Monday, January 18, 2010

What are Binaural Beats?

By Carrie Spry

If you were to introduce two tones of different frequency into each ear, you could create binaural beats. For example, playing a tone with a frequency of 100Hz in one ear and playing a tone with a frequency of 114Hz in the other ear, will force the brain to determine the phase difference between the two wavelengths of each tone. We naturally do this to determine directional information.

A binaural beat is created when the signals integrate. Your brain will perceive a beat of 14Hz. Depending on the frequency of the phase difference it can sound like a wave or beat. If the frequency is low, it will sound more like a wave. If the frequency is higher is can sound like a very fast beat.

In order to make use of binaural beats, you must use stereo headphones. If speakers are used, the tones will mix in the air and produce a monaural beat. Monaural beats do have a place in the brain entrainment (bwe) world; however, if the track is meant for binaural, headphones must be used.

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.

There is a lot of controversy over whether or not binaural beats can be used for brain-wave entrainment. According to Dr. Gerald Oster binaural beats can be used to produce beats from as little as 0.235Hz to as high as 26.25Hz. Oster also concluded that binaural beats would be insufficient for brainwave entrainment because the depth of the beat is only around 3 decibels or 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 methods which are more efficient like isochronic tones, monoraul beats, low-pass filter modulation, cross-feed modulation, pitch modulation and auto pan modulation. Each type of technology has its own limitations and methods. We use a combination of these methods to produce the best results.

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