
The strange phenomenon of musical frisson - d_a_robson
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150721-when-was-the-last-time-music-gave-you-a-skin-orgasm
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doctoboggan
If you are interested in finding more music that induces "frisson" there is a
subreddit devoted to it here: reddit.com/r/frisson

There is a similar phenomenon (at least I feel it is similar) known as ASMR
where someone experiences similar feelings in response to someone's voice. The
voice is often soft, whispering, or close up. Of course there is a subreddit
for that as well.

I experience both and feel they are related. I have yet to hear a good
explanation for why some people experience ASMR, and I don't think there have
been any legitimate scientific studies exploring the sensation. One theory
I've heard is that it is designed to reward a pupil who is being taught
something in a one on one lesson.

~~~
atom-morgan
I was hoping someone would touch on this. The article title reminded me of
ASMR, which I experience, but I've never felt it as intensely when I listen to
music even though I played drums a lot until a few years ago. It seems the
trigger is different but the physical sensation may be very similar.

~~~
meowface
ASMR and frisson are two distinct sensations and are typically caused by
different things, even though they share some similarities.

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karlb
Even if music can be “auditory cheesecake,” I don't believe that that's an
adequate explanation for it.

The book “Why Do People Sing: Music in Human Evolution” proposes a theory
that's both outrageous but also has (I believe) a ring of truth to it.

The following article summarizes the theory:
[http://www.meltingasphalt.com/music-in-human-
evolution/](http://www.meltingasphalt.com/music-in-human-evolution/)

~~~
astazangasta
The world is littered with evolutionary just-so stories, that like a good
horoscope bring all the right details together and sound just right, but are
total hooey with no evidence. The fact is we know little about how we evolved
and determinations like this are nearly impossible, no matter how fun they
sound. See also the Aquatic Ape theory, etc.

~~~
dceddia
This seems to be a trend lately (or maybe one I was unaware of before) -
finding some sort of evolutionary reasoning to justify this or that. It's very
pronounced in self-help literature, books about psychology, etc. But it seems
to be spreading to all sorts of fields.

Clearly they're pretty hard to verify in a lot of cases, and I'm starting to
wonder how many of these evolutionary "we are this way because our ancestors
did X and were hunted by Y" theories are mostly fluff.

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temp420
One type not mentioned is when you are kind of internally vocalizing (singing,
but making no sound, just matching the pitch with your vocal cords without
blowing any air) along with the song. While doing this when the singer goes to
a pitch I would not be able to follow it makes me feel strange in a pleasant
way.

Björk - Yoga does this to me repeatedly starting from around 00:37.

Sometimes you can do this not only for actual lyrics, but other instruments as
well. Try to "sing internally" the instrument in the song Röyksopp - Vision
One starting at 1:48.

This is euphoric to do while high.

~~~
williamhpark
Do you mean humming?

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temp420
It's different in humming in that it makes no sound at all. In humming you let
the air pass, here I guess I'm pushing air up to vocal cords but blocking it
before it proceeds from the throat.

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noir_lord
I love music but have never experienced anything like what is described in the
article from music (sadly).

However I _do_ experience something that sounds similar from reading a really
good book, getting lost completely in a world created in your head from the
words on the page approaches the sublime, some authors get me every time,
Terry Pratchett could do this more than anyone else, finishing his books I
feel like I've stepped out of his world and back into ours, it borders on a
sense of loss.

~~~
busterarm
Sudden, short outbursts of cheering or applause do it to me pretty
consistently. Listening to the first 7 minutes of X Japan's The Last Live
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdPQZqDF_Jk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdPQZqDF_Jk))
where they introduce the band (and 140,000 people wail in unison) does it to
me every single time without fail.

Once it happens you figure out pretty quickly what your triggers are.

~~~
mturmon
Nice observation. I pretty reliably get goosebumps from the first few seconds
of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" from _Live at Budokan_ (also featuring crowd
noise):

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th370QmFtk8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th370QmFtk8)

Your link of the screaming Japanese fans, and the glam and the theatrics,
reminded me.

(Plenty of other effects, like soft-loud dynamics, can induce it for me.)

~~~
bentcorner
Watching Daft Punk's live performance of Harder Better Faster Stronger does
this to me.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x84m3YyO2oU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x84m3YyO2oU)

~~~
mturmon
Yep, worked. It was the loud/soft dynamics, and the breakbeat/drop.

A lot of techno and big beat stuff is all about that -- I think about Fatboy
Slim's "Everybody Needs a 303"
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7iSKMPSwcY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7iSKMPSwcY))
which has several breaks, and even crowd noise at 3:00. He's leaving nothing
to chance in that one.

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batou
Yes. It's probably why I play a synthesizer. It's like, excuse the analogy, a
giant audio dildo.

Korg M3:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeUN0W3WI0o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeUN0W3WI0o)
(this is not me, I'm nowhere near this)

Edit: further thoughts. It's certain chord transitions, pads and vocals that
do it.

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1_player
I can feel them pretty often, depending on the mood and the song. Some song
may give me frisson one day and not the other.

One day, after taking an hallucinogen I put on Maggot Brain by the
Funkadelic... the ordinary frissons turned into full body orgasms -- orgasm is
slightly incorrect, more like pleasure waves riding up my spine and radiating
through my body, nothing sexual. I'm a (mediocre) musician, I could feel
physical tension when waiting a chord progression resolution, and physical
pleasure when the music reached the tonic, or when the chorus started after
the breakdown. My recollection is obviously a little vague, but I think I've
rolled on my bed 50 times in full body orgasm for the duration of the album.

That was quite a transcendent experience.

As a little aside, I've started entering a bad trip when the album finished,
stuck in the thought loop that I must stop the music at the correct point,
when the melody and all the tension is resolved. But I had also ingested
another substance at that point, and that's a story for another time.

EDIT: and weirdly enough, ASMR don't seem to do anything for me. I just feel
mildly uncomfortable when a total stranger is whispering stuff to me.

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huuu
_"..heady emotional cocktail.."_

When I experience this I feel like I choke or have to vomit. And I don't think
it has to do with music (alone) but with the cocktail of emotions. Music will
trigger all kinds of emotion so it is very likely you will experience a skin
orgasm while listening to music. But for example seeing something beautiful
can also trigger this.

I like to think of it as a kind of short circuit of emotions. Too much to
handle.

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nmkn
"Others have found that making music and dancing together produces more
altruistic and cohesive groups, with one study finding that chill-inducing
music is particularly good at promoting altruism in the lab’s subjects. Maybe
it is the rush of endorphins from a skin orgasm that helps promote the
communal goodwill."

Gah, cynic in me is coming out.

Call me DJ Overlord. Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care. Okay
sweet. Now everyone lets...

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inanutshellus
No... but now I want one!

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xacaxulu
And time for me to go home and test this out!! Now I actually have something
to look forward to!

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astazangasta
For fuck's sake, who has ever said "skin orgasm", you shameless click-baiting
jerks. The word has been "frisson" for centuries, its not even that obscure.

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simplemath
ASMR is the nomenclature in vogue for this now.

Frisson still wins.

~~~
Zikes
ASMR enthusiasts will be quick to point out that it is a sensory experience
that _may_ induce frisson, but is not strictly defined by it.

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ArekDymalski
Original title is "The strange phenomenon of musical 'skin orgasms'". Article
is anecdote based with rudimentary connections to some research.

~~~
sctb
We changed the submission title from "Have you had a skin orgasm?
Psychologists can now explain the strange feeling" to the one closer to the
article's.

