The music that makes medal winners  

European gold medallist for the 4x400m relay and silver medallist in the individual event, Charlie Carvell shares his secret on how music plays a critical part in his success.  

As he walks into a stadium, he can’t help but feel the 60,000 pairs of eyes that gaze down on him; “I need to stay relaxed” immediately enters Charlie’s mind. Placing his Beats headphones over his ears, he automatically scrolls down to one playlist dedicated to this moment. With a press of a button, the roar of the crowd vanishes as he locks in and focuses on the rhythms and melodies.  

Listening to music has become a crucial part of Charlie’s warm up. Leaving it out of his training enables him to maximise the effect that music creates just for races. He said: “I always have one playlist that doesn’t get touched unless I am there competing, and it will be the same songs over and over again. This means during race season it can get a bit boring.” Music helps channel his focus by reducing distractions such as conversations that people are trying to have with him. In his words, “I put my headphones in, and they can’t talk to me and that is what it is.” 

The playlist varies in pace and tempo with song selections based on music that he can sing to. It could be old school and upbeat music, or it could be slow music such as Adele, which also makes an appearance in there. Charlie commented: “I am always a big advocate of being as relaxed as possible. When I am competing it’s about relaxation and keeping everything the same as possible; music helps me get into the zone.”

Towards the end of his warmup, he has a couple of songs that are more specific, more upbeat. This is where Charlie thinks, “Right, okay now, I need to really dial in, and those ones are more upbeat and motivational. I try and listen to the lyrics and think about how I want to envision how the race will go.” 

Charlie demonstrates how music is versatile as different genres and tempos can be adapted to meet athletes’ preferences. When competing in the 4 x 400m relay, he said: “We all have an agreement that we listen to a certain type of music, then come back together.”

Music is an effective tool that benefits Charlie’s psychological state, helping him stay relaxed and increasing his focus, which leads to better results in his performance.

After conducting this interview, I wanted to explore the psychological effect that music has on performers, touching on the specific areas Charlie demonstrated where music benefitted him.

The battle against the UK's biggest killer

Our Dementia choir raises their voices to combat dementia.

Throughout your lifetime, music plays a significant role in creating memories. Music can be associated with a specific event, such as your wedding day or maybe a potential heartbreak. The memory and feelings can be recalled just by listening to the piece of music that takes you back to that time and place.  However, maybe one day memories that seemed so easy to recall become challenges and tasks that you once could do, you no longer can. Memory loss is the first sign of dementia and in the UK, there are currently over 944,000 people who have been diagnosed with dementia. This condition not only affects the individual but has a large impact on loved ones, who often watch those closest to them slowly fade away, without a cure.  

 Music has become a medicine to help challenge dementia. Vicky McClure and Mark De-Lisser's dementia choir, Our Dementia Choir, has been working hard to raise awareness and showcase the need for more support for dementia patients. Contributing to ground-breaking scientific studies, they found that regular sessions over three months demonstrated that the choir could achieve extraordinary achievements.  

Our Dementia Choir has highlighted not only the opportunities the choir has given to the group but also the power of music and song to change the lives of those living with the condition. The dementia choir has achieved tremendous successes singing live in front of 24,000 at Splendour Festival and recording their single, What’s Your Story at Abbey Road.  Mark De-Lisser said: “The main objective for me was that the choir was able to do it.” What’s Your Story demonstrated the strength that music gave to the choir. Mark said: “People who lived with dementia for how many years of their lives were able to go to Abbey Road and record a song.” 

 When looking into the effects singing has on the brain, Mark shared some of the evidence they found from the BBC documentary. He mentioned: “when we are singing, there is a part of the brain that has a lot more activity and that is the pleasure centre. This area of the brain brings us joy, happiness and excitement and when singing, the brain was on fire.” When playing music that resonated with the choir, such as old war songs or songs from their childhood. Mark said: “they instantly remembered, maybe not all the lyrics, but the melody they 100% got it.” 

 Music can be broken down into specific parts to encourage memory and recall. Mark has developed specific techniques that he uses, and these have been successful in increasing the memory and recall from the choir.

There are two key techniques that Mark focuses on when teaching. He always uses the hook of the song, which is the part of the song that everyone knows, and the layout of each song by putting it into medley form.  Mark explained how medley form works: “it is when we will use the chorus from, for example, Let's Dance by David Bowie, and then go into the chorus of You Are My Sunshine and then the chorus of We Are Family. We will use iconic songs but put them in medley form that links them together to make one performance, and therefore the people living with dementia don’t really need to remember too many lyrics.”

