SSR #3

Ryan Um

Due Date: 03-14-2018

Professor Brooks

English 320

SSR #3: The Sound of Mood-sic

Summary:

One thing that Cheng emphasises in his recollection of blowing up the fictional town of Megaton is the music that he was listening to when he pressed the button to blow up the town. The Sousa march he was listening to had compelled him to press the button that was in front of him (47). And music, in this sense, does affect our mood and how we do certain actions. It’s astounding to look at the many different ways that music can affect us and the actions that we take to comply with the tone of the song.

Synthesis:

The utilization of music seems to be evolving every day. It can be used to adjust mood, provide comfort, and even make political statements. One use that people do not really think of is the utilization of music as a weapon. In the Auditory Culture Reader, Suzanne Cusick goes into detail on how this has been done. It seems like music was utilized in a manner that would either alter the volume in random ways or it would bring in a cacophony of sounds intermingled with the already loud and hardcore sounds. In this way, sound is being used a lot differently then just how it makes the user feel. It shows readers that it can be used for malicious intent as well. Cusick makes it very clear that subjects could have been kept in these kinds of chambers for months having to listen to the same sounds over and over again. This would make the subjects more likely to comply with the questioning that they were being asked to later.

I think that looking more into the introduction of Cheng’s book, Sound Play, we can better understand what he is talking about with regards to how music can affect mood. In his introduction, he clearly states all the different sections that the book is set out to be and shows that every chapter of the book deals with how music will affect the mood of the player. An interesting comparison that he makes is the introduction between old video game music styles and more current styles. Obviously, technology has advanced to where you can inject full orchestras into video games, allowing for more depth, but the 16-bit feel of certain music can bring back nostalgia and bring a mood that can efficiently utilize the limited materials that we have. The players expect some kind of emotion to be going through their mind and whether they consciously think about it or not, the music that goes on the background affects their mood.

Coming back to the Auditory Culture Reader, Emily Thompson talks about the difference in sounds from different generations of music players. The electronics have improved exponentially to the point where in certain recordings, it makes it seem like listeners can be in the room with the musician. However, there are some people who believe that having this “improvement” in technology is a hindrance and that the recordings were meant to be listened to on the intended device that they were recorded for. An interesting perspective on this phenomenon comes from people who only listen to music on record players because they are more familiar with that sound and prefer that kind of atmosphere that the device brings. It’s interesting to see that there are some people who prefer that kind of experience instead of a more modern and more refined experience that they can receive now. Even now, Thompson specifically calls out DJs and their use of records as their primary use of music instead of using something more modern. This could be more of an efficiency deal, but it definitely brings in a new perspective of the song when you can use them to “scratch” the sounds and blend them together.

In chapter two of the Sonic Color Line, Stoever explains the significance of singers Jenny Lind and Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield and how, while sang very similar songs, invoked different moods from the audience that were supposedly invoked due to the timbre of their voices. Greenfield sang in a lower timbre which was appealing to some, but many did not appreciate the change in tone from the classical Lind who sang in a higher timbre that appealed to most audiences. Besides some of the differences in their voices (timbre, pitch, etc.) it seems like the only difference between the two come from their race. In fact, when it came to judge their prejudice by listening to Greenfield without using their eyes, they found that they could enjoy the music better (115). So it is a bit unclear as to if the mood came from race, but there was a difference in voice that could have potentially changed the mood of the intended audience.

In the introduction to Radio and the Gendered Soundscape, Ehrick has an entire section dedicated to the sound of patriarchy and how it has affected society today. The mood of the audience depended to the voices that were given from the performers. When they heard a higher timbre, it seemed to hurt the people listening, so the environment changed. Of course, this could have also been due to inherent sexism that people had.

Questions:

1. When do you listen to music and how does it affect your mood?
2. Have you ever had an instance where you were unconsciously doing something and the music was an involved part of the action?

Word Count: 902