A Metaphysical Experiment on the Power of Music

i am inspired to run a metaphysical experiment to gather data related to the hypothesis "music is capable of activating DNA in order to facilitate and advance individual "enlightenment," with enlightenment being defined as "music is capable of activating DNA in order to facilitate and advance individual "enlightenment,"

anyone who is interested in participating is humbly begged to do so and can do so by sending me an U2U.


the study will require only a few things from each participant, with the UTMOST importance being afforded two things. the first is 100% honesty on the part of the examiner and each participant. if you volunteer to help with this study but then, at any point during the experiment, find that your personal input has been somehow contaminated and would no longer be considered as pure, then please let me know right away. i will need to know the results of all who participate, even if the study is not completed, for whatever reason. the other, equally important, requirement is absolute confidentiality for the duration of the study; no discussion WHATSOVER of the study, its activities, or anything else, at all, should occur between participants and their friends and families, or amongst themselves. this also includes any discussion with me, the examiner, except for what is required in the case of a participant's discontinuance in the study. anyone that is unable to complete the study is also requested to follow the same confidentiality until after the study is completed. i will let everyone know when the study is over, including those no longer participating. after the last participant returns their completed post-study survey, the study will be finished and i will send out notifications.

the only personal qualification to participate is never having heard, so far, the particular music track that i chose for this experiment. if it turns out there are many interested that have already heard this song, then i will either modify the experiment by adding an alternative song or by conducting a second survey of the same exact structure but with a different music choice. when you notify me of your interest, i will reply to you with the name of the song i have chosen and the link at youtube where it can be heard. those who then hear this song for the very first time will be enrolled in the study and will then receive the pre-study survey to complete. those who know the song will be notified of my decision, as mentioned above, as soon as i decide upon a course of action. and then the same process will ensue for those applying.

the remaining requirements are few:

• a pre- and post-study survey not longer than 25 multiple choice questions; either 4 choices of varying possibilities or a gauge of the "never, sometimes, frequently, always" sort.
  
• listen daily, for a specified time span (probably more than two weeks and less than 7 weeks), to a certain music track that is available on youtube.

the song i've selected is classified, by TPTB in the world of GENRE, as "new age" but i would also personally think of it as "world music" as well, since it is a combination of a cultural tradition going back several centuries, if not more, and employs the instruments used by an ancient mystical culture than we currently know so little about but are generally fascinated with, as the human race.

it is a little less than 3 minutes long, and the audio quality of the clip at youtube is very good. the images shown on the video are lovely but whether or not they are viewed while listening is, for this experiment at least, irrelevant. if anyone just absolutely falls in love with this song, which is also an irrelevant factor within the context of this experiment, and decides to purchase it the CD or otherwise legally obtain their own copy of the song, then it is perfectly acceptable to listen to the song as they so desire; in the car or home stereo, mp3 player, etc. however, during the study, EVERYONE must only listen to the song once a day and NO MORE, regardless of chosen mode of playback. if circumstances dictate that there is no opportunity, on any given day, for that single required play, then just document the date(s) in which this is the case and let me know when the study is completed. i will provide a form for doing this, in the post-study survey.

i don't want to give it away but i also want to let anyone interested in helping me as much as i possibly can in order to make it easier to decide whether or not to participate. if you are a passionate and unconditional music lover, as i am, i am sure you will enjoy this song. if you are a music lover with more specific discernment or selection, and this sort of music isn't on your "list," then please still keep an open mind and give the track just one listen. if you absolutely do not like the song in even the smallest portion, feel free to decline participation. but keep an open mind; any song can "grow on" any listener, and part of what i'm seeking in this study is the exploration of transcendental power in music, and more simply, soundwaves.

i will publish the results right here on this thread at ATS as well as send a full report of the study and all associated materials, probably in PDF and/or DOC and/or TXT format, too all participants, successful in completion or otherwise. anyone else wanting the whole shebang can U2U me to request the files and i will send them asap.

i'll keep requests open until 20 participants are collected unless that number proves unrealistic for any reason. if i change that number, i'll post my changes to this thread and to anyone else who's expressed interest in participating.

thanks in advance


[edit on 12/26/2009 by queenannie38]

I'd be interested definitely but I don’t think I can send a u2u as im new (joined today) and only have a few posts to my name thus far.

