Data4's Journal

Field Reports & Anecdotal Experience Men's Journals
202

This one ain’t phero related.

Several times previously I’ve mentioned that I do a little meditation and self-hypnosis for stress control. I’ve shared a hypnotic induction over in the Lounge that a few of you have tried out.

I usually meditate to binaural beats, which in a nutshell, are “virtual” sounds created by the difference between two tones of differing hertz, each played in one ear. If you’re interested, do a search for Binaural Beats to get a more complete definition.

The brain operates at different frequencies, depending on the state of mind. Normal, wide awake, and alert states are in the Beta range of 12-40 hertz. Relaxed, daydreaming, and sometimes while driving, you are in the Alpha range of 8-12 hertz. Moderately deep meditation and light sleep are in the Theta range of 4-8 hertz. Finally, deep, dreamless sleep puts you in the Delta range of 1-3 hertz. Incidentally, if you’re operating at 0 hertz, you’re brain dead. Congratulations!

Anyway, I use binaural beats to steer myself from high alpha/low beta to deep theta in a short amount of time. While in theta, I usually do some creative visualization and other things related to what I’m trying to accomplish for the meditation session. I thought I’d share an audio file I created for this purpose. It’s 2 pairs of tones that ramp down from a 12 hertz binaural beat to 4 hertz over a 10 minute period. Once at 4Hz, it goes for another 20 minutes. In the background is some light pink noise to break the monotony of the wavy sounds of the binaurals.

If this is something you’d be interested in trying, feel free to download it here:

RapidShare: Easy Filehosting

Make sure to listen via stereo headphones in a comfortable position. Set the volume to whatever you feel comfortable with. DO NOT LISTEN TO WHILE DRIVING! You may fall asleep. If you aren’t ready for a nap, just set your alarm for about 30 minutes from the time you start, just in case.

Let me know what you think!

-D4

203

Thanks Data I will definitely look into that, sounds interesting. I have read about different brainwaves but not really much practical experience with them.

BTW, indolic smells increase beta waves, from what I’ve read. Jasmine, certain kinds of musks, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if TAK is altering brainwaves, probably towards theta waves ? And of course in alot of cultures burning sap resinoids (Frankincense, galbanum, balsam, aoud, etc.) is part of meditation and religious practices.

Wikipedia apparrently has some sound samples, too. Interesting I tried the second one and halfway through (I skipped a few minutes) I noticed my arms started feeling intensely heavy. However, with the first sound sample, I was listening to it while reading your post again, and I couldn’t focus on the words. Freaky. Usually I try meditation just by focusing on breathing or staring at a wall with my eyes half closed.

Binaural beats - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

204

Welcome to meditation in the 21st Century. :wink: We no longer need those pesky things such as mantras or pranic breathing. Just a pair of headphones!

Well, actually, the pranic breathing still helps, but yeah, binaural brainwave entrainment sort of condenses what Tibetan monks spend a lifetime trying to achieve into one easy package. Instant gratification at its finest! Heh… Mantras create a vibration in your throat, which your brain slowly aligns with, due to lack of any other stimulus. In the old days, it took hours just to be able to get to a low theta state without falling asleep. With brainwave entrainment, you can achieve it in a matter of minutes.

Not only is it great for meditation, it’s also a good way to alleviate insomnia. So, for those reading who may not have the slightest interest in meditation and all that other hocus pocus mumbo jumbo, but you have trouble sleeping, give the above file a listen as you’re going to bed and see if that helps. Not to sound like a commercial or anything…

Daedelus, you’re welcome! Let me know how it works for ya.

-D4

205

For some reason, I can get to a state similar to the high theta state faster, though, than listening to that whole recording. It might be good for people who just have trouble filtering out all that stuff and have a bit of a monkey mind and need something to focus on.

206

Yeah, that’s probably due to your having practiced meditation without technology. It’s basically a John Henry effect. Experience outperforming technology, so to speak.

Ever since starting with binaurals a few years ago, I’ve found it something that works for me. It’s particularly nice for countering anxiety and depression. Having a peculiar sound to focus on tends to put the kibosh on torrents of worrisome thoughts that signals a possible bout of depression or an anxiety attack. Plus, I just find them pleasant to listen to.

-D4

207

That’s interesting as I found some of the higher frequency beats less pleasant than the lower frequency beats, which I found very pleasant. What do you think that means? I naturally like lower brainwave states?

208

Just to be sure, are you referring to the actual frequency of the pulses you hear or the pitch of the tones? It may seem like a dumb question, but I had a similar conversation with someone who said frequency when he meant pitch. He didn’t like the higher pitches.

-D4

209

Probably mostly the pitch, maybe the pulses too.

