11 ms·

Listening to songs can cause a physiological response known as “frisson”

288 points by mhb 4y ago

RoboTeddy 4y ago
For me, more frisson is evoked by some of the passages in this rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto than by anything else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPhkZW_jwc0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPhkZW_jwc0
yardstick 4y ago
Spotify playlist from the article: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54ZA9LXFvvFujmOVWXpHga?si=070902caeeab4b47&nd=1 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54ZA9LXFvvFujmOVWXpHga?si=...
- iscrewyou 4y ago
  Noticed Ave Maria is on that playlist. It’s obvious why it’s so famous but hearing it recently in The Batman definitely gave me “the feeling” the article is taking about.
  - rzzzt 4y ago
    Schubert's "Ave Maria" is the one that gets to me the most, although I associate it with action scenes where you can not hear the protagonists, with glass breaking in slow motion, from movies and video games.
nomilk 4y ago
I can't overstate how important music is to my productivity. What I listen to is extremely dependent on my mood and energy levels, but I almost always have on some long playlists (or better still, a single long youtube video, with adblocker on of course). When I need calm, awesomeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSrQ_c904M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSrQ_c904M Upbeat productivity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NXWQ9QZwo#t=27m13s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NXWQ9QZwo#t=27m13s When I want to be distanced and creative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI4-HUn8dFc#t=26m54s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI4-HUn8dFc#t=26m54s When I want something fun (although also a little distracting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SolEjKrcg4E&t=39m11s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SolEjKrcg4E&t=39m11s
- winrid 4y ago
  JimTV is great for this. https://youtu.be/wTvkT6Q_CwI https://youtu.be/wTvkT6Q_CwI
- dudeinjapan 4y ago
  Lol are you me? I listen to the exact same. Will add this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3_fB1LqV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3_fB1LqV0
  - nomilk 4y ago
    I'm only a few minutes in, but it's amazing, thank you for sharing.
- jasfi 4y ago
  Heavy metal works for me, for upbeat productivity.
  - scruple 4y ago
    Specifically black metal and blackened death metal for me. edit/ And Sludge.
    - progre 4y ago
      Same here. There is someting with the almost complete saturation of the mid- and upper frequencies of BM that focuses me like nothing else.
      - nomilk 4y ago
        If anyone has a good starting point for a BM newbie (preferably a playlist or album), please suggest.
        progre 4y ago
        Lots of different styles that can fall under BM but here is some: https://open.spotify.com/album/3LHSxySCaooKrQxuLtuYSV?si=OVSuUOaSQlup0LHReSgQ9w https://open.spotify.com/album/3LHSxySCaooKrQxuLtuYSV?si=OVS... Wolves in the Throneroom, kind of dreamy artsy style. I'd like to think of these guys as the Pink Floyd of BM. https://open.spotify.com/album/5t5tP8dVwdyI8yTShWcIzX?si=zzLrTGXQSyWOS4tiwPcluw https://open.spotify.com/album/5t5tP8dVwdyI8yTShWcIzX?si=zzL... Satyricon, started out oldschool and raw, evolved to a more polished more produced (clean vocals even!). This album is right at the start of the more polished style but still quite a lot of energy. https://open.spotify.com/album/4a4g7PAi7KRsCQykBFqE5E?si=4LGgegqUT-CAlLuCF7h5Dg https://open.spotify.com/album/4a4g7PAi7KRsCQykBFqE5E?si=4LG... Darkthrone, about as raw as it gets while still good. 2 guys and a porta studio, never played live. https://open.spotify.com/album/63NhXXsb7BNEtLCTnYzub2?si=8qLYvb8HRx-pvRPaJjtrYA https://open.spotify.com/album/63NhXXsb7BNEtLCTnYzub2?si=8qL... Feminazgul, deep in the nerdery now. Queer themed with Tolkien inspired/ripped lyrics.
deleted 4y ago
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dgaudet 4y ago
the article claims the playlist is "scientifically verified" ... but doesn't seem to cover the science behind the list construction or verification. is there a background article somewhere else?
- afro88 4y ago
  I wish there was. There's so much subjectivity and context that feeds into whether you experience "frisson" when hearing a song. I was very surprised to see Infected Mushroom in the playlist. Psytrance is the last thing that will give me goosebumps. Though I'm sure there are people out there who have imbibed, who have a connection to music like this.
  - narrator 4y ago
    Psytrance gives extra frisson, but most people have to be high on something to appreciate it. I know that the nootropics I've taken are working when psytrance goes from being slightly annoying to listen to to being awesome.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  I was wondering that myself, as reading the list I suspect it's got something to do with people reporting they experienced the feeling from that song. Too many bands had their most popular song featured, and while it could be that songs that cause frisson are more popular it seems more likely that more people listening to the song makes it more likely to be reported. If they had some program check some huge library of songs for ones that have some sequence likely to cause frisson I'd expect the playlist to be far different.
benabus 4y ago
Fwiw, the "frissons" (free-saws) is the cajun word for "the heebie-jeebies".
- Galanwe 4y ago
  Not just Cajun, more generally a French and french-derivatives word.
jmpman 4y ago
Arvo Part - Spiegel im Spiegel. Listen to it in the dark, with your eyes closed, on a good pair of headphones. Im not a music fan, and it’s my favorite. Does something to my brain. Highly recommended.
throwaway743 4y ago
Tend to get this and notice when listening to Oneohtrix Point Never. Others too, but he sticks out.
hnplj 4y ago
I usually feel light and flying feeling listen to Jimi Hendrix guitar solos.
deleted 4y ago
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myself248 4y ago
Oh yeah. I have a 100% guaranteed goosebumps song -- Yes, Anastasia by Tori Amos. Right around the 8:25 mark, but it helps if I listen to at least 2 minutes leading up to that point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUazhfLiG6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUazhfLiG6U
r0bot 4y ago
That’s funny because I produced a remix with an original beat I composed over a 2pac acapela, and the number one comment I always get is that the song gives people chills and goosebumps. https://youtu.be/sHKdWOL1q8k https://youtu.be/sHKdWOL1q8k
- sudosysgen 4y ago
  Sure enough, it does give me chills pretty fast. Do you reckon you could put it on Spotify or at least publish a higher quality file? The MP3 download seems dead (Nvm for Spotify - it's there just not in my country :( )
ggm 4y ago
Horripilation
nostrademons 4y ago
“Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Interesting. The Spotify playlist didn't do much for me, but when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills, they all feature that pattern: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score, Wacken 2013 @ 9:22, affectionately nicknamed the "Floor-gasm" by fans. The melody line feels like it's already gone as high as she can possibly go and is just going to descend by a couple notes. Instead she takes it up another 5th to what feels like an impossibly high note, and then holds it there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47e_961OQWE#t=528 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47e_961OQWE#t=528 Dream Theater, A Change of Seasons, @ 13:01 and again @ 13:28. It follows one of the odd-time-signatures, chromatic-only jam sessions, and then the band teases an end multiple times starting @ 12:40. When the jam session finally resolves into 4/4 time and the guitar comes in with those held power chords, you're like "Ahhh...." and then just as you start grooving along to that rhythm, the guitars/bass/drums drop out entirely and it's just acapella vocals over keys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKrwJzGg0k#t=730 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKrwJzGg0k#t=730
- fjfaase 4y ago
  I too was thinking about Ghost Love Score. I get it especially when watching reaction videos when noticing that others are getting it. So, it might not just due to the music itself, but also be a social/emotional effect. I have literally have weekends where I only watched reaction videos and got it over and over again.
  - tremon 4y ago
