MOTB 6-19
Enjoyment and expectation.
Welcome to another weekly edition of MOTB, which I hope is as informative as it is a useful vehicle for procrastination from some other far more unexciting activity. To day, let’s engage in a brief exercise: First, think of one of your favorite albums – one you know well and could listen to anytime and sing along with or anticipate a large proportion of the songs. Now think of the very first time you heard that album and compare that in your mind to what you grew to love.
How different were the experiences from the first to the last?
I’m guessing that they’re probably pretty different. Often, I have to listen to an album once or twice, set it aside for a week or a month, and come back to it. When I do listen to it again, I often have a much different appreciation for it than I did the first time. This seems to be a function of what’s called the mere exposure effect or the familiarity effect – we prefer what we know. I think this phenomenon underlies the tendency of many people to only eat the food they know they like and only listen to the music they know they like. Our expectations are secure this way and it’s far easier cognitively not to have to think about it.
Behind a great deal of cognitive functioning surrounding music, both in terms of performance and listening, is the idea of expectation. Musicians playing together have expectations of one another, and audience members have all sorts of expectations of the performers they’ve come to see and hear. One area of cognitive neuroscience uses the brain’s electrical activity as a means by which to understand how our brains allocate resources to cognitive functions like attention. So how do we measure this?
Behind a great deal of cognitive functioning surrounding music, both in terms of performance and listening, is the idea of expectation. Musicians playing together have expectations of one another, and audience members have all sorts of expectations of the performers they’ve come to see and hear. One area of cognitive neuroscience uses the brain’s electrical activity as a means by which to understand how our brains allocate resources to cognitive functions like attention. So how do we measure this?
If we put electrodes on a person’s scalp as shown here it’s possible to measure the brain’s electrical response to external stimuli like sounds, or to internal processes like memory. If someone is presented with several uniform tones that are the same in pitch and intensity, (beep, beep, beep) followed by what’s often called an oddball tone or stimulus (BOOP) – one that’s different from those that preceded it, this oddball or deviant sound will elicit the brain’s ‘AH-HA’ response where suddenly we recognize that it’s different than the previous tones. And no, I’m not talking about that ‘80s Norwegian pop group Ah-ha with the cool cartoon-world-meets-real-world video – which cooincidentally was also my first concert (yes, I’m just that lame).
How this works in a (hopefully) easy to understand explanation:
Let’s say that every time a person hears the oddball ‘BOOP’ tone, we record the brain’s electrical activity from the start of each tone for a couple of seconds. This gives us a wave with several peaks and valleys representing the summed electrical activity from the brain as it fluctuates up and down over time. If we do that over and over, (beep, beep, beep, BOOP over and over,) but never in the same order, so you can never anticipate it exactly we can then average this wave over dozens or even hundreds of trials.
How this works in a (hopefully) easy to understand explanation:
Let’s say that every time a person hears the oddball ‘BOOP’ tone, we record the brain’s electrical activity from the start of each tone for a couple of seconds. This gives us a wave with several peaks and valleys representing the summed electrical activity from the brain as it fluctuates up and down over time. If we do that over and over, (beep, beep, beep, BOOP over and over,) but never in the same order, so you can never anticipate it exactly we can then average this wave over dozens or even hundreds of trials.
The result is what’s called an ‘event-related potential,’ or ERP for short. The ERP is a waveform with several different characteristic positive and negative peaks, each of which signifies a neurocognitive or perceptual process. In cases of these types of tasks, the third peak is called the P3 and we now know that the P3 component signifies our cognitive awareness of the difference between the tones In other words, the P3 signifies that ‘Ah-Ha!’ and we know it’s very sensitive to things like disease, effects of drugs, aging, and various other factors. By measuring how long it takes for the P3 component to occur after the tone is played, or the height or amplitude of the peak, we can make all sorts of comparisons between groups of people or conditions – children vs. adults, healthy aged individuals vs. those with Alzheimer’s disease, effects of stress or drugs vs. control condition.
What’s the point of this to MOTB?
What’s the point of this to MOTB?
Well, researchers have used this to test all sorts of factors to better understand how musicians differ from non-musicians, and have found that musicians’ brains respond differently and more sensitively to sound. In fact, several studies have looked at these questions as they concern expectations. Studies have shown that musicians’ brains were more sensitive to violations of the expectations than non-musicians. For musicians playing with one another, violating expectations can be either very positive, such as ‘wow, he played triplets on that solo – he’s never done that before’ or negative, ‘WTF?!’ However, I’m also very curious about fans’ expectations of musicians. Those expecting to hear a song played pretty much as it sounds on an album, small violations of expectations may be very welcome. Conversely, it can also sound like crap, or just plain wrong. I’ve seen my share of bands whose live performances paled in comparison to their studio albums. By the same token
I like to think that I’m open minded and can find something to like in any song. Unfortunately, I think that’s really a load. For all of the music I love, or at least am familiar with, I dislike more than I find really enjoyable. I’m really not a fan of scream rock, a lot of country, most polka, or Kenny G. I appreciate, but rarely listen to classical music, gospel, and a lot of world music. But even sometimes, I’m just really not sure what to make of a band or an album.