There are things they can recall and there are things they can’t, Mark explains. Most people can’t remember all the song but that does not mean those songs don’t resonate with us. Mark demonstrated this within our interview when asking me if I knew Billie Eilish’s song, Birds of a Feather. Immediately the chorus echoed around my mind, but when he asked me if I could sing the second verse, my mind went blank. Mark and Vicky know how to use memorable parts of the song to tap into people's memory and emotions: “for us we just want to give them something that is easy for them to pick up if they don’t have recollection in their short-term memory”. 

 The support of the choir provides opportunities to be a part of a community where everyone is fighting the same battle. Music has given carers extra support as well, as they can take a break from one-to-one care and sit back and listen, getting a glimpse of the person they care for reconnecting with their past. The choir is creating new memories that will remain present for a lifetime, especially the performance and records, because, as Mark says, “their voices will remain on that record forever.” 

The power of resonance: Sound Bath Therapy

Ruby Richards' insight into Alison and Michael's sound bath workshops; while exploring the therapeutic effect it has on the human body.

There I was, lying in the stillness of the room, feeling each part of my body slowly sink deeper into my mat. Gradually closing my eyes, a sense of anticipation lingered in the back of my mind, questioning what was going to happen next. The smell of incense and the sound of Alison’s soothing voice brought me into a state of relaxation and all I could focus on was taking one deep breath in and one deep breath out.

Slowly but steadily, my mind was filled with a high-pitched resonance, a sound that I had never heard before, but somehow, I felt so connected to it. All I could think about was how each part of my body was filled with this sound and how it made me feel so calm. A few moments later, an aura of twinkling sounds with intervals and much lower frequencies shifted the tone and the mood of the room. I felt my mind wander off into thoughts that I hadn’t considered for a while, feeling a sense of disconnection from real life but still processing relevant experiences. I felt as if I was in a dream.

What felt like ten minutes was forty-five; I was completely immersed in the magical sounds that Alison and Michael created. The sound bath carried me to a place where I was able to switch off from everyday life, with any feelings of stress and anxiety left at the door. This was my experience of my first sound bath.  

 Wanting to explore the benefits of sound baths, I thought the only way I could really connect and understand sound therapy was by taking part in a workshop. Based in Cannock at the Mind Body Lab, Alison Taylor-Smith and Michael Sewell’s sound bath workshop was an unforgettable experience, and I came out of the class with so many questions.  

 Michael started his sound bath journey after struggling with a lot of stress and anxiety. He said: “the doctors were about to write a prescription out for anti-depressants, and I thought there had to be an alternative.” After seeing the benefits from sound therapy, he went to Hawkwood College to study Gong Master training, qualifying as a sound therapist. Michael introduced Alison to sound bath therapy to help her cope with the stress of caring for her mum, who was battling cancer through COVID. She said, “I knew nothing about sound baths, and I was very reluctant to try it, but he eventually persuaded me. My first sound bath was totally transformational; it was a significant moment in my life.” 

 Sound baths have the power to help reduce stress and tension as our bodies react with the vibrations known as resonance, which is created by a series of instruments. Our bodies produce electromagnetic fields through cellular activities such as brainwaves. These bioelectromagnetic fields regulate physiological processes and if imbalanced, lead to disruptions to the body's natural frequencies inducing stress.

Michael said: “ Sound baths can restore balance throughout the body through harmonious frequencies and therapeutic sounds, helping you find the space of inner peace.” Alison explained that these work, “by using the sounds of the bowls and chimes to help the nervous system enter a parasympathetic state which is where rest and digest can occur.” The harmonic intervals are produced to affect emotions; these can create a dynamic within the pitch which creates auditory illusions of light and darker shades. The crystal bowls can generate 242 hertz, whereas the gongs can produce over 1000 hertz which creates resonance that everyone can feel. Repetition of sounds and tones causes the brainwaves to synchronise with the rhythm; this is known as entrainment. Michael said: “your brain synchs with alpha brainwaves and you enter the place you go just before you fall asleep. This brings you into a meditative state.” 

Whilst sound baths can help restore balance within the body, they also have multiple physical benefits. They help reduce pain by placing the bowls on areas where the body is hurting, which generates resonance within the tissue of the muscle, helping it relax. There has also been significant scientific research looking into how resonance can help kill cancer cells. It can also lower heart rate, lower cortisol levels, reduce blood pressure and produce dopamine.  

 Michael expressed the overall power of the sound baths is that “everyone has their unique way of feeling it; you can have a totally different experience every time you come, and you connect with your subconscious, depending on what's kicking around.” The practice “can open areas for relief by visiting places that they wouldn’t normally go to safely.” Alison added, “Life-limiting beliefs are rhythms you have stuck in your head that are stopping you from moving forward. The subconscious is telling them to go to the place of darkness through entrainment which helps individuals process and start to heal.”