What's in a Kpop Song? Incorporating Perception into the Hallyu Phenomenon

If I were to map out my college days in terms of my hobbies and interests, Kpop (short for Korean pop) would be at the front and center. Despite this, there was a time when I couldn’t really talk about liking Kpop to other people, especially to those who didn’t really like Kpop. This was mostly because if I brought up the topic, this is what most people have said”:

“Kpop? Why do you listen to Kpop?”

There’s a lot of ways to answer this question, but today I will try to answer this from a more perceptual point of view. To rephrase the question:

“What makes me want to listen to Kpop?”

One of the most common reactions I’ve had when I tell people that I listen to Kpop is this:

“Why listen to Kpop when you can’t even understand what they’re saying?”

It seems to me that people who ask this have this idea that music and lyrics are inextricably intertwined. While music and lyrics do work in tandem to create a song, lyrics aren’t necessarily needed to feel what a song is trying to say.

As an example, listen to the song If You Do by Got7. :) (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0iPB_JyS5g)

My Korean language proficiency isn’t even close to the basic level, but just from listening to the song, I could feel the hurt and pain it’s trying to convey.

In other words, I listen to Kpop because the songs can convey emotions even without me completely understanding the lyrics. This is because studies have shown that there music offers cues which, even without lyrics, allow people to perceive emotions in a song. One example of a musical cue is tempo, which indicates how fast or slow the beat is, and studies indicate that a fast tempo is associated with emotions like happiness or anger, while slow tempo is associated with sadness (Corrigall and Schellenberg, 2013). 

Going back to the song earlier, there were times when the tempo went faster and slower, which conveyed to me emotions like sadness.

Of course, there’s more to Kpop than just the emotions it conveys. I have heard numerous fans defend their interest in Kpop using different variations of this statement:

“Kakaiba yung music nila from Western [music] eh." (Kpop is different from Western music.)

If this is the case, what then makes Kpop so different from Western music?

Contrary to what some people might think, the way a typical Kpop song isn’t actually uniquely Korean. What makes Kpop sell is how it incorporates certain elements of Western popular songs, but also offering other elements which make Kpop stand out from other popular songs.

When compared to typical Western pop, Kpop songs usually aren’t actually all that different in terms of elements like rhythmic beats and the use of hiphop and rap; therefore, a typical Kpop song wouldn’t actually sound too different from Western pop (Tan, 2015). Despite this, Kpop capitalizes on the element of repetition and makes it work to its advantage.

Take some time to listen to this song  "Gee" by SNSD in order to understand how repetition works in a typical Kpop song. (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7mPqycQ0tQ)

One of the advantages Kpop has over Western music is how it can utilize the so-called “language barrier” to make itself stand out. In the song above, the words “Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee, baby” are sung within a string of Korean lyrics, which makes it stand out even to those with little English proficiency (Lie, 2012). So while a Western pop song may same hook or chorus, it would work better with a Kpop song because it would stand out.

Another common reason I’ve heard for being a Kpop fan is that Kpop songs are “dance-able”. In fact, Kpop songs are not just dance-able; they are almost always go hand-in-hand with dance. Go back to the two songs I have shown earlier. Choreography is just as important as the song itself, with synchronized dance moves being especially appealing to non-Korean fans (Oh and Lee, 2013).

Watch this dance video by Infinite to see their synchonized dance moves. (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeuejYoRbps)

This makes Kpop stand out because it provides fans with an additional means to remember the song not just by how it’s sung, but also by how it’s danced to. Kpop in particular seems to appeal to dancers, judging by the numerous dance covers of different groups which can be seen on the Internet. There has been research which demonstrated that watching dance performances while listening to audio has an effect on how people perceive music. One study showed that dancers who are familiar with the choreography of a song are able to attend to audiovisual stimuli in a more efficient way (Lee, Barrett, Kim, Lim, and Lee, 2015).

There’s so many ways to explain why Kpop is appealing, from how it can convey emotions despite the language barrier, how it also uses that very barrier to make its songs stand out, up to how it allows for a more multisensory experience of listening to music. At the end of the day, though, music is still music, and everyone is entitled to listen to what they want to. J

References

Corrigal, K.A. & Schellenberg, E.G. (2013). Music: The Language of Emotion. In Mohiyeddini, C., Eysenck, M., & Bauer, S. (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology of Emotions: Recent Theoretical Perspectives and Novel Empirical Findings  (Vol.2, pp. 299-326). NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Lee, K.M., Barrett, K.C., Kim, Y., Lim, Y., Lee, K. (2015). Dance and Music in “Gangnam Style”: How Dance Observation Affects Meter Perception. PLoS ONE, 10(8). Retrieved from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0134725&type=printable

Lie, J. (2012). What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry,

and National Identity. Korea Observer, 43(3), 339–363.

