I love the tactile nostalgic feel of this music, the intricate jazz chords, the washed-out boom-bap drum loops, and this warm vinyl noise that fills everything out.

我喜愛這音樂舒適厚實的質感、錯綜複雜的爵士和弦、合成器做出的鼓聲節奏，那溫暖懷舊的聲響可以洗掉一切喧擾。

For me, it's the perfect mixture of sounds to fade into the background.

我認為這樣的混音一切都很剛好，完美融入背景。

But, when it comes to focusing, different types of music seemed to work for different types of people.

不過談到專注，人們喜好的音樂類型不盡相同。

Some prefer pure white noise or epic movie scores.

有些人喜歡純粹的白噪音，也有人喜歡氣勢磅礡的電影配樂。

Nowadays, streaming services are curating playlists made for focus.

今天串流服務紛紛打造為專注力設計的播放清單。

We all know music affects our brains, but is there something that makes particular songs better than others for concentration?

大家都明白音樂會影響大腦，但是有什麼原因會讓特定樂曲更促進專注力嗎？

Usually, we choose songs based on personal preferences.

多數時候我們是根據個人喜好來挑選樂曲。

But it might not just be about taste, it might actually be something inside our music that helps us focus.

不過除了個人品味之外，可能是藏在音符之間的某樣東西在幫助我們專心。

Something almost imperceptible because it's happening dozens of times per second.

那樣東西我們難以察覺，因為它每秒鐘會出現好多次。

Music has always been used as a tool to influence behavior.

一直以來音樂都被用來影響行為。

For the better part of the 20th century, Muzak was piped into stores and factories.

播放於商店、工廠的米尤札克音樂幾乎流行了整個 20 世紀。

You might know it better as elevator music.

最常聽見的形式可能是電梯音樂。

Peddlers of Muzak claimed it could improve customers' moods and increase employees productivity.

米尤札克音樂的擁護者認為這樣能夠改善顧客心情、提升員工生產力。

Muzak supposedly worked by arranging 15-minute blocks of songs that gradually increased in tempo and energy.

米尤札克大致上是讓音樂以 15 分鐘為一區塊，逐步增強音樂節奏和強度。

Going from something like this.

從這樣的波形。

To something like this.

變成這樣。

The goal was what scientists refer to as brain entrainment.

這樣做的目的是科學家所謂大腦的「共振紓壓律動」。

It's when our brainwaves align with stimuli in the outside world, like music.

這種現象發生在腦波和外在刺激 (如音樂) 對準的時候。

It's what gets you dancing and how your jogging pace seems to magically align with your music when you go for a run.

這就是為什麼音樂使人起舞，還有為什麼你的慢跑步伐彷彿魔法般搭配上音樂節奏。

But can we use brain entrainment to help us focus?

但我們能夠運用大腦共振紓壓來增進專注嗎？

That's exactly what Kevin Woods is trying to do.

這就是 Kevin Woods 正在努力的方向。

My name's Kevin Woods, I'm director of science at Brain.fm.

我是 Kevin Woods，Brain.fm 的科學主任。

What I do is data-driven sound design, to design music that I'll help you to focus, relax, and sleep.

我運用數據來進行聲音設計，設計出幫助專心、放鬆和睡眠的音樂。

The majority of music is made to distract you, and so that can definitely be a negative when you're working.

多數音樂都被設計來打擾你，當你在工作時那樣的音樂絕對會是負面影響。

Main culprits would be things like vocals, lyrics, human voice is an enormous disruptor. Strong melody.

主要的兇手有音樂人聲、歌詞；人的嗓音是極大的干擾，強烈的旋律也是。

Expectation and surprise are key in a strong melody, but those things are distracting.

強烈的旋律中一定會出現期待和驚喜，但是這兩者都會分散注意力。

You really want to minimize what we call salient events, things like snare hits.

最好避免所謂的顯著性元素，像是小鼓的打擊聲。

These musical elements are great for dancing or jogging, but not so much for focus because they demand your attention.

這些音樂元素用來跳舞或慢跑很適合，可是會妨礙專注，因為它會吸引你的注意力。

Good focused music tends to blend everything together to minimize their effects.

能幫助專心的音樂通常會把各項元素混合在一起，最小化各自的效果。

Audio processing techniques like applying a low-pass filter to minimize salient events and adding reverb make sounds fade into the background.

一些音效處理手法，像是運用低通濾波器壓低顯著性，還有加進殘響效果器，都能讓聲音融進背景。

Those things can help us pay less attention to our music, but the thing that helps us focus might be something called Amplitude Modulation.

上述那些可以減少我們花在音樂上的注意力，不過真正讓我們專注的可能是「震幅調變」。

The amplitude of a sound wave determines how loud it is.

