To the Mankind.

2. EFFECTS OF INDIAN
CLASSICAL MUSIC ON
HUMAN MIND & BEHAVIOR
KUNAL CHAKRABORTY(131001701013)
MSC(BIOTECH)4TH SEM
TECHNO INDIA UNIVERSITY
SALTLAKE. KOLKATA

3. INTRODUCTION
• MUSIC IS THE ART OF SOUND IN TIME, EXPRESSING IDEAS AND EMOTIONS IN SIGNIFICANT FORMS
THROUGH THE ELEMENTS OF MELODY, HARMONY AND COLOR. TONES OR SOUNDS OCCURRING
EITHER IN IN A SINGLE LINE (I.E., MELODY) OR IN MULTIPLE LINES (I.E., HARMONY) AND THE FEELING
OF MOVEMENT OF SOUND IN TIME (I.E., RHYTHM) ARE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF MUSIC. THE
OXFORD DICTIONARY DEFINES MUSIC AS VOCAL AND/OR INSTRUMENTAL SOUNDS COMBINED IN
SUCH A WAY AS TO PRODUCE BEAUTY OF FORM, HARMONY AND EXPRESSION OF EMOTION. TODAY,
MUSIC AND ITS TECHNOLOGY IS IN VOGUE PARTICULARLY THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND
COMPUTER SOFTWARE. FROM CLASSICAL CARNATIC TO LATIN FOLK, FROM TINY I-PODS TO HIGH
VOLTAGE ROCK PERFORMANCES, EVERY HUMAN BEING IS ACCOMPANIED BY MUSIC ANYTIME AND
ANYWHERE. “MUSIC ENERGIZES MOOD,” “MUSIC IS A GREAT STRESS BUSTER,” “MUSIC DRIVES AWAY
BLUES,” “MUSIC SOOTHES SOULS” - FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL POINT OF VIEW, THESE
STATEMENTS INVOKE THOUGHTS LIKE “SINCE HOW LONG HAS BEEN THIS ASSOCIATION BETWEEN
MUSIC AND MIND THERE?” “WHAT ASPECTS OF MENTAL HEALTH DOES MUSIC IMPACT?” “CAN MUSIC
TREAT MENTAL ILLNESSES? AND IF YES HOW?” THIS REVIEW MAKES AN ATTEMPT TO ANSWER SUCH
QUESTIONS. PARTICULARLY, WE HAVE TRIED TO FOCUS THE ROLE OF INDIAN FORMS OF MUSIC AND
INDIAN CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC THERAPY.

5. Music is “The art of arranging tones in an orderly sequence so as to produce
a unified and continuous composition”.
Actually Music has no real definition at all. To a Musician Music is their Life. Their soul. To normal Persons,
Music is a leisure, a Hobby, a Pastime. However, Either Musician or Normal Person everyone loves Music.
To different perspectives Music can be define as:
 Music is a science.
It is exact. It demands acoustic. It demands right note at the right time. Graph indicates
volume change, Intensity change. So it needs exact control of times.
• Music is Mathematics
It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be
done, not worked out on paper.
• Music is history
Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creations, often even the country
and/or racial feeling.

6. HOW MUSIC TRAVELS THROUGH EAR
 SOUND ENTERS EARS AND TRAVELS ALONG OUR EAR CANAL
 IT SETS OFF A WAVE OF VIBRATIONS FROM OUR EARDRUM TO THE SNAIL-SHAPED COCHLEA IN OUR INNER EAR
 THESE VIBRATIONS STIMULATE SENSORY HAIR CELLS IN OUR COCHLEA
 THIS GENERATES A NERVE IMPULSE WHICH TRAVELS ALONG OUR COCHLEAR NERVE TO OUR BRAIN
 THE TEMPORAL LOBE PROCESSES THE SOUND.
SOUND EAR EAR CANAL
SETS OFF WAVE OF VIBRATION FROM EARDRUM
COCHLEA IN INNER EAR
VIBRATION STIMULATE SENSORY HAIRCELLS
BRAIN COCHLEAR NERVE
GENERATES NERVE IMPULSE

7. HOW BRAIN RESPONSES TO MUSIC
• RIGHT HEMISPHERE OF BRAIN
ACTIVATED WHEN WE HEAR MELODIES WITH A VARIETY OF PITCH AND TIMBRE
IT ALSO “LIGHTS UP” WHEN PEOPLE PLAY MUSIC BY EAR.
• LEFT HEMISPHERE OF BRAIN
“LIGHTS UP” WHEN WE LEARN TO READ MUSIC, UNDERSTANDS KEY SIGNATURE AND NOTATION,
AND FOLLOWS THE SEQUENCE OF NOTES.
SIGNIFICANTLY, THE BRAIN IS ACTIVATED IN THE SAME AREA THAT IS INVOLVED IN ANALYTICAL AND
MATHEMATICAL THINKING.
SO WE CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY STIMULATE THE RIGHT AND LEFT HEMISPHERES OF THE BRAIN BY
PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT OR BY SINGING.