    My favourite moment in Ghost Love Score is much earlier in the song, at t=158, "into the blue memory". That transition and the melodic line following it ("still I write...everything I may ever be") is pure gold.
- Doctor_Fegg 4y ago
  And the greatest frisson moment in the whole of Anglican choral music: the Nunc Dimittis from Herbert Howells' Gloucester Service. Start listening at the beginning of the Gloria (well, listen to the whole thing if you can, but if you're pushed for time start here): https://youtu.be/4jmxJa4kMGM?t=131 https://youtu.be/4jmxJa4kMGM?t=131 The famous frisson moment in this recording is at 2m57: "as it was". Three reasons. One is the shifting chords in the organ part and the tenor/bass parts that lead up to it (the "expectancy violations"). The second is just the pure thrill of trebles soaring to a top A like that. And the third you only get if you listened to the Magnificat beforehand, which in its natural environment - a service of choral Evensong - you would: the "as it was" in the Gloria of the Nunc is _almost_ exactly the same as it was in the Mag... just a beat later. Pure "expectancy violation" again. Howells is full of these moments. The big, crunchy, discordant Amen in the Gloria of the Magdalen Service is my favourite - where the harmonies are offset by a crescendo/diminuendo/crescendo sequence in the choir, all on the same note.
lleb97a 4y ago
> ...Johnny Cash’s “Hurt.” Feel the need to point out that is a Nine Inch Nails song covered by Cash.
- gfd 4y ago
  > Reznor praised Cash's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning," going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song)
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  They were listening to the Cash version, so the sentence is fine as is.
IIAOPSW 4y ago
I want to see what these songs look like in frequency space. Especially around the part where the frisson happens. I'm willing to bet they have a common frequency or multiple of a common frequency as a main component. Long story short, the brain does most of its representation and signaling with frequencies of brain waves. Just like certain bands of the EM spectrum are reserved for TV broadcast and other parts are reserved for WiFi etc, certain bands of brain waves are reserved for motor-sensory IO. If by sheer coincidence you come across a sensory stimulus that oscillates around the carrier wave frequency used to carry that same stimulus, you should experience some funny interference effects. Throughout evolutionary history there wasn't really a problem using these carrier frequencies because in our natural environment you're not going to accidentally run into a blinking bright light or loud sound with exactly the right pure frequency. Then we invented instruments and later electric light and oscillators. The relevant band of frequencies is around 30hz - 60hz. More likely than not the musical examples contain beat frequencies rather than directly containing sound in this part of the spectrum.
cupcake-unicorn 4y ago
I've experimented with external vagus nerve stimulation devices and it's my opinion that this sensation, along with "ASMR tinges", has to do with stimulation/activation of the vagus nerve.
kaetemi 4y ago
I can trigger this at will.
mise_en_place 4y ago
After reading this, I’m reminded of the Sanskrit concept of adbhuta. It can be roughly translated to wonder, but in the sense of witnessing something otherworldly or supernatural. The Nāṭya Śāstra elaborates and articulates on 8 rasas in the performing arts, including adbhuta. Truly an interesting work.
feanaro 4y ago
> According to a 2019 study, one can experience frisson when staring at a brilliant sunset or a beautiful painting; when realizing a deep insight or truth; when reading a particularly resonant line of poetry; or when watching the climax of a film. And meditation. I relatively frequently experience frisson during meditation, even when there is no obvious realization of some truth during the sit.
ruuda 4y ago
If it's due to anticipation and violated expectations, how come the same song can still give you goosebumps even after you know it very well?
- iforgotpassword 4y ago
  Because you still have the same expectations about how music should be structured the second time you listen to it. But the effect wears off after some time. Try playing it 20 times on repeat. It won't do it anymore. But that's mostly temporary, if you come back to it after a while it should work again.
  - nonima 4y ago
    I don't think it's about expectations at all. For me it's about the state of mind I'm in when I listen to it, same song will or won't give me goosebumps based on where my head is at even if I've heard it hundreds of times.
    - iforgotpassword 4y ago
      That's a different effect. There are different reasons why you react to music. You can have a strong emotional reaction for example because it was played during a key moment of a movie you really liked, or while someone broke up with you, and then this feeling is forever fused to a song. And recalled through it. But it is well understood that music in general connects with us by meeting and breaking expectations we have about music.
diego_sandoval 4y ago
How can it be possible that Coming Back to Life by Pink Floyd is not in the list?
blenderdt 4y ago
I found the explanation of the article very weak. In my own experience it is caused by an 'overload' of emotions. When I had a burnout the same thing happened, but much faster. After reading into it I came to the conclusion that it must be a disorder in hormones. So after reading this article I wonder if a frisson is in fact an 'overload' of hormones caused by a huge amount of emotions. And that this causes a mismatch between your emotions and what you are feeling.
yrcyrc 4y ago
Previously reading on this topic and found out only a small percentage of people feel music emotionally. I was very curious, as my experiences are very intense, from frisson to full blown breakdown, chills, crying and overwhelmed completely. Was recently 'diagnosed' as gifted but there's no explanation as to why I feel music so intensely. Perhaps part of the whole thing, I became an autodidact musician and music is pure bliss to my ears.
- plutonorm 4y ago
  I'm probably on the gifted spectrum (145 or something on raven matrices online test) and music is indescribably beautiful to me. Not always but often. Music also often makes me laugh, when it discovers an unusual space. I get the same emotional reaction to new intellectual insights.
- fristechill 4y ago
  I've experienced frisson at great moments in music but only when fantasising about performing the music (or some part of it) myself. I did a lot of this as a teenager...
nonrandomstring 4y ago
I briefly mention this phenomenon in Designing Sound [1], and have since learned there are several forms of it elicited aurally. As well as the pleasurable goose-bumps associated with positive musical emotion there's another kind, an 'uneasy' frission that is the feeling of hairs on the back of your neck raising. While the "Wilhelm scream" is the most talked about sound design cliche, probably the one familiar to most of you will actually be the "doom tone" (60-100Hz noise bands), a signifier of "space", "evil" etc - think of Vader's "force choke". It's a great example of a fear response that is hard-wired, because it represents danger, avalanche, thunder, earthquake or stampeding animals. We have deep auditory circuit, and evolutionary advantage to run away. The other kind of frission stimulated by very high buzzing seems more mysterious. I discussed with sound designer prof. Mark Grimshaw, who amongst other things is an expert on the horror/suspense genre [2], as to why some screeching (bat-like) or buzzing sounds might give us such creepy feelings. It turns out the sound of mosquitos causes the hairs on the neck to stand up - likely a defence against being bitten when we were much hairier creatures. Still mysterious, I think, is the reason nails on a blackboard "hurts your teeth", and the exact mechanism and function of pleasurable frission is still a mystery as far as I know. I suspect it may have a social signalling utility, much like blushing. In times when we were much more attuned to each others' body states there could be an evolutionary advantage to signalling when we feel good about something. [1] https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/designing-sound https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/designing-sound [2] https://sonicfield.org/sonic-virtuality-sound-as-emergent/ https://sonicfield.org/sonic-virtuality-sound-as-emergent/
- jl6 4y ago
  Could you link to an example of a doom tone?
  - eurasiantiger 4y ago
