The 6 Stages of the Mind in Trance

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Perception plus aesthetic impact magnified by the repetition of the artistic stimuli begins the process of induction and results in a light trance state.

To deepen the trance state an artist must add reinforcing elements consistent with the original stimuli so that the combined "art force" operates as a singular entity to overwhelm the senses of every individual in an audience.

The overwhelming event occurs in the mind and is a delicate process to manufacture, but it can be done and when done well results in a kind of supernatural experience that shifts the state of mind of the audience member further towards a trance state.

Music is a composite aesthetic product that consists of various elements such as rhythm, timbre, counter-point, melody, dynamics, meter, tempo, among many other factors that are used to create an attention loop. As each element in music pulses along the auditory nerves and into the brain the attention loop begins to form.

A similar psychological effect occurs with the repeated messages of an advertisement, images in a movie, and from the flavors and visual presentation in culinary experiences.

All of these aesthetic experiences utilize the passageways of the nervous system by impinging upon one or more of the 5 senses simultaneously. As the elements in any artistic product are designed to control the flow of nerve impulses, the artist elevates his role from entertainer to magician.

The impact of "art force" on the human mind is such that researchers have discovered 6 identifiable stages of trance, each with their own set of characteristics.

Stage One: lethargy and the start of relaxation.

Stage Two: the individual will experience catalepsy in particular groups of muscles and have the sensation of being heavy, or of floating. As with Stage One, this level is considered to be a light trance.

Stage Three: medium trance, the individual continues to experience catalepsy and can be induced to hallucinate smells and tastes.

Stage Four: deeper medium trance, can be induced into amnesia—loss of memory. This is used to ensure that the individual's conscious mind does not get in the way of the work of the subconscious. Other mental phenomena include anesthesia—numbness—of parts of the body and analgesia—the state of painlessness.

Stage Five: light deep trance, often associated with  hallucination. The individual can be induced to see or hear something that is not there.

Stage Six: deepest level of trance, individual experiences anesthesia or numbness, negative hallucination where individuals are induced to not see or hear things that are really there and somnambulism—sleepwalking.

The first three of these 6 stages of trance are the domain of the artist and are known as the mnesic (memory-retaining) stages. In these first three stages of light trance, there are a number of unique characteristics which the artist can induce in the audience and are referred to by researchers as “trance logic.”

For example, trance logic produces manifestations such as the inhibition of critical thinking, intellectual processes, judgments, accurate recall, and decision-making. Moreover, awareness of the body is reduced and analgesia may be present. Self-observation is enhanced and hallucinations may be present.

A more thorough list of symptoms describing “trance logic” include the following:

            1. Critical judgment is decreased or disabled.

            2. There are changes in body awareness.

            3. There is an increase in literalism and primary process thinking (images and symbols more than words) increases.

            4. Hypermnesia or perceived enhanced recall of memories; or light amnesia in the form of selective forgetting.

            5. Disabling or limiting of volition.

            6. Inaccurate sense of reality.

            7. Light vivification or hallucinations.

            8. Fixed attention.

            9. Involvement in inner processes or contact with the unconscious mind.

            10. Miscellaneous cognitive changes.

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/




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Art Force and Attention Loops

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An attention loop is trapped attention or consciousness flowing in a circular motion. In other words, it's consciousness stuck in a feedback loop and like all forms of feedback it can be increased, reduced, or sustained by adjusting the signal input. In all forms of art, there is the potential for the creation of an attention loop. And the only factor that differentiates what can or will not create an attention loop is "art force."

In painting, the right mix of color, shape, perspective, brushstroke, brightness (or darkness), and size, all contribute to the increase or decrease of the narrowing of focus. The narrowing of the mind's focus is the gateway to the birth of a trance state.

In music, it doesn't matter if it's Rock, Dance, Pop music, Jazz, or Country, there is always a chance that one or a combination of sonic elements well crafted, composed, and arranged can shift a person into a trance state. 

In writing, the sounds of words, their numerous meanings and associations, the images they create in the imagination, and their relationship to one another all operate as a force in unison to imprint themselves on a person's subconsciousness.

In each of these artistic categories, the trick is to construct something that will attract, capture, and hold the attention of the individual audience member. When the attention passes through these three steps and remains in suspension for a period of time, that's when the artwork evolves into an experience. This is "art force" at work.

