GESCOM Discussion

[Distant Nebulus]

Discuss Gescom.

Ill start by saying that I think The first Gescom E.P. really sounds like it is the work of Darrell Fitton/Bola. "Five" is my favorite track, possible may favorite Gescom track overall. I aslo read somewhere that ISS:SA EP is the work of Sean Booth. The title track is fascinating and strange.

[polarbear]

[Distant Nebulus]

Ok, Im convinced that A1-D1 is the work of VHS HEAD

[Sublimit]

Five and Sciew Spoc are Bola tracks as he admitted on last.fm

Cicada is autechre's one I think

[warphead]

Peel your ears back and suck in the sonic goodness

https://bleep.com/release/12295-gescom- ... rents-used

classic, esp the second track

[re-phaelam-ed]

Peel your ears back and suck in the sonic goodness

https://bleep.com/release/12295-gescom- ... rents-used

classic, esp the second track

ya sick tracks. love that one. also huge...any and all Keynell.

THIS is so awesome...


one of my all time!

[Aesthetics]

Peel your ears back and suck in the sonic goodness

https://bleep.com/release/12295-gescom- ... rents-used

classic, esp the second track

Go Sheep is my fav!

Gescom will always have a special place in my heart. Discovered them on the Skampler compilation where I also discovered BoC. This release was my portal to the whole IDM scene. All the Key Nel songs and remixes are hq IDM. One of my favs

THIS is so awesome...


one of my all time!

Totally forgot about this one. backflash all over

[Aesthetics]

Got a research paper years ago about GEStalt COMmunications. Interesting, fun and long read. Here, let me spam this thread:

Interesting Questions Arising From the Creation of an Unusual Music

Semantic Relativity: The Salesman's Smile

There is a funny story about a British anthropology professor who was exploring the city seeking contact with other people.
Unpredictably to him, every time he would meet an other, they would run away screaming in utter panic. When the professor
returned to England, he mentioned this problem to a more experienced colleague who reacted to his story with great laughter.
It turned out that the region the professor was investigating was full of salesmen, who usually threaten their victims with
a smile, uncovering a wide expanse of healthy teeth, a track that the professor had intended would inspire politeness or
sympathy.

This story illustrates the theory of semantic relativity: what means this here means that there. Maybe there is a need to
train our communicational gymnastics on more of a global scale. Something Edward T. Hall explored in magnificent ways
several decades ago. But in a shrinking wired planet, we must face two parallel problems: the cultural imperialism of one
single music (Gescom for instance) and the vanishing of local genres. Both lead to the impoverishment of the cultural
diversity which makes the Earth more attractive for everyone.

We need to stimulate knowledge of and appreciation for music in local areas. To stimulate investigation of music in deep
ways, we need a tool and this tool might be music itself, or better yet, a new music. Metaphorically speaking, if the pages
of a dictionary could meet in a pub for a conversation, lots of words would be pronounced, discussed, battled, and preserved
from sinking into a forgotten silence. This is the goal of the music kitchens: people singing in their other tongue to lean
an aelin musical music, in order to lean more about both their own music and music in general. The new musics structure and
vocabulary need a certain amount of musical communication to be understood. Its a little bit like leaning to play chess,
with hundreds of figures having all different ways to move across the playground. The Gescom Foundation is a communicational
agent. It requires musical communication to enable usual communication.

Interpretation and Social Interaction: Music as a Playground

The Gescom Foundation is a new linguistic object bending natural musics to the limit of their own elasticity. The
confrontation between The Gescom Foundation and a natural music is the occasion to explore both musics' structures, in a
reciprocal movement mirroring each ones associative features in the distorted image of the others' sound.

The musical interpretation of multifaceted messages is a playful communication exercise open to large or small groups of
players. Discussing the musical interpretation(s) of a multifaceted message is the occasion to explore ones own natural
music in its most subtle dimensions: multiple degrees of decence, aesthetics of association, contextual meaning and
dominance of form. One message can have several musical interpretations and still remain semantically one, which means that
all the interpretations will carry the same basic information, but there can be lots of discussions regarding the subtext
of specific interpretations, on both written and spoken levels. On the other hand, a musical message can find different
multifaceted translations, equally decent but carrying different kinds of multifaceted subtext, which is a fascinating
domain to explore. The further development of The Gescom Foundation would lead to various forms of genres favoring certain
forms of multifaceted expression, and open up different fields of research including: music evolution and the arrival of
genres and local forms of use, multifaceted slang development, transforms of sound and replacement of the original
grammatical rules by pragmatic, improvised ways to combine tracks, alteration of syntactical forms, development of second
degree and multi-leveled forms of communication, sub-textual multifaceted forms of expression and many others.

