Music and the Mind-Anthony Storr 

Chapter Five: Escape From Reality? 

–The opening section of this chapter discuss’ Freuds psychoanalysis theories in relation to music, listening and the manic creative (or neurotics). Although I don’t agree with Freud totally, Storr bring to light interesting ideas as to why we attempt to regress from our reality. 

1. External/Internal Stimuli: ’One of Freuds fundamental ideas was that the organism is continually seeking to rid itself of disturbing stimuli. As noted in Chapter Two, he thought that the nervous system was an apparatus for getting rid of both external and internal stimuli as soon as possible. If this is true it follows that the ideal state must be one of tensionless tranquility.’—Agreeing with this statement, arguably since the lockdowns there has been a noticeable shift in the way we (the people) and companies interact with others and our surroundings. Self-care, veganism and healthy living are intertwined with the climate crisis. 
2. Following the above quotation, Storr discuss’ Freuds belief that the tranquil state derives from the ‘satisfied infant’; ‘Interaction between mothers and infants includes stimulation and arousal as well as blissful union; but phsyoanalysis has emphasised union whilst usually neglecting arousal. In infancy, Nirvana is attained at the breast; in adult life, it follows sexual orgasm. 
3. Phantasy and Play:’Freud believed that phantasy was derived from play. Since play and phantasy involve turning away from, or denying reality, both are childish activities which ought, ideally, to be outgrown. As all forms of art depend upon the exercise of phantasy, of the artists imagination, it is unsurprising that Freud considered that the artists are closer to be neurotic than the average person.’ 
4. Infant/Sound: ‘Pyschoanalysis is based on Freud’s theories of infantile development: it includes the idea that no one, however mature, entirely outgrows his or her infantile past. For example, the earliest ‘oral’ stage of libidinal development continues to manifest itself in adults in such forms of behaviour as smoking, sucking pencils, or in various types of eating disorders.’ 
5. Infant/Sound:’The assumption is that the infantile past exerts a constant seductive pull upon the adult present and that it is easy to its enticements. Although psychoanalysis recognises that no human being reaches complete emotional maturity, the implication is that regression to infantile modes of satisfaction and communication is to be deplored: at its best, it is a respite from the burden of being an adult; at worst, a permanent failure to grow up.’ 
6. Infant/Sound: ’Other psychologist refer to regression to a stage of narcissism or to an early period in which the ego was not yet differentiated from external objects. Pinchas Noy records that several of his patients admitted a recurrent pressing need to hear music…(the patients) vividly recalled early memories of their long dead mothers. The same psychoanalyst eludes to ‘longings for the lost paradise of oral infancy, and to music as taking a person back to the primary period when maternal voice conveyed loving reassurance. 
7. Phantasy:’Day-dreams are sometimes escapist as Freud suggests; but they can also be precursors of creative discovery and thus of new ways of adapting to reality. Like the other arts, music can provide a temporary retreat from the pains of existence; but this is only one of its function, and by no means the most important. Music can also aid our adaption to life in a variety of ways…’  

Aural Armour: Charting The Militarisation of the iPod in Operation Iraqi Freedom (The Oxford handbook for Mobile Music Studies Vol.1)- J.Martin Daughtry  

1. ‘Over the first two years of the war, however, the iPod grew into a near-ubiquitous mobile entertainment device, one that allowed military personnel to deploy music with great precision in service of multiple aims: smoothing and hastening the passing of time; tethering the troops to their civilian lives back home; memorialising the deaths of fallen comrades and attaining and managing the middle altered state of heightened agressionand awareness that characterises the engaged and effective warrior.’ 
2. ‘The iPod is well on its way to becoming a fully militarised prosthetic technology—once deployed in the service of media consumption, one-way translation, interrogation, crowd dispersal, intelligence gathering, “winning hearts and minds”, and even precision shooting in the field.’ 
3. ‘For the first time, combat soldiers could create their own electro-acoustic environment, and take it with them as they fought.’ 
4. ‘…The iPod appears to be a technology that is valued, in part at least, for the degree to which it can replicate the audiotopias of civilian life (Kun 2005). Service members often strive to construct a semblance of normalcy by listening to music that makes them feel as if they were ‘back home’. 
5. ‘Some soldiers describe the experience of listening to music during mission prep as being akin to ingesting amphetamines. But in addition to quickening the pulse, music is used to exert a measure in control over noise in an environment where many noises are unpredictable and connected to death. When they choose the right beat for the moment, they exert control over rhythm in an environment where coordination, dexterity, and timing are essential for survival. When they mouth the lyrics, they exert control over narrative to regularise their feelings about the immediate prospect of killing, and of being killed.’ 
6. As Buzzel stated in his interview with Jonathan Pieslak: It’s kinda like…having your own soundtrack to your own movie, to your own war. If you watch a movie and they have a war scene…it’s not the same without…some cool music dealt on top of it. When you’re out there in real life, you know, hey, this is your movie. So (if) thesis my movie then this is my soundtrack and this is what I’m listening to and it just gets you…pumped up for it. 

Forever and Ever: Mobile Music in the Life of Young Teens (The Oxford Handbook for Mobile Music Studies Vol.1) – Arild Bergh, Tia Denora, and Maia Bergh 

This chapter explores the younger demographic (‘tweens and young teenagers) relation to mobile music usage and how the modern format of listening is used. Bergh interviews her daughter and her friends in order to gain access to the thoughts of her topic. She begins by expressing the lack of literature available that looks at the younger demographic experience, arguing that the older generations should not overlook younger peopler for they have grown up/ been born alongside these technological advancements, thus experiencing the benefits and drawbacks completely.  

1. Characteristics of current mobile music devices: ’We suggest the together these properties represent physical, exploratory, and storage conveniences, each of which affords easier and more powerful ways of interacting with music. In addition to these features, the devices share with older forms of mobile music the key aspect that music can accompany the user in his or hers travels, namely, the device allows for its user musically to infect space with relative ease.’ 
2. Mood: ‘The fact that music is closely linked to emotions and moods is a well documented and researched. In relation to mobile musicking, too, it has been shown that music enables adjustments and reconfigurations of auditory space, and thus of selves in motion.’
3. Mood: ‘But mobile music technologies afford new techniques for finding the ‘right’ music, and thus for constituting ones good mood, and for connecting to others and to memories through music. There was a general agreement among the informants that music affected their feelings an emotions…’
4. Sonic Mapping: ’The use of mobile music as a means for mapping space, and for establishing ontological security on the move is of course widely reported on in the literature and these young people share these practices with older users. Some respondents describe how mobile music can also be used for mapping and reconfirming their sense of place and occasion. Andrew explained “…when I cycle home, I like to listen to Pink Floyd and things like that…’