Why live music is more emotional than recorded music – 03/07/2024 – Science

A group of researchers has deciphered why listening to music played live provokes more emotions than listening to the same recorded music, according to a study published on the 26th in the scientific journal PNAS.

Research suggests that melodies heard live are capable of triggering greater activity in the left side of the brain, which is linked to processing emotions.

Twenty-seven participants with no musical experience listened to 12 songs lasting 30 seconds each. Six of them sought to convey negative emotions, such as sadness and anger, and were slower, with fewer harmonies and minor chords. The other six were intended to evoke positive emotions.

The group heard the same piece twice: once played live by a pianist and the other on a recording. Listeners didn’t know whether the performance was live or not, and both versions came out of the same speakers.

With the help of an MRI scanner, the scientists measured the participants’ brain activity while they listened to the songs.

The pianist could also choose whether to play louder or faster, depending on the participants’ brain activity. For example, if the listener did not show much activity in response to a piece qualified as positive, the pianist increased the intensity.

“Recorded music doesn’t adapt to the listener’s response, but pianists who play live often adapt the music to the audience to get the best response,” study lead author Sascha Frühholz of the University of Zurich told New Scientist .

Live music surpasses recordings

The scientists also observed that live performance of positive and negative pieces consistently provoked an increase in brain activity in the left amygdala, a region of the brain strongly linked to sound-related emotions.

In contrast, the recorded melodies elicited much less intense and more irregular activity, which was consistent with participants’ emotional assessment of each piece of music.

“Our study showed that pleasant and unpleasant emotions interpreted as live music elicited much greater and more consistent activity in the amygdala than recorded music,” Frühholz added in a statement.

“The live performance also stimulated a more active exchange of information throughout the brain, which points to strong emotional processing in the affective and cognitive brain regions,” Frühholz told the scientific journal.

The researchers hope to repeat the experience with a larger audience at a concert: “If you go to a live concert, you are not alone. This heightened emotional experience is also a social experience.”