    This album is full of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrvXtDwEFc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrvXtDwEFc
  - rzzzt 4y ago
    When the T-1000 appears: https://youtu.be/vIfUW5-qkc4?t=10 https://youtu.be/vIfUW5-qkc4?t=10
matsemann 4y ago
Does frisson change with age? Or is it perhaps just how "into" music one is that changes with age? I felt a much stronger emotional response listening to music in my teens than I do now, and consequently don't as often get the frisson.
- kieckerjan 4y ago
  I think that in your tweens your identity is more tied up with music than later on. In my and my friends' case we would literally define ourselves in terms of music: the bands we'd listen to signalled a lot about who we were and how we felt about the world. I guess if you do that, you're also more emotionally invested in the music.
gfd 4y ago
I used to love the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all which is now kind of inactive. Surprisingly to me, music didn't work as well as images/text for inducing frisson. For example I reread this piece very often: https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg
- hunter2_ 4y ago
  Conscience of a Hacker [0] does it for me. [0] http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html
  - ntauthority 4y ago
    I accidentally clicked this on my phone. Skimmed it. Read the last paragraph. Ignored it. Thought about it. Can confirm: it worked.
  - MacsHeadroom 4y ago
    Almost every line of this does it for me, every time.
- archon1410 4y ago
  https://i.redd.it/kv1vxq40nam21.jpg https://i.redd.it/kv1vxq40nam21.jpg my favourite
  - nimphoenix 4y ago
    Thank you for this
iamben 4y ago
Music is a big part of my life and I get this a lot. I've seen particular shows where this has been such a thing I remember it years later. Jeff Buckley's Grace is an album that does this for me - I recently got the chance to listen to it at a Pitchblack Playback (https://pitchblackplayback.com/ https://pitchblackplayback.com/), which I absolutely recommend to any music fans. The heightened senses do very strange things to you, especially when it's already an evocative record!
wsc981 4y ago
I'm surprised I didn't see any mention of Tool in here, while many Tool songs can give this weird, supernatural, out of this world, feeling, at least for me. Pneuma is one of those great Tool songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssULNGSZIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssULNGSZIA And it's not just the sounds, the lyrics themselves help invoke this feeling as well.
conqueso 4y ago
I get this from nearly every song on Pet Sounds. Listening to music that causes frisson can be a quasi-religious experience, and I'm sure the feeling is something experienced by many when practicing religion as well.
ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
I haven’t heard that term in a while. I remember one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard about music. I was channel-surfing, a number of years ago, and paused on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. He was putting on a record (yes, the round black things), and said ”Music helps us to feel things.”
- MauranKilom 4y ago
  That's very poignant, thanks for sharing! I also feel that, in many cases, music helps catalyze my emotions. Positive or negative.
Aidevah 4y ago
From the perspective of a totally corrupt theorist, the response may not entirely be a positive thing. Richard Taruskin wrote about it in the opening essay of The Dangers of Music and other Anti-Utopian Essays[1]. > So much one may elicit from a pithed frog, and—if you remember your high school biology class—under conditions that are not dissimilar. Philip Glass, indeed, speaks frankly of eliciting a “biological” response from his audience. Here are his own words on the opera whose effects Wilson described: > I decided that I would try to write a piece that left the audience standing, and I’ve almost never played that music without seeing everyone leave his seat; it’s the strangest thing, almost biological. In fact, sometimes I’ve done concerts where I’ve played the Spaceship [i.e., the Einstein finale], and then as an encore played the last part of the Spaceship, and the same thing happens again. > But no, there is nothing strange about this: it’s basic behavior-modification therapy, and so far from spontaneous or liberating, it is calculated authoritarian manipulation. I find it sinister. My first contact with P&P came in June 1983 (yes, I’d been avoiding it) at a little festival sponsored by the New York Philharmonic and organized by the orchestra’s then composer-in-residence, Jacob Druckman, around the theme “Since 1968—A New Romanticism?” Druckman’s keynote essay in the program spoke optimistically of the “reemergence of . . . Dionysian qualities: sensuality, mystery, nostalgia, ecstasy, transcendency.” What I heard, in John Adams’s Grand Pianola Music, was an attempt to reduce me to an autonomic nervous system. My body responded to the programmed thrills and chills even as my mind protested. I, too, felt gooseflesh—and, I’ll admit, gooseflesh at a new-music concert was indeed a novelty. But it was a gooseflesh brought about not by way of evocation or epiphany but by anesthetizing the conscious mind and then administering a series of galvanic shocks. For me the experience was frightening. What had won so many over left me feeling diminished and degraded. And I guess I’m sounding like old man Adorno in spite of myself. [1] https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520268050/the-danger-of-music-and-other-anti-utopian-essays https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520268050/the-danger-of-mus...
- MauranKilom 4y ago
  My immediate reaction to this is "that's a very high-brow way to condemn music eliciting a primal response". I get it, if people raving to brain-numbing bass sounds is low-brow, then how is captivating an audience with music of any form any different? But look, you could make arguments in the same vein about how evil it is to eat good food, or enjoy a good sleep. Or sex. Giving in to primal desires is not a-priori bad, particularly when it is on your own (and whoever else is involved) terms - like voluntarily going to a concert. I hope the author doesn't react to those "reductions to autonomous nervous systems" with the same disgust, or they'll have a sad life...
masteranza 4y ago
Pink Floyd - Echoes surely is one of the best recipes for frisson. However for me Royksopp - Forever is the absolute number 1 winner in this category. It feels like those guys have really cracked the code with this one. Just listen for at least 20s before 3:10: https://youtu.be/nM_txL43iFM?t=170 https://youtu.be/nM_txL43iFM?t=170
- WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
  Didn’t work with me, but then again, I listen to way too much fusion.
  - masteranza 4y ago
    Good headphones can also make a difference.
- rzzzt 4y ago
  In exchange for Röyksopp, I present you the ending of Pacific Heights' "Buried by the burden" (the music video features point cloud/LIDAR imaging, a bonus): https://youtu.be/XBUdCBxrhZo?t=168 https://youtu.be/XBUdCBxrhZo?t=168
  - masteranza 4y ago
    Thanks, that was a pretty awesome ending. Reminded me the first minutes of "Makeup and Vanity Set" - `A Glowing Light, A Promise`. Which is also frisson inducing for me.
ketamine 4y ago
When I was on one of my ketamine trips I realized music is one of the purest forms of communication as the vibrations reach beyond our physical manifestation.
WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
This is something that certain kinds of throat singing elicit in me.
barbs 4y ago
Just throwing my classic frisson song into the mix: Vessels - A Hundred Times in Every Direction I found the song about 12 years ago, still gives me chills every time
creakingstairs 4y ago
Anyone else notice correlation with caffeine? I tend to get these some time after my 2nd coffee of the day.
- drhodes 4y ago
  Yes, also, if I'm really tired then I don't experience frisson.
nickjj 4y ago
Hmm, I spot checked a bunch of songs in the list and only listened to songs I haven't heard of and I didn't get goosebumps or any hint of frission once. But I get goosebumps / etc. all the time when I listen to music I like, even songs I've listened to 50 times. Is it really considered "scientifically proven" at that point? It sounds more like "if you like music, you'll probably get goosebumps when you listen to specific segments of songs you like". What's really interesting to me is YouTube recently released a new feature into their video player that shows how frequently a certain point of a video was replayed. Even calling out "most replayed" with a label in the timeline. I'd be curious to see if frission points are associated to that. I listened to 2 songs I like and in both cases the most replayed label was near the frission points. This song's replay graph lines up with that perfectly for me, there's a large spike of replays at https://youtu.be/xHE5g9YgkFg?list=RDKAJhswlEdTo&t=163 https://youtu.be/xHE5g9YgkFg?list=RDKAJhswlEdTo&t=163 but the "most replayed" part is 2 seconds after the build up. If I listen to 2:42 to 2:57, I will get a small amount of frission at 2:58 and then 2 more bigger "frissions" at 3:02 and 3:05.