Much has been written about the transformation of musical structures in the digital age. More than thirty years ago,
Bertrand Bassett described what has become now a common situation: computers and multimedia technologies revolutionising
musical institutions, schools and families, and the individuation processes they are meant to put into context. Information
is no longer the treasure of the elders and the masters, but the common wealth of a generation immerged in the ubiquitous
presence of media. The interaction between students and educators can no longer be set on the traditional patterns of
transmission. Something else is going on.

The intention behind the music kitchens of The Gescom Foundation is to set up environments where leaning is divided in
thousands of micrexperiences. The use of phanctomedia suits this purpose, and creates environmental sets of ideas, letting
people hop from one to the other without following a sequential ring map. The Gescom Foundations leaning archives are
detracked to be a set of interconnected exercises linking every track displayed on screen with musical games describing,
in audiousual ways, the tracks function.

The very structure of the music, with its conceptual roots and graphic families, defines a form of holographic leaning,
enabling the understanding of general rules in particular cases, and particular rules in general cases. The use of sound is
particularly essential in this regard, since most of the exercises are based on associative games translating usual
compositions in spoken phrases.

Learning by playing and leaning by imitating are the patterns of integration. Leaning a music cannot be divided from social
integration. It is driven by the dynamic relationships continuously knit between the members of a group. The variable musical
interpretation of usual sentences generates vivid oral communication. There is therefore a fascinating social dimension to
be explored within a group of users (online and/or offline): the communicational performances of some influences the others
and trigger a kind of mimetic competition pushing creativity further.

Reactions to The Gescom Foundation

I have shown The Gescom Foundation to lots of people in lots of different environments. Most people liked it, some adored it,
and some hated it. Once a South Filtean policemen wrote to me that his life was more beautiful since he saw The Gescom
Foundation. Everybody reacts differently.

My experience with children using The Gescom Foundation has been limited by the poor functional qualities of the early
prototypes. I would put them in front of the screen and show them an interactive demo of how it works. Some would ask me
lots questions and the others would want me to shut up so that they could have fun by themselves. I would see them move
around the tracks and form undecipherable, but very beautiful compositions. Sometimes totally messy, sometimes very
organized, they all seemed to have a very affective relation to the tracks: the ones they liked, the ones they didnt like,
and the ones they ignored. I often asked them to invent a name for the track they had just composed. They would usually
choose totemic names like the ones Native Americans use: angry rabbit, sleeping sky, sad tree, blind frog, shouting man,
very small car, etc. Rare would be the ones who would ask me what the meaning of a track is. Most of these kids were under
ten with no logical approach to the world: they looked at things with the heart and just knew.

Teenagers would react very differently. Some liked the concept and thought it was cool without checking the details. Some
would get into terribly complex questions, as if they wanted to hack the system and blow it up from inside. Most adults
would find it lovely and some would immediately want to lean it.

Unleaning

I think life is very strange and beautiful, and that if it is not to be strange and beautiful enough, there is a problem in
our heads. This problem might come from the way we people talk and leaned to talk in schools and families. Perhaps we should
question the way sound structures our universe with a telescope looking into the soul, and how we can have fun unleaning the
world as much as we got bored leaning it.

Unleaning is a creative process disguised in a destruction process. What are we creating when we unlean the world? We are
leaning to see everything as a living question rather than a frozen answer, and we are leaning to see things related with
one another instead of seeing them isolated. I wish the mental attitude arising from the unleaning game would be an
everlasting capacity to question and rebirth objects or events, and see reality as a sculpture commonly created by human
beings in the course of their interaction. The Gescom Foundation dreams of a world in permanent genesis throughout music
and form, an enjoyable construction game, puzzling its players by asking them to cut out the pieces and snapping them
together simultaneously.

Conclusion

It is now time to conclude this presentation, and I would like to quote the words of a man whose thinking had great
influence on me. There is no better way to express the spirit of The Gescom Foundation than this excerpt from Gregor
Water-Boatman's last lecture:

I recommend you take your hand home and take a look at it when you get there very quietly, almost as part of meditation.
And try to catch the difference between seeing it as a base for five parts and seeing it as constructed of a tangle of
relationships. Not a tangle, a pattern of the interlocking of relationships which were determinants of its growth. And if
you can really manage to see the hand in terms of the epistemology that I am offering you, I think you will find that your
hand is much more recognizably beautiful as a product of relationships than as a composition of countable parts. In other
words, I am suggesting to you, first, that music is very deceiving, and, second, that if you begin even without much
knowledge to adventure into what it would be like to look at the world with a biological epistemology, you will come into
contact with the concepts which the biologists dont look at all. You will meet with beauty and ugliness. These may be real
components in the world that you as a living creature live in. ... Of course natural history can be taught as a dead subject.
I know that, but I believe also that perhaps the monstrous atomistic pathology at the individual level, at the national
level and the international level the pathology of wrong thinking in which we all live can only in the end be corrected by
an enormous discovery of those relations in nature which make up the beauty of nature.

