The PERFECT Melody
With Aotearoa’s ‘Music Month’ finally upon is, I got thinking, “What the hell does everyone else listen to when they study?”
Illustrated by @geegebee
For me, the perfect study-time playlist consists of Bring Me the Horizon, Pearl Jam, Tool, sometimes the Animal Crossing soundtrack, and ALWAYS Nine Inch Nails. The variety and familiarity help to keep me on task, as well as keep track of the time I’ve spent studying. Not to mention, the screaming of Bring Me gets me into “let’s fuck this assignment up” mode like nothing else can.
But that’s just me… what about everyone else?
With this thought in mind, I set out on an EPIC quest to discover these secrets, and perhaps see if I could discover a piece of music to unite all students when they study…
The PERFECT Melody
The act of studying on its own is a pain in the ass which we all have to slog through. Whether you are an astute scholarly motherfucker who can study for ten hours straight without needing to take a leak, or someone like me who can’t stay focused for more than five minutes at a time, we all gotta do it.
Something which has been proven to make that process easier, is the simple act of drowning out our surroundings with audio. (HEY IT’S AN ESCAPISM THING LIKE MY LAST ARTICLE! WOW CALLBACK!)
When we listen to music, the brain’s pleasure centres are triggered, releasing dopamine, which of course is the chemical that makes us happy. This response is so fast that the brain can anticipate the best parts of music we’re familiar with, releasing dopamine early at times.
Having that constant background presence of music during study, especially something we’re familiar with, allows us to get constant dopamine hits while doing a task that at the best of times is monotonous, and at worst makes us want to eat a brick.
Everyone has different tastes, with bands and musical genres being something which can either ignite or divide friendships. Study time music is no exception.
For some, my music would be too noisy or over-stimulating for effective study. For others, it would be just right.
Talking to other students about their study music, a few things stood out.
That Ol Familiar Feeling
Something which my personal playlist shares with many others is that the music is stuff we know well. We’re not going into study listening to The Weeknd’s latest, hanging off every word that spills from his mouth, intently listening to each piece of instrumentation.
If we did that every time, we’d get nothing done, and we’d all fail miserably.
A huge source of this familiarity could be a particular soundtrack.
One that was name dropped to me when asking about study music was Bridgerton.
Much of that show’s score is comprised of classical covers of popular music. Bridgerton takes tracks many of us are familiar with, through hearing them at piss ups or just on Spotify shuffle, and replaces their lyrics with violin and piano to give a more “ooooooohhhhh posh AND relaxing” experience to the listener.
The original pieces are known by most of us, so translating them to a more relaxing sound makes them a perfect study time repertoire for students.
Similarly, video game soundtracks are also able to provide a sense of familiarity alongside a pleasant wee rush of juicy dopamine to get us through the dregs of workload.
Familiarity isn’t a be-all-end-all though, and sometimes we just need some noise and a fucking thumping bass.
Fast, Loud, and Weird
Chaotic energy, fast beats, the constant feeling of being at a DnB festival while you’re in the comfort of the campus library. Some brains crave these things.
To drown out the monotony of study with relaxation… with classical music… preposterous.
On my quest of discovery, I found that a feeling many share with me is the NEED for loud when working. Different degrees of loud, from all-sorts of genres, but loud all the same.
Something to get the brain hyped, ready to kick the assignments teeth in as you churn through the word count as if it’s a case of Cruisers on crate day. Sometimes we just gotta stimulate our brain with noise, get that big ol hit of happy chemical from the loud and drown out the surrounding world. A common genre I’ve found amongst people who need their study music like this is DnB.
Simple, effective, wub wub bass that gets the brain flowing.
Too overstimulating for some, but literal music to the ears for others, just being able to turn off the world with fast ‘n’ furious beats is good enough. It makes the selection of study music not the most difficult, and less time deciding what you’re gonna listen to means more time actually doing the assignment you’ve put off till the night before.
Simple, effective, easy.
My quest had shown me two sides of the studysesh musical taste, but I was about to be introduced to a third. Fully auditory, barely musical, and entirely useful…
Noise Complaints
For some, music is just far too distracting. You turn on your soundtrack, next thing you know it’s 2am and you’ve been grooving in your chair for the last five hours. Or worse, relaxed so much by it that you’ve slept on your keyboard, turning the document into a collection of keyboard smashes which spell “I’m a very overdue assignment”.
Silence can be worse.
Sometimes a person just needs something in the background. Something their brain can tune out and not focus on, while also filling the weird silence while they work.
Enter the exciting world of audioscapes. Videos designed to offer the brain a grey area to operate. It ain’t music! But it ain’t silence either!
Café sounds were name dropped during my quest and cause I’m just the best researcher I tried them out myself. As someone who doesn’t leave the house much, videos like this turned out to be a Godsend. Along with the escapist fantasy of being a hot, dark academia-looking student studying hard in a café, the audio filled in the silence while giving the sense I wasn’t alone in my working.
The clinking of cups, clack of keyboards and constant soft chatter really gives the sense that you’re working alongside others, from the comfort of wherever you really find yourself.
If someone reading this wants to try out café sounds IN a café, please let me know how the experience is, because it sounds like it would either be too much or transcendent.
Whilst all these audio techniques are different, they unite us as students through the medium of sound.
My quest of discovery gave me much to think about, such as this looming question: “Is there an audio that can unite ALL students in harmonious study?”
In a selfless act, I pondered this query for days, weeks even.
And luckily, I’m a musical genius so it was not long till I had come up with the solution to this conundrum.
What students need is something familiar… recognisable yet not distracting. A piece of music that can scratch that brain itch while we work, with an energetic thumping beat mixed with lovely ambient tones. A sweet, soulful voice, pleasing to the ear AND to the heart.
And for those who can’t focus with music, something they could have quiet in the background to cease the silence, but not overload their brain. Something they might even hear in a library, or a café, softly piping into the room through the speakers.
Does such a piece of music exist? It does…
I believe I have concluded what this musical track is. After hours upon hours of searching, I can confidently say
THIS IS IT.
This is the ultimate crowd pleaser, the most universally wonderful music track that EVERY student can listen to. And I’m giving it out for free… thank me later <3