From the aggravating sound of a wake-up alarm to the soothing strains of music, everything we hear during the day can markedly shape our mood and behaviour, say NTU’s sound experts

by Derek Rodriguez / Illustration and animation by Vivian Lim

Close your eyes, and listen. What do you hear? Did you notice it earlier? You’re not alone if you didn’t. Sounds do a good job in sneaking up on us, and telling us how to think and feel, without us knowing. We can measure it in decibels and hertz, but putting a figure on its influence in our lives is quite impossible.

Let’s start from the time we wake up. Our phones briefly become our worst nightmare as they scream at us to get up for that early morning lecture. Do they need to be this harsh? Maybe not.

“Studies have shown that a melodic alarm, such as your favourite piece of music, is better at waking you up than the usual beeping sound. You can also set it so it gets gradually louder,” says Prof Gan Woon Seng, whose noise-cancelling device for windows made headlines last year.

Asst Prof Ross Williams from the School of Art, Design & Media agrees, and reckons that we might be able to teach ourselves to be more receptive to gentler tones.

“Less unpleasant, or even nice, alarms and ring tones can work, if we can train ourselves to recognise them as wake-up calls. We have all internalised other default sounds, such as those that represent the arrival of a text message,” says the sound designer and composer.

“Studies have shown that a melodic alarm, such as your favourite piece of music, is better at waking you up than the usual beeping sound.”

– Prof Gan Woon Seng

Next, we head outdoors and plug into our favourite playlist. Or maybe we decide to search for one on Spotify, where the first browsing category is “Moods & Genres”.

All of us have different tastes when it comes to music. “It depends on what you’ve been exposed to and the associations you have developed from that,” says Asst Prof Williams. But music can also take the lead in its relationship with us.

“Music engages the motor cortex in the brain, not just the cognitive, auditory and emotional regions. For example, strong rhythmic music makes you want to tap your foot or dance,” he adds.

PhD student Gladys Heng, who researches how the brain processes music, thinks we listen to music for the emotional qualities it has. “Melodies and lyrics help us to express our feelings. We use music to de-stress, relieve boredom or increase excitement. Did you know most of us tend to pick sad songs instead of happy songs when we’re feeling sad?” 

“Melodies and lyrics help us to express our feelings. We use music to de-stress, relieve boredom or increase excitement. Did you know most of us tend to pick sad songs instead of happy songs when we’re feeling sad?”

– PhD student Gladys Heng

Now it’s lunchtime, when we face the perennial question – what to eat? So we imagine ourselves chowing down and that’s how we decide on our meal. But is there more to it?

Oh yes, reveals Prof Gemma Calvert, a neuromarketing pioneer from NTU’s business school.

“Speech sounds subconsciously connote sensory traits such as sweetness, bitterness, saltiness and other taste expectations. So the names of the food you eat, including the food brands, provoke expectations in our minds. For example, French fries aren’t French, but the sheer use of onomatopoeia – the crunchy sound of ‘ch’ which mimics the sound when you bite into them – and alliteration – where words start with the same sounds – make you start drooling for those tasty, crunchy little mouthfuls of potato.”

French fries aren’t French, but the sheer use of onomatopoeia  and alliteration make you start drooling for those tasty, crunchy little mouthfuls of potato.”

– Prof Gemma Calvert

With full stomachs and a tinge of regret, we trudge back to our hall rooms, hoping to dive straight into our books. As you resist melding into your bed, you can attempt to set a mood for studying by putting on music with regular beats, something “not too complex and preferably without lyrics”, says Gladys. “Otherwise, listen to music with lyrics in a language that is different from what you are studying, so as to reduce cognitive interference.”

If you decide to go shopping, you’re back at sound’s mercy. There’s nowhere to hide, even in far corners of the supermarket.

“Brands are increasingly looking to influence consumers through nonvisual sensory channels as the visual environment becomes ever more cluttered. One supermarket in the US played soundtracks of either German oompah or French accordion music down the wine aisle as consumers shopped for wine. Depending on the type of music played, sales of German or French wine increased,” says Prof Calvert. “What was most surprising is that none of the consumers reported hearing any music while they shopped!”

This story was published in the Jan-Mar 2021 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.