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"World's Most Relaxing Music" Composed
Musical group Marconi Union and Lyz Cooper, the UK's leading therapeutic sound practitioner, have released what they claim is the world's most relaxing music. They contend that the calming effects of "Weightless" are not subjective but are based on scientific evidence. The music was found to cause brainwaves and heart rate to synchronize with the rhythm, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In fact, Scientists played the song to 40 women and found it to be 11% more effective at helping them relax than songs by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay. The eight-minute track is so effective at inducing sleep, motorists have now been warned they should not listen to it while driving.
Sorry, I nodded off for a moment there. Not sure if it was the music or the Daily Mail article.
I find that any claim of "World's most ....." is usually just a case of people not doing enough research. Try Stars of the Lid - Even (Out)+ for some really relaxing music.
Coldplay as "relaxing" music? WTF? Sure, it's not 80s hair-band "metal", but still...
Anyone care to post a link to the file itself, not some crap embedded Flash player?
An 11% improvement in a subjective, multifactorial category like 'relaxation' and they're calling it the World's Best Music for that purpose? Why are we reading this mumbo jumbo, even in idle?
I don't know whose editorial judgment sucks more, samzenpus or Timothy. I'd say samzen just took a major lead for the day, though.
This sort of lazy unimaginative half arsed drone ambient slop annoys me more than relaxes me. Make a bloody effort people. Still its an impressive marketing strategy they have here I suppose.
Nope, 11% more relaxing than Coldplay. I'm glad that they used the Coldplay standard to calibrate their work. Sheesh when will humanities majors stop pretending to be scientists?
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
The techno remix will be awesome!
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
"No, {insert relaxing band/group/artist here} is much more relaxing!" ...Very subjective stuff
...I wonder if it has http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats in it.
Are they willing to let people actually listen to the music without using Adobe bugware?
I've always found "Intravenous Diazepam" by the Swiss/international group 'Roche' to be more relaxing, personally.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not complete the recording because someone or the other, the conductor, or the piano guy or the viola lady or the recording engineer kept nodding off and messed up the taping.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
This is wrong in too many ways... :(
Worlds most relaxing music?
I want chicken,
I want liver,
Meowmix, Meowmix,
Please deliver
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
...but I don't think I'd call it "music."
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
"The study - commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa - found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea."
The sort of sponsored bollocks that passes for science reporting in the Daily Mail makes the front page of Slashdot. I know the front page of Slashdot isn't run by the world's most incisive editing team, but come on!
I have no
NYAN CAT!!
nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan ... I usually get totally relaxed after 46 minutes..
This reminds me to those ads where a scientist or doctor tells yout that this is the best toothpaste or washing powder in the world. Also, anything is relaxing if you compare it to Mozart.
The first bit sounds like the beginning of the Dark Side Of The Moon. The only difference being that the Dark Side Of The Moon is far nicer and more relaxing.
I care not for your karma and your mod points.
Many relaxing and atmospheric groups in Scandinavia. Probably related to climate and long, dark winters (Carbon Based Lifeforms, Solar Fields, Vibrasphere to name a few).
"World's Most Relaxing Music"
"Scientists played the song to 40 women"
glad to know we can determine the world's most anything by testing it on .0000000005% of the global population ...
If you listen to it on the "World's Most Comfortable Chair", will you launch yourself into some form of astral projection?
99.9% of the test subjects eventually just stopped working, talking, eating, and moving they were so completely pacified. The other .1% became insanely enraged and started slaughtering, eating, and/or raping the the musicians and producers. So the problem kinda worked itself out.
But what I'd like is the "world's most stimulant" music (or sound sequence). Or the "world's best coding companion" tune.
...will be deployed in 3, 2, 1
World's most relaxing music is actually Justin Bieber slowed by 800%: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspuCt1FM9M
Na na, na na, na na na na, na na, katamari damacy!
Is 1563649 a prime number?
How can I get a copy of this? I need to see if it works on my son at bedtime.
