I would say that the biggest Myths about Binaural Beats(BBs) are that the "specific frequencies" do specific things. For instance that list on the net with all of those frequencies is mostly propaganda.

From what I have gleaned about BBs and neuro-science is that all people's brainwave patterns are unique like finger-prints and that different BB frequencies will do different things for different people. There are basic classes of brainwaves that are good for determining differend predictable states of consciousness. Generally speaking, Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta. What people need to understand is that these are basic "ranges" that generally apply to the population at large....the more specific the frequency the more varied the result from person to person....for instance BB 3.258Hz will do different things for different people, but the overall responce will fall within the "Theta" range of behavior which is charactorized by frequencies ranging from about 3Hz to 7.5Hz...Delta is a sleep state, Beta is a waking state, "generally speaking"

I have found that the same frequency will even effect the same person differently depending on what they are doing at the time. For instance Delta waves are associated with sleep, but I did a lot of experimenting with Delta BBs while wide awake and it is a unique type of response...

So far as the "real" medical applications of BBs, a specific set of frequencies would be "prescribed" like a medication...it is very unique to the individual. Brainwaves can be thought of in a like manner as "vitamines" depending on your diet(emotional/intellectual intake, etc.) you will have varying ammounts of minerals in your body. Some people may have a deficiency in one vitamine and an overabundance of another or vise versa. Also our brainwave are constantly changeing all the time....just reading this is doing that very thing.

Another myth is the little diagram on the back of the Hemi-Sync CDs that shows the brain map with and without Hemi-Sync. That is not a true statement. For one, EEG and QEEG only measure electrical activity to a depth of about 1/8 of an inch into the brain. EEG does not directly show activity on the interrior or core of the brain. The place where BBs are processed is in the Superior Olivary Nucleus. If you follow your ear canals straight into the core, that is where it all starts the BB phenomenon. There is no way that EEG measures electrical activity in that area. Secondly, the brain is "modular". That is to say that different parts of the brain process different awareness and functions of the collective consciousness called "you". One would think that I am just "me", but in reality(at least the physical side of quantum mechanics) my "awareness" is composed of lots of different "modules" each of which has a little mind of its own, all competing for my "attention". It is as if my personality is a musical composition with multiple musicians each contributing, and not just one "thing" making all the noise. These modules have been scientifically observed with MRI imaging. For instance we have a "visual" module, and "auditory" module, a "memory" module, and "emotional" module, a "linguistic" module, a "logic" module and so on....of courswe these are crude examples, but the actual documented science behinde this is very real. In essence the "competing drives" we experience as humans are really competeing "modules". this has been observed with MRI.

I really wish that there were more studies being done on BBs with MRI, I am sure it would be very interesting...but to the original point...the BBs will effect different modules differently in different people. It won't neccesarily light up your brain like on the Hemi-Sync propaganda.

Light sound machines are really just "light machines"...Also light stimulation will induce different states of consciousness than BBs of the same frequency. The eyes and ears use totally different parts of the brain when stimulated. Actually, from what some of my sources have indicated, light stimulation will show up on EEG more than BBs...this makes sence though because the area in the brain where eyesight is processed is near the surface, whereas audio is processed in the core. Audio entrainment is definately different than Visual entrainment even is the frequency is the same, and generally speaking visual entrainment will wash out the effects of audio entrainment.

For example....BBs that induce Theta states cause a form of consciousness called Hypnogogia. This is the state usually occuring right before loseing consciousness and entering sleep. This is when detailed images come out of the blackness...I think that these images coming out of the blackness are very highly organized neuropathways to and from the centers linked to imagination....if the eyes are stimulated with light, the neural circuit for information changes over to a rapid intense chain of pulses going from the optic nerve to the visual centers...the visual centers are not the same in function or location as the "modules" used for "creative imaging".

An easy test for this is: Would you have a hard time concentrating on something that required analysis and deep thinking if a strobe light was in your face? Try reading a texbook on calculus while doing that....the loss of attention is due to different competeing neural modules and circuits....

Another way to think of BBs is like a psychedelic...you know it will get you high, you know it will change your brainwaves and make you think of things that you would normally not think of, but there is simply no way to "predict" what that would exactly be.


So far as the effects of the actual "carrier tones", that is an open book for research. I do think that it definately does have an effect. From a music theory perspective, it has been widely known for hundreds of years that "dissonance" can have negative effects on people. That is why people go to a concert to hear a person who "knows how" to play a guitar, versus to go to a concert where the person has no idea how to play an instrument. In this sense it is like music....people have different taste, but if the material is good...it is simply good.

Yes you can layer multiple BBs one on top of the other, but it is tricky and very mathematical in how this is done to avoid any harmonics in how the carrier tones mix...My reality adaptor has some really good layered tracks some of which have 5 to 6 layered BBs...

So far as the really high BBs, like the stuff over 30Hz, that is experimental....I think it is possible for the brain to process BBs up to 100Hz and do have some limited evidence on this....actually muscle movements are in the Gamma brainwave range(ie. 30Hz-500Hz)....so far as the high Gama, there are some resarchers who have looked into this range with Trans Cranial Magnetic Stimulation, and also there is a strange technology where you can hold a wire in each hand and they can run a signal through the wire to induce brainwaves...

However I do not recommend Trans-Cranial Magnetic Stimulation because there are links between strong magnetic fields and cancer. There could be some risks of tissue damage from strong localized magnetic fields....they simply do not know all the facts on this type of thing yet...


I hope you find this info helpful...

Doug.

www.consciousnessconnector.com

Hiya Jaya,

I've been pondering a lot of these same questions. I don't have those forks, but I've been collecting some really powerful pairs of Tibetan bowls with slight oscillation. I'm also thinking about mixing acoustic and digital soundwaves but not sure if that's going to create beats that are as powerful. I recently got an Mbox2 for my Mac, came with ProTools LE. Anyone familiar with protools and generating specific frequencies? It's got a bit of a learning curve as an upgrade from GarageBand!