Sounds, sleep & wakefulness: Michael Diamond on how sonics shape the mind

Music has long been a tool for manipulating the mind—whether it’s the pulse of a nightclub keeping us locked in, or the ambient lull coaxing us into slumber. But what if the link between music and our cycles of wakefulness and sleep was more than just anecdotal? What if it could be studied, mapped, and utilised in new ways?

Enter Michael Diamond, an artist and musician whose latest EP, ‘Placid Wakefulness’, was shaped by his deep-dive research into the intersection of sound and neuroscience.

While studying medicine, Michael found himself drawn to research exploring how music influences our circadian rhythms. Partnering with esteemed academics, he set out to investigate the sonic elements that elevate (or lower) our energy levels. In the process, he interviewed a roster of top-tier DJs—including Call Super, Objekt, object blue, and Mr Bongo —to better understand the nuances of this phenomenon from those who shape it firsthand.

While Michael didn’t set out to make a record that mirrored his scientific discoveries, the osmosis of ideas between his research and creative process is undeniable, leading to a body of work that evokes hypnagogic states, late-night clarity and foot-tapping excitement. The duality of sleep-inducing and energising sounds is prevalent throughout the project, juxtaposing one another seamlessly.

With his work and this project, Michael also opens the door to broader conversations about music’s role in healthcare, mental well-being and treatment of conditions and afflictions.

In our conversation, he unpacks his findings, the subconscious ways his research shaped the EP, and how understanding the mechanics of sound could lead to new frontiers in both dance music and medical applications.

We suggest you listen to ‘Placid Wakefulness’ as you read more about Michael and his findings.

Tell us a bit about your research and how you got into this!

I’m interested in the potential of music in general. This project has to do with music and its effect on our sleep and wakefulness. Wakefulness is kind of the opposite of sleep, in its most extreme form it’s this highly energised and acutely attuned state. DJ sets, nightclubs, or raves can be places which give people that heightened sense of energy (or ‘wakefulness’), of course, many other things about those places that contribute to this energy and there’s plenty of research on those kinds of stuff already, but what I’m most interested in is what, if any, are the musical factors at play in facilitating this state and how might they interact with the others.

I got into this very much by luck. In my final year of uni and as part of the medicine course, I had the opportunity of a 3-4 month period to explore any ‘medical’ interest of my choosing. I, of course, wanted to make it somehow related to music, and I reached out to Prof. Eric Clarke and it just so happens he was interested in electronic music specifically and had some projects based at a new research network he had become a part of (Sleep & the Rhythms of Life, based at TORCH). The network is composed of academics across different disciplines, all coming together to investigate the topic of sleep and circadian rhythms with a broader approach.

I started working with Eric in this network on the topics above and just kept on collaborating well after I left university. Have to say it’s been an absolute pleasure, it’s given me so much to put my mind to and really opened up a whole world of things I find deeply interesting.


Who did you interview in this project study and why these particular individuals?

So the project had a few different arms, in terms of the interview bits–there were two branches to that aspect, one was in-depth interviewing with DJs I like and another being a survey for anyone with rich lived experiences of raving, going out, clubbing, and so on.

The intention was to collect opinions on the various factors that might be at play in a rave/club setting/behind the decks which could affect energy levels (and thereby influence ‘wakefulness’).

For the DJ interviews, I reached out to quite a few who I admire. I had loads of incredibly interesting chats about music, psychology and more. The conversations focused on their experiences and thoughts on the musical and non-musical features that might dictate people's energy levels, which is a potentially endless conversation.

To get a more systematic and formal collection of opinions, I carried out surveys—getting a wide variety of people’s experiential thoughts on how and why music affects them. This was especially interesting.

I’m looking forward to sharing more about it in the coming months. I’m so massively grateful to those who took part in what was quite a lengthy set of questions! And so much gratitude and respect for the truly world-class DJs who took time out of their busy lives to chat with me about this; Call Super, object blue, Mr Bongo, Objekt and a few others.

How does the process of creating or experiencing music physiologically affect our alertness or relaxation?