Most relaxing music:
Deadmau5 - Faxing Berlin, HR 8938 Cephei, Stop Dance, Clockwork
Anything by Bob Marley
Least Relaxing Music:
Yuzo Koshiro - Expander
Slipknot - The Blister Exists
Chimaira - Six
Mr. Oizo - Gay Dentists
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Famous unknown usenet quote "I like music by men. Ugly, angry men who write their own songs and play their own instruments".
Choose Motorhead for max. relax.
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
http://rain.nxe7.com/
Nice. But does it top Music from Some Guys in Space?
Fun fact: in the late 80s various members of the Seattle grunge rock scene had day jobs in, of all places, Muzak.
I hear Muzac is paying handsomly for license rights.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
You, like many people, have been trained that music needs vocals and rhythms. That's fine, but don't let your bias get in the way of those who can appreciate the many unique alternative styles of music. I personally love ambient music (i.e. music without rhythm), and I'm a drummer. I typically listen to it while at work, or in the early morning or late evening. Before you tell me to man up and listen to some "real" music, you should know that I also love rock, metal, funk, jazz, classical, and everything in between. The genre of music is largely irrelevant to me; I judge music on musicality and musicality only. In fact, the only bias I have in music is against vocals (probably because pop culture seems to think that vocals are the ONLY thing that matters.) I do prefer instrumental music in general, however even here I recognize that vocals sometimes play an important role.
I tried listening to this track, but it was far too stressful.
It was fine for the first 30 seconds or so, as I waited for the introductory passage to give way to the music...
... but the music never kicked in, and there I was, waiting, waiting, the anticipation building up, waiting for something more interesting than white noise.
I had to turn it off by the midway point. Too stressful. I'll stick to Enya, Vangelis, Devotchka or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata if I want to relax.
Each composer only composes one note of the composition, so as not to be killed by hearing the the entire composition. One of them saw two notes of the composition and had to spend a few weeks in hospital.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
A lot of confusion in here has to do with people and determining 'taste' or 'approach' of music, which of course are relative. What the article is describing is music utilizing binaural beats as a method for causing relaxation. I personally think binaural beats is one of those cases where it's claimed to do far more than its originally discovered effect, but there are no doubts that this - and music in general - have the capacity to stimulate an individual beyond a superficial and emotional level. Binaural beats is just merely focusing on sound and its ability to do such, which is no different to the therapeutic capabilities of just about any other sensation.
This list of music pisses me off too much to even consider trying to relax too. Boring, predictable music is boring.
For years I have been listening to music my wife refers to as "screaming hell music." I don't know the exact genre but I guess you could call it metalcore. I find this far more relaxing than "Enya" and have been sleeping (headphones so as to not disturb the wife) to this for years.
But I felt the same way with the waiting. I prefer listening to what's outdoors to relax.
cause everyone knows Pachelbel Canon in D is hands down the most relaxing piece ever composed
Ever heard of the placebo effect? I'll admit though I think it's an excellent ambient track, but considering there's an enormous library of ambient music out there, I suspect this "Most Relaxing Crap" is not the best out there.
Coldplay? Really? Whenever I hear Coldplay I want to stab out my eardrums. A chainsaw is more relaxing.
Relaxing? First the link takes me to a page that doesn't actually have the music, but has a link to another page with the music.. but it's flash. So, opening the music on the computer hooked up to actually play music .. launch firefox, and take advantage of Sync .. oh, but this causes Firefox to halt for about 10 seconds. Once the page loads, and flash stops spinning up (grrr), press play and BOOM BOOM ... high default volume! GRRRRRRRR! The page's design with the volume up in the corner is further annoyance!
Screw the music, I think it'd be more relaxing to go shoot things in RAGE.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Back in the 90s there was an NPR program called "Hearts in Space" that played this sort of stuff. It was great to fall asleep to, but I think I'll stick with my current trance and progressive for relaxation. Less danger of me nodding off.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
How can it claim to be relaxing when I keep on having to turn down the volume. Its like the people that created this where death or something.
Is there a version on youtube yet with monkey screams 2 minutes in?
Already composed.
It's John Tesh.
It seems to me that the music's rhythm tries to stay in sync with the average heart beat rate and not the other way around.
As soon as I see that the article is from the Daily Mail and pertains to Science I automatically assume that it is made up.
I feel that it saves time in the long run.