- whartung 4y ago
  I'm not saying it can't happen organically with an unheard song, I'm sure it can. But, sticking with the Dream Theater thread, I KNOW these events happen in their songs, I know where they'll happen, I know when they'll happen, and even give all that, they're still exciting when they do. A musician friend of mine said that a key aspect of music is "surprise", and, obviously surprise can happen anywhere and everywhere. But the downside of surprise is that it can only happen once. At Knott's Berry Farm, they have a log ride. Very nice log ride, lots of thematic elements scattered about. It also has a dark section, everything is blacked out. (Spoiler) In the middle of the dark section is a drop, and it's very surprising. Ride on it again, though, and it's thrilling. You know it's there. You know it's coming, but it's a thrill nonetheless. How many times have you been on a roller coaster and said something like "Here it comes!". Dream Theaters music, for me, is filled with these moments. When I first listen to a new DT album, inevitably, I won't like it. It takes me a solid 10 times to get in to its "groove", to find it's surprises. In the end, it grabs hold of me and I look forward to those "moments". And, to do so, I'll listen to the whole song. I won't skip to "just that moment", because it's not the same. I'll listen to the whole 20 minute song to get to the moment at the end, "journey is the reward" kind of thing. You can't reduce a 20m song to those few crescendo moments.
pg5 4y ago
I've used frisson as a metric of whether or not I like a song without having known it. Interesting that Metallica's Master of Puppets is on the list, instead of One or Welcome Home, as those two have more of an effect on me.
TOMDM 4y ago
The opening 3 seconds to Certitudes by C418 triggers this in me so reliably that I can rewind it and just trigger it over and over again. https://youtu.be/72fGruG_LSY https://youtu.be/72fGruG_LSY
taylorius 4y ago
I think the feelings music can evoke in a listener (real, physical feelings) have a range and grammar that is not quite encapsulated by "Frisson" - though it's definitely a good word for the phenomenon as a whole. For example: I could listen to Kenny Kirkland's piano solo on Sting's Bring on the Night live album - and when Kenny (utter jazz genius that he was) starts playing around with semi-discordant alterations to the normal song progression, I will get a powerful skin crawling sensation and involuntary muscle contractions (a bit like being tickled). A real physical response to an apparently unrelated sensory input. Whereas, if I listen to certain tracks by the Verve, it will affect me in completely different ways - equally powerful, but different. It really is fascinating - like a separate language that can communicate with our subconscious. Perhaps it is largely different for different people though - I wonder if the music that affects a person most strongly would correlate with any other aspect of their personality, of mental outlook.
noefingway 4y ago
Aaron Copland: "Fanfare for the Common Man", goose bumps, chills and shudder every time I hear it
vehemenz 4y ago
From my experience and from the comments here, frisson seems to be highly personal—what works for you won't work for me. And we can all agree that there is more going on than subverted expectations. My two cents: context often plays a role. How a particular song "lands" in an album or live set is often the source of the frisson. Obligatory recommendation: Wojciech Kilar - Love Remembered (Dracula soundtrack)
40four 4y ago
Great article, I think it nicely articulates something any of us music/ live music fans have always intuitively known. It’s one of the coolest things about music, and the clearest sign you found a song that really resonates with you. The songs that trigger this will be different for everyone I believe. It’s interesting this phenomenon is actually being studied & quantified in the lab. Also interesting, no joke just by reading the opening description, an actual ‘frisson’ reaction was triggered in my body. Weird! I also want to point out, for me, this is why my favorite genres/ bands are ones where improvisation are a central component. Jazz, blues, bluegrass, jam bands. I think on average they give me more frisson. By far my favorite band is Umphrey’s McGee. I’ve seen them about 40 times live and I can’t get enough. Every show is a unique experience. When I see shows, I want to be surprised. And Umphrey’s consistently delivers every single time. You never know what to expect. Their improvisations are so good, it always blows my mind! They take you on a musical journey, through so many peaks & valleys. It’s the ultimate live ‘frisson’ experience!
oneepic 4y ago
I think certain songs provoke an increased response from me, after I've listened to them a few times already. For example, Warning's "Watching From A Distance" [0] (c/w metal with sad themes) gives me that feeling around 2min 15sec when the main riff drops. But that didn't happen until after I heard it a few times. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqUo7a7J_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqUo7a7J_I
student2k 4y ago
I do find myself crying alone when get deep into a song I like, it is not sadness, not happy Ness , but overload of powerfull emotion I can describe, could happen with techno, rap, or other music style. I didn't feel this article was referring to the same thing.
- nimphoenix 4y ago
  Melancholy
WallyFunk 4y ago
None of the music posted on here causes me frisson. This is why I won't post songs that never fail to give me frisson because everyone's tastes are different. But anything by Squarepusher is an exception :)
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
It's been a while I haven't felt goosebumps, I used to feel them a lot when discovering new aesthetic songs. I guess ASMR can still give me some but it would be nice if there was an online recommender system/community for songs that especially are prone to give goosepumps, beside this specific playlist. ideally one would look for goosebumps inducing zick constrained within a specific genre. I love to see if people get goosebumps with a high probability at the same time in a song.
omnibrain 4y ago
My absolute favourite is Nara by E.S. Posthumus. For me it brings Frisson to a whole new level. It's not just (strong) goosebumps, but an almost overwhelming feeling.
- 7373737373 4y ago
  Yes! Two other songs of this type that work for me are Audiomachine - Transcendence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZ5-P3FnEk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZ5-P3FnEk) Two Steps From Hell - Heart of Courage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iC1aCPbKA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iC1aCPbKA) And another one: Zack Hemsey - Waiting Between Worlds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H529fng2Sfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H529fng2Sfw)
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
In case you don't know, you can convert spotify to youtube playlists via e.g. https://soundiiz.com/ https://soundiiz.com/
FunnyBadger 4y ago
Pretty much everything on the Classic Groove Salad. A lot of it is 1990s-2000s Trip Hop, Lounge and Downtempo which checks a lot of the boxes mentioned in the article. https://somafm.com/gsclassic/ https://somafm.com/gsclassic/ 1970s Fusion music is similar for me - a lot of "violated expectations" due to combining genres that had never gone together before (Jazz-Rock of Mahavishnu, Latin-Rock of Santana, Latin-Jazz of salsa, etc.) Back in the day, you'd listen to a Fusion radio station (e.g. KRE in Berkeley - no longer exists) and every song was amazing and even better than the last played.
ISL 4y ago
So cool to see #34 turn up on the list.
ernirulez 4y ago
I think this does not count for reggaeton as it only causes brain cells destruction
codeflow2202 4y ago
I get it from many things. Even this japanese ad for beer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4f8lm_5MBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4f8lm_5MBE
anomosmarxist 4y ago