Also if I can participate (if not then this may help someone else who may be confused aswell) then just a quick question? Can you only listen to the track that you pick on that day? I myself listen to alot of music everyday and would be rather annoying if for this experiment I can only listen to just that one track that you decide for the entire day.

Sorry if you already mentioned this ii read it all but still not sure

That sounds cool.
And while I understand a "controlled" experiment and respect wanting to eliminate variables I am not sure the secrecy thing will work all that well.
One part of the thread got me thinking about Fight Club and how the only rule is not to talk about it.
Is the frequency in the solfeggio?
Had my guitars tuned to that recently and it's amazing stuff.
Is that what you're doing?
Is it ok to ask that?
I would like to participate.

I'm intrigued and would like to participate. I have the next two weeks at least on holiday, so I'm happy to do it and I'm curious about your whole experiment. Did you devise it yourself? What exactly are you hoping we will experience?

I don't mean to nit pick here, but I think you might have quoted the same line twice at the start of your opening post, and I was wondering if there should be another line about the definition of music?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Originally posted by Rising Against
I'd be interested definitely but I don’t think I can send a u2u as im new (joined today) and only have a few posts to my name thus far.

Also if I can participate (if not then this may help someone else who may be confused aswell) then just a quick question? Can you only listen to the track that you pick on that day? I myself listen to alot of music everyday and would be rather annoying if for this experiment I can only listen to just that one track that you decide for the entire day.

Sorry if you already mentioned this ii read it all but still not sure

no, i didn't mention this.
i'm glad you did, though, because i hadn't even thought of it
thank you!

there are no limits or prohibitions on all other music - just do what you normally do, as they say

i could ask someone else to do what i would/could/should not do, myself!
and at the top of my DO NOT list is "do not deprive yourself of music."



i sent you a U2U

Hello there! I too and also a fellow music lover of all types, and I also believe there is power in music. I am EXTREMELY interested in participating in your study and I agree to be bound by the rules of such study. I am not able to send you a U2U as I never post here, but rather read a ton. I sincerely hope that I am one of the first 20 to respond and that you accept me for your study! Please get back to me soon, as I'm extremely excited to participate!

reply to post by queenannie38


Ok was just making sure

I do LOVE music and wasnt enjoying missing it for a while lol

yes i replied and Thank You

I have always been very interested in the positive power that music can have on us. Here is one of my favorite threads about the Mozart Effect. If you haven't heard of it before, this may help your studies.

The Mozart Effect

Its weird tho, because every time I am studying for my finals, doing homework or anything else related to school I usually play some classical music in the background. And there was a short period where I experimented with the effects of classical music. I listened to it, day and and day out for about a week, and I could definitely tell some changes. I felt like I could think quicker on my feet and definitely articulate myself better.

I am definitely an advocate of the Mozart Effect!

Originally posted by caitlinfae
Did you devise it yourself?

yes, i did
this morning, actually
it is my first ever but i have confidence in both learning while we do as well as doing while we learn.
at least i will certainly learn something about conducting studies, in general.

What exactly are you hoping we will experience?

well, i can't answer that because if i do, it will contaminate the study by possibly putting a seed of an idea into the subliminal brain which would potentially interfere with the system's response to cues otherwise not associated.

does that make sense?
to suggest a possibility could mean to create a possibility
which is, in itself, also a very intriguing idea and could be a study in its own right

I don't mean to nit pick here, but I think you might have quoted the same line twice at the start of your opening post, and I was wondering if there should be another line about the definition of music?

that's not nit-picking, it's helping.
i didn't even see that!
thank you for pointing that out! i'll be posting a clarification

here is the corrected first paragraph from the OP:

i am inspired to run a metaphysical experiment to gather data related to the hypothesis "music is capable of activating DNA in order to facilitate and advance individual "enlightenment," with enlightenment being defined as "a state of being liberated from fear and characterized by outstanding clarity of perception, reason, knowledge, and esoteric wisdom. "

thanks to caitlinfae for pointing this out!

i can honestly say music has had a huge impact on my life, huge.


im a music finatic i used to dj alot for around 10yrs and now im more into producing music, im into many diffrent style of music and a good track allways gives me goose bumps,


ive changed alot and i put it down to music as when i was younger i used to be a bit of a nasty person now because of music i look at the world in a diffrent light and i cant seem to understand where the old me has gone to i dont understand it, alot of mates/freinds say the same thing im alot nicer and thoughtfull, i honestly feel a completly diffrent person, as if it was a complely diffrent life.