Oh, L. & Lee, H.J. (2013). K-pop in Korea: How the Pop Music Industry is Changing a Post-Developmental Society. Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review, 9, 106-124. Retrieved from http://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-9

Tan, M. (2015). K-Contagion: Sound, Speed, and Space in “Gangnam Style”. TDR: The Drama Review, 59(1), 83-96.

Beneath Darth Vader's Deep, Dark Voice: Perceptions of Villainy and Heroism in Speech

(c) 20th Century Fox

We all have our stereotypes when it comes to the heroes and villains of a show. In Marvel films, the villain's appearance should be dark, and creepy, sometimes even gooey, tentacle-y, and out-of-this-world. Disney films' villains also have distinguishing features such as dark secondary colors, misshapen faces, sinister smiles, and some non-human characteristics here and there. In a similar, but less obvious manner, heroes in a show have distinguishing features such as round eyes, elegant hair, light-colored clothes, and human-like body proportions. Compared to villains, however, there are a lot more variations in their appearance, from the tall, good-looking, buff Steve Rogers as Captain America, to the small, round, and cute Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls. Even today, majority of films make use of these stereotypes to depict how "good guys" and "bad guys" should look like.

(c) Disney

Does this stereotype also apply to their voices, then? Heroes sound flashy, villains sound gruff. When we think about famous "good guys" like Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender, we remember the voices that sound kind and reliable, as if saying that they'll protect us from danger. But, when we think about famous "bad guys" such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, we remember the deep and scary voices that send chills down our spines. What are in these voices that distinguish each type of character from the rest, and how are we able to know whether a voice sounds "kind" or "scary"?

Teshigawara Mihoko published two journal entries composed of four different research studies in order to analyze this phenomenon. She used three Japanese animated series and movies in order to extract the excerpts for the first study. While initially listening to the voices, she noted that villains tend to primarily express negative emotions such as anger, hatred, disgust and frustration, unlike the heroes who express a variety of positive and negative emotions. Villains should then be somewhat expected to have a voice that is more attributed to negative phonetic aspects, such as raised larynx , pharyngeal constriction, sharp, and harsh. Heroes, on the other end, should be expected to have a high-pitched, clear, and changing voice (if female) or a breathy, deep, soft, and relaxed voice (if male) (Hecht & LaFrance, 1995; Scherer, 1986; van Bezooijen, 1995). For this study, she used Laver's vocal profile analysis protocol (1994), which measure articulatory settings (supralaryngeal settings); phonatory settings (laryngeal settings) and settings of overall muscular tension. Sure enough, the results fit right in the expectations of the author. Heroes' voices in the anime series were high-pitched for the females, and breathy for the males, while villains' voices were deep and harsh. Since one of Japanese animated shows' distinguishing features is the voice acting befitting the character being played, it would be a problem when the viewers' expectations aren't met properly.

Have you heard this cute little guy's voice?

(c) Illumination Entertainment

The results obtained fit into the two hypotheses, but the study performed was not reliable enough. Teshigawara then performed another analytical study using a different framework. She used a modified version of Laver's descriptive framework for voice quality (Laver, 1994, 1980) in order to analyze 88 anime characters in order to obtain various examples of heroes (protagonists) and villains (antagonists). When mapping out these characters' voices in spectograms, she found that voices can be categorized into four types (Hero Type I & II, Villain Type I & II) according to significant epilaryngeal settings (patterns of laryngeal sphinctering and pharyngeal expansion). Teshigawara further defined these types using acoustic analyses of pitch and vowel formation, and additional spectrographic analyses.

To further support her previous studies, she performed a fourth, comprehensive quantitative-qualitative study that measured Japanese laypersons' perceptions of selected speech samples in an experimental setting where participants listened to content-masked speech excerpts. Twenty-seven (27) target speakers were selected, and participants were asked to rate their impressions of the speakers' age, gender, physical characteristics, personality traits, emotional states, and vocal characteristics. The personality traits marked by the participants for the speakers categorized under the Hero I and II types matched the universal characteristic personality traits for a typical "hero" character such as ""selfless," "loyal," "devoted", which was also characteristic for Japanese heroes in anime. These speakers also represented five traits as obtained from the NEO Personality Inventory: "selfless," "loyal," "devoted," "intelligent," and "conscientious."

(c) Google Images

Both  the expected and the observed between the role and representativeness of heroes and villains emerged in the majority of the interactions observed. This suggests that participants attributed less favorable physical traits, personality traits, emotional states, and vocal characteristics to speakers who exhibited non-neutral pharyngeal states regardless of the roles they played in the original cartoons.  Auditory seems to not be enough to be able to let individuals distinguish between a heroic voice and a villanous voice. Nevertheless, there occurs a process in between our auditory and visual perceptual systems which lets us accurately fulfill our expectations between the "good guy's" and the "bad guy's" images.