288 points by mhb 4y ago

For me, more frisson is evoked by some of the passages in this rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto than by anything else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPhkZW_jwc0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPhkZW_jwc0

yardstick 4y ago

Spotify playlist from the article: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54ZA9LXFvvFujmOVWXpHga?si=070902caeeab4b47&nd=1 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/54ZA9LXFvvFujmOVWXpHga?si=...

iscrewyou 4y ago
Noticed Ave Maria is on that playlist. It’s obvious why it’s so famous but hearing it recently in The Batman definitely gave me “the feeling” the article is taking about.
- rzzzt 4y ago
  Schubert's "Ave Maria" is the one that gets to me the most, although I associate it with action scenes where you can not hear the protagonists, with glass breaking in slow motion, from movies and video games.

nomilk 4y ago

I can't overstate how important music is to my productivity. What I listen to is extremely dependent on my mood and energy levels, but I almost always have on some long playlists (or better still, a single long youtube video, with adblocker on of course). When I need calm, awesomeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSrQ_c904M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXSrQ_c904M Upbeat productivity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NXWQ9QZwo#t=27m13s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NXWQ9QZwo#t=27m13s When I want to be distanced and creative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI4-HUn8dFc#t=26m54s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI4-HUn8dFc#t=26m54s When I want something fun (although also a little distracting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SolEjKrcg4E&t=39m11s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SolEjKrcg4E&t=39m11s

winrid 4y ago
JimTV is great for this. https://youtu.be/wTvkT6Q_CwI https://youtu.be/wTvkT6Q_CwI
dudeinjapan 4y ago
Lol are you me? I listen to the exact same. Will add this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3_fB1LqV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3_fB1LqV0
- nomilk 4y ago
  I'm only a few minutes in, but it's amazing, thank you for sharing.
jasfi 4y ago
Heavy metal works for me, for upbeat productivity.
- scruple 4y ago
  Specifically black metal and blackened death metal for me. edit/ And Sludge.
  - progre 4y ago
    Same here. There is someting with the almost complete saturation of the mid- and upper frequencies of BM that focuses me like nothing else.
    - nomilk 4y ago
      If anyone has a good starting point for a BM newbie (preferably a playlist or album), please suggest.
      - progre 4y ago
        Lots of different styles that can fall under BM but here is some: https://open.spotify.com/album/3LHSxySCaooKrQxuLtuYSV?si=OVSuUOaSQlup0LHReSgQ9w https://open.spotify.com/album/3LHSxySCaooKrQxuLtuYSV?si=OVS... Wolves in the Throneroom, kind of dreamy artsy style. I'd like to think of these guys as the Pink Floyd of BM. https://open.spotify.com/album/5t5tP8dVwdyI8yTShWcIzX?si=zzLrTGXQSyWOS4tiwPcluw https://open.spotify.com/album/5t5tP8dVwdyI8yTShWcIzX?si=zzL... Satyricon, started out oldschool and raw, evolved to a more polished more produced (clean vocals even!). This album is right at the start of the more polished style but still quite a lot of energy. https://open.spotify.com/album/4a4g7PAi7KRsCQykBFqE5E?si=4LGgegqUT-CAlLuCF7h5Dg https://open.spotify.com/album/4a4g7PAi7KRsCQykBFqE5E?si=4LG... Darkthrone, about as raw as it gets while still good. 2 guys and a porta studio, never played live. https://open.spotify.com/album/63NhXXsb7BNEtLCTnYzub2?si=8qLYvb8HRx-pvRPaJjtrYA https://open.spotify.com/album/63NhXXsb7BNEtLCTnYzub2?si=8qL... Feminazgul, deep in the nerdery now. Queer themed with Tolkien inspired/ripped lyrics.

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dgaudet 4y ago

the article claims the playlist is "scientifically verified" ... but doesn't seem to cover the science behind the list construction or verification. is there a background article somewhere else?

afro88 4y ago
I wish there was. There's so much subjectivity and context that feeds into whether you experience "frisson" when hearing a song. I was very surprised to see Infected Mushroom in the playlist. Psytrance is the last thing that will give me goosebumps. Though I'm sure there are people out there who have imbibed, who have a connection to music like this.
- narrator 4y ago
  Psytrance gives extra frisson, but most people have to be high on something to appreciate it. I know that the nootropics I've taken are working when psytrance goes from being slightly annoying to listen to to being awesome.
boomboomsubban 4y ago
I was wondering that myself, as reading the list I suspect it's got something to do with people reporting they experienced the feeling from that song. Too many bands had their most popular song featured, and while it could be that songs that cause frisson are more popular it seems more likely that more people listening to the song makes it more likely to be reported. If they had some program check some huge library of songs for ones that have some sequence likely to cause frisson I'd expect the playlist to be far different.

benabus 4y ago

Fwiw, the "frissons" (free-saws) is the cajun word for "the heebie-jeebies".

Galanwe 4y ago
Not just Cajun, more generally a French and french-derivatives word.

jmpman 4y ago

Arvo Part - Spiegel im Spiegel. Listen to it in the dark, with your eyes closed, on a good pair of headphones. Im not a music fan, and it’s my favorite. Does something to my brain. Highly recommended.

throwaway743 4y ago

Tend to get this and notice when listening to Oneohtrix Point Never. Others too, but he sticks out.

hnplj 4y ago

I usually feel light and flying feeling listen to Jimi Hendrix guitar solos.

deleted 4y ago

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myself248 4y ago

Oh yeah. I have a 100% guaranteed goosebumps song -- Yes, Anastasia by Tori Amos. Right around the 8:25 mark, but it helps if I listen to at least 2 minutes leading up to that point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUazhfLiG6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUazhfLiG6U

r0bot 4y ago

That’s funny because I produced a remix with an original beat I composed over a 2pac acapela, and the number one comment I always get is that the song gives people chills and goosebumps. https://youtu.be/sHKdWOL1q8k https://youtu.be/sHKdWOL1q8k

sudosysgen 4y ago
Sure enough, it does give me chills pretty fast. Do you reckon you could put it on Spotify or at least publish a higher quality file? The MP3 download seems dead (Nvm for Spotify - it's there just not in my country :( )

ggm 4y ago

Horripilation

nostrademons 4y ago

“Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Interesting. The Spotify playlist didn't do much for me, but when I think of a couple moments in songs that always give me chills, they all feature that pattern: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score, Wacken 2013 @ 9:22, affectionately nicknamed the "Floor-gasm" by fans. The melody line feels like it's already gone as high as she can possibly go and is just going to descend by a couple notes. Instead she takes it up another 5th to what feels like an impossibly high note, and then holds it there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47e_961OQWE#t=528 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47e_961OQWE#t=528 Dream Theater, A Change of Seasons, @ 13:01 and again @ 13:28. It follows one of the odd-time-signatures, chromatic-only jam sessions, and then the band teases an end multiple times starting @ 12:40. When the jam session finally resolves into 4/4 time and the guitar comes in with those held power chords, you're like "Ahhh...." and then just as you start grooving along to that rhythm, the guitars/bass/drums drop out entirely and it's just acapella vocals over keys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKrwJzGg0k#t=730 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZKrwJzGg0k#t=730

