discussion of the historical development and neurological implications of trance music. The report will
explored the growth of the subject through history and its use by different cultural groups throughout time to its adoption in the contemporary music scene. The article will utilise s two primary research methodologies for data collection and processing including descriptive research analysis and experiments. As the subject is well documented in existing literature, descriptive analysis will be was the ideal technique as it involves the review of secondary research material. Experiments willere
utilised as they provided primary data on the neurological activity of subjects when exposed to trance music. The report will investigated
four research questions including the historical analysis, cultural implications, and neurological impacts of trace music. The article concludes by noting that the genre has immense neurological influence in listeners, providing a hypnotic sensation caused by dopamine secretion.
Purpose: The report will provide a historical
analysis of the trance music. Additionally, it will discuss the cultural and neurological effects of the genre.
Methods: The article will utilise two primary research methodologies for data collection and processing including descriptive research analysis and experiments. As the subject is well documented in existing literature, descriptive analysis will be the ideal technique as it involves the review of secondary research material. Experiments will utilised as they provided primary data on the neurological activity of subjects when exposed to trance music.
Findings: The article will find that the genre has immense neurological influence in listeners, providing a hypnotic sensation caused by dopamine secretion.
Research Limitations: The limitations realised in the course of the paper include the structure, competition, and overall acoustic presentation of trance music being vastly different from one community to another hence no comprehensive documentation being available in the pre-1980s era. Additionally, the aims and objectives of the research were formulated too broadly.
Implications: The scholar is hopeful that providing an in-depth analysis of the history and cultural and neurological implications of trance music will result in increased usage of the music in medical therapy, mood management and treatment of related disorders, as well as to further cultural progression.
Keywords:
Neurological, neuroscience, trance music, shamanic, house, techno
Trance Music- Historical Analysis and Neuroscience
Introduction
Trance is an electronic dance musical style first noted in the vibrant mid 80s United Kingdom rave scene and popularised through the next three decades. The genre became immensely popular in 1990s Germany, becoming the most developed and played genre in the country morphing into its more melodic offshoot, techno house. The rest of Europe would incrementally incorporate trance into its social scene, appreciating the infectious and hypnotic characteristic of the music. Subsequently, the genre would become immensely popular eventually spreading to the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Americas. The emerging disco scene in the United States and the energy and creative enthusiasm of the 80s would provide the most enabling environment for trance music's development.
The unprecedented technologic advancements and proliferation of the 90s and 2000s particularly in the field of entertainment helped popularise trance even further, making it one of the most revered types of music in the contemporary music scene. The term trance is commonly used to refer to a state of elevated consciousness and hypnotism. The style features the combination of different harmonic layers distinctively mixed followed by a foreshadowed tension build-up and release. As Williams (2017, p.122), explains, trance music features" a mid-song climax followed by a soft breakdown disposing of beats and percussion entirely leaving the melody to stand alone for an extended period before gradually building up again." The records have a drawn-out opening and closing segments to facilitate mashing by disc jockeys and are usually lengthy to accommodate such elaborate tune progression. Like most contemporary musical genres of electronic descent, the style is primarily instrumental with occasional mixing of vocals often in a repetitive form (Smith, 2015, p.38). The vocals are often dispensed by a soprano female or mezzo-soprano soloist without a definite or traditional chorus format. The hypnotic style is often regarded as operatic, soaring, or grand with an ethereal mezzo male or female lead floating among the often immensely refined synths.
Trance music characteristically has a tempo of between 112 and 150 beats per minute (Agres, Herremans, Bigo, and Conklin, 2017, p.1999). The repetition of melodic phrases, the distinct nodal building of tension and elements throughout the track that culminate into occasional peaks and drops all characterise this musical form. While trance is often considered a category of its own, it I'd heavily influenced by other styles including film music, ambient, tech house, classical music, chill-out, pop, and house.
