarding 'Psychology Today'. The blog outlines effective ways to regulate emotions using music.
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Let's remind ourselves about emotional regulation
Emotional regulation is the ability to manage emotional experiences or challenging scenarios effectively. This can involve choosing to stay calm during situations of distress.
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BUT HOW DOES MUSIC HELP WITH THIS?
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Within Phase 2, this is what interested me the most. Personally, I listen to music on a daily basis to motivate me and enhance positivity, I also have a particular playlist just for reducing anxiety and remaining calm. It's said that music can be used to 'reduce physiological symptoms of anxiety' and activate a relaxation response, which is why it has this affect on us.
RESEARCH LINK:
COPING WITH DIFFICULT MOODS
Listening to music helps people cope with difficult moods by promoting well-being and reducing negative emotions.
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BUT... HOW?
Understanding how this works will help us to be more direct with our design to ensure we can get the best possible effect from the overall deisgn of our gameplay experience.​
MUSICAL PLEASURE
Engaging with music can have the same affect as other responses related to other rewards like food and money. The effects can vary from person to person as well as the kind of music they might listen to. It can excite us or calm us, make us happy or make us sad.
CATHARSIS
Music helps to channel frustrations and negative emotions. This way we can control the way we respond to these situations and disconnect ourselves from any real threat.
RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT
Our internal rhythms can increase or decrease as a result of listening to music. For example our heart rate can increase when listening to more upbeat, fast tempo music. This can also lead to foot tapping or dancing while listening to a song you like. I covered in Phase 2, coordination and emotional contagion which links to being in sync with a piece of music or moving in sync with others - this is what builds relationships and bonds between us.
EVALUATIVE CONDITIONING
People often relate to the lyrics they hear and associate this to past events in their life. I spoke about music's interaction with the Hippocampus in the brain - music can remind people of past events , trigger memories and make them feel emotional towards that memory. (whether it was happy or sad etc)
EMOTIONAL CONTAGION
We feel the emotions from the music we listen to - this is because of emotional contagion! Sad songs often makes people sad or dwell on their emotions whereas more upbeat songs make people feel more uplifted and cheerful. People's emotions during festivals/concerts are often influenced by the people around them which is another example of emotional contagion. It's all about relating to emotions.
LYRICS
Similarly, lyrics resonate with our personal experiences and express feelings that we might not be able to communicate ourselves. This is why people listen to music they strongly relate to. "Give voice to feelings or experiences".
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MUSIC AND VISUAL MENTAL IMAGERY
This strategy interested me the most - it's about stimulating visual imagery in listeners. For example, some songs might make you think about landscapes or bursts of colour. Visual imagery can be used to calm or relax. The content that you visualise is a result of the tone of music you listen to. An example of this is listening to sad music, this can lead to self-reflection and visual imagery of past experiences.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
I have familiarised myself with the effects of listening to music in terms of emotional regulation, and also briefly touched on its physical effects too. I like how the blog mentions rhythmic movement of music and how this can decrease heart rate, resulting in us feeling more calm or relaxed. This is certainly something we should consider when we document the direction of sound design for this project. It's most important for the tempo to be kept slow to evoke relaxation, calm and comfort in players.
HUMAN STRESS RESPONSE
"THE EFFECT OF MUSIC ON THE HUMAN STRESS RESPONSE"
I found this academic journal written by a series of authors. It demonstrates the results of an investigation regarding stress and anxiety levels before and after listening to relaxing music blended with nature sounds! I was already aware of the benefits of listening to nature sounds like rainfall and crashing waves as it can help reduce sensations of anxiety.
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This article has made me think about the importance of environmental sounds/nature sounds combined with relaxing piano songs/instrumentals - understanding this could influence the sound direction of our game which I will document here: Sound Direction.
FIGURE 3
This graph shows the decrease in heart rate after listening to relaxing music, sounds of rippling water and no music at all - during the stress task.
RESEARCH LINK:
RESULT
Graph shows the heart rate of those that listened to the sound of rippling water being the lowest, with the relaxing music group at a close second. Those with the highest heart rates during the stress task where the non-musical group.
NOTES
Studies have shown that listening to music can impact mental and physical health, especially via stress-reducing effects. ​I have read a part of this abstract and taken notes on the most important elements which could impact my design:
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Investigation - participants took part in a 'stress task' and were asked to listen to music before, during and after the stressful situation.
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During stressful medical interventions, investigation shows that listening to music before and after resulted in 'positive changes in cortisol'. What is Cortisol? Cortisol is the primary stress hormone - this investigation showed that listening to music during these scenarios decreased cortisol levels.
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Listening to music can lead to cognitive processes in the brain.
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Previous investigations have found reduction in stress levels and an increase in perceived relaxation after listening to music - "in the context or a stressful situation".
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Music can trigger/interact with regions in the brain linked to experiencing emotions. (Amygdala)
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Music has been proven to decrease anxiety levels.
