ABSTRACT
The Edison Company's research on early 'mood music' by the late 1910s and early 1920s was quite deliberately articulated to scientific methods of the day. It is based, not upon arbitrary arrangement or opinion, but upon scientific experiments, instituted by Mr. Thomas. A. Edison, and conducted by a corps of noted American Psychologists. The project was formally initiated in 1920 when Bingham was contracted by the Edison Company to begin research on determining 'the mental effects of music'. The researchers also conceived this 'experimental study of music as an aid in synchronizing routine factory operations'. The anecdotal nature of these stories which the Edison promotional machine was all too eager to press into service appears to have motivated a side project to the research on mood music. This chapter explores an age of 'self-analysis', states the trade publication promoting the 'mood change parties', 'and the Edison Mood Change Chart offers one of the most fascinating means of studying emotional reactions'.