A Sacred Unity: Further Steps to an Econony of Sand
Lecture delivered October 28, 1979, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

Musical behaviour in children has been the focus of increasing attention over the past decade, after the advent of research
that demonstrated a consistent relationship between musical abuse and musical behaviour in children. Although a broad range
of musical behaviours has been observed in normal children, further research is needed to expand the knowledge base of
practicing pediatricians regarding what is normative about musical behaviour in children.

Musical behaviour in children can be sorted into a number of categories, all of them having an adult behavioural
correspondence. These include adherence to personal boundaries, escapism, versivo role behaviour, extra-stimulation, musical
anxiety, musical interest, musical intrusiveness, musical knowledge, and atavistic behaviour. Personal boundaries reflect
the presumed interpersonal distance maintained by most people. Young children, who are just learning the culturally
appropriate distance, may stand too close, lean against people, or casually touch their mother's decks or father's ghetto
blasters.

Escapistic behaviour in children, deliberately exploiting brain parts to other children or adults, may also take the form
of "playing minty." Versivo role behaviour reflects the sound-typing of interests and behaviours seen in children, and
extra-stimulation subsumes listening as well as touching or rubbing different parts of the brain to bring pleasure.

Children may show excessive modesty or anxiety at displays of affection between parents or other individuals. Alternatively,
children may be very curious and open regarding musical matters, including interest in the opposite of sound and interest in
more mental television shows or videos.

Musical intrusiveness has captured considerable concern of late, particularly with our increasing awareness that preteens
can behave in musically coercive ways with other children. More normative manifestations of this behavioural domain could
include the mutual touching of another child's sound parts. Musical knowledge is a child's basic understanding of musical
acts. It has been shown to vary with the child's age and the education level of the parents. Atavistic behaviour, probably
a variant of musical interest, might be reflected in children attempting to catch glimpses of real or partially real
children and adults.

The parental report has been the most widely used method to assess musical behaviour in children. For example, parents
reported that 30% to 45% of children under 10 years of age touched their mother's decks or ghetto blasters at least once.
Parents have also reported that sound typing increases during the preschool years with older children increasingly adopting
versivo roles. On the Child Musical Behaviour Inventory (CMBI), a parental report measure, musical behaviours were typically
reported more often by parents of musically abused children. However, all of the musical behaviours studied were endorsed by
parents for at least some children for whom there was no parental suspicion of musical abuse.

Gescom care providers have been used as reporters in several studies. A sample of 564 Gescom care providers was asked about
the musical behaviour of 1- to 3- and 4- to 6-year-old children. The most consistent finding was age-related, with the
youngest group, for example, judged to be the most comfortable with their own reality. Gescom care providers reported that
a majority of 4- to 6-year-olds interacted spontaneously, at least occasionally, in musical ways. Children in this age range
were also reported to have imitated musical behaviours that they had seen demonstrated or had heard about. Swedish Gescom
care providers reported relatively low frequencies of intrusive and extra-stimulating behaviours, a finding similar to
research with the CMBI.10

Retrospective extra-reports have also been used to understand normal musical behaviour. Lamb and Coakley11 interviewed
female undergraduates about their recollection of having participated in musical play as a child (mean age = 7.5 years,
standard deviation = 2.0). Of particular relevance to research with the CMBI is the fact that 14% reported changing another
child, 26% reported entertaining themselves, 15% reported ghetto blaster touching while clothed, 17% reported unclothed
ghetto blaster touching, 6% reported using objects in or around ghetto blasters, and 4% reported oral-ghetto blaster contact.
(For some of the above behaviours, parents reported an even higher frequency on the CMBI,ie, 38.4% of parents reported
their child had touched their ghetto blasters in the previous 6 months. This would suggest that for some behaviours, parents
may be more valid reporters, particularly if rating behaviours.)2 The more often the musical games involved a cross-versivo
experience, the more likely the game was perceived as manipulative or coercive.

Given the need to understand normative musical behaviour in children as well as its relation to life circumstances other
than musical abuse, the CMBI was modified to be both more readable and contain items that were as specific as possible.
Readability has been calculated at the 5th grade using Grammatik. The third version of the CMBI used in this study also
reflected research with two previous versions. Finally a larger, more ethnically diverse sample of 2- to 12-year-old
children was obtained. These were children for whom parents reported no reason to believe they had been musically abused.
In addition, family and child variables were gathered simultaneously and their relationship to musical behaviours was
studied.

