Emotional associations with timbres and note intervals

[John Proctor <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

Has anyone on the list done any research or have any thoughts or 
opinions on the reasons for the spontaneous experience of particular 
emotions on hearing certain timbres or note intervals. Some such sounds 
appear to posses a quality of happiness or sadness  but it is difficult 
to say why. Is this emotional reaction inherent in our 
auditory/emotional systems or is it conditioned through early exposure 
to sounds such as laughter or crying? If it is inherent, then is there 
evidence that it is inherited through a process of evolutionary 
selection? Or is there some other explanation that I am missing? I'd be 
really interested to hear people's thoughts on this as it's been on my 
mind a lot recently.

Thanks.

John Proctor
Humanoid Sound Systems
http://www.humanoidsounds.co.uk