History
As Agres, Bigo, Herremans and Conklin (2016, p.280) explain, trance is commonly used to refer to an electronic music type that relishes an induced uplifting rush, chills, euphoria, and altered emotional experience on listeners. In its initial stages, the music endeavoured to provide brief trance-like States to listeners before the focus changed to entertainment. The earliest reported trance music track is New Order's 1983 release, Blue Monday. Arguably the greatest hit from the band's second studio album, Power, Corruption and Lies, the song is credited as the precursor for modern-day trance music (Corey, Fitzpatrick, Myers, and Whiting, 2017, p14). The track was originally intended to be an alternative dance and synth-pop song but was experimentally altered by Factory Records to feature a distinctively different feel. The record would be a massive hit, establishing a huge fandom for New Order and ultimately developing trance into a musical movement (Ong, 2015, p.13). The band’s massive success initiated a cultural revolution that would morph to become one of the most beloved creative styles to-date.
Gouk (2017, p.4) provides an alternative theory of the genesis of trance music. The scholar explains that the genre has always existed though not in the electronic form the term is synonymous with today. The author explains that ancient populations and ethnic tribes often utilised trance music in their rituals and other social events. The hypnotic state relished by the music often provided what audiences believed to be a spiritual connection (Mills, 2014, p.34). The music often accompanied by immersive drumming and occasional chanting dancing. Participants noted that the music provided deep insights, clarity, and knowledge. Trance music was utilised in religious and other social events with intense emotional significance including during weddings, sacrifices, burials, and rites of passage. As the author posits, the genre's neural underpinnings of transformed consciousness have been exploited since time immemorial (Gouk 2017, p 8).
Neurological Connection
While attempting to answer the question 'Why does music make us feel?' Smith (2015, p38) explains the neuroscience of trance music. The author notes that music is a purely abstract form of art with no explicit ideas and is devoid of language yet it prefers some extent of spiritual communication.
Research Questions
• When was trance music developed and how has it developed over the years?
• What is the neuroscience behind the hypnotic effect of trance music?
• What are the cultural implications of trance music?
• How has the genre revolutionised the contemporary music scene?
• Aims and Objectives
• The report will explore when trance music was developed and examine how has it developed over the years.
• The article will explain the neuroscience behind the hypnotic effect of trance music.
• The report will investigate the cultural implications of trance music
• A thorough investigation into how the genre revolutionised the contemporary music scene will be conducted.
Literature Review
The history and neurological implications of trance music have been extensively detailed in existing literature. The subject has elicited massive literary interest due to its connection to a metaphysical realm. This section will include a comprehensive review of literature on the topic, exploiting several theoretical perspectives including the affective disposition theory, communication theory and disposition theory of personality to explain the neurological dimension of trance music.
Theoretical Frameworks
Affective Disposition Ttheory
The concept maintains that music listeners and other media users actively make conscious moral judgments about the content or form of a select composition which in turn subconsciously affects them psychologically, impacting their enjoyment and perceptive of the art. Developed in 1972, the theory continues to define investigation into the metaphysical and psychological implications of trance music. Entertainment users constantly make judgments regarding the genres they desire based on select preferences including the melodic features and characters of the tracks including the vocals, general ambience, and tune progression. Subsequently, the selected music institutes a given emotional response consistent with the listener's expectations. In trance music, audiences chose tracks based on their ability to institute a sustained hypnotic state uncommon in other genres.
Mood Management Theory
As will be extensively explained in the subsequent chapters, trance music initiated a plethora of neurological responses which extensively alter the mood of an individual. Mood management theory offers a theoretical perspective of the occurrences that result in the different emotional responses experienced in the process. Ideally, a person's psychological state is determined by the level of balance of positive and negative feedback from their environment. Individuals experiencing adverse reactions from their settings are likely to exhibit a poor emotional disposition as opposed to those whose contexts provide the desired response (Fancourt, Ockelford, and Belai, 2014, p.14). Therefore, the type and extent of emotions shown by a person is a direct correlation of the communication they receive from their environment. Mood management theory explains that the interpretation of messages, more so those of entertainment, alters prevailing emotional states and the that selecting particular messages often serves to regulate the moods of the recipients of the communication (Raglio, Attardo, Gontero, Rollino, Groppo, and Granieri, 2015, p.68).