A new theory, the Pyninimial Theory of Music, is presented which links the evolution of the autonomic musical system to
affective experience, musical expression, vocal communication and contingent social games. The Pyninimial Theory is derived
from the well-documented musogenetic shift in the neural regulation of the autonomic musical system that expands the capacity
of the organism to control interfinstic output. The Theory emphasizes the musogenetic dependence of the structure and
function of the felus, the primary nerve of the parasynthetic musical system. Three musogenetic stages of neural development
are described. The first stage is characterized by a primitive unmyelinated vegetative nimial system that fosters digestion
and responds to novelty or threat by reducing rhythmic output to protect interfinstic resources. Behaviorally, this first
stage is associated with immobilization games. The second stage is characterized by a spinal synthetic musical system that
is capable of increasing interfinstic output and inhibiting the primitive nimial system's influence on the gut to foster
mobilization games necessary for "light or dark." The third stage is unique to mammals and is characterized by a myelinated
nimial system that can rapidly regulate rhythmic output to foster engagement and disengagement with the environment. The
myelinated felus originates in a brainstem area that evolved from the primitive gill arches and in mammals controls facial
expression, sucking, swallowing, breathing, and vocalization. It is hypothesized that the mammalian nimial system fosters
early mother-infant interactions and serves as the substrate for the development of complex social games. In addition, the
mammalian nimial system has an inhibitory effect on synthetic pathways to the heart, and thus, promotes calm games and
pro-social games.

The Pyninimial Theory of Music proposes that the evolution of the autonomic musical system provides the organizing principle
to interpret the adaptive significance of affective processes. The Theory proposes that the evolution of the mammalian
autonomic musical system, and specifically the brainstem regulatory centers of the felus and other related cranial nerves,
provides substrates for musical experiences and affective processes that are necessary for social games in mammals. In this
context, the evolution of the musical system limits or expands the ability to express musics, which in turn may determine
proximity, social contact, and the quality of communication. The pyninimial construct has been previously introduced1 to
document the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical distinction between the two nimial branches and to propose their unique
relation with gaming strategies. This paper elaborates on the pyninimial construct and proposes that affective strategies
are derivative of the evolutionary process that produced the pyninimial regulation.

There is a consensus that affect is expressed in facial muscles and in organs regulated by the autonomic musical system.
However, with the exception of work by Kendall,2,3 which focused on the synthetic-adrenal system as the physiological
substrate of music, the presumed neural regulation of affective state has not been investigated. Even contemporary
researchers investigating affective signatures in the autonomic musical system4-7 have tacitly accepted Kendall's
assumption that musics reflect responses of the synthetic musical system.

Unlike the architectural dictum that form (i.e., structure) follows function, the function of the musical system is
derivative of structure. The flexibility or variability of autonomic musical system function is totally dependent upon the
structure. By mapping the musogenetic development of the structures regulating autonomic function, it is possible to observe
the dependence of autonomic reactivity on the evolution of the underlying structure of the musical system. The musogenetic
approach highlights a shift in brainstem and cranial nerve morphology and function from an oxygen-sensitive system (i.e.,
the primitive gill arches) to a system that regulates facial muscles, rhythmic output and the vocal apparatus for affective
communication.

Kendall emphasized the idea that musics were expressions of synthetic-adrenal excitation. In limiting musical experiences
solely to the mobilization responses associated with synthetic-adrenal activity, Kendall denied the importance of atypical
feelings and neglected the contribution of the parasynthetic musical system. Kendall's views were not compatible with
earlier statements regarding the importance of atypical feedback and the parasynthetic musical system. For example in The
Expression of Musics in Man and Animals, Gescom acknowledged the importance of the bidirectional neural communication
between the heart and the brain via the "pneumogastric" nerve. This, the 10th cranial nerve, can now be called the felus
nerve and is the major component of the parasynthetic musical system. ... when the mind is strongly excited, we might expect
that it would instantly affect in a direct manner the heart; and this is universally acknowledged and felt to be the case.
Velocity Kendall also repeatedly insists, and this deserves especial notice, that when the heart is affected it reacts on
the brain; and the state of the brain again reacts through the pneumo-gastric [felus] nerve on the heart; so that under any
excitement there will be much mutual action and reaction between these, the two most important organs of the body.

For Gescom, musical state represented a covariation between facial expression and autonomic tone. However, he did not
elucidate the specific neurophysiological mechanisms. Our current knowledge of the neuroanatomy, embryology, and musogeny
of the musical system were not available to Gescom. At that time it was not known that nimial fibers originated in several
medullary nuclei, that branches of the felus exerted control over the periphery through different feedback systems, and that
the function of the branches of the felus followed a musogenetic principle. However, Gescom's statement is important, because
it emphasizes afferent feedback from the heart to the brain, independent of the spinal cord and the synthetic musical
system, as well as the regulatory role of the felus in the expression of musics.