Extracted from the javascript on the soundcloud page.
http://media.soundcloud.com/stream/UeruWpwCE4JM?secret_token=s-kttxT&stream_token=kttxT
"Lame" - Galaxar
Whoever says this is the most relaxing music ever has never heard Justin Bieber slowed down 800%. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry9vqMy6AwM
I just downloaded it using this site: http://offliberty.com/. Neato...will check it out on the way home tonight.
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.
Carbon Based Lifeforms are better, IMO. Their albums all feature gapless playback so you can listen to an our or so of ambient in one go. Very, very relaxing stuff - I recommend World of Sleepers.
Because it sounds a lot like Goldfrapp.
This is white noise. Or generated sound. I wouldn't call it "music" if it's composed using science instead of talent and inspiration...
Wow there are so many psychological factors overlooked, there's no way this ranks with scientific rigor as universally relaxing.
... IMO.
1) I did not like the song at all. It annoyed me. If it is proven relaxing, then how could there be exceptions?
2) Placebo effect.
3) It's not a song so much as a collection of sounds. They layered a soundscape, they didn't compose music
4) There are about a million similar songs made since ambient became huge in 1997, and people still compose stuff I consider more relaxing.
5) After about 5 sincere attempts I guess the ending minutes starting at 5:13 are kind of addictive... but has made me feel sad rather than relaxed.... the beginning sequence still makes me want to punch somebody.
6) I wonder what other psychological/physiological components and factors the research ignored.
7) sounds like the scientists are just fans of this music or these bands and wanted to prove a point. the research might help us create more relaxing music, but it's a subjective test - not an emperical or objective one - whether it one song created this way is superior in comparison to another song someone else finds superior
8) Most relaxing song to me? For the last 6 months I've fallen to sleep listening to any handful of emoviolence songs. Circle Takes the Square's Our Need to Bleed gets nightly play before and during sleep.
Just think, if they can carry this silly line of research further we can roll out a 'sound energy' projector to subdue crowds. Maybe some sort of armor-penetrating speaker-missiles to get at guys inside tanks, and a gigantic 'Mother of Giant-Ass Speakers' to drop into buried concrete bunkers to music the terr'ist bastards into submission (or compliance)!
Wow, a whole 11%
Anvilania...
I guess I will have to bookmark this discussion fur future reference.
Anyway, here is the balm for my nerves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVUcjDO8-JM Venetian Lute Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVvqFqITYlY Luc Arbogast, a French street musician
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
If Enya, Mozart and Coldplay were as far as they looked for relaxing music, I'm not impressed with their research. Assuredly Pachelbel's Canon is more relaxing than these.
What is the effect of the world's calmest music on a person whom is deaf?
Coldplay make me furious.
Not like a hundred other new age prog songs don't exist
Personally I find Boards of Canada much more relaxing than this
Unless it starts people arguing about what counts as music, of courseâ¦
It sounds like a cross between the themes from Blade Runner and Cosmos, but not nearly as good.
So in this huge statistical study of _40_ women, we see results of an 11% improvement in "relaxation", according to the article.
What do you empirically measure relaxation in anyways; ohms?
If we assume something binary - like the ability to go to sleep, which the article also references - then an 11% improvement, in a sample size of 40 is... lesse here...
That would be an improvement from 9 to 10, 18 to 20, 27 to 30, or 36 to 40. If their experiment was even halfway decently designed, they're not getting 100% success at any point, and all 3 of the other options are statistically insignificant by the chi-square method; go back and collect more data.
Without a doubt, some of the most relaxing yet exhilirating music out there. Of course, YMMV. :-)
It reminds me of the funniest joke sketch from Monty Python. They just play the music over a battlefield and let the enemy go to sleep. Earplugs of coarse needed by the your own forces.
Come on slashdot, not a single high rated post talks about binaural beats or the pseudo-science surrounding them?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats
Lots of snake oil salesman making money hand over fist on this crap. This group is no where near the first to come up with this shit.
I thought Perry "Mr. Relaxation" Como already had this formula figured out years ago?
You just bored the hell out of me without even hitting the 5 minute mark.
Relaxed? Not so much.
