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3.4.3 Loudness: Emotional Appeal and Emotional Effects
Loudness has a certain amount of emotional appeal. Table 6 below lists some reported emotional effects of loudness.
As with emotional effects of pitch, those of loudness can be positive or negative for the same loudness characteristic, depending on the musical context.
TABLE 6 Emotional Effects of Loudness
Loudness Characteristics |
Associated Emotions |
|---|---|
| Soft (quiet) | Generally negative emotional valence—sadness, melancholy; but also tenderness, peacefulness |
| Soft, not varying much | Tenderness |
| Moderate, not varying much |
Happiness, pleasantness |
| Loud | Joy, excitement, happiness, triumph, generally positive emotional valence |
| Very loud, to distortion levels | Anger |
| Wide changes, soft to loud, especially if quick | Fear |