[This topic (Music for Masked Subliminals) reminds me of a more general principle. Got to the end of this post and saw that it had expanded way beyond the original point. haha. Anyway.]
I think the strength of music is also its weakness.
Music is less neutral; more subjectively meaningful and emotionally evocative. Even the most subtle music tends to catalyze changes in feeling and mind states. This is wonderful, BUT…in nature and the mind, the rule is Vibration. What goes up, comes down. What goes around one side, comes back around the other. Phenomena and our reactions tend to move through cycles. Action and Reaction.
If something particularly attracts you or pleases you, at some point you’ll feel a dislike for it. It has a lot to do with our internal cycles. (Think of ice cream or sherbet, spending time with friends, exercise, and so on and so on. You want it, then you don’t want it, then you want it again.)
The less neutral a stimulus, the more marked our shifts in relation to it will be.
The practical side of this is that embedding a subliminal in music is likely to elicit polarized responses in listeners—both within different listeners as well as within one listener on different days. Remember it’s at least an hour a day, often more. And you’ll be staying with the track for anywhere from 30 days to 1 year.
Is there any one piece of music that you would listen to with that degree of consistency?
On the other hand, the sound of the wind, the sounds of nature, are neutral and ongoing. Sometimes we tune into them, and often we ignore them.
This is the same principle learned and practiced by people who train the mind. The greatest power and energy is found within spaces/phenomena that people usually label as ‘boring’.
This principle is also one of the symbolic principles embodied by the Earth. For us, it represents stability, solidity, patience. Stalwart, Steadfast, Unmoving Earth. Yet, how is it that this unmoving Earth is actually flying around the Sun at 67000 mph (over 100000 km per hour)?
It moves in such a way that we do not notice.
Before we know this, we may seek out rapid movement with roller coasters and amusement park adventures. After we learn this, we can still enjoy a great roller coaster, but we may also work to cultivate awareness, to find the powerful movement that is within stability and stillness. Faster and more dramatic than any roller coaster; but only accessible to a focused attention.
Okay. Okay. I’ll relax. Clearly it’s been too long since I composed my last fortune cookie.
Anyway, I’d say music in a subliminal is tricky, though not impossible.
Also, you can always combine your own preferred music on any given day. I do that sometimes; though most of the time, I’m actually not in the mood.