8. WHICH AREAS OF BRAIN GOT EXCITED

9. BRAIN AND MUSIC PROCESSING

10. WHY INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC?
EFFECT OF MUSIC ON HUMAN EMOTION WAS DONE MAINLY IN GERMANY AND OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES. THEY
HAVE USED STRAUSS’S “BLUE DANUBE”. BACH’S “AIR ON G STRING”. MOZART’S “K488”. BUT OUR TEST SPECIMENS
WERE INDIAN. ALSO OUR TEST LOCATION WAS INDIA, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE SOMEONE’S EMOTION LEVEL
THROUGH BACH BEETHOVEN MOZART OR STRAUSS’S TONES IN INDIA. AS MOST OF THE INDIANS ARE UNAWARE OF
WESTERN CLASSICS. SO WE HAVE CHOSE INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSICIANS LIKE PT. RAVI SHANKAR. ANOUSHKA
SHANKAR. USTAAD ALLARAKHA KHAN. PT. TANMOY BOSE. WE, INDIANS KNOW THESE LEGENDS. ALSO ARE WELL
ACCUSTOMED WITH THEIR MUSIC. SO, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO MEASURE OUR TEST SPECIMENS EMOTION LEVEL WHILE
LISTENING TO THEM. ALSO WE HAVE FOUND THAT BAULS AND FAKIRS MOST NOTABLY LALAN FAKIR USED FOLK
SONGS AND CLASSICAL SONGS TO TREAT MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY SICK PEOPLE. SO, WE HAVE USED INDIAN
CLASSICAL MUSIC. SITAR MAESTRO PT. RAVI SHANKAR

11. OUR OBJECTIVE
NOW-A-DAYS, SUICIDAL PRONE HAS BEEN INCREASED. MENTAL IMBALANCE INCREASED. MENTALLY
HANDICAPPED CHILDREN BIRTH INCREASED. PSYCHOPATH KILLERS INCREASED. CASES OF EMOTIONAL
BREAK DOWN HAS BEEN RISES UP. ALZHEIMER'S IS NOW A CURSE TO OLD LIFE. THERE ARE REMEDIES
AVAILABLE. BUT, THOSE ARE NOT AS EFFECTIVE NOW.
AS,
ANY CRIMINAL CAN PASS A LIE DETECTOR TEST IF HE/SHE COMES WELL PREPARED
FOR ALZHEIMER'S PATIENT THERE IS NO CURE AT ALL. THEY JUST GOES DOWN AND DOWN AND ENDS UP
IN A LIMBO.
FOR SUICIDAL PRONE PEOPLE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR LIFESTYLE IF HE/SHE DOES NOT
CO-ORDINATE.
FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN, THERE IS ALMOST NO MEDICINE AVAILABLE. SO, THEY SPEND THEIR
REST OF THE LIVES AS A DIFFERENTLY ABLED.

12. OUR WORK
WE HAVE USED FACS(FACIALACTION CODING SYSTEM). IT IS A SYSTEM WHICH CAN TAXONOMIZE
HUMAN EMOTIONS BY THEIR FACIAL MOVEMENTS AND ALSO BODY MOVEMENTS. THE SYSTEM WAS
ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY CARL-HERMAN HJORTSJÖ. THEN IT WAS ADOPTED BY PAUL EKMAN AND
WALLACE. V. FRIESEN. SINCE ITS DEVELOPMENT, IT HAS BEEN USED WIDELY BY PSYCHOLOGISTS AND
ANIMATORS.
HOW DOES IT WORK
BY USING FACS CODERS CAN MANUALLY CODE ANY EXPRESSION AND THEN MATCHES IT WITH
PREDEFINED CODES. THE CODES ARE DEFINED AS ACTION UNITS(AU).
LIKE,
HAPPINESS = 6(AU)+12(AU)
SADNESS = 1(AU)+4(AU)+15(AU)

13. HOW DOES IT WORK

14. FINAL PRODUCT

15. CONTINUED………….

16. WORKFLOW
MATERIALS WE HAVE USED:
• 3 DSLR’S(ONE FOR FACIAL EXPRESSION , ONE FOR FACIALAND HAND MOVEMENTS. ANOTHER
ONE FOR SIDE VIEW AND SIDE EXPRESSIONS).
• 3 TRIPOD STANDS(FOR HOLDING THE CAMERAS)
• DOLBY SURROUND HEADPHONE
• LAPTOP
• WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER
• FACS SOFTWARE
FIRST WE HAVE SELECTED 16 CANDIDATES BETWEEN 15-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35 & 36-40 AGE GROUPS.
THEN ON THE FIRST DAY WE HAVE TESTED ON 8 CANDIDATES AND RECORDED THEIR EXPRESSIONS.