fjfaase 4y ago
I too was thinking about Ghost Love Score. I get it especially when watching reaction videos when noticing that others are getting it. So, it might not just due to the music itself, but also be a social/emotional effect. I have literally have weekends where I only watched reaction videos and got it over and over again.
- tremon 4y ago
  My favourite moment in Ghost Love Score is much earlier in the song, at t=158, "into the blue memory". That transition and the melodic line following it ("still I write...everything I may ever be") is pure gold.
Doctor_Fegg 4y ago
And the greatest frisson moment in the whole of Anglican choral music: the Nunc Dimittis from Herbert Howells' Gloucester Service. Start listening at the beginning of the Gloria (well, listen to the whole thing if you can, but if you're pushed for time start here): https://youtu.be/4jmxJa4kMGM?t=131 https://youtu.be/4jmxJa4kMGM?t=131 The famous frisson moment in this recording is at 2m57: "as it was". Three reasons. One is the shifting chords in the organ part and the tenor/bass parts that lead up to it (the "expectancy violations"). The second is just the pure thrill of trebles soaring to a top A like that. And the third you only get if you listened to the Magnificat beforehand, which in its natural environment - a service of choral Evensong - you would: the "as it was" in the Gloria of the Nunc is _almost_ exactly the same as it was in the Mag... just a beat later. Pure "expectancy violation" again. Howells is full of these moments. The big, crunchy, discordant Amen in the Gloria of the Magdalen Service is my favourite - where the harmonies are offset by a crescendo/diminuendo/crescendo sequence in the choir, all on the same note.

lleb97a 4y ago

> ...Johnny Cash’s “Hurt.” Feel the need to point out that is a Nine Inch Nails song covered by Cash.

gfd 4y ago
> Reznor praised Cash's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning," going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song)
boomboomsubban 4y ago
They were listening to the Cash version, so the sentence is fine as is.

IIAOPSW 4y ago

I want to see what these songs look like in frequency space. Especially around the part where the frisson happens. I'm willing to bet they have a common frequency or multiple of a common frequency as a main component. Long story short, the brain does most of its representation and signaling with frequencies of brain waves. Just like certain bands of the EM spectrum are reserved for TV broadcast and other parts are reserved for WiFi etc, certain bands of brain waves are reserved for motor-sensory IO. If by sheer coincidence you come across a sensory stimulus that oscillates around the carrier wave frequency used to carry that same stimulus, you should experience some funny interference effects. Throughout evolutionary history there wasn't really a problem using these carrier frequencies because in our natural environment you're not going to accidentally run into a blinking bright light or loud sound with exactly the right pure frequency. Then we invented instruments and later electric light and oscillators. The relevant band of frequencies is around 30hz - 60hz. More likely than not the musical examples contain beat frequencies rather than directly containing sound in this part of the spectrum.

cupcake-unicorn 4y ago

I've experimented with external vagus nerve stimulation devices and it's my opinion that this sensation, along with "ASMR tinges", has to do with stimulation/activation of the vagus nerve.

kaetemi 4y ago

I can trigger this at will.

mise_en_place 4y ago

After reading this, I’m reminded of the Sanskrit concept of adbhuta. It can be roughly translated to wonder, but in the sense of witnessing something otherworldly or supernatural. The Nāṭya Śāstra elaborates and articulates on 8 rasas in the performing arts, including adbhuta. Truly an interesting work.

feanaro 4y ago

> According to a 2019 study, one can experience frisson when staring at a brilliant sunset or a beautiful painting; when realizing a deep insight or truth; when reading a particularly resonant line of poetry; or when watching the climax of a film. And meditation. I relatively frequently experience frisson during meditation, even when there is no obvious realization of some truth during the sit.

ruuda 4y ago

If it's due to anticipation and violated expectations, how come the same song can still give you goosebumps even after you know it very well?

iforgotpassword 4y ago
Because you still have the same expectations about how music should be structured the second time you listen to it. But the effect wears off after some time. Try playing it 20 times on repeat. It won't do it anymore. But that's mostly temporary, if you come back to it after a while it should work again.
- nonima 4y ago
  I don't think it's about expectations at all. For me it's about the state of mind I'm in when I listen to it, same song will or won't give me goosebumps based on where my head is at even if I've heard it hundreds of times.
  - iforgotpassword 4y ago
    That's a different effect. There are different reasons why you react to music. You can have a strong emotional reaction for example because it was played during a key moment of a movie you really liked, or while someone broke up with you, and then this feeling is forever fused to a song. And recalled through it. But it is well understood that music in general connects with us by meeting and breaking expectations we have about music.

diego_sandoval 4y ago

How can it be possible that Coming Back to Life by Pink Floyd is not in the list?

blenderdt 4y ago

I found the explanation of the article very weak. In my own experience it is caused by an 'overload' of emotions. When I had a burnout the same thing happened, but much faster. After reading into it I came to the conclusion that it must be a disorder in hormones. So after reading this article I wonder if a frisson is in fact an 'overload' of hormones caused by a huge amount of emotions. And that this causes a mismatch between your emotions and what you are feeling.

yrcyrc 4y ago

Previously reading on this topic and found out only a small percentage of people feel music emotionally. I was very curious, as my experiences are very intense, from frisson to full blown breakdown, chills, crying and overwhelmed completely. Was recently 'diagnosed' as gifted but there's no explanation as to why I feel music so intensely. Perhaps part of the whole thing, I became an autodidact musician and music is pure bliss to my ears.

plutonorm 4y ago
I'm probably on the gifted spectrum (145 or something on raven matrices online test) and music is indescribably beautiful to me. Not always but often. Music also often makes me laugh, when it discovers an unusual space. I get the same emotional reaction to new intellectual insights.
fristechill 4y ago
I've experienced frisson at great moments in music but only when fantasising about performing the music (or some part of it) myself. I did a lot of this as a teenager...

nonrandomstring 4y ago

I briefly mention this phenomenon in Designing Sound [1], and have since learned there are several forms of it elicited aurally. As well as the pleasurable goose-bumps associated with positive musical emotion there's another kind, an 'uneasy' frission that is the feeling of hairs on the back of your neck raising. While the "Wilhelm scream" is the most talked about sound design cliche, probably the one familiar to most of you will actually be the "doom tone" (60-100Hz noise bands), a signifier of "space", "evil" etc - think of Vader's "force choke". It's a great example of a fear response that is hard-wired, because it represents danger, avalanche, thunder, earthquake or stampeding animals. We have deep auditory circuit, and evolutionary advantage to run away. The other kind of frission stimulated by very high buzzing seems more mysterious. I discussed with sound designer prof. Mark Grimshaw, who amongst other things is an expert on the horror/suspense genre [2], as to why some screeching (bat-like) or buzzing sounds might give us such creepy feelings. It turns out the sound of mosquitos causes the hairs on the neck to stand up - likely a defence against being bitten when we were much hairier creatures. Still mysterious, I think, is the reason nails on a blackboard "hurts your teeth", and the exact mechanism and function of pleasurable frission is still a mystery as far as I know. I suspect it may have a social signalling utility, much like blushing. In times when we were much more attuned to each others' body states there could be an evolutionary advantage to signalling when we feel good about something. [1] https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/designing-sound https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/designing-sound [2] https://sonicfield.org/sonic-virtuality-sound-as-emergent/ https://sonicfield.org/sonic-virtuality-sound-as-emergent/

jl6 4y ago
Could you link to an example of a doom tone?
- eurasiantiger 4y ago
  This album is full of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrvXtDwEFc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrvXtDwEFc
- rzzzt 4y ago
  When the T-1000 appears: https://youtu.be/vIfUW5-qkc4?t=10 https://youtu.be/vIfUW5-qkc4?t=10

matsemann 4y ago

Does frisson change with age? Or is it perhaps just how "into" music one is that changes with age? I felt a much stronger emotional response listening to music in my teens than I do now, and consequently don't as often get the frisson.

