Music for Homeworking: A Lockdown Project
By John Shapter | September 19, 2020
Well, it is official. Coronavirus lockdown has changed our working landscape for the foreseeable future. Recent polls showed that many people who have been working from home during the pandemic do not want to change the arrangement. It might be because of continued health risk worries, it might be that they do not want to return to the daily commute, or it might simply be that the home environment is just preferable. Many employers are also examining the advantages of a homeworking workforce. Having said that, the requirement to have your head in front of a computer screen all day at home can take a lot of adjustment, especially with all the domestic distractions. A different world from the office grind.
As a musician I have been working with sound and music to aid relaxation for a long time. We know that music with a beat of 60 bpm (beats per minute), or less, can reduce anxiety and lower the heart rate. We think this is through a process called “entrainment,” which sort of tricks the heart into matching an experienced beat. Music with waves of sound and melody that match relaxed breathing is also beneficial. There is growing evidence that binaural beats can help adjust the brain to different levels of relaxation and focus. Binaural beats are created when the sound reaching the left and right ears is at a slightly different frequency, especially when a person is wearing headphones. Different binaural beats entrain the brain to various states of excitement or relaxation. These beats are well below the normal hearing range of most people but have a powerful effect. By observation, an “Alpha” binaural beat of about 10 bpm really does help with focus, creativity and positivity. In order to relax it is also important to avoid music with voice and lyrics as these are too distracting to the part of the brain that is always listening.
So, one lockdown project for me was to produce the perfect (well almost perfect) track to use as a background, and possibly an aid, to working from home. Incorporating all the aspects above, here it is.
Copyright © 2020 John Shapter
Headzic, aka John Shapter, is a UK-based composer and performer of ambient and electronic experimental music, whose work is contemplative and atmospheric. His work has been influenced by his time as a clinician, a sound artist and an esoteric performer.