I think we all have an implicit understanding of how music affects us in terms of energy or relaxation—certain bits of music might make us feel X, whilst others might make us feel Y. From the psychology point of view, and if we’re talking about alertness/relaxation here (not dismissing the fact that there are of course a whole host of other psychological effects music can have) there are multiple musical features which are more reflective of (and therefore conducive to) one of either sleep or wakefulness.

There’s been plenty of great books and papers written on this (many by Prof. Clarke himself), but to maybe summarise things; the effect of music on energy levels is multifactorial–anyone who makes music will know there are plenty of compositional techniques that can be used to calm or exhilarate–and these can all happen in tandem, and in parallel with each other.

A basic example would be filtering; sweeping the low-pass or high-pass can give the illusion of movement; you can make it sound like a noise is coming towards you or going away from you, which is a useful tool.

Or the fact that loud bass will arouse the nervous system and playing with its arrival and withdrawal can also create tension and release. Basically, loads of individual phenomena exist, and they can obviously all happen at the same time, or in varying combinations or extents and to varying degrees of intentionality.


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How did the research influence your approach to creating ‘Placid Wakefulness’, if at all?

To be honest I didn’t really consciously think about the research to create the music initially—I just made whatever was in my head as I always do. The tunes were started round about the time I was getting involved with these projects and the following months doing both the research and working on the tracks with my mind occupied with all these new ways of thinking about music inevitably resulted in a lot of cross-pollination between the two.


Your EP reflects a balance between sleep-inducing elements and more energetic ones. Was this balance something you consciously pursued, or did it emerge naturally as you were in the creation process?

Definitely naturally. The tracks have gone through various mutually unrecognisable forms before arriving at their current states–and that process is always guided by how excited it makes me feel in the moment. On reflection, I noticed how these tracks do possess a lot of elements conducive to sleep, but also have some more energising elements - and that maybe that's why they give me this hazy-clear, dreamy alertness in-between feeling that I like.

Read this next: Turn up the wind-down: slumber tips for night owls


Do you see future music projects leaning more into your scientific discoveries? Or do you aim to keep the two worlds separate?

I don’t necessarily see my music projects actively leaning towards or away from the academic stuff in future. I will always be making music and being receptive to whatever life brings. Much like this EP, everything just sort of fell into place without me having to do much actual planning. Meeting Eric, making these tracks, doing the research, and hosting fun events just seemed to come super naturally.


You talk about the potential for music as a tool in healthcare. How might this research topic influence therapeutic practices in the future? Could you say more about this?

Yeah, I do think there’s undiscovered potential for arts to be used in healthcare. The arts are already being used in healthcare in various forms, such as in social prescribing which aims to give people social and mental wellbeing, in stroke patients to restore speech, and in ADHD to help focus attention. However, at the moment its implementation and accessibility are quite limited.

As we understand more about the relationship between the arts and the perceiver, we can inevitably think of more creative ways of using the arts in these contexts. I hope that in the future, accessibility to all the positive health and well-being benefits of engaging with the arts will increase so that it’s accessible to all.


Read this next: Artist Spotlight: Noriko Shakti manifests zen through the power of the drum


What are your thoughts on AI's role in personalising music to suit individual states of wakefulness or sleepiness? Could music based on personal data become a new therapeutic tool?

Yeah, there is definitely potential for it, but I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing overall…I guess if you were to think of possibilities there’s surely gonna be some way in which AI can use personal data combined with these psychological theories to get better at suggesting music intended to guide people towards increasingly specific psychological effects.

It might well be used as a tool in healthcare (not considering other barriers), but I imagine this kind of individualised algorithmic tool could also end up being used by corporates, streaming platforms or whatever else for better or for worse. I’m also not convinced that AI will be able to ‘perfectly’ know anyone’s music taste–that’ll remain unique, AI will just get better at approximating it.

Jazz harmonies and soft melodic instruments are prominent in the project. How do these elements represent the balance between sleepfulness and wakefulness for you?

I guess those elements, amongst others, could be said to have a balance between sleep or wakefulness—the timbres are quite soft whereas the melodic and harmonic structures jump around quite a bit. Again I didn’t think about this when I wrote it, but one thing I noticed is that some of the melodies have ‘lullaby’-like characteristics–the melodies are often highly repetitive, melodically simple, have small-ish interval jumps within the melody, if harmony is present then it'll again be repetitive, they’re generally sung in quite a slow soft tone and in a low register.