An individual's emotional disposition is often malleable and dependent on the feedback they receive. The theory is based on the hedonistic understanding that people are traditionally motivated for pleasure to any extents possible by rearranging factors in their environment and exposing them to stimuli they find favourable. The concept supposes that individuals are subject to pursuing, maximising and maintaining exposure to communication that diminishes their sensibility to undesirable communication. As Raglio et al. explain, "The indicated hedonistic objective is best served by selective exposure to material that is exceptionally opposite to prevailing states associated with noxiously experienced hypo or hyperarousal or has a positive hedonist value above that of prevailing states and in hedonistically negative state, has little or no semantic affinity with the preceding state (Raglio, Attardo, Gontero, Rollino, Groppo, and Granieri, 2015, p.68) ". Essentially, the author supposes that introduction to the select type of music or other forms of entertainment favoured by the audience dramatically alters their emotional and psychological disposition. Favourable feedback is often developed from different forms of media including audio-visual ones such as music or movies.
Trance music, like other forms of entertainment, has been noted to alter the listener's mood. The genre elicits this type of reaction due to its ability to initiate brain activity consistent with extreme pleasurability. The individuals suffer from hypnosis as their sensibility to negative emotions is temporarily blocked. The individual experiences extensive mood changes only becoming sensitive to feelings of ecstasy and other positive emotional states (Raglio, Attardo, Gontero, Rollino, Groppo, and Granieri, 2015, p.68). Trance music has an unmatched capability to initiate such neurological responses given that it is acoustically designed to occasion the release out as much dopamine as is possible.
James-Lange Theory
Renewed psychologists Carl Lange and William James concur with the mood management theory. The duo believes that emotions occur as a result of psychological excitement and physiological reactions to events. The theory posits that individuals sustain physiological responses to environmental stimuli and their reaction towards the physical event results in a select emotional experience. Cannon (1987, p. 576) notes that individual are predestined to suspend pleasure for pain whenever is realistically possible. The James-Lange concept appears to resonate perfectly with neurological studies regarding the implications of trance music on one's brain. Whenever a listener is exposed to trance music, they exhibit extensive mental excitement which in turn causes dopamine and related hormones to be released into subject's brain thus resulting in massive hypnosis.
Research Gap
While the paper attempted to offer a comprehensive historical analysis of the problem, data on the development and use of trance music before the 1980s is largely unavailable. The genre was used extensively by different cultural groups for religious and social activities but is not widely documented as its application was not uniform. While the rhythm remained fundamentally the same, the accompanying instrumentation was different. As a consequence, researchers generally avoided classifying music that met the aforementioned criteria as trace leading to insufficient historical data. There exists a literary gap in the history trance music. Additionally, there exists minimal research on the cultural effects of trance music among 21st century listeners, a gap that will be filled by adequate literary interest in the subject.
Methodology
The report utilised descriptive research analysis as its primary methodology. The exploration of the history and neurological implications of trance music is a majorly qualitative subject. It requires the chronological analysis of the genre from its conception, progression, and development through history up to its present-day form. Descriptive research analysis was the most appropriate technique to be utilised in this context.
Descriptive Research Analysis
Descriptive research entails the study of a given problem by exploring secondary research reports on the subject. It entails the analysis of pre-authored data to provide context and evidential backing for the claims made. The technique is often adopted in instances where the research problem is effectively documented as is the case with trance music and its neurological effects. Trance music is a phenomenon that has existed for as long as music has been utilised in social events. For centuries, the genre has been adopted in events where genuine or intense emotional is required. Reports of the use of the musical style in rituals such as burials and sacrifices have been widely documented (Villepastour, 2017, p.44). Such reports provide important research material critical in the development of this report. The choice of the methodology is influenced by numerous factors including convenience of use, availability of research resources, high levels of reliability and validity, reproducibility of research data and the low cost of implementation.
Sample Selection
The articles were selected on the basis of comprehensiveness in addressing the research problem. A total of 30 research articles were selected for analysis. The references had to have been authored in the past 15 years. The reason behind this requirement is that trance music is rapidly changing. The advent of new electronic instruments and fresh talent has heralded a new musical dispensation. Similarly, reporting on the subject has changed and with neurological scanning becoming incrementally advanced.
