There has been a general gap in music when it comes to the relationships between musical features and emotions, and the difference between the emotions heard and the emotions felt. Audience responses to emotional music lack consistency in the emotion heard, and “the notion that listeners might be able to perceive the emotional expression of music without necessarily feeling that emotional experience has been under debate,” according to Associate Professor of Psychology, Assal Habibi. My research will potentially bring new information on the correlation between feeling the same emotion as you hear. 

I hypothesized that, as the only input the audience will receive is audio — there are no visual or contextual aspects connected to the music, no background or story to tell, and no other inspiration aside from emotion — their emotional reactions and feelings will coincide with each other. 

As a musician and semi-composer, I'm starting this project with my assumptions due to my knowledge of music and techniques. I hypothesize that, as the only input the audience will receive is audio — there are no visual or contextual aspects connected to the music, no background or story to tell, and no other inspiration aside from emotion — their emotional reactions and feelings will coincide with each other.

For my research, I composed a musical piece with three movements, each one based on a specific emotion, sadness, anger, and happiness. Using different musical techniques, I communicated each emotion to the audience in a way for them to feel and/or identify them, with varying degrees of success. An electronic recording of my piece, composed for a small wind/brass ensemble, was posted publicly with an online survey for the audience to fill out.