[78-L] Record collection brings laughs

[David Breneman]

--- On Mon, 3/28/11, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:


> Muzak's legacy has been simplistically labeled as being
> just "elevator music," but their company had a broader
> history.

Muzak also did a lot of psychological research into the
effect of music on people, and came up with their "Stimulus
Progression" system of programming music as a result.
Each set was 6 (?) songs, with accelerating tempos,
followed by 15 (?) minutes of silence (this is from
memory, so numbers may vary).  You weren't supposed
to listen to the music.  It was just supposed to BE THERE,
keeping you alert.  I have a copy of an album Muzak put
out in (from memory - I don't have it handy) in the mid 70s
called "A Stimulus Progression Christmas"  Each side had one
set of Muzak Christmas music, as it would be programmed
for their system.  (Although, in practice, they would
not play a set of pure Christmas Music.)  I copied it to
a CD, with the obligatory 15 minute pause between sets,
and damn if it didn't calm you down when driving to that
Yuletide Hellhole, the local mall.  :-)