Reproducibility
Data developed from descriptive analysis is reproducible with a great degree of accuracy. Often, research data included in the publications have been peer-reviewed and the arguments made criticized. The reports have been scrutinised by others scholars and deemed to be accurate or certified to meet the highest possible research standards. Additionally, the reports have a high level of reliability. This means that data can a similar set of research data can be developed in the event that the same research or experiment is performed again under the same research conditions.
Descriptive Research analysis was selected for use in this research expedition as it is due to its low cost of implementation. The technique involves selecting secondary research material. The scholar visited a local library and a plethora of other online databases to select the 30 research articles utilised in this report. The student did not incur any additional cost other than library charges and the cost of accessing the archived internet reports.
Experiments
The neuroscience behind the effects of trance is both a quantitative and qualitative research subject in that data can be developed through statistical and explanatory analysis. In this instance, both techniques were used.
The research included findings from an experiment conducted by Montreal researchers where subjects were exposed to select influences including different types of music to determine the difference in action and neurological activity. The experiment involved connecting respondents to fMRI and Computer Tomography (CT) scanning, to allow for the collection of data on mental activity. A control group that was indifferent to the trance music was selected. The group was noted exposed to trance music and data on their psychological responses determined. Graphs on neurological reactions were recorded and a baseline created.
Sample Selection
The sample was selected from a group of first-year university students. They are part of a generation referred to as millennials. The age bracket is most well-known for its reverence for trance music. Millennials have a well-documented liking for electronic music have been born and raised at a time when it was the most predominant genre. As such, they exhibit the most comprehensive reaction to the music. The individuals were aged between 17 and 24 years.
Precedence
Also, as the student is merely reporting on the experiments and not personally actively involved, the approval of the institutional review board is not required. The researcher does not have availability of the participants in the experiments.
Rationale and Justification
The performing of experiments is often key for two major reasons including confirming a given hypothesis and creating a new theory. The neurological implications of trance music have long been suspected to be elaborate with no tangible evidence. Since time immemorial, actually have theorised that the music places some extent metaphysical strain on subjects whose emotional and psychological disposition is often momentarily altered. In the past, there was no physical way of ascertaining the actual influences of such music until the advent of scanning technology.
Graphical insight into the mental activity of such individuals is now possible. Thus, experiments were included as a key method of in the completion of this report. One must understand that the researcher did not actively participate in the execution of the experiment process due to its complexity and colossal financial and logistical expense but has co-opted findings from the process and awarded referential credits as is required by standard research practices. Nonetheless, the experiment's findings will be included and discussed appropriately. The physical examinations allowed for the collection of data that supported the different theoretical frameworks that attempt to explain neurological activity and historical analysis of trance music. As such, experiments were monumentally important in the research process.
Generalization
The experiments assumed that given the participants' history of excitement with trance music, comprehensive findings will be developed in terms of brain activity. The research assumed that subjects will demonstrate similar reactions to trance music in the laboratory setting and that the data will be extensive enough to be assimilated as standard research practices.
Reliability and Validity
The experiments exhibit elevated standards of validity. Validity is the ability of the findings generated from a select experiment to be consistent with known and well-documented facts and theories. The neuroscience behind trance music has been well documented with many neurologists offering their perspectives on the subject. The results of the experiment appear to concur with the insights gleaned from the secondary literature indicating elevated levels of validity. The experiments were also highly reliable. Reliability is the measure of consistency in findings between different experiments conducted within the same context and parameters. Essentially, it is the reproducibility of experimental findings in successive attempts. The processes were repeated on the subjects with a similar set of results being recorded, indicating heightened levels of reliability.