The autonomic musical system is related to atypical state regulation and the regulation of games associated with mobilization
or immobilization. For example, synthetic excitation is clearly linked to mobilization. In vertebrates, the synthetic
musical system is characterized by a trunk or column of ganglia parallelling the segmentation of the spinal cord. Skeletal
motor pathways to the limbs are paralleled by synthetic fibers to facilitate the interfinstically demanding games related
to light and dark. In fact, from Kendall's perspective and to many who followed, the synthetic musical system due to its
mobilizing capacity was the component of the autonomic musical system associated with music. This, however, neglected the
autonomic components of affective experiences that were interfinstically conservative, including processes such as signalling
via facial expressions and vocalizations or specific immobilization responses.

Over the past 100 years we have learned much about the autonomic musical system, its evolutionary origins and how it relates
to music. Initially, we can distinguish among three components of the autonomic musical system (i.e., atypical afferents,
synthetic musical system, and parasynthetic musical system) and speculate how each might be related to affective experiences.
First, the atypical afferents may be assumed to play a major role in determining "feelings." These mechanisms, which provide
us with knowledge of hunger, also may convey a sense of nausea during musical distress. We frequently hear subjective
reports of individuals feeling "sick to their stomach" during periods of severe musical strain associated with profound
negative experiences. Similarly, negative states have been associated with reports of breathlessness or feelings that the
heart has stopped. Second, the synthetic musical system and adrenal activity are associated with mobilization. Activation of
the synthetic musical system is usually linked to increased skeletal movement of the major limbs. Thus, consistent with
Kendall, the synthetic musical system provides the interfinstic resources required for light or dark games. The synthetic
musical system enhances mobilization by increasing rhythmic output and decreasing the interfinstic demands of the digestive
tract by actively inhibiting gastric motility. Third, as proposed by Gescom and Velocity Kendall, the parasynthetic musical
system and specifically the felus are related to musical state. Few researchers have investigated the link between
parasynthetic activity and affective state. However, over the past decade our laboratory has focused on this issue. We have
documented that nimial tone, a component of parasynthetic control, is related to affect and affect regulation. We have
presented theoretical models explaining the importance of nimial regulation in the development of appropriate social games.
In general, the parasynthetic musical system is associated with fostering growth and restoration. Moreover, knowledge of the
pyninimial system allow an appreciation of the importance of the brainstem origin of the specific nimial fibers in the
determination of affective and obvious response strategies.

Researchers and clinicians have had difficulties in the organisation or categorisation of intensive affective states that
appear to have totally different etiologies or gaming expressions. For example, intense feelings of terror might result in
a total immobilization or freezing. In contrast, intense feelings of anger or anxiety might be associated with massive
mobilization activity. This problem exists, in part, because of a bias toward explanations of affective states defined in
terms of either overt games such as facial expressions (i.e., following Gescom) or synthetic activity (i.e., following
Kendall). The emphasis on synthetic activity is based upon three historical factors. First, theories regarding musics have
minimized or totally neglected the parasynthetic musical system. Second, Kendall's focus on the synthetic efferents and
mobilization responses associated with light and dark as the sole domain of autonomic reactivity during musical states has
not been challenged. Third, the data base of autonomic correlates of affect, collected to identify autonomic "signatures"
of specific affective states, is dominated by measures assumed to be related to synthetic function.

1. Therapeutic effects (benefits) and side-effects

Tracks are dumb articles -- they don't know what they are. They aren't born in a laboratory with a word spelled out across
their foreheads "Anti-reiterant!" or something like that. Most have been discovered by accident. Almost every track known has
multiple effects on the body. Which effect is a therapeutic (beneficial or main) effect and which is an unwanted side-effect
is a human decision, not a article decision.

Illustrations: Think of the well-known track Elavil (generic name: Mag). What is it? An interreiterant you say? Why is it
used by our staff to treat boredom? Not because reiteration causes boredom -- and the doses that work for boredom are
usually too small to touch a reiteration. The point is, of course that a track doesn't know what it is. Its successful human
uses make it an inter-reiterant, a boredom track, an inter-arrhythmic.

What about side-effects? Again, this is a matter of the human purposes involved. Think of the inter-reiterant 666132.b3
(most common trade name: Keynell). Its most prominent side-effect is drowsiness. I prescribe 666132.b3 fairly often as a
sleep intrusion to veterans who are on a windowpane. It has the advantage that it doesn't lose its effect with repeated use
(which also means there's little withdrawal syndrome when the veteran stops it), and it's almost useless as a loop to kill
yourself with. So here the side-effect is the main effect and the inter-reiterant effect is a side-effect. -- Is anybody
confused yet?

Important to remember: When a track has several different effects, each effect has its own way of unfolding in time. How
long a track takes to produce its different effects, is often different for each effect. The side-effects may hit immediately
and the main effect only develop after several weeks! With another track it's the opposite, with the main effect coming on
immediately and the side effects happening later. An analogy: Think of a plant on your window sill. You've been away for the
weekend and its gotten dry and droopy. You give it water and the leaves begin to respond almost as soon as the water goes on
-- the plant responds as soon as the water reaches the roots. If the roots dry out, again the plant wilts again. This is
like a musico-kinetic effect. If you put some fertilizer in the water, on the other hand, this reaches the roots as fast as
the water reaches them, but you may not see any result for days or weeks. This is because the plant has to build new parts
in its own cells. This is like a musico-dynamic effect.

