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"World's Most Relaxing Music" Composed 239

Posted by samzenpus from the chill-out-faster dept.
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.
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"World's Most Relaxing Music" Composed More

"World's Most Relaxing Music" Composed

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  • Wha? (Score:4, Funny)

    by nman64 ( 912054 ) * on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:12PM (#37752524) Homepage

    Sorry, I nodded off for a moment there. Not sure if it was the music or the Daily Mail article.

    • Re:Wha? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Flipao ( 903929 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:17PM (#37752594)
      That's a shame you;re missing out, It's really good!, you can almost feel the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

      • That's a shame you;re missing out, It's really good!, you can almost feel the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

        I agree, it's zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by spazdor ( 902907 )

      The moment i saw the Daily Mail link, I knew the article was going to feature prominently the word "boffins".

  • Or not (Score:4, Informative)

    by suso ( 153703 ) * on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:12PM (#37752530) Journal

    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)+ [youtube.com] for some really relaxing music.

    • Re:Or not (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Missing.Matter ( 1845576 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:27PM (#37752730)
      I used to listen to stars of the lid while doing homework. I have trouble listening to music with words because I sing along in my head, and I have a trouble listening to classical music because I play along in my head (I'm a violinist). Ambient stuff like Stars of the Lid is great though. I find it doesn't actually put me to sleep, but gets my brain in a thinking rhythm.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by nharmon ( 97591 )

        I too find music with words distracting when doing work that requires a lot of concentration (school work, coding, etc). I tend to listen to electronic music in those situations. My favs:

        Boards of Canada
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrBZeWjGjl8 [youtube.com]

        Tycho
        www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCOEg-iUK1U

        Ulrich Schnauss
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s50jAWtCdQ [youtube.com]

        • The aptly named SleepResearch_Facility's album Deep Frieze is a great place to start.

        • I highly recommend both Daft Punk or Deadmau5 for those long coding/scripting sessions. Helps my mind keep a tempo with what I'm doing.

        • The Boards of Canada song you linked is one of my favourites, too. Never thought to look up the video, though. :)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by spazdor ( 902907 )

            The video's worth doing a little research on. It is the first-ever footage of a "man in space" - an arguable characterization, since he only went up to the stratosphere in a modified weather balloon and it isn't quite a vacuum up there - followed by a skydive from that great height. What's extra amazing is that the feat predated the 'Space Age' by over a decade.

            Cpt. Joe Kittinger was definitely one of the great American badasses. I used to have dreams about that mission.

        • The Boards of Canada song is indeed great. I actually do find it way more relaxing than the song mention in TFA, since it lacks that oily harmonious quality that screams "I WANT TO BE RELAXING". The slightly broken sound of the Boards calms me down way better. You might wanna try anything from Godspeed You Black Emperor! [youtube.com]. Don't mind the vocal parts, they are short, and the instrumental soundscapes between make for a great background. I probably linked their darkest one here, but hey...

        • I recommend a radio: Limbik Frequencies
          http://www.limbikfreq.com/ [limbikfreq.com]
          which plays only trance-ambient music, with your mentioned artists.

      • When I'm doing work I've always been partial to Vangelis. My favorite tracks of his are Comet 16, Heaven and Hell (the theme from Cosmos) , 1492 (the whole album in general, but especially Conquest of Paradise) and Voices. What's really impressive is that a lot of his work was done back in the 1970s on analog synthesizers... no computers were involved at all and yet it still sounds great by modern standards.

        Those who like Enya should give Loreena McKennitt a try if they haven't done so already.
        • Oh, I can't believe I forgot to mention Karl Jenkins.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rossdee ( 243626 )

          IMHO "Oceanic" is the best Vangelis album for relaxing.

          I also like the works of David Arkenstone, Paul Speer , Gandalf , 2002 , Australis and The Luminous World Orchestra

          All of whom I found out about on the Soundscapes music channel

          Lets not forget Mike Oldfield

      • When trying to read or concentrate on a task, I usually opt for instrumental music, usually soft/ambient/downtempo. Vocals are distracting. Though I seem to have a higher tolerance of non-instrumental music when it's played through low-fi speakers (eg. an iPod's speakers).

