Music for Animals
Is it possible to make music for an animals enjoyment?
Why Did I Pick This Topic/Its Relation To Biology/Etc.
To start out with, music and animals are both things I adore very much, especially when it involves learning more about their behavior. Combining the two just makes it even better. As for its importance, although it is not a ground moving discovery, finding out how to make music for animals can help to fix small problems like calming your dog when they won't stop barking at the neighbors or soothing a cat when it's getting its shots. Finally, this relates to biology since it studies animals and how music made specifically for them affects the animals behaviors depending on the genre. Which fits into the definition of "the study of all living organisms".
Experiments That Have Been Done.
There have been many studies preformed on animals when it comes to measuring their responses to human music. For the most part animals are indifferent to it and don't really care much for it. One such study was done at the University of Wisconsin that tested human music on Tamarin Monkeys as well as music specially made for them. The composer, David Teie, had made many different types of genres of music for the monkeys and amazingly they all responded the same way in a clear-cut manner. Music made to excite the monkeys did in fact increase their activity levels and excitement while the more calmer ballad had soothed the monkeys.
Why Do Animals Not Enjoy Our Music?
All species hear within a certain part of the sound spectrum. Naturally, it would be safe to assume not every species likes the same music or can even hear it. To us our music is pleasant to our ears and the rhythm suits our heart rate. But there is one animal that would have taste similar to ours, that is large dogs. Like labs for example, their "music taste" is quite similar to ours. But with cats or birds our music doesn't fall into that comfortable spectrum. So if you so happen to want to enjoy your music with your best feline friend their is a chance they won't be head banging along with you.
What Do They Enjoy?
Depending on the animal the kind of music various. Although there is a sort of formula that someone can follow to achieve the best results. One thing to watch out for is the rest heart rate of the animal. This will determine how fast the music should be played. Faster heart rate then it's a faster tempo. Another thing to look out for is the calls that they use. Using the language that they speak would be a lot better than using a human voice that they probably won't understand. That is if the music even has vocals.