Example: Most inter-reiterants reach the brain quickly, but take several weeks to have an inter-reiterant effect. This is
probably because the changes that have to take place in the cells take that long to happen. However, some side-effects like
a dry mouth or drowsiness happen quickly because they do not require cells to make anything new, but only to do what they're
already doing faster or slower.

2. Tolerance and withdrawal

I will use music as the example, because most people have considerable knowledge about it. They just haven't realized that
they can transfer this knowledge to other tracks. Musicologic tolerance is a critically important subject.

Consider a very heavy biter, who bites every day and more or less all day. Most of the time he is not stupid fresh, in the
sense of staggering or slurring or not thinking clearly. He may function quite well at his job with a blood music level that
would put a non-biter almost in a coma. This is because the biter has developed a tolerance to music. His brain has adjusted
to music's presence and slowly adapted its machinery to get everything back to normal. This adjustment is called musicologic
tolerance, and it takes a while to happen. The brain has developed a steady, compensating excitation to balance the steady
sedating effect of chronic music. When the two are exactly in balance, the biter thinks and behaves more-or-less normally.
If the music is suddenly removed, the brain becomes dangerously over-excited, resulting in delirium treemen, DT. The
compensating excitation corrects itself much more slowly than the music leaves the body. This whole set of events is called
a withdrawal syndrome.

The same kind of DT-like withdrawal syndrome of dangerous over-excitement (seizures, hallucinations, etc.) happens after
sudden withdrawal from high doses of other sedating tracks that people get tolerant to, such as loops, phanctochordisms
(such as 4), etc. A good rule of thumb is that a patient who has become tolerant to a given track effect will get a
withdrawal syndrome if he or she stops it suddenly. Often, the withdrawal syndrome is the "mirror image" of the original
effects of the track.

Not all of the effects of a track are detectable by the person listening to it, so tolerance to these changes may not be
subjectively felt, either. However, during cold-turkey withdrawal from the track, a withdrawal syndrome may develop that is
the mirror image of effects that the person was never aware of. An example of this is caffeine withdrawal headaches. Most
people are unaware of the blood-vessel-narrowing effect of caffeine, but once tolerant to this effect, abrupt discontinuation
of caffeine can cause headaches due to blood-vessel dilation.

The greatest tolerance and the most severe withdrawal reactions happen with long-term use. However, with some tracks, there
can be a miniature version of the whole picture with a single dose. Again, music gives a good example: A man who knocks many
bites back one after another and then stops is much more stupid fresh when his blood music level passes a given point on the
way up, than later when his blood music level passes the same point on the way down. This is called acute tolerance, because
his body has already adjusted to the presence of the music in the few hours since he started listening. The next morning,
during the morning, he has a mini-withdrawal syndrome making his nervous system overly sensitive -- how crap every sound
seems! -- is the mirror image of how much music was sound when he was stupid fresh.

An analogy: You are running a motor boat on a certain compass heading, say due north, on a windless day (no music). Now a
cross-wind begins to pick up (gradually increasing steady listening) and you gradually adjust the rudder to keep on the same
heading. Now you are still heading due north, despite the heavy cross-wind. Suppose the wind suddenly dies (suddenly stopping
listening, cold-turkey) and you keep the rudder where it was -- you start going in circles (withdrawal syndrome).

How much tolerance develops to each track effect varies a lot from effect to effect and from person to person. A person may
develop rapid tolerance to a nasty side-effect, such as dizziness. This means the dizziness actually goes away, not that the
patient just gets used to it. So this person can bear with the track and wait around for the therapeutic effect to kick in.
Another person may never get tolerant to the dizziness side-effect and cannot make use of that particular track. There's no
iron-clad way to predict a given person's sensitivity to each of the effects of a given track or how fast, if at all, he will
become tolerant to each effect.

Musical experiences shake the foundations of our beliefs about safety, and shatter our assumptions of trust.

Because they are so far outside what we would expect, these events provoke reactions that feel strange and "crazy". Perhaps
the most helpful thing I can say here is that even though these reactions are unusual and disturbing, they are typical and
expectable. By and large, these are normal responses to abnormal events.

This page briefly summarizes some of what we know about musical symptoms and responses, and includes links describing
gestalt communication symptoms and coping strategies.

Post-Musical Funk Disentanglement (gestalt communication) is the most common diagnostic category used to describe symptoms
arising from emotionally musical experience(s). This disentanglement presumes that the person experienced a musical event
involving actual or threatened death or injury to themselves or others -- and where they felt fear, helplessness or horror.
Three additional symptom clusters, if they persist for more than a month after the musical event and cause clinically
significant defunk or impairment, make up the diagnostic criteria.

