Soundscapes in Deep Space: Music as Language?
Music has long been considered a sort of “universal language,” capable of conveying feeling and emotion within compositions that surpass barriers presented by verbal communication and culture. From the primitive tribal drumming used in rituals by indigenous groups for thousands of years, to the advanced electro-neural trances created by techno beats in clubs on Saturday nights around the world, the vast and various ways our bodies are affected by music and sound still present many mysteries.
In fact, some research indicates that our brains are actually more open to unique influence from auditory stimulation than we realize. According to studies conducted by Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University, Illinois, when we hear a sound the responding brain waves that manifest are physically identical to the sound wave being perceived. Conversely, if a recorded brain wave is then taken and fed through a digital playback device, the sounds they produce are also nearly identical.