17. CONTINUED
THE FIRST DAY INDIAN CLASSICAL TRACKS ARE:
A. RAGA_MISHRA_BHAIRAVI_ADDHA_TEENTAAL_PT._RAVI_SHANKAR_(SITAR)
B. RAGA_ASA_BHAIRAV_EKTAAL_-_PT._RAVI_SHANKAR_(SITAR)
WESTERN CLASSICAL TRACKS ARE:
A. STRINGSTRUCK-(JATT.FM)
B. DWO_-_BICKRAM_GHOSH_MIX-(JATT.FM)
SECOND DAY WE HAVE TESTED ON THE REMAINING 8 CANDIDATES.
THE INDIAN CLASSICAL TRACK IS:
ANOUSHKA SHANKAR – LASYA
WESTERN CLASSICAL TRACK IS:
PEACE_OF_MIND-(JATT.FM)

18. CONTINUED………………..
ON DAY 3, WE HAVE RANDOMLY SELECTED 8 CANDIDATES AMONG 16, AND INTERVIEWED THEM WITH A
SELECTED NUMBERS OF QUESTIONS.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ARE:
1. HOW WAS THE MUSIC?
2. ARE YOU FEELING SOME CHANGE IN YOURSELF?
3. WILL YOU BE LISTENING TO THE TRACK UPTO END(THE TRACKS WERE PLAYED JUST FOR 2
MINUTES)
4. ARE YOU HAVING SOME FLASHBACKS OF SOME DISTANT MEMORY?
AFTER THEIR INTERVIEW WE HAVE MATCHED THEIR ANSWERS WITH THE FACIAL CODING SCORES
THROUGH FACS. AND FIND OUT THAT APPROX. 96% OF THE TEST DATAARE CORRECT.

19. DATAANALYSIS
Candidates Music track After effects Mood
1 Indian classical music Clam Good
2 Indian classical music Clam Emotional
4 Indian classical music Clam Relaxed
5 Indian classical music Clam Thoughtful
5 Indian classical music Clam Nostalgic
7 Indian classical music Clam Thoughtful
8 Indian classical music Clam Relaxed
9 Indian classical music Clam Good
10 Indian classical music No changes Not good
11 Indian classical music Clam Emotional
12 Indian classical music No changes Bad
13 Indian classical music Clam Good
14 Indian classical music Clam Nostalgic
15 Indian classical music Clam Emotional
16 Indian classical music Clam emotional

20. GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION

21. SOME EXAMPLES

22. CONTINUED…………………………..

23. CONTINUED…………….

24. CONTINUED………..

25. WHY IT IS EFFICIENT
THIS IS JUST A SMALL BEGINNING. SO, WE CAN NOT YET CALL IT EFFICIENT OR
NOT. BUT IT CAN BE EFFICIENT IN THESE WAYS:
1. FACS CAN DETECT MINUTE EXPRESSION CHANGES. SO, IT CAN BE EASILY USED
AS A LIE DETECTOR. AS MAXIMUM PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD LOVES MUSIC.
2. ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS CAN NOT EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS PROPERLY. BU FACS
THEY CAN EXPRESS MORE EASILY AS SOME SCIENTISTS SHOWN THAT MUSIC
TEMPORARILY BRINGS BACK THE SPARK IN MOTOR NEURON.
3. MENTALLY CHALLENGED KIDS HAS SHOWN A QUITE ECCENTRIC RESPONSE
TOWARDS MUSIC. SO THEY CAN EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS THROUGH FACS.
4. OUR TEST SHOWED THAT UPTO MUSIC SOOTHES UPTO 96% PEOPLE. SO, IN
CASE OF SUICIDAL PRONE PEOPLES, WE CAN MAKE THEM LISTEN TO A TRACK
AND MEASURE THEIR EMOTIONS THROUGH FACS, SO THAT CORRECT
DIAGNOSIS FOLLOWS BY.

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