210

Well, frequency and pitch are the same thing. higher frequency=higher pitch.
However, this sort of thing also creates pulses that are the result of slight differences in simultaneous pitches. when two pitches are close but not exactly, the sound waves will occasionally line up perfectly, causing the sound to become louder, but since one wave is faster than the other, they will shift to the point where they perfectly oppose each other, and the sound becomes quieter.

Think about it like waves in the water. If a trough and a peak align, the wave cancels. Two peaks make the wave bigger.

I don’t know if that makes any sense, but hopefully it clears things up?

My understanding is that the actual sounds in these recordings are midrange frequencies that are very near to each other. What causes the trippy effect is that they slowly shift so that one is faster than the other, and then the brain percieves a third wave which is the difference between the two.

This would be the only way to actually make an audible wave around 30hz or lower, as most speakers and headphones can’t reproduce frequencies that low, or can’t produce them loud enough to be effective. Plus I think it would be bad to rig up a headphone system out of subwoofers.

211

Marty, that is most definitely correct. I was just wanting to clarify because the frequency of the binaural beats (pulses), as in the speed they “wobble” can be different relative to the overall, or center pitch of the tones used.. Higher beats, i.e. 12 hz or more can have a brain drilling effect with some. Because of the nature of binaurals, you can have a center frequency of, say, 120, with a 12 hz binaural being the difference between 126 hz in one ear and 114 hz in the other. The overall pitch of the sound will be low and bassy in this case, but the beat frequency will be perceived as a faster wobble effect.

Speaking for myself, when I first played around with this stuff, I found high frequency binaural beats centered around a high frequency pitch, like 330 or more were jarring at any volume. So now, I keep the center pitch low on high frequency beats and it’s less of a brain rape.

-D4

212

There is actually a program you can download, but i cannot remember the name for the life of me, that has all sorts of pre programmed tones and pulses like the one you recorded I am guessing that supposedly does different things.

Some that really help you get into a really deep meditation state, and others that supposedly help you get into an out of body experience, it never really worked for me but I tried. It definitely did help me relax enough to fall asleep.

213

Sounds like you’re talking about BWGen. It’s a good program, and is what introduced me to binaurals, but I like using Audition because it allows for a lot more control. It’s a little more complicated than using BWGen, though, but the end results are better, imo.

-D4

214

Yes that is it!

I don’t think I ever heard of Audition.

215

is the binaural beat important for this particular effect, what purpose does it have? The wikipedia webpage didn’t go into too much detail.

216

Adobe Audition, formerly Cool Edit Pro, is a sound editing, mastering, and mixing software. It’s primarily used in audio production work, but it just so happens to have features that allow for the creation of binaurals. The process is much less automated than with BWGen, but as I said, it’s got a lot of flexibility for customization. Mix in subliminals? No problem. Mix in a guided session using suggestions? Easy. Add background music at just the right volume, including dynamically changing volume or panning in the middle of the track? Simple as adjusting a slider control onscreen.

If you happened to listen to the “forest story” hypnosis track I posted some time back in the Lounge, that was recorded and mixed with Audition.

-D4

217

I’m at work right now and don’t have time to go into it at the moment, but when I get home in about 4 hours, I’ll get more into it.

-D4

218

Okay, I’m either feeling a little dense at the moment, or your question is on the vague side, so bear with me.

Because human hearing doesn’t go below 20 to 25 hz, binaural beats are a workaround. If you wanted to entrain your brain to a theta state, you would have a different tone in each ear, with the difference being from 4 to 7 hz. For example, say I wanted to entrain to 4 hz theta, using a center frequency of 160 hz as the audible sound. I would use 158 hz in one ear and 162 hz in the other. Heard seperately, the tones would be steady and at their respective pitch. Combined via stereo headphones, and your brain merges the two sounds with the wobble effect. The wobble is a “virtual” sound. It only exists in your brain as it merges the two sounds of different wavelengths. The wobble is happening at the frequency of the difference between the two tones, so in our example, it’s going at 4 hz.

The effect on your brain is called a “frequency following response”. It will tune itself to the direct stimulus of the binaurals, which puts you in your desired state.

So, if I’m reading your question right, the answer is yes, the binaural beat is important if you’re wanting to entrain to lower than 20 hz. It’s essential, as it’s the only audible way to entrain. You can also use visual stimulus in the form of flash goggles that have LEDs in them that strobe at the frequency you’re shooting for.

If I missed anything, please let me know.

-D4

219

OK, that sort of make sense now.

Have you known anybody that tried binaural beats that got nothing out of it, no effect?

220

In the various discussion forums and mailing lists I am or have been a part of that touch on BB’s, there are many people that report no effect from them, or only adverse effects like headaches or nausea. It’s not a sure thing.

-D4

221

tisha’s quote is priceless.