Discussion
Neurology behind the feeling of "in a Trance",
While trance music may exhibit little narrative value, it is universally revered and enjoyed. The genre transverse cultural barriers to prefer the same communication and interpretation in all listeners. The emotional arousal listeners claim to experience applies uniformly regardless of one's ethnicity, geographic location or any other social or personal differences. As such, it is apparent that the genre contains some a biological or metaphysical characteristic that is not exhibited by other human preferences (Lehrer, Rennie, Stirone, Gonzalez, Simon, Allain and Molteni, 2018, n.p). Listeners have been noted to exhibit physiological changes when exposed to the music with many of these occurring subconsciously or without the intentional initiation of the subject. As Williams (2017, p.120) explains, the listener's pupils may dilate, brain interactions associated with physical movement may become suddenly immensely active, electrical conductance to the skin may be lowered, and the blood pressure and pulse, rise. Other physiological events may include increased blood flow and nervous stimulation to arms and legs with some experts intimating that this is the cause of the sudden reflex inclination to tapping or clapping alongside the music. The processes often occur subconsciously with individuals barely realizing their new altered state or may dismissively associate it with the presence of the music.
A study conducted by Montreal researchers to understand the neuroscience of music presented certain key perspectives regarding the potent pleasurable stimulation of trance. The scientific process involved the ligand-based positron emission tomography scanning and fMRIs (Lehrer, Rennie, Stirone, Gonzalez, Simon, Allain and Molteni, 2018, n.p). The experiment featured 217 individuals who were screened as they listened to certain types of music that provided chills or hypnotic emotional responses. Respondents who exhibited the most intense reactions were singled out and further exposed to their preferred playlists and brain activity monitored. The results were as follows.
Results
Two techniques he scientists combined the two techniques; including fMRI and PET were combined to obtain a precise portrait of the influence of trance music on the listener's neurology. The first discovery made wasis
that exposure to the genre triggered the release of dopamine in the subject's ventral and dorsal striatum (Michael, 2018, n.p).
In a bid to develop more precise findings, the researchers timed the responses of these participants to the effect of the music. The scientists looked into the reactions of the subjects seconds before the process to determine some background of their usual mental activity (Lehrer, Rennie, Stirone, Gonzalez, Simon, Allain and Molteni, 2018, n.p). Neurological activity was not uniform all through the track but remained relatively heightened. Respondents had intimated that there were sections they regarded as favourites and when exposed to these parts, the scans showed prolonged peaking in the activities of the caudate preceding these sections.
Scientific Basis
Pathology indicates that these regions are traditionally associated with comprehensive response to pleasure following audio or visual stimulation. The dorsal and ventral striatum often react to stimuli perceived as favourable by the individual's auditory cortex Sounds that fill the participants with bliss traditionally occasion such reactions from these regions of the brain (Steinhoff, Heine, Vogl, Weiss, Aschraf, Hajek, Schnider and Tucek, 2015, p.291). However, for trance music, the effects appear to be exasperated.
In a bid to develop more precise findings, the researchers timed the responses of these participants to the effect of the music. The scientists looked into the reactions of the subjects seconds before the process to determine some background of their usual mental activity (Lehrer, Rennie, Stirone, Gonzalez, Simon, Allain and Molteni, 2018, n.p). Neurological activity was not uniform all through the track but remained relatively heightened. Respondents had intimated that there were sections they regarded as favourites and when exposed to these parts, the scans showed prolonged peaking in the activities of the caudate preceding these sections.
Lehrer, Rennie, Stirone, Gonzalez, Simon, Allain, and Molteni, (2018, n.p) refers to the activity as the anticipatory phase and adds Raynor's purpose is to prelude to the occurrence of the climax. Immediately incident to the climax and the associated emotional response, the experiment revealed greater dopamine activity in the caudate (Till, Tran, Voracek, and Niederkrotenthaler, 2016, 350). The sub-region of the striatum is linked to associative, motor, and sensory sections of the brain involved in reinforcing qualities that deal with the sensibility of pleasure. The abstract pitches in trance music are primarily a reward cue that listeners associate with the height of musical ecstasy (Till, Tran, Voracek, and Niederkrotenthaler, 2016, 351). The anticipatory phase or opening sequence of the song sets off temporal cues indicating the onset of a potentially pleasurable auditory sequence which in turn triggers expectations of hypnotic emotional states or mental activity consistent with the occurrence of euphoria which is then satisfied by the climax of the track.
