French-born Michel Bayan learned the basics of music from both his family (his father toured as a concert cellist in Europe) and by studying piano and composition at conservatories in Rome, Genoa, and Venice. After Bayan moved the United States in 1962, he became interested in "psycho-acoustics," the science of how sound and music affect the human body and emotions. For more than thirty years, Bayan, as director of his Audio-Acoustical Collage in Long Island City, New York, has researched sound. From his discoveries, Bayan developed a series of dental relaxation tapes in the 1980s. He later created musical environments call SANTs (Stress Anxiety Neutralizer Tapes) which are marketed as the Collage series. According to Bayan, he carefully selects all elements of the music: the piece (usually Baroque, light classical, inspirational New Age, or Spanish guitar), the arrangement, the sound of each instrument, the distinct sound of each musician, and the precise phrasing. After recording, the elements of the music -- the pitch, timbre, resonance, and tone -- are translated into a mathematical formula to determine the correlation between the sound and the physical/psychological responses. Bayan's Collage albums typically use chamber orchestra, live soloists, and keyboards. Bayan also records his own nature sounds to blend between selections. Collage I, Collage II, Collage IV, and Collage V are for relaxation. The relaxation series has been tested by New York clinical psychologist Barbara Chang, Ph.D., and were scored by the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing in Champaign, Illinois. The test results revealed that the SANT group showed significantly less anxiety, stress, and depression as compared to the groups listening to an easy-listening radio station, or who were in a music-free room. Collage VI is more upbeat and is designed as an energizer. Best of Collage offers a sampler of all albums. ~ Carol Wright, All Music Guide