Moods and Music

Ayush_SCtoss

India3051 Posts

February 14 2011 18:21 GMT

Hey there.
Since this is a blog I was hoping some people would help with me with something.
I study in IB and we have this Personal Project where we use whatever skills we have learned in the framework of our interests.
So what I chose was the connection of moods and music (because music has a huge role in my life) or more specifically said, "How does music induce moods into us and what is the connection between music and moods, psychologically and physically." I think its pretty obvious music is pretty subjective.
Will be a real help if you guys answer the following questions! It will only take 5 minutes of your time!

1. How would you describe music?
2. Do you think there is a relationship between moods and music? If so:
i) How can music affect our moods?
ii) Do you think music can portray our moods? Like how?
Any help would be appreciated :D

Please! Please! Would really help! Thanks.

Maybe this topic might be a place of good discussion :D
Anyhow, thanks for the help. :D

fabiano

Brazil4644 Posts

February 14 2011 18:35 GMT

Dude, to change the blue background you require like no skill in photoshop at all. Select the blue with magic wand, delete all blue, create a new layer and paint the colors you wish, save in wahtever format you want and... thats it.

1. No idea
2. Yes.
2i. If you listen to some epic music (like in the movies with epic scenes) you will find yourself wanting to do epic stuff, setting yourself in a epic mood.
2ii. Yes?

Kurumi

Poland6130 Posts

February 14 2011 18:38 GMT

1. Sounds in particular order,which should create something more complex and great.
2.Yes.
a)It can soothe Your mind after losing,build Your anger or even put You into sleepy mood.
b)Sure it can,although it might be hard to be understood by other people because we're a bit different after all!

UisTehSux

United States693 Posts

February 14 2011 18:40 GMT

1. An outlet for emotion
2.Yes.
i) It can rattle soldiers before battle. Calm us in times of stress. Give people fond memories and a way to connect to certain people/events. (Oh honey, it's our song!)
ii) I believe so.

I challenge anyone to watch this and say otherwise:

+ Show Spoiler +

Watch this man tear his heart out, show it to you and tell you why he's feeling the way he is.

Well there's floodin' down in Texas
All of the telephone lines are down
Well there's floodin' down in Texas
All of the telephone lines are down
And I've been tryin' to call my baby
Lord and I can't get a single sound

Well dark clouds are rollin' in
Man I'm standin' out in the rain
Well dark clouds are rollin' in
Man I'm standin' out in the rain
Yeah flood water keep a rollin'
Man it's about to drive poor me insane

Well I'm leavin' you baby
Lord and I'm goin' back home to stay
Well I'm leavin' you baby
Lord and I'm goin' back home to stay
Well back home are no floods or tornados
Baby and the sun shines every day

jon arbuckle

Canada443 Posts

February 14 2011 18:40 GMT

On February 15 2011 03:21 Ayush_SCtoss wrote:
1. How would you describe music?
2. Do you think there is a relationship between moods and music? If so:
i) How can music affect our moods?
ii) Can music portray our moods?
Please! Please! Would really help! Thanks.

1: I personally define it as the creation, manipulation, organization, and presentation of sound. This is decidedly open, as I'm equally as open to listen to something discordant, arrhythmic, formless, and ugly and call it music as I am something sonorous, rhythmic, formal, and gorgeous.

2: Yeah. It's Valentine's Day, and I've been listening to Tiger Trap and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac since midnight.

i) With exceptions that are themselves arguable (e.g. orchestral composition, modernist composition, rap), I consider music tends toward a binary medium: it is happy or sad, it is triumphant or self-deprecating, it is confident or meek, etc. etc. - or if nothing else it expresses itself that way. So, when you feel good, you can put on music that sounds boisterous and have that mood accentuated. In contrast, when you are enraged, your catharsis can be expedited by the proper soundtrack. And all spaces and contrasts in between, like how a giddy love song can be profoundly depressing or an incredibly maudlin song heartwarming and enriching.

Conversely, someone who surrounds themselves with depressing music (or depressing cultural artifacts overall) may find themselves more depressed in general, but the question is about affection, not effection.

ii) Absolutely, although considering the music I turn to when I most need to, the specific signs encapsulating my emotions (whatever I am angry, sad, happy, etc. about) are external to the music or at best vaguely correlative - like how someone wanting to tell another how much they love them can successfully turn to love songs to do so. I would never hand someone a syllabus of poetry and prose to read when a mix would do the same with less strain. But if a mood is monological - happy, angry, sad, etc. - then music suits the purpose where simplicity and lack of detail takes precedence (i.e. music can say "I am happy," but music has a harder time of successfully saying, "I am happy because I am slated to graduate summa cum laude, and I got into my choice grad school"; at best, my hope for the future could be approximated by playing "Shine Blockas" really, really loud).

But to the extent that music like all cultural media are vague iterations of the fact of the matter itself, that fumbling over words or film or strings there will always be an element of the feeling lost in its translation to the representation, music will come short, but that's hardly music's fault.

Ayush_SCtoss

India3051 Posts

February 15 2011 17:00 GMT

Thanks guys for the answers :D

@jon
Your answer is big, awesome and well thought out. I will include all 4 people's replies here.
Thanks once again.
And about the photo, I found one on deviantart lol.

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