White wine goes with fish and red wine goes with meat. But some new research from the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford has apparently unearthed evidence of an implicit relationship between what we eat and what we hear — between taste and pitch, as Scientific American reports.
The lab explores how the five senses–touch, taste, smell, vision, and hearing–interact with each other. Amongst the findings, their research on auditory and gustatory stimuli has suggested there may be implicit associations between taste and pitch. High pitched sounds are mainly associated with sweet and sour tasting foods while low pitched notes are more commonly paired with more bitter and umami tastes.
One of my favorite internet toys pairs any song you can think of with a cocktail. But the lab’s findings also suggest that what you’re listening to might change the way you taste:
Further, their research found that taste may be altered depending on the accompanying soundtrack. In one study, participants tasted pieces of cinder toffee while listening to different soundtracks–one with higher and one with lower pitched tones. The toffee was then rated on a scale that ranged from bitter to sweet. The result was a bittersweet symphony, showing that the participants found the toffee sweeter when paired with higher pitches and more bitter when accompanied by lower pitches. Unbeknownst to them, the toffee was identical–it was only the sound that had changed.
I won’t link you the Verve song, in case you’re eating. Apparently, the research was also used to develop a “sonic cake pop” at London’s House of Wolf, where after buying it you’d dial a number on your mobile — pressing “one” would produce a sound that made the dessert slightly sweeter, pressing “two” offers a tone geared toward a more bitter taste experience.
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