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Somewhat related but I’ve always been curious about this: Why is music more pleasurable to many of us when played at a level that could damage our hearing? If I

Somewhat related but I’ve always been curious about this: Why is music more pleasurable to many of us when played at a level that could damage our hearing? If I listen to my death metal playlists at only half volume I don’t find it nearly as enjoyable, and I’ve never totally understood why.

rizzin 8y ago
I have recently read a pretty resourceful thread on music mixing and recording (https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283 https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283). A related piece of info from there is that rock/metal music is supposed to be loud: drums blasting away, amps cranked up. But when recording and mixing you take all that loud sound and energy and put it into an audio file that will most likely be played back with lower volumes on all kinds of devices. This is one of the main problems of mixing this kind of music: making music that is supposed to be LOUD sound good at low volumes. So probably if that goal isn't achieved in a perfect way then cranking the volume up will make it sound better. Another important thing I learned from that thread is that in general for us humans "louder" is perceived as "better". Good example, a demonstration of a compressor plugin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6D9WvwMNr8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6D9WvwMNr8 Plugin quality aside, you can easily hear that "on" parts are all louder than "off" parts, and that really makes the demo "unfair" in that they sound better simply by being louder. And a related theory I've read long ago (sorry, don't remember where) is that experiencing music at damaging volumes gives us some kind of masochistic pleasure. This is why there are always people hanging right next to speakers at loud shows, be it rock or EDM.
- finaliteration 8y ago
  > gives us some kind of masochistic pleasure I could see this being the case, sort of like how some people (me) enjoy torturing themselves with extremely spicy peppers and foods.
acjohnson55 8y ago
Probably for the same reason binging anything is pleasurable. You can dissociate and transcend the boundaries of your baseline level of consciousness.
- j88439h84 8y ago
  Interesting
shosko 8y ago
Because sound is not just a hearing experience, it's a feeling/body experience. Just stand in front of a massive sub stack to understand that. I know it's loud enough when my nose starts vibrating. With my earplugs in, of course.
magduf 8y ago
It's a perception thing. As the "Loudness War" shows, music sounds "better" when it's louder; it's something about how humans perceive sound. Of course, this is problematic because for long-term exposure, it doesn't have to be all that loud to cause permanent hearing loss. It's largely cumulative, sort of like radiation exposure.
EADGBE 8y ago
The Fletcher-Munson Curve https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/fletcher-munson-curve/ https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/fletcher-munson-curve/ breaks down how this affects your perception of music based on how loud it is. In the instance of that link, it's in regards to mixing recorded music, but it's apparent anytime you're listening to audio.

rizzin 8y ago

I have recently read a pretty resourceful thread on music mixing and recording (https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283 https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283). A related piece of info from there is that rock/metal music is supposed to be loud: drums blasting away, amps cranked up. But when recording and mixing you take all that loud sound and energy and put it into an audio file that will most likely be played back with lower volumes on all kinds of devices. This is one of the main problems of mixing this kind of music: making music that is supposed to be LOUD sound good at low volumes. So probably if that goal isn't achieved in a perfect way then cranking the volume up will make it sound better. Another important thing I learned from that thread is that in general for us humans "louder" is perceived as "better". Good example, a demonstration of a compressor plugin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6D9WvwMNr8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6D9WvwMNr8 Plugin quality aside, you can easily hear that "on" parts are all louder than "off" parts, and that really makes the demo "unfair" in that they sound better simply by being louder. And a related theory I've read long ago (sorry, don't remember where) is that experiencing music at damaging volumes gives us some kind of masochistic pleasure. This is why there are always people hanging right next to speakers at loud shows, be it rock or EDM.

finaliteration 8y ago
> gives us some kind of masochistic pleasure I could see this being the case, sort of like how some people (me) enjoy torturing themselves with extremely spicy peppers and foods.

acjohnson55 8y ago

Probably for the same reason binging anything is pleasurable. You can dissociate and transcend the boundaries of your baseline level of consciousness.

j88439h84 8y ago
Interesting

shosko 8y ago

Because sound is not just a hearing experience, it's a feeling/body experience. Just stand in front of a massive sub stack to understand that. I know it's loud enough when my nose starts vibrating. With my earplugs in, of course.

magduf 8y ago

It's a perception thing. As the "Loudness War" shows, music sounds "better" when it's louder; it's something about how humans perceive sound. Of course, this is problematic because for long-term exposure, it doesn't have to be all that loud to cause permanent hearing loss. It's largely cumulative, sort of like radiation exposure.

EADGBE 8y ago

The Fletcher-Munson Curve https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/fletcher-munson-curve/ https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/fletcher-munson-curve/ breaks down how this affects your perception of music based on how loud it is. In the instance of that link, it's in regards to mixing recorded music, but it's apparent anytime you're listening to audio.