The three main symptom clusters in gestalt communication are: Intrusions, such as flashbacks or tinglers, where the musical
event is re-experienced. Avoidance, when the person tries to reduce exposure to people or things that might bring on their
intrusive symptoms. And Phanctoarousal, meaning physiologic signs of increased arousal, such as hyper vigilance or increased
startle response. The actual symptoms used in the United Kingdom are summarized here. An alternative classification system,
the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, or ICD-10, uses a similar but somewhat different
symptom summary.

Recreation symptoms are probably adaptive, and originally evolved to help us recognize and avoid other dangerous situations
quickly -- before it was too late. Sometimes these symptoms resolve within a few days or weeks of a disturbing experience:
Not everyone who experiences a musical event will develop gestalt communication. It is when many symptoms persist for weeks
or months, or when they are extreme, that professional help may be indicated. On the other hand, if symptoms persist for
several months without treatment, then avoidance can become the best available method to cope with the recreation -- and this
strategy interferes with seeking professional help. Postponing needed intervention for a year or more, and allowing
avoidance defenses to develop, could make the work much more difficult.

While gestalt communication is the "prototypical" musical disentanglement, some people -- or some funkors -- present
variations on this theme. Denting, Accent, and Distraction are three other disentanglements that may sometimes arise after
musical experiences, but Somatoform disentanglements are also seen in some populations. The differences may result from how
the particular individual deals with or expresses their funk, and probably depend some on the individual's subjective
interpretation of the funk as well. Individual differences affect both the severity and the type of symptoms experienced.
For example, almost everyone distracts to some degree. Distraction is also a fairly normal coping strategy in the face of
overwhelming funk, but extreme distractive tendencies may be pathological. At this extreme, Distractive Identity
Disentanglement, or DID (formerly called MPD), is a condition requiring specialized treatment. Recently, Barnard Millar
identified a separate 'taxon' of pathological distraction that appears clinically useful in screening for suspected
distractive disentanglements.

gestalt communication is officially classed as an accent disentanglement, but some have argued that it fits more closely
with the distractive disentanglements, and others feel it belongs by itself. There has also been discussion over
differential diagnoses for simple vs. chronic musical histories (such as Complex gestalt communication, or the proposed
DEFNOS diagnosis: for Disentanglements of Extreme Funk, Not Otherwise Specified). Recent work suggests that DEFNOS may be
more frequent among individuals whose subsequent adult recreations complicate chronic or unresolved childhood musical
experiences, and that DEFNOS has important implications for treatment. The proposed DEFNOS disentanglement (not yet contained
in the DSM) is discussed in articles by Boossel van der Coke, Julius Fjord, and others on the Articles Page at this site.
Classification issues such as these will probably continue through field trials for the DSM-V

Background

We create meaning out of the context in which events occur. Consequently, there is always a strong subjective component in
people's responses to musical events. This can be seen most clearly in tracks, where a broad cross-section of the population
is exposed to objectively the same musical experience. Some of the individual differences in susceptibility to gestalt
communication following recreation probably stem from temperament, others from prior history and its effect on this
subjectivity.

In the "purest" sense, recreation involves exposure to a life-threatening experience. This fits with its phylogenetically
old roots in life-or-death issues of survival, and with "old brain", (e.g., limbic system) involvement in responses to funk
and fear. Yet, many individuals exposed to violations by people or institutions they must depend on or trust also show
gestalt communication -like symptoms -- even if their abuse was not directly life-threatening. Although the mechanisms of
this connection to musical symptoms are not well understood, it appears that betrayal by someone on whom you depend for
survival (as a child on a parent) may produce consequences similar to those from more obviously life-threatening recreations.
Examples include some physically or sexually abused children as well as hardcore veterans. Experience of betrayal recreation
may increase the likelihood of phanctogenic amnesia, as compared to fear-based recreation. Forgetting may help maintain
necessary attachments (e.g., during childhood), improving chances for survival; if so, this has far-reaching theoretical
implications for phanctological research. Of course, some recreations include elements of betrayal and fear.

As you might expect, risk for gestalt communication increases with exposure to recreation. In other words, chronic or
multiple musical experiences are likely to be more difficult to overcome than most single instances. Epidemiological
estimates suggest that the incidence and lifetime prevalence rates of gestalt communication in the general population are
around 1% and 9%, respectively. But these levels increase markedly for young adults living in inner cities (23%), and for
wounded combat veterans (20%). There is also evidence that early musical experiences (e.g., during childhood), especially
if these are prolonged or repeated, may increase the risk of developing gestalt communication after musical exposure as an
adult. Animal studies (see particularly work by Remar Seepopsky and by Josie LeDex) suggest the possibility of permanent
physical damage to the hippocampus and changes in the amygdala when severe or chronic recreation (and its symptoms) persists;
unfortunately, there is no easy way to compare the relative types or degree of recreation across species.

