It’s a crisp fall day, and concertgoers file into a dim auditorium, eager to feel 20,000 to 30,000 of their ear’s hair cells vibrate. They may not know it, but those hair cells react to the tones and pitches of the music, translating vibrations into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain.
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According to Eleanor Trawick, music professor at Ball State University, there are four basic elements of music.
- Melody, which is a single line of pitches.
- Harmony, which are pitches that are used simultaneously.
- Rhythm, which is the relationship between music to time.
- Timbre, which is the sound quality that we hear, whether that sound be coming from an instrument or from a device.
Although we are able to hear all elements while listening to music, we’re likely to catch onto melody the most, according to Trawick.
“It’s what you’re humming to yourself even when you’re no longer listening to the song,” says Trawick.
Trawick says that most music in the West has some version of the four basic elements. Even though music could be considered universal, we shouldn’t generalize it, according to her.
“Different cultures have different kinds of music. It’s important that in the U.S. and in Europe that we realize our music isn’t the only music that’s out there,” says Trawick.
Even though people can listen to music through headphones, that might not be the most beneficial way to experience it. Trawick claims when individuals listen to music through their devices, they’re missing out on certain sounds from and are experiencing low fidelity, or the degree of exactness an electronic device reproduces music’s effect.
Auditoriums and concert halls are scientifically designed to have better quality of sound in the building. Hall designers specifically try to eliminate large, flat surfaces.
“When sound bounces off the wall, it’s diffused in all directions so you don’t hear an echo,” says Trawick. “You’ll instead hear the phenomenon of sound being broken up and music being bathed all around you.”
This scientific architecture is available at Ball State’s own Sursa Performance Hall. According to Trawick, the Sursa Performance Hall utilizes panels that can be flipped for more or less reverberation for a performance.
Trawick says that a lot of the reason we react to music in a particular way is because we’ve been trained to. She says that the composers of music and television scores know the “troupes and semantics of the library of sounds we have within us.”
“When we’re listening to a music soundtrack and violins come in – we’re trained to listen for a romantic string melody that’s denoting something. When we hear a leaping melody with horns and brass – it’s going to remind us of something that’s marshal and heroic. We’ve been trained to listen to music that way,” says Trawick.
Music is not only a physical sensation — it can bring people together as well.
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When Guy Martin was a 13-year-old boy, he would spend his pocket money on records. He would play them over and over, listening for different sounds with each play. With each repeat of the record, he needed to be careful as to not damage the vinyl. He would truly give the music a chance.
Martin turned his love of listening to music into a business. Reel Connections, located in Norwich, United Kingdom, is a company that uses music, film and art to connect creatives.
Martin has worked in film education for about 30 years of his life. He distinctly remembers 10-year-olds visiting a movie projection room he was showing to them, and he couldn’t get them out of there.
“Film and music appreciation seem to be intergenerational,” says Martin. “There’s something that’s romantic and nostalgic about it. It’s something about tactile things and seeing how the mechanics work. Computers don’t have that.”
Reel Connections hosts a program called Music On My Mind (MOMM). The program includes Monthly Record Club and a podcast.
The message behind MOMM is to promote conversation around men’s mental health.
Martin got inspired by the 12th Man Campaign that encourages men to talk more openly about their mental health. When he saw what they were doing, he knew he wanted to contribute in some way.
“We realize that most of our strongest friendships were because of our love of music,” says Martin. “For some of my oldest friends, that’s the bone that kept us together. We’re still passionate about it.”
Because of COVID-19, the team at Reel Connections needed to move their MOMM project online. They decided to host a podcast, Music On My Mind. They virtually talked to musicians, journalists and a music psychologist. They have each guest speaker curate a Spotify playlist to pair with their episode, which can be found on the Reel Connection’s website.
Once the pandemic calmed down, the company was able to move its Monthly Record Club back in person. To Martin, the results were quite shocking.
“We started to have young women coming along as well, it started to be kind of equal,” Martin says. “It’s truly intergenerational. We had young women and men in their seventies, and I thought ‘Oh, how is this going to go?’ It worked out really well.”
During the informal Monthly Record Club meetings, the attendees listen closely to an entire album, have some conversation about it, and drink coffee.
“It’s a space for people to do something and express themselves,” says Martin. “Some have very powerful memories about this record, and they can share their stories if they wish. There’s truly something interesting about slowing down.”
So now, Martin gets to listen to an album carefully with a cup of coffee every month with like-minded listeners. Just like his 13-year-old-self imagined.
Infographic: How Music Reaches the Brain
- Sound waves will travel from the headphones and reach your outer ear.
- Then, the sound waves in your middle ear cause tiny bones to vibrate.
- The middle ear moves the vibration to the inner ear.
- Inside of your inner ear is the cochlea, which includes a range of 20,000-30,000 hair cells that react to different tones and pitches of a song.
- The inner ear translates these vibrations and hair cell reactions to electrical signals.
- The signals are carried into the brain.
- The signal travels along the cochlear nervous system to the cerebral cortex.
- Various parts of the brain come together so you can analyze the music.