I like to think that I’m open minded and can find something to like in any song. Unfortunately, I think that’s really a load. For all of the music I love, or at least am familiar with, I dislike more than I find really enjoyable. I’m really not a fan of scream rock, a lot of country, most polka, or Kenny G. I appreciate, but rarely listen to classical music, gospel, and a lot of world music. But even sometimes, I’m just really not sure what to make of a band or an album.
Such are my feelings toward the Dead Weather, the new supergroup featuring Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs), Allison Mosshart (the Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs). I saw them play a surprise show last Friday at the Magic Stick, a small, great venue in Detroit, less than a mile from my office by Wayne State’s campus. I’d heard a couple of the songs they’ve released once or twice, but wasn’t really sure what to expect. After an hour-long set, I’m still not exactly sure what I think of them. I didn’t really have a whole lot to compare them to, and my expectations going into it were pretty minimal. I do know that: 1) It rocked, 2) I enjoyed it. Their new album Horehound is due out in a few weeks and it will be interested in to see my impression of it at the end of the summer after I’ve listened to it a few times.
I’ve been listening to the newest album by the Prime Ministers out of Detroit. They’ve got a CD release party scheduled for Saturday night, June 20th up at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac for their new album ‘Compromiser’. Listening to the album, as I’ve mentioned took a couple of listens. I wasn’t overly impressed with the first two songs that struck me as punk-tinged pop written to be radio friendly, and easily consumed. The third track ‘Fort the Birds’ breaks from this a bit more with less punk and more of a Big Star, classic rock quality - excellent. The track ‘Only 35,’ pulls out a reminiscent, indie pop track, definitely a catchy tune, while the song ‘My Turn’ harkens back to a 1960’s pop quality. On my second listen, it occurred to me that many of the songs are well-composed, but don’t necessarily possess the highest degree of originality – something that I think pop music in general can often be accused of. By the third time I heard it while driving around in the car, my expectations of the album were far clearer and my enjoyment far greater. Their oft-used 4/4 time signature is heard on the drum beats throughout the album, but they manage to infuse some modern production sensibility into the album. Overall, a pretty good listen!
Next week I’ll talk more about expectations from different perspectives. But for now, think about hearing one of your favorite albums for the first time, and think about hearing it for the first time.
Friday (6/19)
FEATURED (FREE) SHOW: SHOWTIME CLOTHING 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY W/ CRUD STIMULUS
Propagandhi @ Magic Stick
Pansy Division @ Small’s
311 & Ziggy Marley @ Freedom Hill
India.Arie @ Chene Park
Los Lobos @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk
Saturday (6/20)
CD RELEASE: The Prime Ministers with Speed Greasy, Brandon Calhoon @ Pike Room
Detroit Cobras, Dex Romwebber @ Magic Stick
Volunteers @ The Belmont
3-D Invisibles, Wolfbait and Matt Truman Ego Trip @ Smalls
MI Music and Merch Swap @ Loving Touch
Tokyo Sexwhale @ Dreamland Theater in Ypsi
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk
Sunday (6/21)
Muggs, Mega~Weedge, Eastside Elvis @ Cadieux Cafe
The Lemondheads, The Satin Peaches @ Magic Bag
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk
I’ve been listening to the newest album by the Prime Ministers out of Detroit. They’ve got a CD release party scheduled for Saturday night, June 20th up at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac for their new album ‘Compromiser’. Listening to the album, as I’ve mentioned took a couple of listens. I wasn’t overly impressed with the first two songs that struck me as punk-tinged pop written to be radio friendly, and easily consumed. The third track ‘Fort the Birds’ breaks from this a bit more with less punk and more of a Big Star, classic rock quality - excellent. The track ‘Only 35,’ pulls out a reminiscent, indie pop track, definitely a catchy tune, while the song ‘My Turn’ harkens back to a 1960’s pop quality. On my second listen, it occurred to me that many of the songs are well-composed, but don’t necessarily possess the highest degree of originality – something that I think pop music in general can often be accused of. By the third time I heard it while driving around in the car, my expectations of the album were far clearer and my enjoyment far greater. Their oft-used 4/4 time signature is heard on the drum beats throughout the album, but they manage to infuse some modern production sensibility into the album. Overall, a pretty good listen!
Next week I’ll talk more about expectations from different perspectives. But for now, think about hearing one of your favorite albums for the first time, and think about hearing it for the first time.
Friday (6/19)
FEATURED (FREE) SHOW: SHOWTIME CLOTHING 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY W/ CRUD STIMULUS
Propagandhi @ Magic Stick
Pansy Division @ Small’s
311 & Ziggy Marley @ Freedom Hill
India.Arie @ Chene Park
Los Lobos @ Ann Arbor Summer Festival
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk
Saturday (6/20)
CD RELEASE: The Prime Ministers with Speed Greasy, Brandon Calhoon @ Pike Room
Detroit Cobras, Dex Romwebber @ Magic Stick
Volunteers @ The Belmont
3-D Invisibles, Wolfbait and Matt Truman Ego Trip @ Smalls
MI Music and Merch Swap @ Loving Touch
Tokyo Sexwhale @ Dreamland Theater in Ypsi
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk
Sunday (6/21)
Muggs, Mega~Weedge, Eastside Elvis @ Cadieux Cafe
The Lemondheads, The Satin Peaches @ Magic Bag
Detroit River Days @ Detroit River Walk