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Autism and music

DarthJoeyJoJo
over 5 years ago

I've always had an interest in music, whether it was going through my dads collection of vinyl records, Italia '90 and the incredible sound of Luciano Pavarotti or recording songs off the radio (one of favourite things was trying to arrange a list of all the songs I had according to which I liked most).

Since getting diagnosed however, I've been questioning how my taste in music fits in with my autism because I love loud rock and pounding dance music.

I relax to the sounds of Muse, Marilyn Manson, Deftones and Foo Fighters. I love the wall of sound generated by bands like My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth or Sigur Ros. I still get prickles up my back listening to Prodigy's "Firestarter" or when the beat drops in the middle of Chemical Brothers "Setting Sun".

And I don't get it. One of my autistic traits is that if there is too much noise around me it can become overwhelming and difficult to focus on things. Yet I can still pick out the rhythm section (bass, drums etc) in bands like Interpol, Pixies, Nirvana and ...Trail Of The Dead.

I'm wondering what everyone else feels about music. Do you like loud music or does it have to be quieter and gentler or music from a specific genre? Does anyone have sensory issues when they hear any kind of music?

Thanks!

Parents
  • over 5 years ago

    Yes I love music and I have some thoughts about how appreciation of music is different for me to how it is for typical people:

    • I listen to music because I like the sound, the aural pictures it paints, the timbre of the instruments, the rhythms, the feelings that it creates: I have little to no interest in the culture of the musicians & the typical "fandom" that I first observed in others as a teenager. I judge music on its sound, not its origins.
    • I'm a little demand-avoidant when I feel that my peer group / demographic "tells" me that I *should* be listening to and appreciating something. So for example, I rebel against the idea that Elvis is the best musician ever (I'm in my 50s and apparently I should hail Elvis). Add to this list the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Country music, almost anything from the 60s. 
    • Despite being unable to cope in chaotic background noise, I am fine with very loud music. I've realised that my sensory problem means that I can cope easily with a single, coherent stream of audio irrespective of volume. Music, even with multiple instruments and voices, is coherent and represents a single input to my ears. Contrast with someone talking over the tv or music (at least 2 streams) or a conversation in a noisy restaurant (many streams).

    So I have the following musical "places" that I regularly go to:

    • 1980s electronica (Human League, Kraftwerk, Jean Michelle Jarre)
    • 1980s general chart music (generally dance and electronic)
    • Orchestral / strings / piano music from the Baroque period
    • Orchestral / strings / piano music from the Romantic period
    • Trance / ambient / dance from the 21st century
    • Modern pop (2015 on - not the 1990s and 2000s that iTunes seems to want to force at me).
    • Despite my aversion to country music generally - I have a guilty pleasure in Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow!

    Modern pop I particularly like because I find it energising, uplifting and it has a "fresh" sound - contrast Elvis and Johnny Cash! (I'm mildly synaesthetic and modern Pop comes across as light, airy, blue and silver whereas Elvis and Johnny Cash come across as dark brown, muddy and morose).

Reply
  • over 5 years ago

    Yes I love music and I have some thoughts about how appreciation of music is different for me to how it is for typical people:

    • I listen to music because I like the sound, the aural pictures it paints, the timbre of the instruments, the rhythms, the feelings that it creates: I have little to no interest in the culture of the musicians & the typical "fandom" that I first observed in others as a teenager. I judge music on its sound, not its origins.
    • I'm a little demand-avoidant when I feel that my peer group / demographic "tells" me that I *should* be listening to and appreciating something. So for example, I rebel against the idea that Elvis is the best musician ever (I'm in my 50s and apparently I should hail Elvis). Add to this list the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Country music, almost anything from the 60s. 
    • Despite being unable to cope in chaotic background noise, I am fine with very loud music. I've realised that my sensory problem means that I can cope easily with a single, coherent stream of audio irrespective of volume. Music, even with multiple instruments and voices, is coherent and represents a single input to my ears. Contrast with someone talking over the tv or music (at least 2 streams) or a conversation in a noisy restaurant (many streams).

    So I have the following musical "places" that I regularly go to:

    • 1980s electronica (Human League, Kraftwerk, Jean Michelle Jarre)
    • 1980s general chart music (generally dance and electronic)
    • Orchestral / strings / piano music from the Baroque period
    • Orchestral / strings / piano music from the Romantic period
    • Trance / ambient / dance from the 21st century
    • Modern pop (2015 on - not the 1990s and 2000s that iTunes seems to want to force at me).
    • Despite my aversion to country music generally - I have a guilty pleasure in Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow!

    Modern pop I particularly like because I find it energising, uplifting and it has a "fresh" sound - contrast Elvis and Johnny Cash! (I'm mildly synaesthetic and modern Pop comes across as light, airy, blue and silver whereas Elvis and Johnny Cash come across as dark brown, muddy and morose).

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