Mood Organ

I was talking to a friend today who'd made his own scientific relaxation soundtrack by mixing together nature sounds and music he'd selected based on research-indicated tempo, modality and instruments. It was kind of amazing, and it reminded me of a really exciting idea that Philip K. Dick nearly had in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

In that book, everyone has a Mood Organ, which is a device that allows you to dial in any particular mood you want to feel. So, if you're feeling a bit down you can punch in the code for happiness and it'll improve your mood by tramsitting special mind-control waves into your brain. Amazing idea, but I don't think the Science Waves were really necessary. We already have mood-influencing waves: music!

How many times have you played a happy song to bring on or reinforce a good mood? Or a fun fast song for driving or riding? I think we have all the tools we need to make a real Mood Organ. The missing piece is a solid understanding of what properties of music are best suited to bring on certain moods. Some research already exists, but usually only with an up or down mood, and only with specific songs.

What would be really exciting is if you could actually do some kind of component analysis on different kinds of music and use that to generate an infinite stream of new music for a certain mood. The Mood Organ would be a kind of radio where instead of picking a "rock" or "classical" station, you tune into "wistful" or "angry".

Could be a lot of fun. Or a lot of angst. I guess it depends on what you're into.