Low-frequency bass makes people want to move even if they cannot hear it, according to Canadian researchers.
The study, published 7 November 2022 in the Current Biology, found that after turning the undetectable bass on and off every two minutes, there was almost 12% more movement when the bass was turned on, suggesting that even when people cannot hear the rhythm of the bass, they can still feel it.
To find out how different aspects of music influence the body, the researchers turned a live electronic music concert into a lab study, strapping motion sensors to participants attending a gig to see whether the inclusion of bass too low for humans to hear would impact how much people danced.
Lead author Dr Daniel Cameron, a neuroscientist from McMaster University’s LIVELab, said that by introducing levels of bass over speakers that were too low to hear and monitoring the crowd’s movements, they found that people danced 11.8% more when the very low frequency bass was present.
“I’m trained as a drummer, and most of my research career has been focused on the rhythmic aspects of music and how they make us move,” Dr Cameron said.
“Music is a biological curiosity–it does not reproduce us, it does not feed us, and it does not shelter us, so why do humans like it and why do they like to move to it?”
The McMaster LIVELab, which connects science with live performance in a unique research theatre, is equipped with 3D motion capture, a Meyer sound system that can replicate various concert environments, and enhanced speakers that can produce extremely low frequencies.
For the Current Biology study, Dr Cameron and colleagues recruited participants attending a 45-minute LIVELab concert for electronic musical duo Orphx, equipping them with motion-sensing headbands to monitor their dance moves.
Additionally, they were asked to fill out survey forms before and after the event. These forms were used to ensure the sound was undetectable, measure concert enjoyment, and examine how the music felt physically.
“The musicians were enthusiastic to participate because of their interest in this idea that bass can change how the music is experienced in a way that impacts movement,” Dr Cameron explained.
“The study had high ecological validity, as this was a real musical and dance experience for people at a real live show.”
The feeling of vibration through touch and the interactions between the inner ear and the brain have close links to the motor system and the researchers speculated that these physical processes were at work in the neurological connection between music and movement.
“This anatomy can pick up on low frequencies and can affect the perception of ‘groove,’ spontaneous movement, and rhythm perception, and very low frequencies may also affect vestibular sensitivity, adding to people’s experience of movement,” Dr Cameron concluded.
“Nailing down the specific brain mechanisms involved will require looking the effects of low frequencies on the vestibular, tactile, and auditory pathways.”