      • WARNING TO MOTORISTS: Do not listen to AC/DC while driving, or you might nod off!

        OK, now we can make a similar claim about AC/DC music as this one:
        "The eight-minute track is so effective at inducing sleep, motorists have now been warned they should not listen to it while driving."

    • This track is nothing new, if one wants a whole CD's worth, check out Dreamfish by Pete Namlook and Mixmaster Morris. Ambient and to a lesser extent, Trance, are genres of music typically composed with relaxation in mind.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Theodore ( 13524 )

      Thank You suso, this thread it full of good suggestions for relaxing music.
      Over on Archive.org, the Webbed Hand and Resting Bell netlabels have a lot of relaxing FREE albums.
      (Some of my favorites are Rain2 and Rain3 by Tribe of Astronauts).

      I'm gonna have to grab some Stars of the Lid now...
      My credit card hates you all. ;)

  • Coldplay as "relaxing" music? WTF? Sure, it's not 80s hair-band "metal", but still...

    • It has the opposite effect on me. I find that Coldplay makes me angry, agitated, and likely to destroy any nearby audio equipment.

      • If this puts me to sleep I will use it. I find that for the opposing effect I need only go to a match and listen to footballers screaming "Oy, wats all dis den? Wats all dis?" at each other.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jdgeorge ( 18767 )

      Yeah, man. I used to play 90125 [wikimedia.org] when I had trouble sleeping.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nwf ( 25607 )

      Coldplay as "relaxing" music? WTF? Sure, it's not 80s hair-band "metal", but still...

      Obviously, that was a control. On the other hand, I generally fall asleep to trance music while on airplanes.

    • Probably a reference to the decidedly soporific nature of their music.

  • 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.

    • Re:Uh...right (Score:5, Funny)

      by demonbug ( 309515 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:26PM (#37752718) Journal

      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.

      Didn't you see the photo with the guy in a lab coat? It's science.

    • Worse yet - giving the Daily Fail hits.

      Here's the music so you don't make the Daily Mail money from their advertisers to spew out more hate:

      http://soundcloud.com/justmusiclabel/marconi-union-weightless/s-kttxT [soundcloud.com]

      Personally I found the artificial synth sound annoying, not relaxing, but my system is calibrated to the Eno scale.

       

      • Here's the music so you don't make the Daily Mail money from their advertisers to spew out more hate:

        Now there's a nice civil take on the matter. Someone needs to chill, and I know just where you can find the music to do that with -- in the Daily Mail.

        And obviously /. needs a Informative Toll mod at +/-0

  • 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?

    • I'm sure it has nothing to do with measuring objective things like heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels. The sample size is a little small, but these *are* measurable quantities.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Dunbal ( 464142 ) *
        Yup, they are measurable. Measuring something does not give it meaning. Cortisol levels vary greatly in the same individual throughout the day. Heart rate and blood pressure changes constantly unless you are very athletic or take beta blockers. Etc. To claim that even an 11% variation (presumably in the same individuals) is significant is a bold claim indeed, especially when we're not privy to the methodology. Were subjects allowed to get up and go to the bathroom between songs? Was the order of the songs r

    • Re:Not subjective at all (Score:5, Funny)

      by gsslay ( 807818 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @02:31PM (#37753592)

      The Coldplay standard has been well established in the study of coma inducement for some years now.

      It's roughly logarithmic. 1 Coldpay is equivalent to the coma induced by band itself. 2 Coldplay is brain stem death induced by prolonged exposure. 3 Coldplay is clinical death. 4 Coldplay is sudden death at a Coldplay concert.

      "11% more relaxing" is therefore around 1.05 Coldplay. Will leave you woozy, but you'll be fine after a few cups of coffee and some fresh air.

  • Just wait (Score:4)

    by Sarten-X ( 1102295 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:22PM (#37752654) Homepage
    The techno remix will be awesome!
  • I've always found "Intravenous Diazepam" by the Swiss/international group 'Roche' to be more relaxing, personally.

    • Propofol is better. It causes death; regardless of what music you're listening to. You`re dead, Jim. You can't get any more relaxed than that.