The experience itself must occur long enough to imprint the idea, melody, image, or words in the person's subconscious. The reason this is important is because in the subconscious an artistic product can freely associate with the individual's memories, emotions, and thinking processes.

This action of intertwining happens automatically and eventually reaches a limit. The action is complete when the idea, music, images, or words are seemingly soldered into the person's mental circuits where they are activated by conscious thought and powered by life energy.

The process is not unlike a digital download or software program that gets installed and neatly filed away into a part of the computer for future use.

The entire trance event happens because of the power and impact of a first impression or repeated exposure to a noteworthy piece of art, literature, or music. Only a strong artistic product has the power to captivate the mind and trap it in an attention loop.

The creation of a proper trance requires that your artistic creation possess some quality which makes it magical or transformative for the imagination. It must contain something meaningful, aesthetically explosive, daring, or new in sufficient quantity to be mentally noteworthy. As the awareness loops in a circular flow of consciousness, a light trance state is induced and is broken or deepened by the addition of reinforcing elements.

If your product has enough "art force" it will be capable of narrowing an individual's awareness in order to capture their attention. This is the first step in trance creation.

Because it's in the nature of a trance to be easily broken, as artists we must add reinforcing elements to strengthen the original stimuli. So simply stated, a trance ends when distractions occur or new elements are brought in that diminish the initial artistic impact. And the trance deepens when supportive elements are added that seamlessly reinforce the original stimulus.

 

Your mode of operation should always be to make each of your artistic creations unique, unified, and complete. Whether or not they are part of a series or larger work like a book, exhibit, or album, no matter what, each piece should be able to exist and stand on its own. A state of trance is capable of being produced with any artistic medium, although some are more efficient than others at doing so.

The allure of your work should be so strong that fascination is able to infect those who would normally not be interested in that type of painting, book, food, music, or art in general.
A defined sense of style and mastery of technical skill are your keys to full expression. The heightened sense experience that you would provide the audience should always be approached as an attempt to overwhelm them.   

 

In general, instrumental music is the most effective medium for creating attention loops, closely followed by spoken and written words. Music leads because it is action-oriented, forceful, portable, all-encompassing, layered, invisible, and repetitive. Speech, spoken or sung, shares of many of these same qualities with music, but the character of musical instruments varies much more widely than do the qualities of human voices. 

In a book, the clues must point and lead to a conclusion while hiding the remaining plot. In a recipe, the chef must find a balance between all the delicate flavors they combine in each dish. In a song, the lyrics and voice must fuse into a singular dramatic presentation. Even within the lyrics, the phrasing of words must be focus and unified around a central message. 

 

The "art force" within any aesthetic product relies on this consistency, but when an attention loop is reinforced incorrectly, the state of trance basically dissolves and disappears. All musical inconsistencies will break a trance.

Part of your final checklist should include the elimination of any inconsistencies or distracting elements. You may need an independent observer to help you see your work with fresh eyes or an objective viewpoint.

 

In fact, the whole purpose of the final checklist is to make sure that you maintain and deepen the state of trance by removing the negative trance elements and reinforcing the positive elements. If you've done your due diligence the hypnotic elements in your work should be off the charts. Over time and experimenting with different approaches you'll soon discover your own signature formulas for creating works others easily recognize as yours exclusively.

 

And don't be afraid of running out of ideas. It's the nature of creativity to always be flowing outward. Don't hold back or reduce the intensity of your expression. Believing that you'll run out of ideas is the only way you can be held back, that idea alone will stop the flow of ideas.

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Related Article:

 The Ethos of Rhythm and Scales

Connection, the Contribution of the Artist and Viewer: Sketches in Line and Sound (Part 1)  

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/




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The Essence of Music: The Organization of Sound

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The discovery and organization of consonant and dissonant tones brought about a variety of tonal relationships which gave birth to a variety of tuning systems including our current notion of scales.

A scale is simply a series of tonal relationships consisting of consonant and dissonant tones. Regardless of the tuning system one is using, notes and scales are the fundamental elements of every tuning system.

Some of the tuning systems which have existed in the West include Pythagorean Intonation, Mean-Tone, Just Intonation, Well Temperament, and Equal Temperament.

In Western music, the basic building blocks of composition come from the Equal Temperament system (A=440 Hz), its 12 notes, and their frequencies. 

