From Massage to Underwater Music: The History of Musical Massage
Touch, water and music have accompanied human cultures for thousands of years.
Massage uses touch.
Bathing uses immersion and heat.
Music uses sound and vibration.
During the 20th century, technology gradually began bringing these experiences together.
Mechanical hydromassage replaced some of the physical actions traditionally performed by hand.
Later, underwater speakers introduced another possibility:
using music itself as part of an immersive aquatic experience.
This evolution ultimately led AquaMusic to develop the concept it calls Musical Massage.
Massage: One of Humanity’s Oldest Wellness Practices
The instinct to touch, rub or press a painful or tense area of the body is probably as old as humanity itself.
Across different cultures, manual massage developed into increasingly structured practices.
Ancient traditions in Asia, the Mediterranean region and the Middle East all used various forms of touch, manipulation and body care.
Although the techniques and beliefs surrounding massage differed considerably, one principle remained common:
The Human Hand Was the Main Tool
Massage required direct contact between practitioner and recipient.
For centuries, this remained the defining characteristic of massage.
Water Enters the Wellness Experience
Water also played an important role in many historical cultures.
Bathing was used for:
hygiene;
social rituals;
comfort;
relaxation;
recovery;
and, in some traditions, medical purposes.
The Roman thermal bath is perhaps one of the best-known examples.
Complex bathhouses combined water at different temperatures with steam rooms, exercise spaces and social areas.
Other cultures developed their own traditions, including:
Japanese bathing;
Turkish hammams;
Nordic sauna traditions;
mineral springs;
thermal baths;
and seaside bathing.
Water gradually became much more than a means of washing.
It became part of the human relationship with rest and well-being.
When Heat, Water and Massage Came Together
Combining warm water with massage created a new type of experience.
Instead of working only on a massage table, practitioners could use the aquatic environment itself.
Warm water offered:
buoyancy;
reduced body weight support;
increased freedom of movement;
and a comfortable environment for relaxation.
This laid the foundation for many modern forms of aquatic massage and hydrotherapy.
The 20th Century and the Rise of Hydromassage
The 20th century marked an important technological change.
Mechanical systems began reproducing massage-like sensations through moving water and air.
The development of whirlpool and jet systems made it possible to generate:
bubbles;
water pressure;
turbulence;
and targeted streams of water.
This meant that part of the massage experience could now be created without continuous manual contact.
The Jacuzzi Revolution
The name Jacuzzi became closely associated with this development.
The Jacuzzi family developed hydrotherapy pumps during the 20th century, and whirlpool bathing eventually became accessible far beyond medical and rehabilitation settings.
Over time, spas and hot tubs turned hydromassage into a mainstream wellness experience.
The principle was straightforward:
use moving water instead of the practitioner’s hands.
From Hydromassage to Musical Massage
AquaMusic approached the same idea from a different direction.
If moving water can create a massage-like sensation, could sound waves transmitted through water create another kind of sensory experience?
Instead of:
hand → body
or:
water jet → body
AquaMusic explored:
music → underwater speaker → water → listener
This idea became the foundation of Musical Massage.
The Origins of AquaMusic
AquaMusic has been developing underwater sound systems since 1992.
The company’s work began with a simple technological challenge:
How Can Music Be Reproduced Clearly Underwater?
Underwater audio already existed for communication and signalling applications.
But music creates a more demanding challenge.
A musical recording contains:
bass;
voices;
harmonics;
percussion;
dynamics;
and subtle tonal variations.
The objective was therefore not simply to produce an audible signal underwater.
It was to create a genuine musical listening experience.
AquaMusic has continued developing waterproof and underwater speakers for swimming pools, spas and aquatic facilities for more than three decades. (aquamusic.us)
François Louche and Early Underwater Music Research
Another important part of AquaMusic’s history is the work of French composer and researcher François Louche.
According to AquaMusic’s historical documentation, Louche began creating underwater music experiments in 1980, initially in connection with marine mammals at the Vancouver Oceanographic Museum.
In 1986, he began adapting his approach to human underwater listening.
His research explored:
musical composition;
bioacoustics;
sound perception;
vibration;
and aquatic listening.
These experiments helped create an artistic and perceptual framework for later underwater music experiences. (aquamusic.us)
2007: The Concept of “Musical Massage”
AquaMusic founder Noël Canivenq later used the term Musical Massage to describe an immersive underwater listening experience.
The principle was based on combining several elements:
warm water;
flotation;
minimal movement;
submerged listening;
and music transmitted directly through underwater speakers.
The term does not mean that music literally replaces manual massage.
Instead, it describes the subjective sensation created by acoustic vibration, immersion and focused listening.
How Does Musical Massage Work?
A Musical Massage session can be very simple.
1. Enter a Warm Pool or Spa
The aquatic environment should be comfortable enough to remain still for an extended period.
2. Float or Rest in the Water
The listener adopts a comfortable position and allows the water to support the body.
3. Submerge the Ears
The ears are positioned beneath the surface.
4. Play Music Through Underwater Speakers
Dedicated underwater speakers transmit the audio signal directly into the pool.
5. Listen
The listener simply remains immersed and experiences music through the aquatic environment.
The simplicity is important.
The experience does not require complex choreography or physical exercise.
Why Does Music Feel Different Underwater?
Underwater listening changes several elements of sound perception.