I have a pretty good background in Audio Engineering including schooling and jobs I have had recording music.

Music is vibration of air molecules at different amplitudes, frequencies, and rhythms.

The metaphysical effects some people get with music is actually a psychological effect. The psychological effect can induce a physiological response.

When I listen to Enigma or Brian Eno I feel calmed and slowed down. When I listen to Cannibal Corpses or Slayer I feel like stabbing a small woodland creature in the neck, figuratively.

There has been many interesting project, like this, done in the past.

Great one here

Another

Rhythm has the biggest bodily response, sometimes drastically effecting the heart rate of a subject.

reply to post by DINSTAAR


Perhaps there is something else going on there though, although I do understand what you're saying about the effects that are measurable being psychological and physiological. Maybe we just haven't learned how to measure the metaphysical yet...although if you know, please share! ...and this experience will also be different for everyone I suspect.

I don't want to derail Annie's thread, but point taken. I hope you join in too.

Well I recommend using music that gives you the "chills" -- this is usually high pitch female voice -- or falsetto -- also music using the "cycle of fifths" -- like Pachebel's Canon.

Here's what Dr. Ani Patel says on how music gives people the chills (it's from a McGill University study)

www.abc.net.au...

Ani Patel: Well there is neuro-imaging research that supports that fact. You may know of a study that was done by some colleagues in Montreal. They did a clever experiment where they took advantage of the fact that some people get chills or shivers down the spine to particular pieces of music. And they focused on instrumental music in order to make sure it didn't have anything to do with verbal associations with the text of a song. And they asked people to bring these CDs in and listen to them while they scanned their brains and they established that they did have these responses via measures of their heart rate, aspirations and so forth. Then they looked in the brain to see what was going on and they found some very deep and evolutionarily ancient reward centres of the brain being activated by this purely instrumental music. And these are areas that are typically activated by biologically significant behaviour such as eating, or reproducing or so on, and yet they were being activated by this abstract acoustic stimulus with no obvious survival value. And this really generated a lot of interest because it suggested that music has access to some of our most ancient brain structures in terms of how it taps into the deepest parts of our brain.

Also I have a blog on this subject

naturalresonancerevolution.blogspot.com...


reply to post by queenannie38




[edit on 26-12-2009 by drew hempel]

thanks, everyone for your interest in this subject, whether you are planning to participate or not!

i don't mind, at all, any discussion of music and its effect, or anything about music, in this thread.
it won't derail it since we really CAN'T remain "on-topic," so to speak, and still retain a pure testing environment - it will actually keep it going.


i plan on answering some of the points made in the thread so far - all of it fascinates me and i have some comments to share - but i've got a pre-study survey to put together before i do anything else!

i have, so far, 11 applicants to the experiment, with one applicant already qualified.

i've sent a U2U to everyone, as of right now, so if anyone else voiced an interest in participating, and i somehow missed it, please send me a U2U and let me know if i overlooked anyone!

(((hugs to all of you!)))

i hope everyone had the Christmas that they wanted and/or needed...i hear Santa's putting in a "customer service" department, but who knows how long that could take?

I am also interested in this project
as I too have been researching into the
vibrational energy of sound as used by buddhists and other faiths
which seems to have the power to transform and heal
so would love to be included in your experiment

everyone who is taking part in the study:

DO NOT LISTEN to the song until i say the word
only that first time to see if you've heard it or not

after that
WAIT

if you've already been listening to the song, don't worry about it but STOP

i'll let you all know
we still need a couple of people

I would like to joine this study

Music is practically my life, bouth spiritually and physical..

So If you let me, I would love to

SatNam

reply to post by eriathwen


i sent you a U2U


if anyone expressed interest but did not hear from me, then please send me a U2U (again)

TO EVERYONE:
i'll have the pre-study survey ready in the next 24 hours and i'll post when it's ready

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

reply to post by queenannie38


Why have pagans always used song, and the free masons you'll find also have song in there stuff too, lol.