iPods increase performance?

The Winter Olympics motto is Passion lives here, and music plays a big role. (Yes, despite my lack of TV I found a way to watch the snowboarding and last night's ice skating.) It seems you can't swing a cat in Torino without hitting an iPod.

First it was the US snowboarders, who have iPod controls built into their Olympic uniforms (some even had the tunes coming through their helmets). And no, it wasn't Apple sponsorship. These riders need the tunes to compete. I had originally assumed it was just a warm-up thing, but many of them actually have it playing during their event. A Baltimore Sun story explains that when halfpipe gold winner Hannah Teter announced that during her gold-winning performance she was listening to a song from her boyfriend's band, it immediately sent 37,000 hits to the band's Strive Roots blog.

But last night, I couldn't help notice that the fabulous young skater Sasha Cohen was warming up and staying focused with her iPod. She couldn't wear it during her performance, but she spent that agonizing endless time before she skated (she was dead last) loosening up, singing along, and blocking out everything including the other competitors' performance.

So what is it about music and performance?

From the Sun article:
"Experts say the proliferation of iPods this Olympics merely highlights the long-standing relationship between athletes and music. Competitors have long been known to rock out before performances or during practices, in order to relax or reach their ideal 'arousal levels', according to Sam Zizzi, a professor of sports and exercise psychology..."

[There's another good article about the Olympic iPod thing at the New York Times]

And it's not just athletic performance--I bet way more than half of you use music to focus or stay motivated whether it's coding to drum n' bass with LTJ Buken, or cooking to Beethoven's seventh, must of us have a soundtrack to go with our passion or being in flow.

Music tells us what to feel. Without music and sound design, most movies lose their emotional pull. One of the more obivous sound design examples is the 5/4 drum beat used in the Lord of the Rings movies. Think back to the Orcs... the Isengard Theme and Mordor 5/4 asymetric beat would have made you feel very uncomfortable regardless of the visuals. Your body does NOT like it. (For non-musicians, here's a midi example of 5/4, slowed way down so it's not as disturbing, but you'll still get the idea.)

But sound is still the forgotten stepchild of multimedia, among non-professionals. Everybody is at least an amateur photographer now, but where's the FlickR equivalent for music? (Although breakthrough products like Garageband are a huge first step... finally.) More and more students today are expected to develop a greater visual/graphics sensibility than ever before, but music is still seen as "for musicians"--for those who play an instrument. Then again, there is a bright spot that the definition of "instrument" is changing thanks to turntablism...

So back to Olympic athletes, music, and passion... there's still a big debate over the whole Mozart effect, and the effect of music on learning and retention. But at the very least, music (or even white noise) can help you focus and concentrate and stay in flow by blocking out other distractions. The problem with higher-level cognition and music is when the music itself becomes too distracting, so I normally prefer music with no or very unobtrusive vocals if I need to think. If it's just about staying awake, give me something faster than my heart beat!

I'd love to hear what kind of music (or silence) you prefer when you want to focus and stay in flow. What works for you?