For this project I wanted to work with my keen interest in sound. I listen to music deeply, and I let it effect me. So, for this project I wanted to see if I could change the way a person is feeling by making them listen to certain sound clips. Therefore I arranged four basic emotion categories, Happy, Sad, Angry, Tranquil, and made, found, mixed three sound clips for each emotion. I first thought of using just beat patterns, but then I thought why not just play with guitar music. So, basically some of the sound clips are my own music creation, others are soundclips taken from appropriate musical pieces, and some are clips that were just mixed in or repeated to achieve the desired effect. I designed an online version for this project. First I ask the user to click on the emotion they are most closely feeling at that moment. After they choose the emotion, it takes them to a page where they have to listen to a sound clip which is in my view opposite to that emotion. After they listen to the sound clip, they click yes or no to determine whether the sound clip changed the way they were feeling. If not they are taken to another page with a sound clip, which they have to listen to. This process repeats three times. Remember it is entirely subjective to the listener's music taste, hearing sense and basic feelings. So, it might work for some people, where as it might not work for others. I require the user to wear headphones to listen to the soundclip, because headphones are the best way to indulge in music. It provides a somewhat closed listening environment.
The experiment was tested on a couple of people, and in both instances it worked.
To go to the project, click here.