when an artist features one or more of five auditory cues that indicate danger, resulting in listener chills when combined effectively with a Structural Pattern
“Absolutely blood-curdling. Roger Daltrey’s scream gives me cold chills..”
How It Works
When artists use the Alarm pattern, they feature sounds that directly active our amygdala, a brain region that helps us respond to threats. Screams, shrieks, sirens, squeals, and yelps all share a set of rare, distinct features. These features are difficult to produce, which helps them serve as honest signals of danger and avoiding the boy-who-cried-wolf problem. Humans (and animals) have evolved to link these sounds with danger. If we hear a cue that triggers our amygdala, our brain “fast tracks” this info and puts us on alert. When effectively integrated into the musical flow, this can move listeners to the point of chills.
Alarm and Grief cues share many technical features and tend to appear together.
Top Structural Pattern pairing:
Genre that most uses pattern:
Cue #1: Acoustic roughness at high pitch
Rapid, irregular fluctuations in loudness that we perceive as beating or rattling (e.g. 30-150 Hz vs. 4 Hz for normal speech). Some of the ways artists implement this technique are:
— Two interfering tones (e.g., minor second, tritone, major seventh as held chord or trill between notes)
— Many staggered sound sources (e.g. random, continuous plucked high notes across string section)
Genre
Song
Artist
Frisson Reported by Listeners
Cue #2: Spectral non-linearities at high pitch
“Noisy” distortions between and outside the natural harmonics of a sound source (e.g, sidebands, warbles, broadband noise). Some of the ways artists implement this technique are
— Strained instruments (e.g. string “screeches” , “overblown” reeds, brass “squeals”, metallic percussion)
— Artificial distortion via production/recording techniques
Genre
Song
Artist
Frisson Reported by Listeners
Cue #3: High-range resonance
Whistle-like shrieks and chirps that resonate in the upper mid-range or lower high-end parts of the frequency spectrum and are especially piercing. Some of the ways artists implement this technique are:
— High notes on instruments with constricted mouthpieces (e.g., whistles, fipple flutes like the recorder)
— Samples of air or steam whistles (and similar electronic instruments)
Genre
Song
Artist
Frisson Reported by Listeners
Cue #4: Upward, arced contours
Siren-like gliding notes that rise in pitch (and usually loudness) into a pronounced peak that grabs listener attention. Some of the ways artists implement this technique are:
— Slow, lower sirens with acoustic energy spend in the longer rise and fall (like an air raid siren)
Genre
Song
Artist
Frisson Reported by Listeners
Cue #5: Concentrated “bursts” at high pitch
Fast-attack, staccato notes that concentrate energy in the 2.8-3.5 kHz range (the precise range that mirrors the resonant cavity of the human ear drum). Some of the ways artists implement this technique are:
— Embellishment with leaps and phrasing (e.g., use burst after quiet, sparse section to make more jarring)
Genre
Song
Artist
Frisson Reported by Listeners