Lullabies across cultures around the globe also tend to share these features, and one interesting idea of how they lull infants to sleep is via the social mechanism of music to communicate. You might hear these things if you listen to this record, and you might well also find the opposite in some places.


Read this next: Five tips for keeping your mind & body healthy in the studio


Are there specific moments or tracks on the EP that you feel especially encapsulate your findings? Could you describe one of those?

Honestly, no not really, there are multiple moments across the tracks that I could point to which might highlight specific points but no single moment encapsulates all the different ways in which music can affect us emotionally. Since, as I say there was never any formal way in which the research designed the sound of the EP I never tried to make ‘perfect examples’.

But if you wanted to chat about something as an example then I’ll bring up one point that was discussed at the launch party discussion at Jumbi—someone raised the interesting concept of ‘imagined space’ in relation to how I closed the first track, that sounds can create an illusory environment around you that is made up and only a fabrication of what you’re hearing.

We can think of sound as the representation of the movement of physical objects, and by listening to music your mind can almost back-translate what the imaginary visual counterpart would be, the resulting visual scene for the auditory scene. I guess manipulation of space and the objects (sounds) that sit within it is quite a powerful tool at a musician's disposal to either draw attention or calm, or whatever else.

You’ve described the EP as "dreamlike". Was this a goal of yours, or did this mood develop organically?

Yeah, it just happened organically. I’m continuously being shaped by the music I listen to and life more broadly, and that's led to my current sound. I’m sure it’ll continue to evolve as I do. I chose these tracks to be packaged together in the EP format because I felt they shared a certain aesthetic, but within that aesthetic also had enough diversity between them.


Read this next: Have you got ‘rave fatigue’?: Why we’re all so tired after lockdown


From what you've learned, do you feel that listeners should become more conscious of how their music choices affect their moods and energy levels?

I think we all have some implicit understanding of how music affects our mood and energy, whether that be in a conscious way or not - that’s surely one of the main reasons why we might choose a certain track over another right? For some people consciously choosing music based on their mood/intended goals might help regulate emotions or guide thought, for others, it might be useless—people should try and see what works for them.


What artists do you think balance the "sleepfulness/wakefulness" you spoke about, both in their sets or productions?

Yeah, I have loads of admiration for those producers and DJs who seem capable of commanding my feelings at will—a true mark of musicianship. Plenty of artists, producers and DJs spring to mind, so I’ve just splurged a random list off the top of my head of people whose output I’ve been enjoying recently: Objekt, Mani, Laurel Halo, Call Super, Donato Dozzy, object blue, Zenker Brothers, Bendik Giske, Fadi Mohem, Upsammy and Djrum.

Read this next: Is 'The Sesh' starting to catch up with Millennials?


How has your view of music changed throughout this journey, from initially discovering the link between music and neuroscience to creating this project?

In some ways it’s not changed all that much—I still experience and feel music in the same way, but I still write music in largely the same way too. But in other ways yeah I feel that my views have shifted and evolved loads, I feel I now have a slightly broader understanding of music. That hasn’t come from this project alone though, throughout uni I always had an interest in how my studies related to music and always threw myself at the rare opportunities when I could take that interest further. It’s all shaped my understanding and interest to become what it is today and I'm excited to continue letting it grow as I do.


You’ve brought together so many contrasting elements in your career and music; is there a broader message or experience you hope listeners take away from your work?

It's an interesting question and one that I've thought a lot about over the years. In terms of the experience I wish to get across—I just like making tunes for my own enjoyment. If my music is able to reach and resonate with other people too then that’s a bonus. But a more interesting question is what is my purpose in my career more broadly?

My last album was about cultural identity whereas this one is about music and the mind—quite different, but they were both completely genuine products. So, yeah, what would the unifying thread be?

I think I am curious to learn and ask questions, I love making art purely as a pastime, but if I can also use it to learn something new—whether that be about myself or the world—then that's a potentially powerful combination. And it’s just nice to share that process and raise those points with others.

[Images via Aaron Hammond Duncan, Ollie McKenzie & Teodora Andrisan]

Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.

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