how many AS folks are calmed by elevator music?

Post Reply New Topic

definition of elevator music: softened instrumental renditions of pop, classical and jazz musical favorites, used as background music in offices and other public places such as [yes] elevators, supermarkets, dentists' offices, et al.

i find that without the singing, without any solo voice other than perhaps background choirs, the music is much more pleasant, even soothing, to my mind. when i step into an elevator in a big building [such places normally give me the willies] i am immediately calmed and soothed by the soft instrumental music in the hidden speaker above me. if i felt rattled and out-of-sorts before i got into the elevator, afterwards i feel much more on an even keel. i don't know if it is due to subliminal messages buried in the music ["you are a good person. don't steal from us."] or if there is something about the musical construction itself. when i walk by somebody with a ghetto blaster screeching rap or techno or whatever else passes for music nowadays, i immediately stiffen-up and feel stressed-out.

I think that's the purpose of Muzak - to calm...then, if it's in a commercial business, to entice. I swear there have been times when I knew what the subliminals were saying, because the visual impression of a specific product that I had no personal use for, would pop into my head out of nowhere [may see lights or hear sounds that others do not] , and I had the vague sense that some chorale group was singing a jingle, but the Muzak was just a bland instrumental cover of a pop tune that I recognized.

I don't really care for Muzak, though. My dad will actually listen to that drivel for hours, I don't know how he can stand it. But then, I listen to all sorts of music that others find odd or even annoying. I like various types of jazz, some of which are very soothing, and I'm sure it's a personal quirk, but I have several antique replica radios which I use for listening to music of the 20s, 30s and 40s and I find it very soothing to hear that music coming from the sort of device it would have been heard on when it was fresh and current. Though I suppose that's just wishing for a simpler, less complicated world, eh?

listening to old music through an old transducer? what a concept. that would be somewhat soothing when a person needed soothing, but otherwise for me it would be an irritant due to my need to be as close to musical reality as technology [and my slim pocketbook] allows. i have a hard time during serious "sit-down" music-listening, trying to hear the music through a reductive technology, as my brain lacks the aural reconstruction plug-in that some other folk take for granted. i believe you have this plug-in due to superior hearing acuity [otherwise how could one hear the subliminals?]. or you could have a marked psychic talent. you mentioned "seeing light" "that others do not"- sounds like synthesezia to me - that would be cool to experience.

I've never been in an elevator with music, but I know the type of music you are talking about and I agree that it's very calming - that's what it's purpose is (I think).

For what it's worth I think this kind of music is to get you into comfortable browsing mode, which is
conducive to the next stage which is purchasing mode. It helps switch off your natural resistance to parting with money for things not essential to survival.

We're developing a joke about how do you get twenty Aspies / NT's into a lift. This is not an easy task as you will appreciate. So whilst you are still in elevator mode, can we have some help?

I must say that I've been on many lifts during my life, and I find it strange that not one of them has ever contained music. I'd imagine that I would find it calming though.

The only music I listen to is often considered "elevator music". Smooth Jazz, New Age, Easy Listening.

I'm basically indifferent to the music... but the elevators at the court building downtown seem to be powered by rockets.

I like to listen to classical music at work when all the NTs are goofing off and talking so loud that I can't get my work done. It is very calming. But "soft rock" type music drives me crazy.

No. It makes me want to kill someone.

I find Anti-Flag calming.