I cannot relax with Mozart.

The environment in which people can relax is completely different for everyone.
It goes without saying, though.

In terms of music, in my case,
I can concentrate much better with programmed mechanical sounds
than with music that has emotional ups and downs like classical music.

Of course, I think classical music is beautiful.
When I first heard Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata,
I was moved.

However, when I decide to get to work,
I still choose mechanical sounds. Even when driving, I listen to pop songs or mechanical sounds.

At first, I thought it was just a matter of preference.
When I started researching why that might be,
it was more interesting than I had expected.

So far, I have found three reasons that make sense to me.

The first is the idea that the brain is constantly processing information
while predicting what will happen next.

Music performed by humans has subtle fluctuations in tempo, dynamics,
and pauses.
It seems the brain unconsciously follows and continues to predict those changes.

On the other hand, mechanical sounds programmed along a grid are highly regular
and easy to predict what comes next.
Because of this, it is easier to reduce the energy used to process the sounds themselves,
which may make it possible to allocate more cognitive resources to thinking and tasks.

I see.

The second is the concept of acoustic masking.

Sounds that continuously play a certain frequency band
seem to have the effect of making it harder to perceive irregular ambient noise.

The fact that white noise and pink noise
are used for concentration is close to this idea.

The EDM for working that is common on YouTube
might be explained by this.

So, for me, mechanical sounds are not so much background music,
but rather like a wall that protects my brain from outside noise.

The third point is that there are significant individual differences in how sounds are perceived.

In music therapy and sensory processing research, it is known that while some people find the same sound pleasant, others find it exhausting because there is too much information.

Some people find comfort in acoustic fluctuations, while others feel that there is too much stimulation.

My ears are quite sensitive, and I am easily bothered not only by the sound of people chewing (though I suppose that is true for everyone), but also by the sound of tapping a smartphone with manicured nails, the sound of typing on a keyboard, and even the sound of footsteps.

That is perhaps why dry, regular sounds that do not carry emotion help calm my nerves.

If asked why I like mechanical or electronic sounds, that might be the explanation I would give now.

From here on, this is based on my own research, or rather, my own household, but I found something even more interesting.

My husband seems to find mechanical sounds unbearable. He says that the lack of fluctuation makes him feel uncomfortable.

From this point on, it is entirely my own hypothesis.

Perhaps people unconsciously adjust their external environment to match the habits of their own brain's information processing.

Since I am the type whose senses and thoughts tend to become overloaded with information, I might be lowering the overall load on my brain by placing predictable, regular sounds in my external environment.

On the other hand, my husband's information processing is usually very stable.
Perhaps that is why he finds sounds with natural fluctuations
more comfortable
than stimuli with little change, like mechanical sounds.

Of course, this is just something I thought of
while observing my husband and myself,
and it is not backed by any evidence at the moment.

When I was younger, I would hear information like "Mozart is the best background music!" or
"Bach is the best thing for your brain!" and go out and buy CDs,
but

Grrr, no, this is no good, my work isn't progressing at all.

And so, I'd end up thinking "this is impossible" and
listen to Ken Ishii or Denki Groove instead.

For someone like me, whose mind tends to run wild with hyperactivity,
rhythmic electronic sounds are comfortable and the only thing that helps me relax.

The idea that "this is the socially correct answer" or
"this is good because everyone wants it"
doesn't really apply to me,
and music might be one of those things.

Knowing yourself is truly important.

Having said that, I'm sure there are many people who feel the same way,
which is probably why events like Ultra are such a huge success.