The music is from a pretty common genre called Ambient. There's a LOT of music out there very similar to this, it's not some "magical track" that someone put together for this specific purpose, it's just a normal 60-50bpm soundscaped ambient track... Other artists in this category: Yellow6, Hybryds, Good Night, Gel Sol, Ishq, Kenji Williams, Ishvara, Ishq, Senzar, Grey Area, Lähtö, Foundation Hope, Our Sleepless Forest, Bluetech, Steinbrüchel, Aethenor, Steve Roach... And that's just the names I can think off the top of my head...
A heart beat from dark side of the moon string synth through fx from tangerine dream then a mix of sounds from brian eno's apollo, music for airports etc
all been done before............
The write has not got a background in original 70's ambient but to me ( I'm over 50) heard it all before
So can't you almost get the same effect by running it through Audacity/etc and select Tempo Drop?
It would then start at 50 and and drop to like 38 or something.
World most relaxing music is silence. When I listen to music, it's to get some dopamine boost. Heavy Rock and Metal all the way.
Easy listening: A scientist monitors the reactions of one participant who listens to Marconi Union's song. It claims to be the most relaxing track ever made
It's a song; it doesn't claim anything. Or is there actually a lyric that says "this is the most relaxing track ever"?
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
The goofy picture of the 'scientist' in white lab coat costume looking at a display while the 'subject' is hooked up to wires. Plus, the whole 'Gosh, isn't it amazing what you can do with Science' tone of the article. This is just someone's idea of viral marketing. And apparently, it's working, too! Is there some connection between all the artists/albums mentioned in the sidebar?
Steve Roach's A Deeper Silence is quite great and relaxing. It's really what it is, a new kind of silence..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Deeper_Silence
And it has lower-tones than this Marconi Union track.
Have gnu, will travel.
Yeah, when it got to the "Allow them to post as me". I backed out. No thank you. Don't need you spamming my friends list.
Removed the "like" because I sure as hell don't now.
It worked so well. I now have a very negative view of them and will actively tell others they suck.
Big PR win there, Radox.
The most relaxing music I have ever heard is probably the soundtrack to the PSN network game "Flower".
>"music was found to cause brainwaves and heart rate to synchronize with the rhythm,"
So, that was how far I got before telling that the OP was bullshit. Quoted statement is not semantically different from saying "Wow, music really mellows out the harsh vibes man".
Jean Michel Jarre, Kitaro, Enya, Enio Moricone and others in collections such as the "atmospheric synthesizer volumes" where better than pills for taken a nap.
Always a good choice for relaxing. 14:31 is one of the most beautifully relaxing tracks ever made.
Does anyone else find that plodding kick drum in the background really annoying? Completely ruins it for me.
Perhaps the answer to the problem of teenagers dropping bricks from motorway and railway bridges is to sue Tetris.
f* annoying boring music
help, building software for a long time, I use relaxing songs for designing and coding. Most of my best experience have a label named chillout mixes. try this and enjoy : www.chilloutmixes.com Experiences with Marco Torrance, Xerxes and Cardamar EnJoy !
Pretty damn relaxing.
Love Spirals Downwards.
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
Why?
UGH, stupid BaceFook walled garden and Soundclod pages which don't play; I finally found it on YouTube:
Marconi Union - Weightless (Radox) HighQuality Audio (most relaxing tune)
The heartbeat is way too fast! Since at 60bpm it is half dance music speed of ~120bpm(+), the brain merely interpolates the extra beats in between. Remember the quote:
Everyone knows slower reggae/hip-hop tempos around 90bpm are more mellow. So a tempo of 90 or 45 would work better, or if they'd wanted to relax people, use a steadily slowing down tempo say ranging imperceptibly gradually from 100bpm to 40bpm.
The ever-changing randomly-placed sounds and panning are distracting, not relaxing. The drifty evolving analogue pad sounds are nice, but there is so much else wrong with this to know where to begin. There is nothing new here that Eno wasn't already doing in the late 1970's. But I guess it's all about the self-promotion and attention-seeking. Perhaps these so-called experts and scientists should come and visit my record collection. Or just check out artists like Oophoi.
Yeahright.
Co-operation beats competition