We now know quite a bit about sound – in fact there’s a whole branch of physics dedicated to it. We’re experts on how it’s made and how it’s transmitted. What falls outside the scope of physics, though, is its effect on our psyche. We do have more or less scientific explanations and mechanisms for the effect sound has on our body: as far as what we usually refer to as noise is concerned, we know what effect it has on us and are well aware that it can be a nuisance and can lead to stress and even illness.

We’ve also got a fairly clear idea of the effect of sound on objects, dating back to the priests’ horns which brought down the walls of Jericho and climaxing with the German sound cannon in the Second World War. We now live in a world with sonic weapons. We shall be giving over one night of the Festival to this subject. We can also give both a fictional and a real-life example of the effect of sound on animals: the Pied Piper of Hamelin and snake-charmers with their been flutes, respectively. In use for over 30,000 years, wind instruments will also be in the Festival spotlight this year.

When it comes to ‘thinking noise’ – as Victor Hugo defined music – and its effect on our brain, another science, neurology, has come to some very useful conclusions for describing exactly how the brain works. Looking at other fields, the history and evolution of music is the remit of musicology, and for some time now psychology has been eager to say something about its influence on our state of mind, emotions and mood – although, despite its best efforts, in practice this is something that remains under our own control.

Once a sound has set our complex auditory system vibrating and all the information has been sent to our brain, we start an internal dialogue with what was once sound waves and is now music. Our own sophisticated individual cultural system now kicks in, and recognition devices start to decide which bits of information have been processed and which are to be processed. Connections are made with other bits of stored information, and the mind considers different future scenarios from the present flow of information. We are thus able to act effectively when we hear music and experience emotions – something not necessarily deductible from all the above. But it happens. We all have our own unique individual emotional equipment and response to each piece of music.

This eleventh edition of LEM Festival offers you many different kinds of music and invites you to discover them, interact with them and see what you feel. You don’t need a scientific approach; we at LEM will be very happy if you simply feel something. Let yourself be seduced. Let yourself go.

The Gràcia Territori Sonor team