Jun 20

Written by: Steve Erbach
Friday, June 20, 2008 4:40 AM

I was sitting in our car for a few minutes waiting for my wife and daughter to come out of the store the other evening.  I heard this almost subsonic, thumping bass line coming from somewhere.  Knowing that bass is omnidirectional, I didn't crane my neck around trying to locate it.  I waited a few seconds and, just as I expected, here comes a small, beat up car that's been tricked out in a sad sort of way.  That's where the thumping bass was coming from.  Windows closed, too; I couldn't hear any lyrics, if you can call them lyrical.

This time, though, I actually tried to figure out what the deal was.  I mean, we've all heard about the effects of subsonics on emotional state.  I figured that the producers of this form of rythmic atmospheric vibration (aka, music) must know that it messes with the emotions, too.  I couldn't detect notes, as in musical notes.  But it wasn't drumming; I'm pretty sure it was some sort of synthesized bass line in the "song" emanating from this pissant little car.  I guess the point isn't to support a melodic line of any sort, it's simply to pump up the emotions in some queasy, subliminal way.  I heard this stuff across half a parking lot.  I cannot imagine actually sitting in that car at those volume levels with that bass hammering not just my ears but my bones.

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