AES Show 2024 NY

Music's amazing ability to evoke emotions has been the focus of various scientific studies, with researchers testing how different musical structures or interpretations impacted the emotions induced in the listener. However, in the context of amplified music, little is known about the influence of the sound reinforcement system. In this study, we investigate whether the amount of low-frequency amplification produced by a sound system impacts the listener's arousal. We organized two listening experiments whereby we measured the skin conductance of the participants while they were listening to music excerpts with different levels of low-frequency amplification. Our results indicate that an increase in the level of bass is correlated with a small but measurable rise in electrodermal activity, which is correlated with arousal. In addition this effect seems to depend on the nature of the music.