Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What are Binaural Beats?

By Carrie Spry

You can create binaural beats by introducing two tones of different frequency into each ear. By playing one tone of 100Hz in one ear and playing another tone of 114Hz in the other ear, your brain will perceive a third tone or beat which is the phase difference between the two wavelengths of the original tones. This is how we naturally detect directional information using our ears.

The signals integrate and become a third frequency or what we call a ?binaural beat?. The resultant beat of 14Hz is produced within your brain. The tone will sound like a wave or beat depending on the frequency. If the generated beat is 4Hz, then it will sound more like a wave, however if the beat is at 20Hz, it will sound more like a beat.

Stereo headphones must be used in order to make use of this technology. If you were to use speakers, the tones would mix in the air and not give you the desired effect. It can produce a monoraul beat, which can be used for brain wave entrainment (bwe). However, if the track was created for binaural beats, it should be used as such.

When listening to binaural beats, there may be a warbling sound initially until your brain adjusts. Also, having a hearing loss in one ear will not reduce the effectiveness of binaural beats because they maintain their intensity regardless of amplitude. Alternatively, masking the binaural beats with noise does not decrease their effectiveness, in fact, it has been shown to improve the entrainment process and have a more soothing effect.

Using binaural beats for bwe has been the topic of some debates. Binaural beats can be used to product beats from 0.235Hz to 26.25Hz. Above this frequency, the wavelength are longer than the distance of the skull. However, Dr. Gerald Oster concluded that these beats would be insufficient for bwe because the depth of the beat is only about 1/10 the volume of a whisper.

The Monroe Institute (Hemi-Sync products), I-Doser, and Centerpointe (Holosync products) all use binaural beats for their personal growth and development products. The beats are often mixed with noise, music, ambiance or guided instructions. The advantage the binaural beat has over most other methods is its ability to entrain the brain to frequencies less than 4Hz.

There are other technologies which are more efficient like low-pass filter modulation, cross-feed modulation, isochronic tones, monaural beats, pitch modulation and auto-pan modulation. Every type has it's own limitations. Our products use a combination of these methods to achieve the best possible results.

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