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Acoustic and structural differences between musically portrayed subtypes of fear
Caitlyn Trevor1, Marina Renner1, Sascha Frühholz1
1Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|February 2, 2023
Summary
Music can express distinct subtypes of fear, like terror and anxiety, using different acoustic features. This study reveals sonic differences, showing terror music is brighter and denser, while anxious music has more loudness variability.
Area of Science:
- Music psychology
- Auditory perception
- Emotion research
Background:
- Fear is a well-studied emotion in music research.
- Music theory suggests finer-grained fear subtypes (terror, anxiety) exist.
- Previous research has overlooked these fear subtypes in music.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the musical expression of terror versus anxiety.
- Identify acoustic and structural differences between music conveying terror and anxiety.
- Contribute to emotional granularity in music and emotion studies.
Main Methods:
- 99 participants rated horror film music excerpts for emotional impression.
- Excerpts effectively conveying terror and anxiety were selected.
- Selected excerpts underwent descriptive and acoustic analysis.
Main Results:
- Music conveys terror and anxiety using distinct musical structures and acoustic features.
- Terrifying music: brighter, rougher timbre, denser, potentially faster/louder.
- Anxious music: greater loudness variability, minor modalities, unpredictable rhythms.
Conclusions:
- Music demonstrably differentiates between terror and anxiety through specific sonic characteristics.
- Findings support the concept of emotional granularity in music perception.
- This research bridges music theory and empirical psychology on fear subtypes.
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