We, as viewers of popular media, should take into account not just the dark visuals, or the husky voices of the characters that we label as the villains, but also their true roles masked behind their demeanor. A well-known example for this is Batman, who we all know is not a terrible guy at all. While the variety between character styles and types increase through time, let us hope that these stereotypes do not become defining features of our self-concepts of evil and heroism.

(c) Marvel

References:

Laver, J. (1980). The phonetic description of voice quality. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Laver, J. (1994). Principles ofphonetics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Scherer, K. R. (1986). Vocal affect expression: A review and a model for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 143-1 65.

Teshigawara, M. (2003). Voices in Japanese animation: A phonetic study of vocal stereotypes of heroes and villains in Japanese culture(Doctoral dissertation, University of Victoria).

Teshigawara, M. (2010). Voices in Japanese Animation: How People Perceive the Voices of Good Guys and Bad Guys. Working Papers of the Linguistics Circle, 17, 149-158.

Van Bezooijen, R. (1995). Sociocultural aspects of pitch differences between Japanese and Dutch women. Language and Speech, 38,253-265.

Electroacoustic Stimulation for Partial Deafness

Auditory senses, like all other human senses, are subject to depreciation. Individuals suffering from mild to severe hear loss have considered cochlear implantation as a means to treat their condition. In 2008, the first cochlear implantation surgery in the Philippines was conducted. Doctors Charlotte Chiong and  Joachim Mueller performed the operation in the Capitol Medical Center. 

The cochlea is an important part of the auditory system. It is where the vibrations from the ossicles transmitted from the auditory canal is delivered. The cochlea contains the Organ of Corti, which contains the hair cells that are critical to transducting mechanical vibrations to neuronal signals. 

Often called Electroacoustic Stimulation or EAS, this procedure was first developed by Christoph Von Ilberg in 1999 as he demonstrated preserved resicual low frequency hearing by cochlear implantation where the patient wore a hearing aid in the operated ear.

While having stable low frequency hearing, a 33 year old patient was found to have degrading high frequency hearing. After performing poorly in speech perception scores; and since devices such as hearing aids did not solve his case, the patient resorted to EAS. 

The EAS system is comprised of two components. The external part is a microphone that gathers sounds and a processor that separately encodes low and high frequency energy. Afterwards, low frequency energy is transformed into an acoustic signal through the loudspeaker positioned in the ear hook and delivered into the auditory canal. This low frequency energy will reach and stimulate the apical part of the cochlea. High frequency energy on the other hand are converted to radio-wave like signals transmitted to an internal receiver. Then, electric signals are delivered to the implanted electrode array. It can be seen that the auditory system receives information via different paths but is still able to collect them and send these signals to the brain.

International development of the procedure lead to way to transform cochlear implantation to be minimally invasive, while boasting a  80-90% success rate. The operation starts via Soft Cochleoscopy where a careful drilling of the membranous labyrinth is performed. This meticulous process prevents ingress of blood and bone dust into the intracochlear compartment. After this, a small inscision is done to the oval window such that the electrode can be inserted. In this procedure some tropical antibiotics are applied to the operated area to control inflammation. Lastly, a soft tissue plug is applied to the electrode entry point to prevent perilymph or the liquid in the cochlea to spill.

                     A child who had undergone cochlear implant and uses an EAS device

After a considerable amount of time, the patient reported better overall sound perception and had performed better in speech perception tests. Patients reported improved conditions along prolonged experience with the implant.

Hearing performs a great role in people's perception. By just diminishing auditory acuity a tad bit changes lives; usually for the worse. Otolaryngologists have been performing operations like the EAS to improve hearing and the quality of life of the patients. New electrode designs that are thinner and more flexible are being developed to better accommodate patients and to preserve their hearing. The EAS technology spearheaded yet another breakthrough in prosthetic rehabilitation for hearing. 

References:

Chiong, C. (2010) Combined Electric and Acoustic Stimulation: Successful Treatment Option for            Partial Deafness. Philippine Journal Of Otolaryngology-Head And Neck Surgery. 25, (2).

Goldstein, E. (2013). Sensation and Perception. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 9th ed.

Music: For a Worse or Better World

Media can affect our behavior. A classic example is demonstrated in Bandura's bobo doll experiment entitled “Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models” (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961). In their experiment, children watched either an adult playing aggressively or non-aggressively to a bobo doll; control group had no exposure at all. It was revealed in their study that children exposed in aggressive behaviors had a significant imitative and non-imitative aggressive behavior. 

