Jymmin

Leipzig-based start-up Jymmin transforms movements into music. Fitness machines similar to those found at the gym are fitted with sensitive sensors which translate arm and leg motions into harmonious rhythms and melodies. Sophisticated software ensures that Jymmin always sounds good. Members of the group actually feel a bit like musicians in a band. Jymmin is a combination of the words “gym” and “jamming”, i.e. improvising music together.

No previous experience or musical talent are required for Jymmin, however. Professional athletes and rehab patients are already enthusiastic users of the new exercise technique. Developed in the heart of Saxony, this workout method unleashes feelings of happiness and has been proven to have many positive effects on mind and body. We visited its creator, Prof. Tom Fritz, in his Leipzig workshop and tried out Jymmin for ourselves.

I’m what you might call a music addict. I love playing all kinds of musical instruments, though I wouldn’t claim to be an expert at them. Jymmin brings together music and movement to trigger a real sense of euphoria. Personally, I can’t think of anything better than that!

Yes, the idea emerged about ten years ago following an ethnomusicological fieldwork project. I was visiting the Mafa people, some of whom live in an isolated area in the Mandara Mountains in northern Cameroon, near the borders of Nigeria and Chad. It’s like stepping back in time to the Iron Age. I was there to explore how music was perceived by people who had never heard western instruments before.

While I was there, I found out that the Mafa themselves use ancient techniques that combine music and physical exertion to achieve states we would regard as musical trances or ecstasy. On my return to Germany, I looked for a way to translate these probably thousand-year-old traditions into something that could be understood in a Western context and used without any risks to health.

The combination of music and movement makes the workout feel only half as strenuous. Participants experience an improvement in mood that lasts for an extended period. They are also less sensitive to pain. We have also noted that Jymmin reduces feelings of anxiety. Children with learning difficulties are able to concentrate better after a Jymmin session. We also found that Jymmin had many positive social effects when we used it in a rehabilitation centre for former drug addicts – that was a surprise even for the carers.

Exactly! If you take part in Jymmin and actually create the music yourself, you enjoy it much more than if you just passively listen to music. That’s something which always happens when people come together to make music. For example, with Jymmin a grandfather can play drum ‘n’ bass with his grandson and both of them will really enjoy it!

I believe it’s mainly because people are able to express themselves emotionally while at the same time being in a physically energised state. That is something you would normally only experience in particularly intense social interactions and emotional situations, perhaps even where it’s a matter of life or death. In such a state, we activate more motor control resources – so-called emotional motor control, which is often especially effective and precise. For example, think about the motor control needed for us to regulate our intonation. It comes easily to us. But if we try and simulate speech patterns for an audio book in a recording studio, they are extremely difficult to reproduce in a way that sounds believable.