      • Why is death relaxing? I did a lot of research for my master's degree in relaxation studies. Turns out, it's quite simple. I'm sure you're aware from popular culture and ribauld humor that upon death, you shit and piss your pants. That's the key. Think about it: is there anything more relaxing than sitting on the toilet, drawers dropped, taking a nice fat shit? Nope. (Unless you're getting a blowjob and smoking a joint at the same time!).
  • 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.

  • Worlds most relaxing music? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:27PM (#37752728)

    Worlds most relaxing music?

    I want chicken,
    I want liver,
    Meowmix, Meowmix,
    Please deliver

  • ...but I don't think I'd call it "music."
  • "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!

    • Well, at least they admit it now, they didn't always. Stuff like "scientists have discovered the formula for the perfect ice cream" as the ice cream season starts in spring used to get published, without a word of who had paid these third-rate academics to come up with it.

      By now, people should realize that when Daily Mail writes "boffins discover..." it's a press release disguised as science.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Jeng ( 926980 )

      Sometimes stories are posted for the express purpose for us to poop on.

  • 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 [youtube.com].

  • If you listen to it on the "World's Most Comfortable Chair [youtu.be]", will you launch yourself into some form of astral projection?

  • Reaver breeding (Score:5, Funny)

    by vaene ( 1981644 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:38PM (#37752894)
    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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nwf ( 25607 )

      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.

      Sounds like the plot to _Serenity_.

  • But what I'd like is the "world's most stimulant" music (or sound sequence). Or the "world's best coding companion" tune.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by uncanny ( 954868 )
      Listen to dragonforce and try to stay calm!
      • When I was at Uni I did have a "Coding" playlist which did heavily feature Dragonforce. I also had a "Study" (or was it "Research") playlist that was mainly classical music (or calm music without words) to focus (without worrying about focusing on song lyrics) on reading while not sitting in silence.

      • It eats up most of my 500km/h random-thought-train, leaving me very relaxed indeed.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Smooth jazz (Score:3)

    by derfy ( 172944 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @01:39PM (#37752904) Homepage Journal

    ...will be deployed in 3, 2, 1

  • Na na, na na, na na na na, na na, katamari damacy!

  • 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

  • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ajlitt ( 19055 )

      By that measure, Richard D. James must make the most relaxing music ever, given that he also makes some of his own instruments.

  • I hear Muzac is paying handsomly for license rights.

  • 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.

  • 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 [wikipedia.org] 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
  • 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.

  • GRRR! (Score:3)

    by oGMo ( 379 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @02:13PM (#37753362)

    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.

    • 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.

      The first link is to the Daily Mail website, which is often filled with rage-fuelled articles (and sometimes nonsense that can make rational people angry).

      The flash setup is a bit weird, I use flashblock, which usually replaces its usage with a big rectangle where it should be, and a "play" button, to enable that flash, but didn't see it so had to enable flash for the whole page to work. The song isn't even overly relaxing; its alright I guess, but I didn't think it was anything special.

  • 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.

    • Hearts of Space is still going: www.hos.com

      Not every show is to my tastes, but it is a good way to hear a lot of different "space" music.

  • Download link (Score:5, Informative)

    by Crudely_Indecent ( 739699 ) on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @02:30PM (#37753578) Journal

    Extracted from the javascript on the soundcloud page.

    http://media.soundcloud.com/stream/UeruWpwCE4JM?secret_token=s-kttxT&stream_token=kttxT [soundcloud.com]

  • I just downloaded it using this site: http://offliberty.com/ [offliberty.com]. Neato...will check it out on the way home tonight.

  • 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 [youtube.com] Venetian Lute Music
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVvqFqITYlY [youtube.com] Luc Arbogast, a French street musician

  • What is the effect of the world's calmest music on a person whom is deaf?
  • Not like a hundred other new age prog songs don't exist

    Personally I find Boards of Canada much more relaxing than this

  • It sounds like a cross between the themes from Blade Runner and Cosmos, but not nearly as good.

  • You just bored the hell out of me without even hitting the 5 minute mark.

    Relaxed? Not so much.

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