NYS Music 202​0

Tag: music

  • New Scientific Study Explains Why Music Can Give People the Chills

    A new scientific study was released on Nov. 3, 2020 that explains why music can quite literally give people chills while listening to it. The study explains how and why people experience these chills while listening to certain music. 

    The Frontiers in Neuroscience journal released an article titled, “Cortical Patterns of Pleasurable Musical Chills Revealed by High-Density EEG” that goes into depth on this topic. Researchers are trying to understand this by studying brain activity behind these chills people experience. They believe they are getting closer to understanding why music makes us feel pleasure.

    The study focused on 18 people comprising 11 women and 7 men, 10 of which were amateur musicians themselves. The study originally had 23 participants but three participants reported one or zero instances of chills during the experiment, and for two participants not enough EEG epochs free from artifacts were recorded so they were ultimately left out of the study. 

    The study was conducted with participants each picking five songs ahead of time that they knew often gave them the sense of chills. The scientists provided the participants with three neutral songs to listen to as a control group to compare the reactions the participants gave to the songs they brought in. The participants were told to sit back and close their eyes, and listened to the music through wireless headphones while scientists monitored their brain activity using an EEG. As the participants listened and got chills an average of 16.9 times each. Each chilling moment lasted for 8.75 seconds.

    Music Chills
    Regions of the brain activated when music gave participants experience chills. Graph provided by Frontiers in Neuroscience article.

    So why does this matter? What is the big deal about these chills? The big deal is when these participants listened to songs they brought that gave them the chills they had an increase in theta waves (a wave of brain activity that follows regular oscillations) in the orbitofrontal cortex. This area of the brain is associated with emotional processing. The scientists performing the study also found patterns of activity in two other brain regions: the supplementary motor area, a region of the brain involved in motor control, and the right temporal lobe, which is involved in interpreting non-verbal communication, like music.

    The scientists and authors of the study believe that the increase in theta wave power participants experienced on the surface-level which then signals a two-pronged reward response which happened deep in the brain. This buildup of theta wave power eventually releases dopamine in the participants systems and gives them those happy chills. 

    This proves that listening to music can scientifically give you chills. For more information on the study read the full article here.

  • lespecial and Eggy bring the Heat at Le Getaway

    Last Saturday was a special gathering in the midst of a strange year. Le Getaway was a sold-out, socially distanced event held by lespecial and Eggy which featured daytime activities, drum circles, basketball courts, ping-pong tables, and cabins that were rented for the night by attendees. It took place at Club Getaway, a beautiful lake resort nestled in between the mountains of Connecticut. Reminiscent of the good ol’ Catskill Chill days, there was a bonfire set and porch jams until the sun came up. It’s nice to know that a socially distanced live music event is possible if we can all be smart and responsible. If the right precautions are taken, it seems like we can get back to this live music thing soon. 

    So many activities.

    This was a beautiful gathering, it was both much needed and very appreciated. But it was a bit chilly, so you know lespecial and Eggy had to bring the heat. Literally, Jon from lespecial had to turn up his personal heater it was so cold. Rory Dolan led a socially distanced drum circle early in the day, Luke joined in too. 

    Rory leads a socially distanced drum circle.

    Eggy played a jam filled opening set, warming up the crowd as the sun went down. These guys are tight, I would not sleep on them. Soaring high on funky synth leads by Dani Battat and Jake Brownstein’s guitar shredding, Eggy proved to be an amazing opening act.

    Eggy flying high.

    lespecial then took the stage and opened up with “The Vessel.” Their set was everything you could every hope a lesepcial show to be: dark, bass heavy, and Primus-inspired goodness. Rory took a masterful drum solo. Mike Meyers even sat in on the Halloween Jam and Lee Ross sat in on the sax for a tune. There’s something spooky about this band that makes seeing them around Halloween feel so right. lespecial has a very unique, refusing sound that cuts through much of the jam band muck with many bands that sound similar. They stand out and stand behind their sound which definitely draws inspiration and honors Primus.

    Rory’s drum solo.

    After lespecial, the attendees with cabins were treated to a bonfire jam which featured, of course, a fire and music. Late night porch jams were held by the new “porch dwellers” with Escaper’s very own Will Hanza on mandolin. Nothing can substitute the space that live music creates.

    lespecial put on a hell of a show.

    This was exactly what we needed. Let us get back to this as soon as possible, in a safe and responsible way.

    Can’t wait to be back.

    lespecial at Le Getaway 10/17/20

    The Vessel, Fruit Wolf Dance, Jackwise, Machine Elf, Harambe Zombie, Tommy the Cat (Primus cover) > The Awakening > Tommy The Cat, Onlookers, Sugaboi, Third Antler > Fourth Antler, Chocolate Chip Trip (Tool cover), Halloween Jam, Tonberry, Buggn>In the Air Tonight>Buggn

  • Autumn Nicholas Strives to Make a Difference Through Music

    Autumn Nicholas, a soul-pop singer-songwriter from Raleigh, NC, is a talented young musician that makes her listeners only want more. Growing up with a father who played drums and a brother who played guitar, music was always prevalent in her family; however, Nicholas never thought she would make a career out of it.

    Autumn Nicholas
    Autumn Nicholas Promo

    To say Nicholas is passionate about her music is an understatement. Not only is she passionate about her music, but she is passionate about making a difference in our society. She strives to make her music unique and relevant, singing about love and loss as well as hope and pain—which has been very pertinent in today’s civilization.

    Recently inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter and LBGTQ marches, her new single “Side by Side” shows both the positive and negative sides of these movements in hopes to try and get people to stand up and take action. She says the single “is focused on how we are all uniquely beautiful, beyond our gender, circumstance, and skin, no one more than the other.” Autumn Nicholas is proud to be and sing about her sexuality. The gay, biracial artist stands out among other young artists because she sings about her own life in a way that can relate to anyone. She also sings to the masses where she offers inspiring messages through her lyrics and gives her listeners something to think about.

    I can’t understand why we all just keep taking sides

    Why can’t we sympathize?

    If we really care about each other’s lives

    Then let’s go and make it right

    Standing side by side for equal rights

    Autumn Nicholas – ‘Side by Side’ Single

    Both the song’s lyrics and production capture her goal of coming together as people to stand up for what is right. “I want it to focus less on me and more on the words and the art and the community,” said Nicholas. She even said the official music video of ‘Side by Side’ was rushed because they had to make it before the artwork was taken down, and that there will be a second version of the song that shows even more street art as well as other artists of different races from around the world.

    When performing her song live, she starts by talking about #BlackLivesMatter and how it relates to her song. “It grabs the attention and captures the importance of those words,” She explains, “it is deeper than that – it’s about equal rights and LGBT, but it ties in as a whole to unity, something during these times we do not have a lot of, especially since we are feeling like we’re trapped in our homes, like we are divided, whether it’s by sickness or by color. I hope this song can bring some unity to our time period.” In times like these, Nicholas wants to bring hope to our world, something in which our world needs right now.

    Autumn Nicholas is also in the process of developing a clothing line titled Unbrand.d where their motto is “No Genre. No Gender. No Rules.” She wishes to create a style that can be worn by anyone no matter the gender. Her first item from the brand is a T-Shirt in which the proceeds will go to a food bank.

    Not only will Nicholas continue to show the world her vibrant personality and talents, but she will continue sending the messages of unity and equality in her second EP Shades of Beige coming out this November.

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