Sound Travels Faster
Sound travels significantly faster through water than through air.
Direction Is Harder to Identify
Human sound localization becomes less precise underwater.
This can make music feel more diffuse and enveloping.
The Listener Is Immersed in the Sound Medium
In conventional listening, music travels through air around the body.
Underwater, the listener is inside the medium transmitting the acoustic waves.
These factors create an experience that differs considerably from listening through conventional speakers.
From Mechanical Massage to Acoustic Immersion
The historical progression can therefore be summarized in several stages.
Manual Massage
The human hand applies pressure, movement and touch.
Aquatic Massage
Water supports the body while a practitioner performs manual techniques.
Hydromassage
Air bubbles and water jets produce mechanical stimulation.
Musical Massage
Underwater speakers introduce music and acoustic vibration into the aquatic environment.
Each stage uses a different mechanism.
But all share the same broad goal:
creating an environment associated with comfort, sensory experience and relaxation.
Is Musical Massage a Medical Therapy?
This is where the historical AquaMusic texts need more careful wording.
Earlier publications sometimes described Musical Massage as having therapeutic, anxiolytic or physiological effects.
Those claims should not be treated as automatically established.
Musical Massage is primarily an underwater listening and wellness experience.
Music-based interventions, aquatic therapy and relaxation have all been studied scientifically in different contexts, but that does not mean every underwater music session has a proven medical effect.
Research into specific clinical applications should therefore be clearly separated from general wellness use.
From Wellness Concept to Research
In recent years, AquaMusic has begun moving beyond testimonials and experiential observations.
In 2025, an exploratory study conducted at the Balaruc-les-Bains thermal spa in France investigated underwater musical listening in people living with chronic pain.
The project combined:
thermal-water immersion;
selected Music Care compositions;
and AquaMusic underwater sound technology.
Participants reported lower pain and anxiety scores after the sessions.
Because the study involved a small sample, these findings remain preliminary and require confirmation through larger controlled research.
This represents an important evolution.
The history of Musical Massage is moving from personal experience and technological experimentation toward structured scientific evaluation.
Music and Humanity: A Much Older Relationship
Of course, Musical Massage itself is recent.
Music is not.
Humans have been producing musical instruments for tens of thousands of years.
Archaeological discoveries include bone flutes dating back more than 40,000 years.
Music therefore predates written history and has accompanied human communities for an extraordinary length of time.
What AquaMusic introduced was not music itself.
It introduced a new listening environment.
Water as a New Musical Space
For most of human history, music has been experienced through air.
Concert halls, churches, homes, streets and outdoor spaces all rely primarily on airborne sound.
Underwater audio creates a radically different situation.
The pool itself becomes part of the acoustic system.
The water transmits the music.
The listener is immersed within that medium.
This transforms the swimming pool from a simple physical space into a potential listening space.
From Swimming Pool to Sound Environment
This idea has opened several different applications.
Wellness
Underwater music can accompany flotation and relaxation sessions.
Spas
Musical Massage can complement warm water and hydromassage.
Synchronized Swimming
Athletes can hear music and cues while submerged.
Aquatic Rehabilitation
Underwater sound is being explored in some rehabilitation environments.
Art and Culture
Artists have used pools as spaces for underwater concerts and experimental performances.
Private Pools
Underwater speakers allow homeowners to create an entirely different audio experience in their swimming pool.
The same technology can therefore serve very different purposes.
More Than 30 Years of AquaMusic
Since 1992, AquaMusic has continued exploring the relationship between:
water, sound, technology and human perception.
What began as an unusual technical idea gradually became a range of underwater speakers used in swimming pools, spas, sports facilities, wellness environments and experimental projects.
Musical Massage represents one chapter in that history.
It connects three ancient human experiences:
water, music and relaxation.
The technology may be modern.
The attraction to those three elements is much older.
Frequently Asked Questions About the History of Musical Massage
What Is Musical Massage?
Musical Massage is AquaMusic’s term for an underwater listening experience combining water, flotation and music played through dedicated underwater speakers.
Who Created Musical Massage?
The term was developed by AquaMusic founder Noël Canivenq in connection with the company’s research into underwater listening.
AquaMusic also credits the earlier underwater music research of composer François Louche as an important part of the concept’s development.
When Was AquaMusic Founded?
AquaMusic has been designing and manufacturing underwater sound systems since 1992.
When Did Underwater Music Begin?
There is no single date for the invention of underwater sound.
Various technologies have been used for underwater signalling and communication for many decades.
AquaMusic began specifically developing underwater systems focused on musical reproduction in the early 1990s.
What Is the Difference Between Hydromassage and Musical Massage?
Hydromassage uses moving water or air jets to produce mechanical stimulation.
Musical Massage uses underwater speakers to transmit music through the aquatic environment.
Is Musical Massage a Physical Massage?
Not necessarily.
The word “massage” is used to describe the immersive sensory experience created by underwater sound, vibration, flotation and music.
Is Musical Massage a Medical Treatment?
Musical Massage should primarily be considered a wellness and underwater listening experience.
Specific medical applications are still being studied and should not be presented as established treatments without appropriate clinical evidence.
Where Can Musical Massage Be Experienced?
Potential environments include:
swimming pools;
spas;
thermal facilities;
hotels;
wellness centers;
and specialized aquatic facilities.
