Good Vibrations: Techniques and Technologies in Music and Sound Therapies

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Good VibrationsTechniques and Technologies in
Music and Sound Therapies

• by Erin Bradley Macri and Giulia Mariotti

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Sounding out Sound 1/4 Research Goal

• Choice of Topic, originated by
• Academic readings Music as Technology of the
  Self Empowering the gaze Role of music in
  Cinematic Experience and in management of
  interpersonal behaviour Breaches and boundaries
  of reception of of new technologies in music (De
  Nora, Bull, Pinch and Bijsterveld)
• Real-Life Experience (Knowing a Music Therapist)
• The desire to explore new sound technologies for
  therapeutic purposes

• Thesis
• New sound techniques and technologies have
  changed, and continue to change, the ways music
  and sound therapies are used or performed.

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Sounding out Sound 2/4Methodological Approach

• Phase I The Research
• Extensive background research and gathering of
  information on the topic
• Collecting of hard facts and data (table)
• Identifying the best telephonic and recording
  software and optimising its effectiveness (Skype
  and Freecorder)
• Phase II The Interviews
• Identification of suitable contacts careful
  selection of professionals from different
  backgrounds (clinical/ musical/ educational),
  various countries (UK, US, Australia, Germany),
  with different ages (30s through 60s), and
  gender (4 men, 2 women)
• Preparation of each interview with 10-12 emails
  (content, script, timing, etc.)
• Open-ended and partially structured questions
• Tailoring of questions to each persons area of
  expertise for detailed data, however
• Same initial questions for quantitative purposes
• Phase III Analysis of collected data
• Comparison of each others field notes
• Hand-picking of most relevant sound-bytes for
  radio documentary

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Sounding Out Sound 3/4Music and Sound Therapy
6 extensive interviews with professional Sound /
Music Therapists / Trainers (nearly 500 minutes
of recorded audio) focusing on the differences
between Music Therapy and Sound Therapy

• Music Therapy (MT) a more "standardized"
  medical practice incorporated into "traditional
  medicine.  MT is about "using musical means to
  reach non-musical goals.  Music Therapists study
  music, psychology and education, and must work a
  certain number of supervised hours with
  patients/clients before they can be certified.

• Sound Therapy (ST) has a less structured, more
  "philosophical" take, based on whomever is
  performing the ST, and the methods used tend to
  reflect therapists styles versus clinical
  goals.  As Mr. Moran put it, All of life
  vibrates. Sound Therapy uses tones and
  frequencies, for example, to bring various parts
  of the human body back into harmony.

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Sounding Out Sound 4/4Moving On...

• Contrasting versions when Mr. Moran spoke, we
  simply believed his statements because he
  obviously believed so strongly.  But after
  interviewing Jeanette Milford (Australian Music
  Therapist), we realised that not everything was
  so clear-cut how much of the "progress" was
  purely psychosomatic?

• So we delved in deeper and found

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Key Findings 1/4AMTA (American
or Australian Music Therapy Assocations)

• Music Therapists prefer to do live and
  interactive music (clients/patients play
  instruments with therapists), usually in group
  settings, however...
• Tailoring sessions to individuals easier now due
  to MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface),
  an industry-standard protocol that enables
  electronic musical instruments, computers and
  other equipment to communicate, control and
  synchronize with each other
• MIDI, now taught to MTs at the undergraduate
  and/or certification levels, is a system very
  much like a player piano in that it is used to
  specify the actions of a synthesizer or other
  electronic device, while the tone or effect is
  generated by the instrument itself.

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Key Findings 2/4Unique Sounds

• Began training managers and businessmen for
  better public speaking, etc., then decided he
  could help a bigger audience through schools.
  Started in Liverpool schools, coordinating
  research with Sound Therapists throughout the UK
  to get Mind Series Programs officially
  recognized.
• Combination of natural sounds (water, sand,
  animals), digital/electronic sounds and music
• Vibrating chair, induces relaxation (kinestaethic
  adding to auditory stimulation)

The Purrfect Symphony Purring Cats and
Relaxation Music
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Key Findings 3/4Mozart andThe Tomatis Method

