Response to Seth's Question

1. Early in the semester a you tube video was posted of a fake trailer to the Shining with happy music and a different storyline voice over to it. Why do you think we associate certain music and background sounds with happiness and others with horror and suspense? What would our opinions of horror films like the Shining be if they did not contain the suspenseful music?

That, my friend, is one of the great mysteries of music. I think much of our reactions to certain chord progressions, harmonics and melodies are culturally created. That means that the Shining music spooks us because we've our ears have been processing sounds our whole lives and have learned to associate emotional, tonal, and mood reactions to certain types of music/sound, so we know we're supposed to be scared when we hear Shining music.

But it is fascinating how some vibes of music and sound are pleasing, others cacophonous, others create drear, others inspire happiness. From a biological standpoint, I would expect that certain sounds stimulate different areas of our brain and, based upon that, create a mood. A simple mystery of life, I suppose, and one that, if lacking, would strip our world of its wonder.