[caseyohara]

I recently got an MRI and the technician asked me what I wanted to listen to on the headphones. I said "Something relaxing, do you have ambient music?". This turned out to be a terrible choice; the music was so quiet I could barely hear it. Earplugs would have been better. I had some in my pocket that I brought but it was too late.

So after the claustrophobic panic subsided and I realized I was left in there with nothing but the loud machine and my own thoughts, I decided to listen to the machine as if it were music.

I found it supremely hypnotic and trance-inducing, almost meditative. I'm a big fan of deep and hypnotic techno, so the rhythmic MRI sounds were right up my alley. I'd probably have enjoyed it more with earplugs though.

[jonah]

When I had an MRI a few years ago, my conclusion about the sound was "add a melody on top of that rhythm, and it would go over quite well in an underground industrial music club in an abandoned warehouse outside of Berlin."

I haven't looked to see if anyone has actually tried to make music with the sound or not.

[leejo]

When I had one it felt like I was listening to early to mid 2000s Autechre. In other words, almost interesting, almost enjoyable, just not quite there.

[roywiggins]

Answer seems to be, yes:

https://whyy.org/segments/the-mri-is-a-source-of-anxiety-and...

You can also make music with the scanner:

https://youtu.be/7MRm5mD2YxQ

[adrianmonk]

> I said "Something relaxing, do you have ambient music?". This turned out to be a terrible choice; the music was so quiet I could barely hear it.

That was a golden opportunity to experience ambient music in the most historically authentic way possible!

Listen to Brian Eno's story of what inspired his 1978 album, "Ambient 1: Music for Airports":

https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2016/01/05/brian-eno-tell...

[mb7733]

You're not alone. The "music" combined with the visual sensory deprevation can be a trip. Some machines are completely featureless on the inside and I've found it can feel like I'm floating in a bit open space, not crammed into a magnetic tube!

[roywiggins]

The strong field can induce vertigo as well, it's pretty weird. You don't even need to be in the scanner- the field itself causes it by mucking with your inner ear.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362897

[mcbain]

I get an MRI Brain every three months. I usually opt out of the piped music - mostly because it's either a bad choice by the radiology techs or tuned to a generically awful radio station - but the headphones lock into the head cradle so I use them with earplugs underneath. I close my eyes and tune out and try to not sleep (and twitch so they have to restart the capture).

Some of the pulse sequences are rhythmic and I find the entire thing somewhat meditative, but there are many other places I'd rather be.

[djhope99]

This is exactly how I approached it the first time with just the ear plugs. I find those machine sounds can be quite soothing and hypnotic on their own. I’ll give the music a miss next time.

[lostlogin]

Earplugs and music is the discerning choice.

Most (all?) vendors suggest this - they get well over 100db and the vendor headphones are pretty crappy.