• The Mozart Effect (1991 Dr. Tomatis disabled
  children - Pourquoi Mozart?) refers to the
  enahnced performance on some reasoning tests that
  can take place after listening to Mozart (due to
  high frequencies, rythms, melodies). The term is
  now generalised to refer to the beneficial
  effects of listening to music (increase
  listenersIQ e.g. Baby Einstein).
• Mozarts music can help disabled people
  improve communciation skills, spelling,
  speech, and attention span.
• In addition, it can
• reduce stress/ depression/ anxiety and induce
  relaxation or sleep
• activate/energise the body
• improve memory or awareness

The Tomatis method uses (filtered) Mozarts Music
and Gregorian Chant (reminiscent of heartbeat -
relaxing) to improve listening disabilities,
dyslexia, attention deficit disorders, and vocal
and auditory handicaps.
The Electronic Ear is a tape-recorder that
enables people to hear what cannot be heard
naturally, by using latest technologies with
electronic switch-overs, and a set of filters
(which filter out frequencies that are heard
well) and amplifiers. Thus, people are able to
hear previously unheard frequencies, for e.g.
those of another language. It also trains the
right ear (connected to the left and
language-learning side of the brain) to become
the leading ear.
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Key Findings 4/4The EnListen Programme

• EnListen is a technology that delivers listening
  training by teaching the ear to locate and
  distinguish between sounds of language, music,
  and noise.
• Changes in processing translate into changes in
  academic performance, self esteem, and emotional
  intelligence.
• EnListen offers
• Individualisation Computer programmes that
  individually tailor sessions (digital versus
  manual)
• Portability the software runs on PCs, iPods and
  mp3 players, thus enabling clients to listen to
  music at home, providing they have the special
  headphones with bone and air conduction
• 30 hours of music and voice enhanced through
  sound engineering (recording of, synchronization,
  sequencing and sampling of music, voices, or
  sound effects)

• Implementation
• Assessment of individual listening capacity
• Drawing up of personalised programme of
  consultation, sound stimulation, and audio-vocal
  activities

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Conclusions

• Both STs and MTs appropriate new sound
  technologies (computer-generated sounds,
  software, digital music, digital sampling)
• The use of music by Professionals for their
  patients differs from that made by the
  individuals themselves (isolation, getting into
  a mood, etc.) as
• Their work can be used to structure MT sessions
  in a musical-interactive way
• This enables their clients, who do not possess
  the necessary skills, to gain control over their
  environment and, consequently, security
• The resultant music ratifies the clients
  presence through gestures, smiles, physical
  contact (De Nora, p. 70-71).

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Food for Thought...

• The Electronic Ear enables listeners to transform
  the way they hear a language and to hear it in
  the way a native speaker would
• Joaquim Kunze, Tomatis Method Trainer
• Successful case Man affected by Alzeihmers
  disease dances for the last time with his wife
• Improving dyslexia (sms).
• Voice Analysis
• Rats Experiment
• Jeff Moran, Sound Therapist

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• Questions?

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For more on Sound and Music Therapy please check
our blogs www.fdcw.org/0708/mariotti and
www.fdcw.org/0708/macri or the following
references and online sources

• Academic References
• Bull, M. (2000), Sounding Out the City Personal
  Stereos and the management of everyday life,
  Oxford University Press
• De Nora, T. (2000), Music in Everyday Life,
  Cambridge University Press
• Fleming, C. (2002), The Radio Handbook, London
  Routledge
• Pinch, T. and Bijsterveld, K. (2003), Should one
  applaud?
• Online References
• American Music Therapy Association,
  www.musictherapy.org
• Association for Applied Psychophysiology and
  Biofeedback (AAPB), www.aapb.org
• Association of Professional Music Therapists,
  www.apmt.org
• Australian Music Therapy Association,
  www.austmts.org.au
• Audio Visual Entrainment (AVE), www.mindalive.com
• Campbell, Don, The Mozart Effect,
  www.mozarteffect.com
• Cochrane Review of Music Therapy,
  www.cochrane.org
• Edwards, Sherry, Voice Analysis Program, FMBR
  Foundation for Mind Being Research www.fmbr.org
• EnListen Sound Technologies/Training,
  www.soundlistening.com
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
  (EMDR), www.emdr.com
• International Association of Registered Certified
  Tomatis Consultants, www.iarctc.org
• Lipton, Bruce www.brucelipton.com
• Mind Alive web site ("Getting into the Zone"
  program for schools), www.soundtherapy.co.uk