Music as a medium to affect behavior was also studied by researchers. A great avenue to transmit messages to a vast audience, music can be used to promote values and norms, to evoke emotions, and to influence others through lyrics and melodies. 

Extensive research has been conducted on the potentially harmful effects of listening to aggressive music. In several studies (Fischer & Greitemeyer, 2006; Anderson et.al, 2006), it yielded the same result as the bobo doll experiment - that listening to songs with violent lyrics can increase aggressive behavior. 

Over the last five decades, studies were mostly focused on the negative effects of violent and aggressive media. It was a widely accepted conclusion that violent and aggressive media can increase a violent and aggressive behavior (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007). The positive effects of media, however, was less researched on. 

General Learning Model (GLM) created by Buckley and Anderson (2006) is said to be the basis for the underlying effects of music on prosocial behavior Greitemeyer (2009a). GLM is theoretically based on Anderson & Bushman (2002) General Aggression Model (GAM). According to GLM, through learning,  any stimulus can have short-and-long term effects. As GLM is based on GAM, it also "describes a continuous cycle between the individual and the environment, and suggests that aggressive contents of violent media may affect a person’s internal state by altering their cognition, affect or arousal." These variable influence an individual's perception of the situation, which in turn had an impact on the person's decision-making processes in a social encounter. Applying the General Learning Model, a positive behavior may be activated if the media input is positive. 

Research studies testing if General Learning Model is indeed effective in activating positive behavior, various media is tested on prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior referred to as voluntary actions of an individual that are intended to help or benefit other people (Eisenberg and Fabes and Spinrad, 2006). Practices of prosocial behavior may be exhibited through different activities like sharing, comforting, rescuing and helping (Batson, 1998). Emotion and feelings is an indirect motivator of prosocial behavior. According to Lockwood (2014), empathy or a person’s ability to understand and connect to the experience of others is a motivating factor for prosocial behavior.

In a recent research study, Kennedy (2012) aimed to test if prosocial music can increase prosocial behavior. Participants were evenly and randomly assigned to each of  prosocial or neutral condition. Under prosocial condition, participants had to listen to ‘I’ll be there for you’ (Crane et al., 1995), ‘Count on me’ (Mars, Lawrence, & Levine, 2010) ‘Lean on me’ (Withers, 1987), and ‘Imagine’ (Lennon, 1971), whereas in the neutral condition, the songs were ‘Who are you’ (Townshend, 1978), ‘The lazy song’ (K’Naan & Thomas, 2010) ‘Gold digger’ (West, Charles, & Richard, 2005), and ‘Billie Jean’ (Jackson, 1983).  After listening to either set of songs, the experimenter will accidentally knock over a container of 20 pens. As a measure of the participants' prosocial behavior, the number of pens that the participants picked up was recorded. Then, Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), or PANAS, a 5-point Likert scale, was answered by the participants. PANAS was used to measure affect. 

It was found that participants under prosocial condition picked up significantly more pens than those of under neutral condition. Affect was similar on both prosocial and neutral condition, suggesting that tempo and melody influence mood rather than lyrics. 

Kind of music may be a preference, but the type of music one listens to greatly affects one's behavior. Choose your music carefully. :)


References:
Anderson, C. A., Carnagey, N. L., & Eubanks, J. (2003). Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 960 –971. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.960
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582.
Batson, Daniel C. (1998). Altruism and Prosocial Behavior. The Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed., edited by Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey. New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0195213769.
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev .psych.53.100901.135231
Buckley, K. E., & Anderson, C. A. (2006). A theoretical model of the effects and consequences of playing video games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences (pp. 363–378). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Eisenberg, Nancy (Ed); Damon, William (Ed); Lerner, Richard M. (Ed). (2006). Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development, Vol. 3, 6th ed., , (pp. 646-718). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc, xxiv, 1128 pp.Fischer, P., & Greitemeyer, T. (2006). Music and aggression: The impact of sexual-aggressive song lyrics on aggression-related thoughts, emotions, and behavior toward the same and the opposite sex. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1165–1176. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1177/0146167206288670
Greitemeyer, T. (2009a). Effects of songs with prosocial lyrics on prosocial thoughts, affect, and behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 186 –190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.003
Kennedy, P. (2013). The Relationship Between Prosocial Music and Helping Behaviour and its Mediators: An Irish College Sample. Journal Of European Psychology Students, 4(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/jeps.av
Lockwood, P. L., Seara-Cardoso, A., & Viding, E. (2014). Emotion Regulation Moderates the Association between Empathy and Prosocial Behavior. Plos ONE, 9(5), 1-6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096555