Music And Manipulation

".a timely book that.sets a standard for a new field of study and therefore deserves to be read widely.[the volume's] contributions contain fascinating material for further study." * International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter "Steven Brown and Ulrik Volgsten haveput together a valuable collection of essays on a consistently interesting ......

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Musicology - Miscellaneous, grade: 2, University of Graz, language: English, abstract: The article deals with the different kinds of manipulation of background music on the human being. Several studies are discussed about the consequences of background music on decision making, driving, buying, eating at a restaurant, etc. The question about the possibilities of an escape from the influence of music is asked and discussed. At first the functions and mechanisms of background music are elaborated, before the effects on the human being are discussed. Subsequently tests are presented about the various influences of background music in order to achieve control of people. Furthermore the controversies about the famous Mozart- Effect are taken into consideration. It is also interesting to know how background music has an impact on the physical body. To explain this phenomenon the working mechanisms of the brain are illuminated by including the latest findings about brain and music in the last months. This article ends with some concrete suggestions how to overcome being influenced and manipulated by background music.

A New York Times Bestseller For almost a century, Americans have been losing their hearts and losing their minds in an insatiable love affair with the American musical. It often begins in childhood in a darkened theater, grows into something more serious for high school actors, and reaches its passionate zenith when it comes time for love, marriage, and children, who will start the cycle all over again. Americans love musicals. Americans invented musicals. Americans perfected musicals. But what, exactly, is a musical? In The Secret Life of the American Musical, Jack Viertel takes them apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, marvels at their unflagging inventiveness, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he invites us to fall in love all over again by showing us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate audiences, and how one landmark show leads to the next—by design or by accident, by emulation or by rebellion—from Oklahoma! to Hamilton and onward. Structured like a musical, The Secret Life of the American Musical begins with an overture and concludes with a curtain call, with stops in between for “I Want” songs, “conditional” love songs, production numbers, star turns, and finales. The ultimate insider, Viertel has spent three decades on Broadway, working on dozens of shows old and new as a conceiver, producer, dramaturg, and general creative force; he has his own unique way of looking at the process and at the people who collaborate to make musicals a reality. He shows us patterns in the architecture of classic shows and charts the inevitable evolution that has taken place in musical theater as America itself has evolved socially and politically. The Secret Life of the American Musical makes you feel as though you’ve been there in the rehearsal room, in the front row of the theater, and in the working offices of theater owners and producers as they pursue their own love affair with that rare and elusive beast—the Broadway hit.

The first book to provide comprehensive introductory coverage of the multiple topics encompassed under psychoacoustics. How hearing works and how the brain processes sounds entering the ear to provide the listener with useful information are of great interest to psychologists, cognitive scientists, and musicians. However, while a number of books have concentrated on individual aspects of this field, known as psychoacoustics, there has been no comprehensive introductory coverage of the multiple topics encompassed under the term. Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound is the first book to provide that coverage, and it does so via a unique and useful approach. The book begins with introductory chapters on the basic physiology and functions of the ear and auditory sections of the brain, then proceeds to discuss numerous topics associated with the study of psychoacoustics, including cognitive psychology and the physics of sound. The book has a particular emphasis on music and computerized sound. An accompanying download includes many sound examples to help explicate the text and is available with the code included in the book at http://mitpress.mit.edu/mccs. To download sound samples, you can obtain a unique access code by emailing [email protected] or calling 617-253-2889 or 800-207-8354 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada).The contributing authors include John Chowning, Perry R. Cook, Brent Gillespie, Daniel J. Levitin, Max Mathews, John Pierce, and Roger Shepard.

How sonically distinctive digital “signatures”—including reverb, glitches, and autotuning—affect the aesthetics of popular music, analyzed in works by Prince, Lady Gaga, and others. Is digital production killing the soul of music? Is Auto-Tune the nadir of creative expression? Digital technology has changed not only how music is produced, distributed, and consumed but also—equally important but not often considered—how music sounds. In this book, Ragnhild Brøvig and Anne Danielsen examine the impact of digitization on the aesthetics of popular music. They investigate sonically distinctive “digital signatures”—musical moments when the use of digital technology is revealed to the listener. The particular signatures of digital mediation they examine include digital reverb and delay, MIDI and sampling, digital silence, the virtual cut-and-paste tool, digital glitches, microrhythmic manipulation, and autotuning—all of which they analyze in specific works by popular artists. Combining technical and historical knowledge of music production with musical analyses, aesthetic interpretations, and theoretical discussions, Brøvig and Danielsen offer unique insights into how digitization has changed the sound of popular music and the listener's experience of it. For example, they show how digital reverb and delay have allowed experimentation with spatiality by analyzing Kate Bush's “Get Out of My House”; they examine the contrast between digital silence and the low-tech noises of tape hiss or vinyl crackle in Portishead's “Stranger”; and they describe the development of Auto-Tune—at first a tool for pitch correction—into an artistic effect, citing work by various hip-hop artists, Bon Iver, and Lady Gaga.

The study of music in commercials is well-suited for exploring the persuasive impact that music has beyond the ability to entertain, edify, and purify its audience. This book focuses on music in commercials from an interpretive text analytical perspective, answering hitherto neglected questions: What characterizes music in commercials compared to other commercial music and other music on TV? How does music in commercials relate to music ‘outside’ the universe of commercials? How and what can music in commercials signify? Author Nicolai Graakjær sets a new benchmark for the international scholarly study of music on television and its pervading influence on consumer choice.

Manipulation is always done with a goal or purpose in mind. It is normal for the person on receiving end of manipulation to feel used and abused. Understanding the motives behind the manipulation is of utmost importance. Manipulation occurs everywhere and every day. It happens in personal relationships, offices, business corporations, politics and social groups. Manipulation becomes far more plausible and easy when the manipulator knows you are dependent on them. Financial, emotional or sexual over-dependence on the manipulator give them power over you.Passive-aggressive behavior, anger, fear of repercussions, emotional and sexual manipulation is often used in personal relationships for manipulator's own gratification and need to gain power and control in relationships. Silent treatments and withholding sex or attention can be frustrating and deeply impact the psyche of the person on receiving end. Such manipulation makes you feel guilty for a crime that you haven't committed. This book is NOT about commonplace and well known manipulation tactics. It is about the subtle kind of manipulation which often goes unnoticed. You get a hunch, your gut tells you that you are being manipulated, but you can't exactly put your finger on it. This is exactly the kind of manipulation, you should be wary about. If you know it, you can be well prepared to defend yourself against the manipulation.