聲波的震幅決定它聽起來有多大聲。

When the amplitude is modulated or changed, we hear this as a change in volume.

當我們調節或改變振福，就能聽見音量大小出現變化。

Talking like this through a fan is modulating the sound of my voice.

像這樣對著電風扇講話就是在調節我的聲音。

It's getting louder and softer at the same rate as the speed of bandwidth.

聲音變得更大聲、更柔和，改變的比率和頻率相同。

This rate is measured in Hertz or oscillations per second.

這個速率是以赫茲，或者說每秒鐘的震盪來計算。

Sounds in our music modulated all types of different rates, from super fast to super slow.

聽音樂時聲音也會有各種型態、不同速率的調節，從超級快到超級慢都有。

And a lot of these modulations can be distracting because they sound like...

而這些調節可能會使人分心，因為它們聽起來就是......

Buzzy, fuzzy, farty sounds.

活蹦亂跳的、雜亂的、扭曲的聲響。

Your alarm clock and telephone use these sounds to grab your attention.

你的鬧鐘和電話都是用這些聲響來抓住你的注意力。

But Kevin believes there is a specific range of modulation rates that act like the secret sauce of getting our brains to focus.

但是 Kevin 相信有特定範圍的調節率就像魔法配方一樣，可以促進大腦專注。

This modulation spectrum acts like a heat map that shows modulation rates in a piece of music.

這種調節光譜就像是熱能分布圖，顯示出一支樂曲裡的調節率。

The hotter the area is the more frequencies that are modulating at that rate.

某個區塊越熱，就代表有越多的頻率正在以該比率上下調節。

Hear that sound that sounds like a wobbly helicopter taking off?

有聽到那像是搖搖晃晃的直升機起飛的聲音嗎？

Modulation in this range of frequencies from about 12 to 30 hertz are called Beta Rhythms.

這種頻率範圍的調節，大約是從 12 到 30 赫茲，被稱作貝塔節率。

Our brainwaves modulate at this rate when we're awake and alert.

當我們清醒又警覺的時候，腦波就是以該比率進行調節。

Beta rhythm brainwaves are linked to problem solving, decision making, and focus.

貝塔節率的腦波牽涉到問體解決、決策，以及專注力。

When the sounds in our music modulate at this rate, brain entrainment takes over and our brainwaves modulate at this rate too, making it easier to concentrate on our work.

當音樂以該節律調節，就會出現共振紓壓律動，讓腦波也跟著改變，因此專注於手中任務會變得更容易。

A good example of what prominent beta rhythms can sound like in a piece of music is this track: Intriguing Possibilities from the movie The Social Network.

究竟顯著的貝塔節率在一支樂曲中聽起來如何，電影《社群網戰》原聲帶中〈耐人尋味的可能性〉就是個好例子。

It's not just beta rhythms, there's modulation rates that can help with sleep and relaxation as well.

裡面不只有貝塔節率，還包含幫助睡眠和放鬆的調節率。

These secret sauce beta rhythms can hide in all different types of places in our music, but where could they be hiding in Lofi hip-hop?

這些潛藏的魔法貝塔節率可能存在於音樂的各種地方，不過在低傳真嘻哈音樂裡它們躲在哪呢？

One of the characteristics of this lo-fi music are these really dense chords.

低純真嘻哈音樂其中一項特色就是這些非常緊密的和弦。

When you have notes that are very close together, the result is amplitude modulation.

當你把音符緊密地湊在一起，結果就會出現震幅調變。

You see that those dense chords are producing modulation that's very similar to brain amplitude secret sauce.

那些緊密的和弦會製造出非常相似於大腦震幅的變化。

You can hear it too. When you hear those dense jazz chords, you hear that wibbly-wobbly in the interaction between the notes.

你也聽得出來，當你聽見那些緊湊的爵士和弦，你會在音符律動之間聽見搖擺元素。

So, maybe cue up some strong beta rhythms next time you sit down to study because music isn't just about what's happening in your headphones, it's also about what's happening in between them.

因此下回坐下來念書，準備好一些強烈的貝塔節率來聽吧；因為音樂不只是耳機裡的律動，它還關係到音符之間的變化。

Wow!

哇噢！

Modulation.

是調節耶！

What's your go-to focus music?

你想好好專心時都聽什麼音樂呢？

Let us know in the comments below and like and subscribe for more Cheddar deep dives and breakdowns.

請在下方留言區告訴我們，並且訂閱 Cheddar 頻道來觀看更多探究與解析。

Make sure you click that little bell so you can turn on notifications.

記得要點這個小鈴鐺開啟通知喔！

And we can align our brainwaves so you'll know exactly when we're dropping new videos.

這樣我們就能對準腦波，釋出新影片你就會馬上知道。