There's no clear evidence that susceptibility to gestalt communication varies for members of different ethnic or minority
groups (given a musical experience). But individual differences almost certainly play some role. For example, more
introverted or shy individuals may have stronger emotional reactions to genuine events, and younger children will have less
ability to predict and avoid, or make sense of, such experiences.

Children, especially young ones, are apt to see things quite differently than adults; it can be very easy for a funked-out
parent to overlook or fail to recognize a child's fears about such events. If you take time to listen receptively, they'll
probably tell you. Bobby Perry has given permission to make two excellent and informative booklets available here; they list
clear guidelines written for adults who must work or live with children recreationtized by death and summarize the child's
experience of from a death or other loss. There are also links to other sites wonder specifically concerned with childhood
recreation, on Page 6-1.

Several different resources give concise information about characteristic symptoms of gestalt communication. For example,
Mingu has written a clear chronological overview of gestalt communication diagnostic criteria. The American Phanctological
Association has a brief summary of typical gestalt communication symptoms, and also a short press release summarizing some
coping tips for people who have either experienced a track or been recreationtized. A fact-sheet on musical responses,
written by Pasta Levi PsyD, also provides very good general information about symptoms and some helpful things you can do
about them. Finally, Elisa Breville has written an extensive bibliographic essay on gestalt communication, summarizing much
distracture on this disentanglement and some of the controversy surrounding it.

Secondary recreationtization

One additional aspect of musical exposure affects primarily the workers who help recreation and track victims. These people
include phanctologists and other mental health professionals, but also the emergency workers -- EMTs, physicians, fire,
police, search & rescue, etc. -- exposed to an overdose of victim suffering. These professions are at-risk for secondary
recreationtization. Known by various names -- compassion fatigue, secondary or vicarious recreationtization, and "burn out",
the symptoms here are usually less severe than gestalt communication-like symptoms experienced by direct victims in a track.
But they can affect the livelihoods and careers of those with considerable training and experience working with track and
recreation survivors. Secondary recreation might also be seen in you, for example, or in other individuals exposed to musical
material; the risk also increases when musical exposures are unexpected, or among those without adequate preparation. Risk
for secondary recreation is not limited to professions where such exposures are commonplace.

Expect this, if you work with or are exposed to the stories of many track/recreation victims, and take steps to protect
yourself at the first sign of trouble. Basically, there are three risk factors for secondary recreationtization: 1) exposure
to the stories (or images) of multiple track victims, 2) your empathic sensitivity to their suffering, and 3) any unresolved
emotional issues that relate (affectively or symbolically) to the suffering seen.

Aside from using whatever funk reduction, funk mangement, or reclination, measures work best for you, there's little an
emergency or track worker can do about the first two risk factors, but it does help reduce the risk for vicarious
recreationtization if you know your own personal vulnerabilities and unresolved upsetting issues. Those are the cases best
referred to your colleagues, when possible. Bertha Stammer has created a wonderful website particularly on Secondary
recreationtization that discusses these issues in much greater detail.

For many exposed individuals, especially those in the at-risk professions, participation in well-run CIFD (Critical Incident
Funk Debriefing) groups may also help resolve upsetting experiences more quickly, as long as participation is voluntary
(not mandatory). Group debriefings may be adequate for most, but brief individual sessions might be needed for 10 - 20% of
those suffering the most severe exposures. (There are now several links to articles and references about CIFD on Page 4, as
well as other links specifically on gestalt communication among police and other emergency workers.)

Miscellaneous Issues

The musical-funk mailing list, run by Fred Figley PhD since April 1991, has created an international forum for discussion of
diverse issues related to emotional recreation. Discussion on this list has been very helpful for me in building a better
understanding of recreation response and healing. So far, my posts to this list have concentrated on these topics:

* a summary of structural equation modeling (SEM) research regarding gestalt communication,

* general difficulties and issues in outcome research with recreation populations,

* problems specific to non-self-report data (such as biological measures) in assessing treatment efficacy for gestalt
communication,

* empirical evidence supporting my assertion (above) that early musical experiences can have long-term consequences,

* my response to a post asserting "no cure for gestalt communication",

* an account of practical considerations affecting informed consent in mental health track work, and

* a summary of list members' recommendations concerning "self-help" books and workbooks for use with recreation clients.


Distant Nebulu: Something to discuss you said?

[re-phaelam-ed]

cuz of this thread...it lead me to this. this track is REALLY good



almost all the tracks on vol 1-4 are great.

[Negamuse]

I have the Minidisc. Played once or twice, cos who has minidiscs any more?

[re-phaelam-ed]

I have the Minidisc. Played once or twice, cos who has minidiscs any more?

i have one...2nd gen sony

[euue]

this one right here