Music and Moods - The Science of The Drop

If you wore guyliner (or eyeliner) with shiny boot cut pants and know what the Palace in Hollywood smelled like before it got turned into Avalon, break out your glowsticks and let this lesson in drops tickle your Medulla Oblongata.

By J.C. SutherlandMar 13, 2025

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If you’re into any kind of dance music created electronically (I’m trying avoid the term EDM because it annoys me for reasons I can’t completely articulate, and yes, I fully realize that I basically just used the same three words in a different order.), you’re undoubtedly aware of the importance of the culmination of the buildup (The term ‘Drop’ also annoys me. I’m basically the comic book guy of high BPM music created by electronic means.).

While good EM created for D (okay that may be worse) still relies on having some kind of catchy hook, whether that be melodically, rhythmically, or even lyrically (the system is down), to create a banger in this genre, you need to have a buildup of tension with a predictable release (okay, I’ll give in, a good drop). Part of an effective release is that it needs to be predictable. In studies, it's been proven that part of the pleasure hit from the drop is the anticipation, which is why for maximum effect the drop needs to hit when we expect it. Much like how the anticipation for a kiss can make the actual kiss more meaningful, screwing up that anticipated kiss is going to be extra cringey. A meaningless peck (to someone willing to receive) going off target can be awkward and funny, clonking teeth after gazing into someone’s eyes while Barry White is playing can put an end to things. The same parts of the brain are in play here as when we anticipate the drop. We’ve all probably been on dance floors when the DJ either intentionally, because they’re too fancy for a four count, or unintentionally screwed up the timing of the hit, and everyone on the floor kind of groans like they were low key violated–I’ve seen fifty people in a club throw up middle fingers toward the booth when this happened with a particularly famous drop.

There’s been multiple studies around the drop and what different parts of our brains get stimulated during the buildup and release. During the interval before the drop, the pre- and postcentral gyri, the parts we use to recognize rhythms, tempo, pitch, and intensity, show the most activity. Stimulation in these two areas creates a sensation of tension and anticipation. During the interval after the drop, there’s more activity in the inferior and middle frontal gyri areas used to interpret complex melodic structures. The side effect to this interpretation is a whole lot of dopamine, throw in the dopamine hits we naturally get from movement, also known as dancing, and we literally get the same chemical reaction as taking a drug–it’s a natural high.

We here at De-Fi do not condone drug use, but we also recognize the times we live in, so free of charge, here are some of our favorite (and cheesiest) songs with epic drops. Also keep in mind that this is highly subjective from someone who doesn’t really like Big Room or Dubstep, but grew up raving to Trance in the 90’s and early 2000’s, however it does cover everything from the late 90’s until pretty much today, so it’s not just an old man playlist (it's mostly an old man playlist). Some of those Big Room drops are like seeing the most beautiful cake in the world, only to bite in and find it tastes like sand--NO PAYOFF. That said, if you wore guyliner with shiny boot cut pants and know what the Palace in Hollywood smelled like before it got turned into Avalon, break out your glowsticks and let this tickle your Medulla oblongata.

Lastly, if you don’t like M for D created with E, this exists in a lot of other genres as well. Wagner has some pretty epic drops.