rroundings when we walked through the peaceful countryside with music playing. That said, despite there being more things happening in the city, we felt that we built a stronger relationship with our surroundings in the countryside rather than the city. This being due to the tranquility and space in the countryside, which contrasts heavily against how we became almost overwhelmed by sensory stimulation in a big city. This overwhelment stems from the intense sensory stimulants which are often too quick and excessive to mentally process and make clear distinctions. We found that, when listening to the music in the countryside, some of our senses were heightened. We noticed our surroundings much more, from the temperature to the overpowering smell of manure to when a branch brushed past our bodies. We thought that the amalgamation of the tranquil countryside and the experience of music created a much more meaningful place than that of when you are in the city.

In both crowded and isolated places, listening to your own music can be both therapeutic and soothing. Wherever you are, your experience can be individualised by the genre that you like to listen to. The experience of the environment in which you are is made completely distinct and personal through the music that you are surrounded by. For this, we decided to undertake a study of listening to different genres of music in the same location. We both took turns listening to either Heavy Metal and Jazz whilst sitting in a cafe and the outcomes could not have been more different. When listening to Heavy Metal, we found that everything seemed to rush past us but as soon as we turned over to Jazz, we were at much more ease. This shows that, given the variety of genres nowadays, there are so many different experiences to have in various places for each individual.

Looking back at all of our research, we have learnt a lot about our approaches to our surroundings and how our senses interact with our environment when engaging with music. In most cases, music seemed to dull our senses because we are so engulfed by the music that we are less aware of the things that are going on around us. Primarily, we thought that music just dulled our senses in urban situations to block out the chaos of the city. That said, music turned these spaces into place by giving the meaning; whilst the lyrics and the melody engrain themselves into your mind, you also attach meaning and emotion to the surroundings that you are walking through. We have become more observant and perceptive of the oddities which our senses encounter when faced with music in all of the different places and scenarios aforementioned and our engagement with music in the various forms will perhaps alter from now on. The study has also told us how unique and specific the experience of music is. As we have seen, there are