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The result of the investigation - participants who listened to relaxing music before the stress task showed a different response to those that didn't listen to music. Results showed a decrease in heart rate, cortisol and anxiety compared to the 'non-music control groups'.
HOW CAN I APPLY THIS TO MY DESIGN?
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From this study I have learned the benefits of listening to environmental/nature sounds as well as further exploring the effects of relaxing/calming music. The investigation showed the effect on both emotional and physical health after listening to music which included a decrease in cortisol levels (stress hormone), reduce in heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety. It'll be fun to explore the different sounds we can use within our design and document samples of this in my Sound Direction section.
THE PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL EFFECTS
HEALTH BENEFITS OF MUSIC
To dive deeper into the physical effects of music I have found an article written by 'North Shore University Health System' which outlines the health benefits of listening to music and also provides a playlist for 'relaxing and stress reducing' music. From this I aim to collect more music samples to further the direction of our Sound Design.
RE-CAP: WHAT DO I KNOW ALREADY?
My previous research can be found here: Music Psychology
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To summarise what I already know, I will be highlighting the benefits of music that are of best interest to us and our project:
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It can elevate mood - boosts production of dopamine which helps to relieve feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.
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Amygdala - the emotion processing region of the brain. This is where music is directly processed.
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Reduces stress - Triggers 'biochemical stress reducers' and reduces cortisol levels. (Primary stress hormone)
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Manages pain - a strong competing stimulus against pain signals. Music Therapy can also be used to manage pain.
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Physical activity - can be used to encourage physical activity and workouts. Can also be used to boost performance.
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Physical health benefits - as we know already it can reduce cortisol levels in the body therefore reduce stress and anxiety. As well as this, it can reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure and increases serotonin/endorphin levels.
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HOW?
Now I have familiarised myself with the health benefits of music and it's impact on the mind and body, I'd love to find samples of music that do the same. This article has linked a playlist of relaxing music which can be used to wind-down, take a deep breath and practice mindfulness. The variety of sound aims to "bring the natural world and yourself into focus".
THE GARDEN PLAYLIST
"Bells in the Garden" inspired by Theodore C.Butz Memorial Carillon, located in Chicago Botanic Garden.
The playlist consists of both relaxing music and environmental/atmospheric audio and sound effects. The aim of these sound effects are to relax listeners and bring back their focus to the natural world. I am listening to the playlist as I speak and I can hear wind-chimes, birds chirping and trees swaying in the wind. I like the idea of environmental audio on top of a slow, calming soundtrack because I think this would be perfect for our physical space to encourage feelings of calm and have players focus on themselves in the moment - leading to emotional regulation. This kind of music can also regulate physical symptoms of stress/anxiety such as fast heart rate or heavy/struggle breathing.
MUSIC EXAMPLE:
"Midnight Woods Atmosphere" - New Age Anti Stress Universe
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This piece of music is a subtle violin/strings/piano piece accompanied by soothing jungle noise and atmospheric audio. The music isn't too overpowering and is not layered with too much noise. Listening to it makes me feel relaxed and I can feel myself breathing almost in time with it's slow tempo. This sample of music is a perfect example of the kind of thing we'd like to compose/produce for our project. Within my Sound Direction section on my blog and the Project Proposal, it will be good to show examples of existing music and my own experimentation with sounds, atmospsheric audio and melody samples.
SUMMARY & REFLECTION
I am happy with my research into the impact of music on physical and emotional regulation and well-being. I feel it's the perfect time to begin thinking about the kind of music we will play during our physical space experience and begin documenting our Sound Direction for an original soundtrack/composition. Using what I have learned about the effects, I can make sure we deisgn our sound to achieve the same in our players.
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I will briefly outline our requirements for the composition in terms of emotional and physical regulation, and then familiarise myself with my research into 'intentionally composed music' which i covered in Phase 2.
REQUIREMENTS FOR...
EMOTIONAL REGULATION
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Our composition must allow users to reflect upon their current situation and think more positively.
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Music/sound must evoke feelings of calm, relaxation, safety, security, peace and comfort within players.
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The music must induce feelings of calm and result in decreasing stress, anxiety, panic and overwhelm.
PHYSICAL REGULATION
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Our composition must reduce physical symptoms of anxiety/stress such as trembling, fast breathing, fast heart rate, shaking, lack of appetite etc.
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Must reduce stress levels (cortisol released)
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Increase motivation levels
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Increase release of dopamine, serotonin and endorphins in the body.
LAST AREA OF FOCUS...
To finish off my Sound Research before I begin documenting our Sound Direction for our Proposal, I will be furthering my research into specific musical patterns and characteristics of music to evoke these feelings of calm, comfort and security in players.
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WHY?
In order to produce our sound design effectively, we will have to establish exactly how to make the players feel this way and during my Phase 2 research, I came across a useful blog for identifying particular musical patterns to project different moods and emotions. This was based on the key you choose, modulation, harmonies, chords and tempo of your piece.