kieckerjan 4y ago
I think that in your tweens your identity is more tied up with music than later on. In my and my friends' case we would literally define ourselves in terms of music: the bands we'd listen to signalled a lot about who we were and how we felt about the world. I guess if you do that, you're also more emotionally invested in the music.

gfd 4y ago

I used to love the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/top/?sort=top&t=all which is now kind of inactive. Surprisingly to me, music didn't work as well as images/text for inducing frisson. For example I reread this piece very often: https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jrlpeme.jpg

hunter2_ 4y ago
Conscience of a Hacker [0] does it for me. [0] http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html
- ntauthority 4y ago
  I accidentally clicked this on my phone. Skimmed it. Read the last paragraph. Ignored it. Thought about it. Can confirm: it worked.
- MacsHeadroom 4y ago
  Almost every line of this does it for me, every time.
archon1410 4y ago
https://i.redd.it/kv1vxq40nam21.jpg https://i.redd.it/kv1vxq40nam21.jpg my favourite
- nimphoenix 4y ago
  Thank you for this

iamben 4y ago

Music is a big part of my life and I get this a lot. I've seen particular shows where this has been such a thing I remember it years later. Jeff Buckley's Grace is an album that does this for me - I recently got the chance to listen to it at a Pitchblack Playback (https://pitchblackplayback.com/ https://pitchblackplayback.com/), which I absolutely recommend to any music fans. The heightened senses do very strange things to you, especially when it's already an evocative record!

wsc981 4y ago

I'm surprised I didn't see any mention of Tool in here, while many Tool songs can give this weird, supernatural, out of this world, feeling, at least for me. Pneuma is one of those great Tool songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssULNGSZIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssULNGSZIA And it's not just the sounds, the lyrics themselves help invoke this feeling as well.

conqueso 4y ago

I get this from nearly every song on Pet Sounds. Listening to music that causes frisson can be a quasi-religious experience, and I'm sure the feeling is something experienced by many when practicing religion as well.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

I haven’t heard that term in a while. I remember one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard about music. I was channel-surfing, a number of years ago, and paused on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. He was putting on a record (yes, the round black things), and said ”Music helps us to feel things.”

MauranKilom 4y ago
That's very poignant, thanks for sharing! I also feel that, in many cases, music helps catalyze my emotions. Positive or negative.

Aidevah 4y ago

From the perspective of a totally corrupt theorist, the response may not entirely be a positive thing. Richard Taruskin wrote about it in the opening essay of The Dangers of Music and other Anti-Utopian Essays[1]. > So much one may elicit from a pithed frog, and—if you remember your high school biology class—under conditions that are not dissimilar. Philip Glass, indeed, speaks frankly of eliciting a “biological” response from his audience. Here are his own words on the opera whose effects Wilson described: > I decided that I would try to write a piece that left the audience standing, and I’ve almost never played that music without seeing everyone leave his seat; it’s the strangest thing, almost biological. In fact, sometimes I’ve done concerts where I’ve played the Spaceship [i.e., the Einstein finale], and then as an encore played the last part of the Spaceship, and the same thing happens again. > But no, there is nothing strange about this: it’s basic behavior-modification therapy, and so far from spontaneous or liberating, it is calculated authoritarian manipulation. I find it sinister. My first contact with P&P came in June 1983 (yes, I’d been avoiding it) at a little festival sponsored by the New York Philharmonic and organized by the orchestra’s then composer-in-residence, Jacob Druckman, around the theme “Since 1968—A New Romanticism?” Druckman’s keynote essay in the program spoke optimistically of the “reemergence of . . . Dionysian qualities: sensuality, mystery, nostalgia, ecstasy, transcendency.” What I heard, in John Adams’s Grand Pianola Music, was an attempt to reduce me to an autonomic nervous system. My body responded to the programmed thrills and chills even as my mind protested. I, too, felt gooseflesh—and, I’ll admit, gooseflesh at a new-music concert was indeed a novelty. But it was a gooseflesh brought about not by way of evocation or epiphany but by anesthetizing the conscious mind and then administering a series of galvanic shocks. For me the experience was frightening. What had won so many over left me feeling diminished and degraded. And I guess I’m sounding like old man Adorno in spite of myself. [1] https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520268050/the-danger-of-music-and-other-anti-utopian-essays https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520268050/the-danger-of-mus...

MauranKilom 4y ago
My immediate reaction to this is "that's a very high-brow way to condemn music eliciting a primal response". I get it, if people raving to brain-numbing bass sounds is low-brow, then how is captivating an audience with music of any form any different? But look, you could make arguments in the same vein about how evil it is to eat good food, or enjoy a good sleep. Or sex. Giving in to primal desires is not a-priori bad, particularly when it is on your own (and whoever else is involved) terms - like voluntarily going to a concert. I hope the author doesn't react to those "reductions to autonomous nervous systems" with the same disgust, or they'll have a sad life...

masteranza 4y ago

Pink Floyd - Echoes surely is one of the best recipes for frisson. However for me Royksopp - Forever is the absolute number 1 winner in this category. It feels like those guys have really cracked the code with this one. Just listen for at least 20s before 3:10: https://youtu.be/nM_txL43iFM?t=170 https://youtu.be/nM_txL43iFM?t=170

WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
Didn’t work with me, but then again, I listen to way too much fusion.
- masteranza 4y ago
  Good headphones can also make a difference.
rzzzt 4y ago
In exchange for Röyksopp, I present you the ending of Pacific Heights' "Buried by the burden" (the music video features point cloud/LIDAR imaging, a bonus): https://youtu.be/XBUdCBxrhZo?t=168 https://youtu.be/XBUdCBxrhZo?t=168
- masteranza 4y ago
  Thanks, that was a pretty awesome ending. Reminded me the first minutes of "Makeup and Vanity Set" - `A Glowing Light, A Promise`. Which is also frisson inducing for me.

ketamine 4y ago

When I was on one of my ketamine trips I realized music is one of the purest forms of communication as the vibrations reach beyond our physical manifestation.