To illustrate what tones (or specific frequencies) are allowable within the Equal Temperament system, look up the frequencies of the Equal-Tempered scale. As you look over the chart notice how the column listing frequencies show “gaps” between the notes. Even though the frequencies between the allowable notes are themselves tones and in another tuning system may qualify as notes, in Equal Temperament they are simply discounted frequencies and unused sonic material. 

Every musician is capable of broadening  their compositional approach to include an expanded definition of what a note is and how many notes a scale can be comprised of.

To all intents and purposes, a note is any frequency that can be produced by a musical instrument and heard by the human ear. And a scale is any quantity of notes which have been designated or selected for use in a given musical context.

So a note is any tone which exists in the acoustic range of human hearing from 20Hz to 20kHz and a scale is any series of notes allowed to be used for a musical composition, whether it consists of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 12 notes.

Adjusting your musical framework to incorporate these ideas into your own compositional approach will compel you to invent your own scales, experiment with alternate tunings, string tensions, and a variety of scale sizes because the limit of what can be formed into music isn't dictated by ancient texts and musical scholars, but by the range of human hearing (every frequency from 20Hz to 20,000 Hz).

An artist not only creates with existing materials, but is also capable of manufacturing the very materials with which they create. If the painter can manufacture their own pigments by extracting color from flowers and the juices of brilliant fruits and the dancer can choreograph movements limited only by how well they can make the human body flex, then the musician can experiment with performing feats of tuning and inventing scales.

Ultimately, music is merely intelligently organized sound wave frequencies. Therefore, any system or set of tones can be utilized for the purpose of composing music.

The challenge then for musicians is to expand the range of frequencies with which one works. In doing so you'll discover consonant musical sounds in surprising ways as well as exotic forms of beauty by taming the dissonance of odd tunings.

So in the end, the dividing line between what music is, and is not, is determined by whether or not it is organized by an entity possessed of intelligence as opposed to a random collection of sounds and noise.

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

To support Stereo Thesis with a financial donation securely through PayPal, click here.

The Lonely King

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The Lonely King is a rich and successful man whose lonely because he doesn’t have the right kind of woman to enjoy his wealth with.

Part of his affliction and need for companionship forces him to imagine the type of qualities he’s seeking in a partner. And in imagining the partner he finds himself wandering from one bad relationship to another one all in an effort to find his beloved.

The tragedy is that for all his success in every other area of his life he can’t seem to thrive in this area where human beings are concerned.

For him, he’s always been able to spot quality investments as well as superior products and services to take advantage of, but when it comes to women, he’s unable to rely on his judgment to locate quality females.

His frustration stems from the fact that people are deceptive and present false fronts to make good first impressions. The problem with this practice of most people is that you might discover who the real person is in the relationship when it’s too late.

So when the deception fails and the false front fades, the Lonely King is left standing there staring at a stranger.

In the end, the curse of his condition puts him in a situation where when it comes to women he can’t live with him and can’t live without them, so he’ll try and try again doomed to be fooled and to continue making the same error in his relationships.

To hear the track "Lonely King" from the album Verbatim by Stereo Thesis...click here.

Marc

http://stereothesis.com/



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The Essence of Music: Harmonics and Timbre

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When a musical instrument’s body vibrates it does so in halves, thirds, fourths, and so on. These divisions of a vibrating body produce what are known as Harmonics.

So whether it is a string or brass instrument, it is the relative strength and unique combinations of the Harmonics that produces not only Tone, but also timbre.

Timbre (pronounced TAM-ber) is the unique voice or quality an instrument has. It’s what differentiates the sound of one instrument from another.

Timbre makes it easy to identify an instrument by its “sound.”

In today's music environment, electronics makes it possible to artificially change the Timbre of one instrument and give it the quality or character of another. 

Another difference between noise and tone is that notes either do or do not share harmonics with each other. If they share many harmonics, then they are considered consonant (pleasant sounding).

But if they share few or no Harmonics, they are considered dissonant. Two or more sounds are considered dissonant, especially when they heavily clash or vibrate out of tune with each other.

In some music traditions and genres of music note relationships that clash heavily or vibrate out of tune with each other are sometimes desirable qualities. 

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

To support Stereo Thesis with a financial donation securely through PayPal, click here.