TikTok's core memory audio trend, explained

TikTok has declared what a memory sounds like, but it's not that simple. 

The app has become a way for its users to paint a clearer picture of themselves, where we categorize our likes and dislikes into trends to reach a better understanding of our own identities. The latest is the "core memory" trend, in which TikTok creators utilize the in-app echo voice effect and overlay it with Dorian Marko's piano track "Cornfield Chase." The combination makes any clip feel more sentimental, nostalgic, and cinematic. 

The core memory trend took off at the beginning of 2022, the tag has been viewed over 625 billion times, and so far "Cornfield Chase" has been used in over 2.7 million videos. Under the sound you will find a host of special memories. There are videos of gender reveals, engagements, and birthday parties, in addition to unremarkably mundane moments that you’d have to be a part of to understand their emotional gravitas. 

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A popular video utilizing this trend shows a group of friends cutting a cake using wine glasses. In the background, you can hear laughter and someone say, "Oh shit." The fuzzy voice effect and instrumental music make a rather basic expletive sound faraway and dreamy. The video has over 16 million views and 2 million likes. The comments section is filled with responses like, "this sound is so calm…put a smile on my face," and friends are even tagging each other saying, "let's make memories like this."

The voice effect and accompanying song make any ordinary clip wistful. Credit: TikTok / anniesannoying Credit: TikTok / anniesannoying

Most of the videos under this trend are captioned with some variation of "this is what a memory sounds like," but the relationship between sound and memory is much more complicated than that. To understand why TikTok thinks this is what a core memory sounds like we spoke with AJ Denne, a music therapist who co-runs the popular account @theonewith.music.therapy on TikTok. 

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"The echo effect distorts the sound of the video to make it sound like it's being played from a distance," Denne told Mashable. And that perceived distance is what makes us recall certain memories. "I can see how people can create a memory in their brain, and to them it sounds like it’s really far away because the memory is from far in the past."

The idea of a core memory only recently became popularized on TikTok, but it first became part of the internet’s vocabulary back in 2015 thanks to Pixar’s Inside Out. The children’s movie presents a simplistic model of memory and personality organized by five core memories that define you. In the film, the protagonist Riley's core memories include scoring her first hockey goal and playing with her best friend, which ultimately correspond to the five pillars of her personality. While there is no neurological or psychological basis for core memories, it presents an easily accessible model to understand the foundation of someone's personality. Wouldn't it be straightforward if your entire personality could be explained by five moments of your life?

"Core memory" comes from Pixar's "Inside Out." Credit: TikTok / anniesannoying

On an app where everyone wants to be the main character, the core memory trend makes every moment, even the most ordinary, feel transcendent — like it made you who you are today.

The way we think about memory isn’t the only thing shaped by media. The way we understand sound is, too, says Denne. "We associate a minor key with a sad sound and a major key with a happy sound. When you watch a movie you know if it is going to be a happy or sad or action-packed scene because the music reflects that,” she explained. The same logic can be applied to the sound of memories in our favorite films and television shows.

We associate a minor key with a sad sound and a major key with a happy sound.

"The echo effect is often used in TV and movies to let the audience know that they are referring to something that already happened, so your brain knows to associate that far away sound with a memory," continued Denne. 

But Denne cautioned that sounds and memories are highly individualistic. "As far as memory association goes, what happens to your brain when you hear a sound versus another person hearing the sound can be two totally different things."

It's what makes this trend so captivating. No two memories are exactly alike, but the feelings they evoke? Everyone can relate to that.