Music: Science confirms it: to get yourself dancing, turn on the bass

Electronic music fans know it well: as soon as a DJ turns on the bass, the crowd gets carried away and responds by accentuating their dance steps. But to what extent is this effect conscious? Researchers delved into the relationship between low frequencies and dance, thanks to a life-size experiment during a concert.

The results, published Monday in the scientific journal “Current Biology,” show that participants danced nearly 12% more when very low frequencies were played imperceptibly in addition to the music. The public “was unaware of these changes, but they still led their movements,” David Cameron, neuroscientist and lead author of the study, summed up to AFP.

These results thus confirm the “special relationship” between bass and dance, observed above all anecdotally up to now. At parties, “people tend to turn the bass up,” noted the McMaster University researcher in Canada, himself a drummer. In all cultures, it is often “low-frequency instruments, such as bass or drums, that provide the beat of the music.”

“But what we didn’t know was: can we really make people dance more with the bass?” He explained. The experiment, conducted in Canada, took place at the LIVElab, a building that serves as both a concert hall and a research laboratory.

About 60 people – of the approximately 130 who attended the concert by the electronic music duo Orphx – agreed to wear a headband equipped with a sensor, recording their movements in real time. Then, during the concert, the researchers switched special ultra-low-frequency speakers on and off intermittently.

The scientists verified – using a questionnaire completed by the participants after the concert and a separate experiment – that these frequencies were indeed inaudible. This method allowed to isolate the bass effect, preventing it from being disturbed by other factors, such as knowing or not knowing the piece being played.

“I was blown away by the effect,” said David Cameron. According to him, two hypotheses can explain why the bass makes us dance so much. On the one hand, they could stimulate the tactile system (the skin), but also the vestibular system, more commonly called the inner ear.

However, the connection between these systems and the motor system, at the origin of the movements, is very close. Above all it is intuitive, because it does not pass through the frontal lobe of the brain. This stimulation could then give “a little boost to the motor system, and add some energy and vigor to the movements,” said the researcher, who wishes to test this hypothesis in future experiments.

As for the big question of knowing why humans dance, the mystery continues. “I’ve always been interested in rhythm, especially what makes rhythm move us,” despite the apparent lack of function, notes David Cameron. The various theories advanced often underlie the idea of ​​social cohesion.

“When we synchronize with others, we tend to feel a connection with them, the researcher pointed out. It allows us to feel better as a group and therefore to function better as a group: to be more effective and promote peace ”. No offense to the disgruntled neighbors: so even the bass could finally help to sweeten the costumes.