FIVE: The Drop

In this episode, We explore the genre of Electronic Dance Music and discuss the psychology behind why we often have such strong emotional reactions to the breakdown, build up and drop sections of an EDM track.

We explore the musical tools used by DJs and producers to make us feel all the things every time we listen and we're contextualising all of this in the wonderful work of one of our favourite music psychologists, David Huron.

References

• Fikentscher, K. (2000) “You better work!”: Underground dance music in new york city. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England.
• Huron, D. (2006) Sweet anticipation: Music and the psychology of expectation. The MIT Press.
• Solberg, R. & Dibben, N. (2019) Peak experiences with electronic dance music: Subjective experiences, physiological responses, and musical characteristics of the break routine. Music Perception, 36 (4). pp. 371-389. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2019.36.4.371
• Solberg, R. (2014) “Waiting for the bass to drop”: Correlations between intense emotional experiences and production techniques in build-up and drop sections of electronic dance music. Dancecult 6(1):61-82. DOI:10.12801/1947-5403.2014.06.01.04
• Turrel, A., Halpern, A., & Javadi, A. (2019) When tension is exciting: an EEG exploration of excitement in music. bioRxiv 637983. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/637983