Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Make Binaural Beats

Brain waves are groups of neurons firing all together at a regular rate. The faster they fire, the more alert the brain is. Binaural beats create a pulsing sound by playing two sound files slightly out of sync. By varying the rate of the pulsing, the beats can induce any state from deep relaxation to complete alertness.


Instructions


1. Learn the basic brainwave frequencies. When we feel awake, alert and fairly tense, our brains exhibit Beta wave patterns between 13 and 60 times per second, or hertz. At a more relaxed state, our brains descend into Alpha waves---7 to 13 hertz. When we are deeply relaxed, our brains exhibit more Theta waves---4 to 7 hertz. Anything below that is in the Delta wave frequency, which is the frequency of deep sleep.


2. Download and install a program that makes binaural beats. Gnaural is a good choice, since it is free, multiplatform and fairly easy to use, but there are other programs.


3. Right click on the line that begins 0 [Binaural Beat]. This will open a dialog that allows you to select the sound source. By default, Gnaural creates binaural beats in a simple sine wave. You can also select pink noise or a sound file if you prefer.


4. Look at the frequency graph at the bottom of the page. It has several data points that represent the binaural beat frequencies. Right click on one to change it. You can change the base frequency, the beat frequency and the duration. Change the beat frequency to a level that corresponds to your desired brainwave frequency.


5. Put on headphones, hit play and close your eyes. Observe how the binaural beats affect your mood and thoughts.







Tags: beat frequency, binaural beats, brains exhibit, Right click