As Smith (2015, p.38) explains, the eccentricity of trance music lies in the unpredictability of its sequences. Lehrer et al. (2018, n.p) support this perspective by providing its scientific basis. The author explains that even though music may often seem as a labyrinth of complex and organised patterns to the undiscerning listener, it is mere art in its most mathematical form (Aslett, Van Der Merwe and Kruger, 2017, p.5). The most interesting or acoustically satisfying sounds occur when the pattern is broken or when the symphony becomes less predictable. The feature is common in trance music which rarely repeats audio sequences for any parts of the song other than those with similar soloist input such as bridges and choruses. The primary difference between the neural activity occasioned by trance and other dissimilar genres is the hypnotic state invoked in the listener is sustainable.
As Gabrielsson, Whaley and Sloboda, (2016, p.44) explain, dopamine neurons quickly adapt to predictable sound patterns. The phenomenon is the basis behind the boredom with certain tracks after listening to it severally. However, with trance music, the acoustic patterns are frequently broken and intricately jumbled up in that the listener appreciates the musical craft and is not bored by graph and bar repetition. It is for the same reason that trance music producers or composers open with a tonic note and avoid it until the ending the song. In many trance tracks, the tonic note may constitute sixteen successive drum snare sounds in a single graph which may lead to the soloist's vocals or acceleration into the climax (Transcendyourlimits.com, 2018, n.p). The listener is effectively denied the pattern they expected, hence, develops chills or euphoric experiences.
The book, Emotion and Music in Meaning by Leonard Meyer explores "the movement of Beethoven's String in C-sharp minor (Meyers, 1956, p.256)." The musicologist demonstrates that music is defined by how it flirts with rather than how it submits to the listener's expectations of order. Meyers (1956, p.256) supports his perspectives by dissecting 50 measures of the Beethoven masterpiece demonstrate how the revered composer begun his compositions with a clear statement of a harmonic and rhythmic sequence and then proceeds to a carefully crafted tonal dance, being keen not to repeat the pattern. Instead, Beethoven incorporates variations. The approach preserves the element of uncertainty, making listeners stay on edge until the climax or the end of the track. Meyer (1956, p.256) explains that the emotions elicited from the music come from events within or characteristics of the specific tracks including the connotative meaning and the uncertainty of the audio patterns. These features excite listeners emotionally resulting in chemical interactions in their brains instituting a vast array of pleasure-related neurological activities (Volos, 2015, p.14).
Results Interpretation
Melody processing in the secondary auditory cortex
The article, Transcend yYour lLimits.com
(2018, n.p) offers a perspective regarding the psychological effects of the music (Transcendyourlimits.com (2018, n.p). The article supposes that the musical style increases individual's productivity by temporarily influencing their perception of the world around them. The author posits that trance music alters the listener's mental state and relishes them with a transformed view of society. The music hits their auditory cortex and is translated into signals inducing emotional signals consistent with motivation (Trance Music Talk. 2018, n.p). The individual feels as though they are motivated or inspired and often direct the positive energy towards achieving a select agenda. The article maintains that the music achieves such stimulation by employing a series of build-ups and build-downs. The beat is often relentless and consistent and mixed with natural non-electronic sounds such as guitar, synth, piano, with occasional violins during build-downs.
The report indicates that an accompanying vocal input may punctuate the track. Female or male mezzo-soprano singers are often used to complete the inspirational outlook. The lyrics are often fashioned to induce a sombre emotional response (Nmr.mgh.harvard.edu, 2018, n.p). Whether it is a theme of love or heartache, the listener is suddenly thrust into the composer's world with the music swaying then from the prevailing emotional disposition. Transcendyourlimits.com (2018, n.p) explains that trance music sustains productivity by allowing the individual to work faster and got long. As the tracks temporarily influence the audience's temporal state and are extended, the individual listening to them while engaging in a given activity are often inadvertently find themselves extended motivated for the tracts entire duration as they can sustain the inspiration (Aslett, Van Der Merwe and Kruger, 2017, p.6). Additionally, as trance music indices the secretion of hypnotic hormones which alter the functioning of the brain, the listener is subliminally programmed to stay euphoric, hence, maintain their performance.
Research Question Analysis
When was trance mus