HOW TO COMPOSE MUSIC: TO EVOKE PARTICULAR EMOTIONS IN PLAYERS
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
My previous research entailed research into arranging musical patterns to project a particular choice of emotions, mood or tone. These sketch-notes can be found in my sketch-book on page 44. As well as an explanation of my notes here: Music Psychology
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RESEARCH LINK:
HOW CAN I APPLY THIS TO MY DESIGN?
Using these musical patterns, we can choose our arrangement specifically to ensure our soundtrack/effects make players feel the way we intend. From this research, I gathered insight to the kind of patterns we should use. For example:
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WHAT KEY SHOULD WE USE?
According to this blog and my prior knowledge as a pianist, I am aware of the different mood/emotion associations to different keys. Because of this, I was able to establish 3 keys that could be of interest to us and be used to demonstrate the direction of our sound design.
IDENTIFYING RELEVANT KEYS
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The key B minor evokes feelings of patience, calm and acceptance which would be perfect to evoke in our experience, to have players feel more relaxed and give them the space to get on top of things.
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The key C major which is the most basic can be used to evoke feelings of happiness with a 'spiritual feeling' which could be good to give players that feeling of optimism and belief.
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The final key I have identified is Key G - this evokes feeling of calm, satisfaction and peace.
SOUND DIRECTION
Within my Sound Direction section, I will be elaborating on this more by using what I have learned already to apply the most relevant musical patterns and arrangements to our composition. The last article I plan to read is a blog written about composing music to help with anxiety. This outlines the most important aspects of music which I feel will be really useful for our direction of travel.
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"HOW I LEARNED TO COMPOSE MUSIC TO HELP WITH ANXIETY"
"Music goes beyond words as it affects us directly on many levels of our existence and therefore is the perfect tool to facilitate relaxation".
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This blog is written by Matt, a musician who struggles with anxiety and depression but is documenting his progress and sharing ways that have helped him. This includes therapy, people and medication. His blog is written specifically about therapeutic music as a tool for relaxation.
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He speaks about his experience with music and the use of relaxation music and videos on Youtube to help him cope with these feelings. He found that only a handful of music pieces had an effect on him and only some helped to relieve these feeling and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
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WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
The problem is, most of this music is directed towards 'anxiety, sleep, yoga and focus' which don't necessarily always work for panic attacks or anxiety. He wanted it to be more specific and direct. Matt explains that the music must be tailored to do a specific thing rather than claim it can do it all. He has used this blog as a demonstration to outline the elements he discovered to work for anxiety/panic and has created a process to follow to compose music with this in mind.
RESEARCH LINK:
"The Gateway Productions"
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheGatewayProductions/videos
Matt has since created a Youtube channel to upload his compositions of therapeutic music specifically for coping with anxiety and depression. During our Sound Design, we can listen to these pieces to inspire the production of our own.
SO, WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF THIS?
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Before I continue with Sound Direction I will be noting down the most important steps of composition that I need to establish to compose music to reduce feelings of anxiety and stress. Using these principles and techniques, the purpose of our sound design will be successful and have our desired effect on users.
THE PROCESS
Proven musical methods:
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1) Choose the correct key - different keys can evoke different emotions as I established before. Ensure to choose a key that projects the mood you want.
2) Choosing the right scale - the two main scales used are Major and Minor scales. However, you can also look into 'Lydian or Phrygian' scales which are often used in film. Lydian scales often evoke emotion of excitement.
3) Choosing the melody - everyone pays attention to the melody no matter how simple or complex it is. This is what our players will focus on the most, so the melody of our composition is most important. This will be the main element of our composition that will make our players feel relaxed. If we were intending to put players to sleep, no melody would mean they essentially have nothing to focus on - making it easier to fall asleep and not become distracted.
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4) Instrumentation - access different sounds. Use synthesisers. Look into instruments or sounds that are not distracting but more calm.
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5) Tempo - slower tempo calms us down whereas faster tempos stimulate us and provide us with energy or motivation. Specific tempos can be used to slow our heart rate which I also identified in my Phase 2 research.
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6) Mixing the music - a whole other process in itself! But, as we intend to use surround sound for our space I thought I'd read a little about how this can be done. Audio engineers are able to shape the sound to create the desired effect. It can be placed into a 3D environment so listeners are surrounded by the music. This is how Surround Sound works and players can hear sound from every direction. Almost like a musical hug.
IT'S TIME FOR SOUND DIRECTION
NEXT STEPS
I have a clear idea of the direction of travel we should take to achieve our desired effect regarding our Sound Design. I am excited to progress onto the next section and document examples of what we'd like to produce!
On this next page, I will be setting myself rules and principles for our Sound Direction, including being direct with what we want to achieve to ensure our composition comes out the way we want it to, and for it to have the effect on players that we want. As this is the most important aspect of our project, I am pleased with my research and I feel ready to take this further.
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