I recently got an MRI and the technician asked me what I wanted to listen to on the headphones. I said "Something relaxing, do you have ambient music?". This turned out to be a terrible choice; the music was so quiet I could barely hear it. Earplugs would have been better. I had some in my pocket that I brought but it was too late.
So after the claustrophobic panic subsided and I realized I was left in there with nothing but the loud machine and my own thoughts, I decided to listen to the machine as if it were music.
I found it supremely hypnotic and trance-inducing, almost meditative. I'm a big fan of deep and hypnotic techno, so the rhythmic MRI sounds were right up my alley. I'd probably have enjoyed it more with earplugs though.
When I had an MRI a few years ago, my conclusion about the sound was "add a melody on top of that rhythm, and it would go over quite well in an underground industrial music club in an abandoned warehouse outside of Berlin."
I haven't looked to see if anyone has actually tried to make music with the sound or not.
When I had one it felt like I was listening to early to mid 2000s Autechre. In other words, almost interesting, almost enjoyable, just not quite there.
You're not alone. The "music" combined with the visual sensory deprevation can be a trip. Some machines are completely featureless on the inside and I've found it can feel like I'm floating in a bit open space, not crammed into a magnetic tube!
The strong field can induce vertigo as well, it's pretty weird. You don't even need to be in the scanner- the field itself causes it by mucking with your inner ear.
I get an MRI Brain every three months. I usually opt out of the piped music - mostly because it's either a bad choice by the radiology techs or tuned to a generically awful radio station - but the headphones lock into the head cradle so I use them with earplugs underneath. I close my eyes and tune out and try to not sleep (and twitch so they have to restart the capture).
Some of the pulse sequences are rhythmic and I find the entire thing somewhat meditative, but there are many other places I'd rather be.
This is exactly how I approached it the first time with just the ear plugs. I find those machine sounds can be quite soothing and hypnotic on their own. I’ll give the music a miss next time.
So after the claustrophobic panic subsided and I realized I was left in there with nothing but the loud machine and my own thoughts, I decided to listen to the machine as if it were music.
I found it supremely hypnotic and trance-inducing, almost meditative. I'm a big fan of deep and hypnotic techno, so the rhythmic MRI sounds were right up my alley. I'd probably have enjoyed it more with earplugs though.