WesolyKubeczek 4y ago

This is something that certain kinds of throat singing elicit in me.

barbs 4y ago

Just throwing my classic frisson song into the mix: Vessels - A Hundred Times in Every Direction I found the song about 12 years ago, still gives me chills every time

creakingstairs 4y ago

Anyone else notice correlation with caffeine? I tend to get these some time after my 2nd coffee of the day.

drhodes 4y ago
Yes, also, if I'm really tired then I don't experience frisson.

nickjj 4y ago

Hmm, I spot checked a bunch of songs in the list and only listened to songs I haven't heard of and I didn't get goosebumps or any hint of frission once. But I get goosebumps / etc. all the time when I listen to music I like, even songs I've listened to 50 times. Is it really considered "scientifically proven" at that point? It sounds more like "if you like music, you'll probably get goosebumps when you listen to specific segments of songs you like". What's really interesting to me is YouTube recently released a new feature into their video player that shows how frequently a certain point of a video was replayed. Even calling out "most replayed" with a label in the timeline. I'd be curious to see if frission points are associated to that. I listened to 2 songs I like and in both cases the most replayed label was near the frission points. This song's replay graph lines up with that perfectly for me, there's a large spike of replays at https://youtu.be/xHE5g9YgkFg?list=RDKAJhswlEdTo&t=163 https://youtu.be/xHE5g9YgkFg?list=RDKAJhswlEdTo&t=163 but the "most replayed" part is 2 seconds after the build up. If I listen to 2:42 to 2:57, I will get a small amount of frission at 2:58 and then 2 more bigger "frissions" at 3:02 and 3:05.

whartung 4y ago
I'm not saying it can't happen organically with an unheard song, I'm sure it can. But, sticking with the Dream Theater thread, I KNOW these events happen in their songs, I know where they'll happen, I know when they'll happen, and even give all that, they're still exciting when they do. A musician friend of mine said that a key aspect of music is "surprise", and, obviously surprise can happen anywhere and everywhere. But the downside of surprise is that it can only happen once. At Knott's Berry Farm, they have a log ride. Very nice log ride, lots of thematic elements scattered about. It also has a dark section, everything is blacked out. (Spoiler) In the middle of the dark section is a drop, and it's very surprising. Ride on it again, though, and it's thrilling. You know it's there. You know it's coming, but it's a thrill nonetheless. How many times have you been on a roller coaster and said something like "Here it comes!". Dream Theaters music, for me, is filled with these moments. When I first listen to a new DT album, inevitably, I won't like it. It takes me a solid 10 times to get in to its "groove", to find it's surprises. In the end, it grabs hold of me and I look forward to those "moments". And, to do so, I'll listen to the whole song. I won't skip to "just that moment", because it's not the same. I'll listen to the whole 20 minute song to get to the moment at the end, "journey is the reward" kind of thing. You can't reduce a 20m song to those few crescendo moments.

pg5 4y ago

I've used frisson as a metric of whether or not I like a song without having known it. Interesting that Metallica's Master of Puppets is on the list, instead of One or Welcome Home, as those two have more of an effect on me.

TOMDM 4y ago

The opening 3 seconds to Certitudes by C418 triggers this in me so reliably that I can rewind it and just trigger it over and over again. https://youtu.be/72fGruG_LSY https://youtu.be/72fGruG_LSY

taylorius 4y ago

I think the feelings music can evoke in a listener (real, physical feelings) have a range and grammar that is not quite encapsulated by "Frisson" - though it's definitely a good word for the phenomenon as a whole. For example: I could listen to Kenny Kirkland's piano solo on Sting's Bring on the Night live album - and when Kenny (utter jazz genius that he was) starts playing around with semi-discordant alterations to the normal song progression, I will get a powerful skin crawling sensation and involuntary muscle contractions (a bit like being tickled). A real physical response to an apparently unrelated sensory input. Whereas, if I listen to certain tracks by the Verve, it will affect me in completely different ways - equally powerful, but different. It really is fascinating - like a separate language that can communicate with our subconscious. Perhaps it is largely different for different people though - I wonder if the music that affects a person most strongly would correlate with any other aspect of their personality, of mental outlook.

noefingway 4y ago

Aaron Copland: "Fanfare for the Common Man", goose bumps, chills and shudder every time I hear it

vehemenz 4y ago

From my experience and from the comments here, frisson seems to be highly personal—what works for you won't work for me. And we can all agree that there is more going on than subverted expectations. My two cents: context often plays a role. How a particular song "lands" in an album or live set is often the source of the frisson. Obligatory recommendation: Wojciech Kilar - Love Remembered (Dracula soundtrack)

40four 4y ago

Great article, I think it nicely articulates something any of us music/ live music fans have always intuitively known. It’s one of the coolest things about music, and the clearest sign you found a song that really resonates with you. The songs that trigger this will be different for everyone I believe. It’s interesting this phenomenon is actually being studied & quantified in the lab. Also interesting, no joke just by reading the opening description, an actual ‘frisson’ reaction was triggered in my body. Weird! I also want to point out, for me, this is why my favorite genres/ bands are ones where improvisation are a central component. Jazz, blues, bluegrass, jam bands. I think on average they give me more frisson. By far my favorite band is Umphrey’s McGee. I’ve seen them about 40 times live and I can’t get enough. Every show is a unique experience. When I see shows, I want to be surprised. And Umphrey’s consistently delivers every single time. You never know what to expect. Their improvisations are so good, it always blows my mind! They take you on a musical journey, through so many peaks & valleys. It’s the ultimate live ‘frisson’ experience!

oneepic 4y ago

I think certain songs provoke an increased response from me, after I've listened to them a few times already. For example, Warning's "Watching From A Distance" [0] (c/w metal with sad themes) gives me that feeling around 2min 15sec when the main riff drops. But that didn't happen until after I heard it a few times. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqUo7a7J_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqUo7a7J_I

student2k 4y ago

I do find myself crying alone when get deep into a song I like, it is not sadness, not happy Ness , but overload of powerfull emotion I can describe, could happen with techno, rap, or other music style. I didn't feel this article was referring to the same thing.

nimphoenix 4y ago
Melancholy

WallyFunk 4y ago

None of the music posted on here causes me frisson. This is why I won't post songs that never fail to give me frisson because everyone's tastes are different. But anything by Squarepusher is an exception :)

SemanticStrengh 4y ago

It's been a while I haven't felt goosebumps, I used to feel them a lot when discovering new aesthetic songs. I guess ASMR can still give me some but it would be nice if there was an online recommender system/community for songs that especially are prone to give goosepumps, beside this specific playlist. ideally one would look for goosebumps inducing zick constrained within a specific genre. I love to see if people get goosebumps with a high probability at the same time in a song.

omnibrain 4y ago

My absolute favourite is Nara by E.S. Posthumus. For me it brings Frisson to a whole new level. It's not just (strong) goosebumps, but an almost overwhelming feeling.

7373737373 4y ago
Yes! Two other songs of this type that work for me are Audiomachine - Transcendence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZ5-P3FnEk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZ5-P3FnEk) Two Steps From Hell - Heart of Courage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iC1aCPbKA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2iC1aCPbKA) And another one: Zack Hemsey - Waiting Between Worlds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H529fng2Sfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H529fng2Sfw)

SemanticStrengh 4y ago

In case you don't know, you can convert spotify to youtube playlists via e.g. https://soundiiz.com/ https://soundiiz.com/

FunnyBadger 4y ago

Pretty much everything on the Classic Groove Salad. A lot of it is 1990s-2000s Trip Hop, Lounge and Downtempo which checks a lot of the boxes mentioned in the article. https://somafm.com/gsclassic/ https://somafm.com/gsclassic/ 1970s Fusion music is similar for me - a lot of "violated expectations" due to combining genres that had never gone together before (Jazz-Rock of Mahavishnu, Latin-Rock of Santana, Latin-Jazz of salsa, etc.) Back in the day, you'd listen to a Fusion radio station (e.g. KRE in Berkeley - no longer exists) and every song was amazing and even better than the last played.

ISL 4y ago

So cool to see #34 turn up on the list.

ernirulez 4y ago

I think this does not count for reggaeton as it only causes brain cells destruction

codeflow2202 4y ago

I get it from many things. Even this japanese ad for beer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4f8lm_5MBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4f8lm_5MBE

anomosmarxist 4y ago